ok guys and gals, i took my is250 in to mcgrath lexus of chicago today for a oil change and to have them inspect the brakes because i am hearing squeaks in the front brakes. i always leave the key lock for the rims in the glovebox so they vcan get the rims off. well when i went to pick up the car they said the brakes were fine and have plenty of life left in them and the tech did not find or hear any issues at all, so i said ok and paid the bill for the oil change. when i get in my car i looked to see if the wheel lock was put back, which i couldnt find. i asked the service advisor where is the lock for the rims? he says let me ask the tech....he tells me that the tech never took off the rims at all, im like what? then how did you inspect my brakes and come to the conclusion that they are fine? he tells me well we can see through the rims and visually see that you still have enough pad left.


now here is my thoughts. if a customer brings in his vehicle stating to inspect the brakes because of squeaking noises, should the dealer have the tech remove the rims to inspect the pads and calipers? how can the tech just say well i heard no noises when i drove it, and looked at the brakes and dont see anything wrong with them. how do they know if something is loose or a pad is c cracked or anything wrong if they didnt even remove the rims completely. if the rims were removed and something did need replacing it would have made them some money from me, but they didnt even care enough to take a better look at the brakes at all and i still have a squeak and im pissed off at them.

should i call the relations manager at mcgrath and tell them my concerns about the incident?
should i call them and tell them i am very disatisfied with the service i received and tell them im going elsewhere from now on? how would you guys deal with this.
and by the way, when i get home the brakes are squeaking again. they seem to squeak when the car is warmed up and driven at least an half hour or more.

 

Hey Steve, if you ever need something that isn't covered under warranty, let me know since I work at the new Acura dealer across the street from Lexus. Lexus techs work at the Acura shop and they can do work for you in their free time so you don't have to pay the $139/hr labor rate. I can also get you parts at a discount too.

But in your case, contact the Service Manager, Mike Stokes and complain about your situation. Or if you think it's covered under warranty and don't want to deal with complaining, bring it in again and ask for the service advisor named Robert. I had him replaced my water pump under warranty last Saturday. Not only did he replace the water pump, his tech also got rid of some engine noises cause of loose bolts or something, cleared my CEL, and fixed my flat tire all for free. Cool guy and he's also mod friendly too.

 

^if only you were local to me...

 

Well.. you can see how much pad is left without removing the wheels... so it's not unreasonable for a free check they might have done that and seen plenty of pad left and concluded the brakes were fine if they heard no noise/felt no issues on a test drive.

Where I'm confused is if they didn't remove the wheels, why were you unable to find your wheel lock when you looked for it?

 

wheel lock key was in the black booklet holder (where i put it) i keep it there because it was hitting a few other things i keep in the glove box, but they obviously didnt even look for it or tak the rims off so it really does not matter.

 

I've never been a fan of that dealership so I take my car to the McGrath in Westmont. I don't trust the Chicago location people. I was there last weekend for a car wash and they said it would be at least an hour for it. It took 10 minutes. The last times I went, they told me the wait was teh same so I just left. No one is ever at the parts counter and the folks there aren't friendly at all.

I would speak with the customer relations manager or the service manager. You don't want to be playing around with brake issues. Get them looked at thoroughly if you think there is an issue because you don't want to have to not have them work properly on teh day you really need them....like right before an accident.

 

That's how you check brakes.... Am I missing something here? I worked at an indy shop while I was in college and we just shined a flashlight to see if the pads were good and ran a hand over the caliper to check for leaks. None of this required taking the wheel off.

If you go in and tell them something is wrong with your brakes and they need to diagnose it (not check) they will be much more thorough, but they will probably also charge a $65+ diagnostic fee, which can be applied to repairs if they are needed.

If your brakes are just squeaking, then it's not something to worry about, but it is annoying. Did the dealership perform your last brake service? If so, tell them they are squeaking and they will re-grease them. If not, take the wheels off use some brake cleaner to clean everything up and see if that helps.

 

i bought my car cpo about 18 months ago and have never changed the pads or needed anything other than an oil change.

 

If the pads are fine, then they probably just need cleaning/re-greasing. Just do it yourself: super easy. The only other thing it could be is that they are not OEM pads. I swear every aftermarket pads I've had start to squeak after a while, especially ceramic ones.

 

I've had nothing but good experiences at McGrath Chicago. I've never tried to get a car wash there though, but I imagine 1hr wait is just their standard time expectancy. Are you really complaining about a free wash?

Their parts counter has a bell. Did you ring it? Last time I went to parts, I just wanted touch up paint and the guy didn't even charge me for it.

Someone usually hands me a cup of coffee when I walk in and they drop me off at work (shuttle) when I drop my car off for an oil change in the morning. I think their customer service is actually excellent.

 

I'm not complaining about a car wash. I am complaining about what I was told about receiving it. The Westmont location has me in and out and they are always honest about time estimates. It has never taken anymore than 10-15 minutes for them to do my interior and exterior. At the Chicago location, I've been told the wait is AT LEAST an hour and the sign is prominently displayed at the drop-off location....and it's there while 3 or 4 of those fellas are standing there adoing nothing but smoking cigarettes and chit-chatting.

I stood at the parts counter for 10 minutes having rang the bell several times to buy a set of Clear Courtesy Lens. I left because my car wash pager was buzzing and I refused to wait any longer....but yes, I did ring the buzzer. There were a couple other people behind me with parts inquiries as well.

I've had issues with this dealership for servicing my ES and my GS, so I don't plan on visiting them for more than a car wash and last minute parts requests and my coworkers who recently moved to Chicago have had issues with them as well. They have 2 lexus vehicles and now go to one of the dealerships in the suburbs, even though they live here downtown as I do.

I also had brake squeaking issues on my GS that they could not diagnose. After having left the car there a couple days, no one could figure out what it was. I took it to the dealership just outside Milwaukee and they had the noise diagnosed and fixed that Saturday and my car detailed. It cost me ZERO dollars. From that point, the GS was serviced there exclusively. I'm a loyal customer and I have no problems going the extra distance to receive good service as long as the dealership is willing to give me the same respect and level of service. I drive a Lexus...not a Dodge.

 

That makes a lot more sense now. Your first post just seemed nitpicky.

 

Not sure what the bits about wheel lock was about, they didn't touch your wheels or wheel lock and you found it where you placed it.

You just peek in between the spokes you can look at the pads, if not I use an inspection mirror.

 

No worries, rookie. I get it.

To the OP, get a second opinion and a thorough inspection of those brakes. Don't be like the dude in toronto in another thread who had his steering fail while exiting the freeway because "the problem seemed to have gone away". It's a CPO and it would be in the dealerships interest to take care of the problem now before the issue and complaint escalates.