LexuScott

Hello Club Lexus Community,

First off, I know this will be a pretty long post, but I am desperate to hear the opinions of other Lexus owners about my situation. I also hope that this will help any other Lexus owners that fall into the same situation I am currently in.

About a year and a half ago I decided to purchase a certified pre-owned (10,000 miles) Atomic Silver Lexus IS350 (NON-F-Sport) from a Lexus dealership in New Jersey. This was my first Lexus, and I've loved it since I saw it the first time on the lot.

Fast forward one and a half years or so, and my car now has a little over 50,000 miles. A few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail saying that there is a "Limited Service Campaign" (recall) on my vehicle. It stated that "The inner portion of the rear fender arch may experience water intrusion due to improper sealer application. If this occurs, corrosion may form, causing rust spots, paint blistering, or perforation of the rear fender arch." It also stated that "Any authorized Lexus dealer will inspect the rear fender arches and, if necessary, perform anti-rust treatment at no charge to [me] for a limited time. In limited instances corrosion may be identified. If corrosion is identified and any paint/body repair is needed, this will be coordinated by the dealer."

Soon after getting this notice (within 2 weeks), I brought my car in at around 8:15am on a Thursday to have it looked at. I was told by the service advisor that this repair would take a few hours and that I could have a loaner car, but that I should be getting the car back the same day. A few hours pass by and I get a call from the service advisor, who let me know that a technician had looked at my car and noticed that it had already started rusting behind the quarter panel. He told me that the car would have to be sent to the dealership's auto body shop so that they could look further into the issue and see what needed to be done. Although I was disappointed to hear that my car with 50k miles on it was rusting already due to an issue from the factory, I figured that I had no choice but to at least let them LOOK INTO what needed to be done.

A week passes by and I hadn't heard from anyone at the Lexus dealership/service center or body shop. I called the dealership and was told by the service representative that they were in the process of taking photos so that they could send an estimate to Lexus Corporate. 3-4 more days passed and I began to worry as to what exactly was going on with my car.

I called again and got the Lexus service manager from the dealership on the phone. I was told by him that the quarter panel on the driver's side of my car needed to be replaced, and that it would be about $5000 worth of work (replacing the quarter panel and painting/blending the paint on the car (covered by the recall) that needed to be done to my car and that it would take at least an additional 2-3 weeks! At this point I was in shock.

I called Corporate Lexus and filed a complaint regarding what was going on with my car. I explained to them that I did not want the car back because I could not believe that after I purchased my car, because of a screw up from the factory, I would have to "deal" with them tearing my car apart and putting it back together. I also mentioned that if my car had the work done to it before I owned it, I would have never purchased it in the first place. An Account Manager from Corporate Lexus called back a few days later and explained to me that he was collecting information about the situation and would get back to me as soon as possible. Yet again, a few days pass by and I begin to get more upset/aggravated.

I decided to show up to the body shop unannounced on a Saturday to see what was going on with my car. When I got to the body shop, one of the employees there brought me over to my car. My jaw dropped. The people at the auto body shop had "completely" taken apart my car. The rear bumper was off, the rear window was removed, the headliner in the car was all gone, and much more (see the photos I attached - I purposely took a lot of photos). It looked like it was being built all over again from the factory (not in a good way!). I asked the employee where some of the stuff I had in my car was, and he brought me over to a bin. The people at the auto body shop had taken my $300 WeatherTech mats and stuffed them in a box, completely warping them, especially the trunk mat, which I also have attached a photo of.

After a few more days of not hearing back from Corporate, I called them back and had to wait even more days for a response.

I decided to call the service manager again to let him know that his service advisor had been horrific at communicating with me and that I never agreed to have my car completely stripped apart, or to have the work started on my car. The service manager gave me an attitude and said to me that if I wanted to have them stop the work, all I should do is say so. WHAT!? I never agreed to have it started in the first place! He told me that I shouldn't be giving them a hard time about how long they have had my car. I explained to him calmly that I had NO issue with how long they had my car. The issue I had was that I shouldn't have to live with a car that has been chopped/torn apart and put back together just because Lexus messed up from the moment the car was built.

I finally got a call back today from Lexus Corporate (Lexus has now had my car for about 2 weeks). The Lexus Corporate representative told me that he spoke to the service manager at the dealership and that he said that the car would be ready (all work completed) in about a week and that if I didn't want the car back that he would forward my information to the Lexus Buy Back Team to see if I qualified for a buy back but that it would take 3-5 days for them to get back to me. I explained that the work was being done without my permission and he repeated that I would have to talk to the buy back team about it. I asked for the email address of the President of Lexus, and he told me there wasn't one and that I would have to write a letter to Lexus Corp in California and that they would get back to me.

To wrap things up, not only do I believe that the car will never look/feel/be put back together the same, but I also feel like the resale value will be affected by it. I understand that this doesn't show up as an accident or anything on the CarFax, but body work is body work!

I would very much appreciate your thoughts and advice in this situation. I would like to know what you would do if you were in my shoes. I am happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Scott

ISFPOWER

iTrader: (20)

i have a little bit of background in bodyshop. ill tell you right off the bat before anything that lexus is treating your car right by repairing the rust correctly. they care completely replacing your quarter panels. they are properly blending in your doors, trunk and rear bumper into the new quarter panels. this is the correct way which a lot of bodyshops don't do. they are not only repairing but replacing the rusted panel. i would be happy to be honest if you are ok with keeping the car. that job looks well over 3k job to do. they cut out your rear windows correctly like how you should thats a good shop depending on how the paint comes out and what type of paint/clear being used.


i had this campaign done on my RCF as well. but i had no rusting. only had 3k miles on the car when they fixed the issue with the sealer/silicone. if your car had lower miles, i wouldn't blame you for how you are feeling but you are at the point of almost being out of warranty. at least know that lexus is really treating that car right and fixing the issue completely and correctly. that is not a cheap job.

Aron9000

Where exactly is it rusting? On the outer rear fender lip??? Or on some part of inner fender/unibody you can't see?

zhifan1

Is this a mass recall? Anyone else went through the same recall? Also, did Lexus specify batch or manufacture year/s that were affected? Now i'm worried..

Diesel26

I wouldn't worry about it. It's getting fixed and fixed right. You're in a loaner. Sounds like they are taking good care of you.

yardie876

Agreed. Apart from the minor lack of communication and incremental progress updates, I'd say the dealership is handling this well. Enjoy the free miles in the loaner.

Ciggy

iTrader: (1)

Major body work does diminish the value of the vehicle though.

When I traded my Accord into Lexus they were very diligent to check the cars paint for repairs. Using a laser sensor to determine if more layers have been added or if over spray is present.

I'd try to get Lexus to give you some form of refund for the diminished value. What that value is, is hard to determine.

davyjordi

lexus is doing the right thing. you're in the wrong to accuse lexus of performing any unnecessary work. it seems as though lexus is being thorough so that you have your car back in great condition. chill out.

kawaii

I got a letter in the mail regarding the recall. Haven't gotten it checked out yet since I live in Cali so there's no rush. The inspection is valid until March 2018. You can check your VIN# at https://www.toyota.com/recall and see if the letter/message pops up for you.

600rr

I think he's just in shock by the amount of work involved and seeing his car gutted like that.
It is hard to look at, but necessary.

computerwi

Agree that the lack of communication does not bode well, but for Lexus to take it to this level is definitely the right step. Corrosion is extremely difficult to repair and replacement is the only way to deal with it properly. Having said that, it would hurt me as an owner to see the car like that and to not have them inform you that this work was required. Many body shops do invasive estimates and this is not an abnormal procedure if the client (i.e. the dealer, not you) is confident about moving forward with body work.

I've always wondered, since the quarter panels on the IS are laser welded at the roof, how a quarter panel replacement is done...

Anyone in Canada receive this recall notice by the way?

3ISRC

Not sure what the issue is here. They are covering the repair right? In fact I think it's great that they identified the rusting that is happening already. I say do not worry so much and just let them take care of it.

LexuScott

Thanks for your response. I am not nearly out of warranty. When I bought the car, I paid for the 6 year 125k mile highest warranty possible, as well as the tire and rim warranty.

My issue is NOT what needs to be done to the car. My issue is WHY this needs to be done to my car. Sure this is the correct fix for this issue. Sure if I got into a car accident and my car needed body work / paint I would have to live with it because it would be my fault and I would understand that. But I feel that I should not have to live with a car that has to be torn apart and put back together and painted just because Lexus screwed up from the factory.

Not saying this in a rude way to you but would you be happy if Lexus sent you a letter and eventually told you your car had to be cut apart and put back together because of something they screwed up? THAT is my issue. I would have never bought the car had work like this been done to it in the first place.

LexuScott

I don't know exactly. When I went to take photos I saw nothing that resembled rust. I am assuming it's behind the quarter panel where I can't see. I asked the Corporate Lexus advisor for the photos that he was sent and he told me he was not allowed to send them to me and that I would have to ask the service manager at the dealership. I plan to call tomorrow and get the photos. I have a feeling he is going to give me a hard time, but we'll see.

LexuScott

A lot of people seemed to have gotten a letter, but most of them didn't seem to have rust based off of what I see in the forums. If no rust is present, they would "perform an anti-rust treatment," which is a 2 hour labor job free of charge.

It applies to "certain 2015 RC 350 and RC F vehicles, and certain 2014-2015 IS 250 and IS 350 vehicles.