travcat

I recently took my car in for recall service that went very badly. A gasket wasn't properly installed which resulted in a lot of oil ending up in the engine bay. The technician who performed the repair knew of the problem, but no one at the dealership informed me of the issue when I picked up the car. I found out about it when the cabin filled with burned oil fumes and smoke from the vents while I was driving down the interstate in heavy traffic on the way back to work. I returned the car and reported the problem, the service guys looked at it again, said they found the problem and fixed it. I left for work again, and the exact same thing happened again. I returned the car a second time and was told it would be another two days before it would be ready.

Two days later, I called he dealership to get an update on the car and was told it would be ready that afternoon. I asked to speak with the service manager when I picked up the car. When I arrived, I sat down with the service manager who assured me that this was an oversite by a senior technician that should never have happened and the dealership would do what it needed to do to make things right. My primary concerns are:

The repair was done incorrectly
No test drive was done prior to my return
A known serious problem was not brought to my attention
I had to return to the dealership for the same problem
Oil in the engine compartment and on the exhaust system was a fire hazard
Smoke and strong fumes in the cabin while I was driving could have caused a life threatening situation

I told him I would call in a couple of days to discuss my concerns once I've tested the car, and had a chance think the whole thing over. As I was leaving the dealership, I noticed there was only a half tank of gas. It's customary to receive a full tank of gas for recall repairs. So much for making things right. I'm not just disappointed and upset, I'm appalled. Is this what Lexus customer service has become?

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

That suck to hear but it the dealership service that suck not the whole Lexus itself. Some are great and go to the extreme. Other are just shady that with any dealership it will alway very.

heyarms

iTrader: (5)

Its not just the dealerships, Lexus Financial Services is absolutely horrible to work with as well. They do everything possible to NOT work with you. Hence, their F with the BBB.

600rr05

iTrader: (9)

That really sucks sorry to hear you had to deal with those problems.. Keep us posted on what you do or happens.... As for the gas ive never got a full tank of gas on recall work and ive been there quite a bit.

quick123

iTrader: (2)

Don't tell me you went to Nalley...Hennessy did the recall on my IS beautifully and in 1 day (they did the cam gear TSB too)

huntarrr

I received a full tank of gas with the pedal recall a few weeks ago... I'm guessing it does not apply to all recalls. Have you already gotten a free tank of gas? I wouldnt think Lexus would let customers take advantage of this by getting one recall done at a time.

travcat

When I went in for the floormat replacement, I did receive a full tank of gas, and was told to bring the car in empty to take full advantage of that perk. No, it wasn't Nalley service that performed the recall work. I'll keep you guys informed on what happens.

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

Sorry to hear your bad experience. I would tell the service manager that you are going to write a letter to Lexus corporate telling them of the horrible service that was performed.

meangene

iTrader: (10)

I took my car in the the cold engine start up and I haven't gotten my car back, but they've been pretty great so far. I'm on my 2nd loaner car. The first one was rear ended by some idiot playing with her dog and not paying attention.

MashinA

iTrader: (20)

is it true that if my car is under warranty, but i let my gf or a friend for example take it in for some work, it wouldnt be covered since i didnt take it in myself? cuz thats waht lexus told me lol. talk about customer service...

meangene

iTrader: (10)

What lexus dealership was the car taken to? That seems a little weird. It shouldn't matter who drops the car off as long as it has a warranty. They might have something like that for their loaner vehicles.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

No, it's not true. The warranty is on the vehicle not the person.

(that's the new car warranty... extended ones work a bit differently).

I could certainly see them refusing a loaner to someone who isn't the owner, but that's a bit different.

MashinA

iTrader: (20)

well here is my story with a bit more detail. sorry if its long i just want to rant a little. Back in August i bought my 06 IS250 from this guy. I paid him the money and took the car home, however the car was gonna be under his name for another 2-3 weeks, he needed to pay the loan off, than the title company needed like 2 weeks to get paperwork rdy and send him the title or something and than he was gonna send it to me so i can go register the car under my name at the DMV. Anyway while all this was going on my NAV screen went out so i went to my local dealer, Lexus of Clearwater. At first i didnt even know the car still had warranty. The guy at Lexus told me: oh wer'e probably gonna have to exchange the whole unit soo youre looking at about $2,500 if not more. So then i called the seller and he told me the car is still under warranty and still under his name so if i wanted i could go back to his town which is like 3 hours away and we could take it to Lexus there. I decided to try my local dealer again, and this is funny as soon as i went back and told them the car is still under warranty they figured out what the problem is and said they can fix it. They did but ended up charging me some BS fee for $150....which isnt a big deal but its just the principle. So i called corporate and told them the whole situation, they checked with the dealership or whatever, the charge was supposed to be covered by warranty but they gave me the excuse that since i took the car in, not the guy who was listed as the owner than im out of luck....and i told em shouldnt the dealership have checked who the car is registered to and who i am when i got there if thats an issue and let me know, and the guy is like that is something you need to take up with the dealership...and that was the end of that.

meangene

iTrader: (10)

I honestly wouldn't blame the seller. It seems like a dealer issue. I bought mine preowned from another dealership and I haven't had any problems with warranty work. Regardless of who originally purchased the vehicle, it should be worked on if it still has the factory warranty. I'm pretty sure the factory warranty transfers with no problems, but I think there's a small fee to transfer the extended warranty or at least that's what I was told when I opted for the extended warranty.

MashinA

iTrader: (20)

oh im not blaming the seller at all....it just seems stupid on the part of Lexus that since the person listed on the warranty didnt take the car in himself, its not covered....and its not like the dealership said anything about it if that was going to be an issue....but oh well.