Warranty Refusal
08-05-11, 11:27 AM
#1
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Warranty Refusal
The other day my drivers side lower speaker (the woofer) started crackling, and then the next day it went out completely. This was when my car had about 49,975 miles on it, which is obvioulsy within 25 miles of the end of the factory bumper to bumper warranty. I immediately went online and scheduled the soonest service appointment that I could bring it in for, which was today at 9am.
I obviously had to drive to work yesterday, and when I got to work my odometer read 49,994 miles. So while I was at work I called and left a message for my service rep and let him know I had an appointment the following morning to get the speaker replaced, but by the time I drove home that night and then back to the dealership in the morning I would probably be at about 50,015 miles. He called back and said he'd recommend dropping it off that night instead of waiting until this morning because if the odometer is over 50K then Lexus could possible deny the repair. He even offered to leave me a loaner at the front desk since the service dept would be closed by the time I got there at night. I thought that was nice of him to let me know about that and set up and after-hours loaner for me, so I told him I'd do that.
I thought the dealership was about 3-4 miles away which would put me right at 50K, so I figured I would be fine. Well I drove over there after work and as I pulled into the parking lot the odometer rolled over to 50,002, so I guess it was a few miles further away than I thought. But I assumed I would still be okay since I had reported the problem before it hit 50K and I was just 2 miles over.
Well this morning I talked to my service rep and he says they aren't going to cover it since the car was at 50,002 miles. ARE YOU SERIOUS!?! WTF? I was floored. I asked him to run it by his manager and I was sure he would okay it. So he checks with him and comes back and says nope, he won't do it. He said they need to put the mileage of the vehicle on the warranty paperwork, and if it's over 50K they won't get reimbursed for the repair. We got in a big arguement and I pointed out that the problem clearly happened before it hit 50K, and I also reported it before it was at 50K, and it just so happend that I was literally about 1.5 miles too far from the dealership to be able to get there before it turned past 50K.
Should I be as furious as I am right now? This is absurd! I could understand if I was past 50K miles when it happened, or even if I was past 50K when I reported it, but neither of those are true. I've even heard of some dealerships doing "good will" repairs on major things like blown engines or tramissions which occur after the warranty has expired, but they won't replace one lousy speaker for me even though it failed within the warranty period??
I obviously had to drive to work yesterday, and when I got to work my odometer read 49,994 miles. So while I was at work I called and left a message for my service rep and let him know I had an appointment the following morning to get the speaker replaced, but by the time I drove home that night and then back to the dealership in the morning I would probably be at about 50,015 miles. He called back and said he'd recommend dropping it off that night instead of waiting until this morning because if the odometer is over 50K then Lexus could possible deny the repair. He even offered to leave me a loaner at the front desk since the service dept would be closed by the time I got there at night. I thought that was nice of him to let me know about that and set up and after-hours loaner for me, so I told him I'd do that.
I thought the dealership was about 3-4 miles away which would put me right at 50K, so I figured I would be fine. Well I drove over there after work and as I pulled into the parking lot the odometer rolled over to 50,002, so I guess it was a few miles further away than I thought. But I assumed I would still be okay since I had reported the problem before it hit 50K and I was just 2 miles over.
Well this morning I talked to my service rep and he says they aren't going to cover it since the car was at 50,002 miles. ARE YOU SERIOUS!?! WTF? I was floored. I asked him to run it by his manager and I was sure he would okay it. So he checks with him and comes back and says nope, he won't do it. He said they need to put the mileage of the vehicle on the warranty paperwork, and if it's over 50K they won't get reimbursed for the repair. We got in a big arguement and I pointed out that the problem clearly happened before it hit 50K, and I also reported it before it was at 50K, and it just so happend that I was literally about 1.5 miles too far from the dealership to be able to get there before it turned past 50K.
Should I be as furious as I am right now? This is absurd! I could understand if I was past 50K miles when it happened, or even if I was past 50K when I reported it, but neither of those are true. I've even heard of some dealerships doing "good will" repairs on major things like blown engines or tramissions which occur after the warranty has expired, but they won't replace one lousy speaker for me even though it failed within the warranty period??
Last edited by jleonard71; 08-05-11 at 02:22 PM.
08-05-11, 11:58 AM
#4
Did you buy the car new? If so, how many miles did it have on it when you took delivery? I'd bet it was more than 2 miles. I would then go get your car, have the dealer certify to the mileage and then call Lexus Corporate. What you are describing is ridiculous
Lou
Lou
08-05-11, 12:03 PM
#5
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X2 And best of luck. Lexus needs to know that little things like this can cause the loss of a repeat customer.
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08-05-11, 02:02 PM
#8
Intermediate
Thread Starter
I don't have an owner's manual right now since it's in my car at the dealership and there isn't one in the loaner, but I wonder how the warranty coverage is worded exactly? Does it say that it covers any defects which occur within 50K miles, or does it say that they will only cover it if the car has under 50K miles when it is brought in for service? If it's the former, and if I can prove that the car had less than 50K miles when it was reported (which I can because I took a picture of the odometer with a date & time stamp just in case this exact thing happened), then there shouldn't be any dispute whatsoever.
I know I could probably throw in an aftermarket speaker that would probably sound even better the original one for under $100, but it's the principle of the matter. And I'll get legal on them if I need to. This is rediculous.
I know I could probably throw in an aftermarket speaker that would probably sound even better the original one for under $100, but it's the principle of the matter. And I'll get legal on them if I need to. This is rediculous.
08-05-11, 02:11 PM
#9
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Well guess what, 2 minutes after my last post I got a call from my service rep and he said they're going to be able to push it through and get it replaced. Maybe they monitor these forums?
(that's actually kind of what I was hoping when I posted this!
)
(that's actually kind of what I was hoping when I posted this!
)
08-05-11, 02:43 PM
#11
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08-05-11, 04:04 PM
#12
forums rule. This situation sounds like dealing with a machine for your concerns. By the book and by the book only, there is no consideration for certain special circumstances. Now unless someone pulls their arm so they do something about it. So everyone needs to let the people higher up in the food chain know. This is just like a situation where I made a appointment for a friend of mine at a local BMW dealership for service, because he does not speak English very well. Well long story short he dropped his vehicle off, they made him wait for over an hour to get his car into the service department, and then left him with no loaner car for 3 DAYS!, even though I specifically booked a loaner for him on that date.
08-05-11, 05:07 PM
#13
Intermediate
Thread Starter
I too am glad they stepped up and did the right thing. But it shouldn't have even been an issue to begin with, they should have just done that from the beginning without any headache.
08-05-11, 05:09 PM
#14
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Are you kidding me? Who would they be defrauding - themselves?? It would be fraud if I had rolled back my odometer or made a false claim, but how is it fraud if they repair something under warranty even though the odometer is a few miles past the 50K mark?
Last edited by jleonard71; 08-05-11 at 05:16 PM.
08-05-11, 05:19 PM
#15
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The bumper to bumper warranty starts at the original owner's starting mileage which would be shown on the original title or even a carfax report would show the mileage the car was originally titled at.
The dealership assumed that the car was sold at 0 miles, which is almost never the case. I bet they went back to the original service date and miles and saw that it is still legally within the original warranty period.
Lexus is one of the hardest companies to work with on a warranty. I have to say, I don't really like GM cars, but their warranty is always 100%, unlike Lexus and Toyota where is seems you have to fight them each time you have a claim!
Most of the Lexus service advisers and service managers don't even know how to turn a wrench. They argued with me for 15 mins one day stating that the IS-F has two oil filters that have to be changed each time. They were trying to charge me $300 for a Mobil 1 oil change!
The dealership assumed that the car was sold at 0 miles, which is almost never the case. I bet they went back to the original service date and miles and saw that it is still legally within the original warranty period.
Lexus is one of the hardest companies to work with on a warranty. I have to say, I don't really like GM cars, but their warranty is always 100%, unlike Lexus and Toyota where is seems you have to fight them each time you have a claim!
Most of the Lexus service advisers and service managers don't even know how to turn a wrench. They argued with me for 15 mins one day stating that the IS-F has two oil filters that have to be changed each time. They were trying to charge me $300 for a Mobil 1 oil change!