Hello, 2-3 weeks ago I had to get my Courtesy Door Closers (Left Rear Door) on my 01 Ultra fixed. When we got out of the dealer, I checked the door from the outside to find no visible damage. So I thought all is good. Then 2-3 days ago I sat in the back seat finding black grease marks on the door, back of the driver's seat, back of center console, and 3-4 other places. I am afraid they might not fix it as they think I might have purposefully done it, to get marks fixed, but that is not the case. Nobody has sat in my car since then, and the marks are grease. Before this service, there wasnt a single mark in the back seat. It was perfectly brandnew, so if you can tell I am a bit pissed. I don't know how should I go about this. Im going to the dealer tomorrow for some other things, so I am going to show them to him. I know Lexus's service is the best, so hopefully they would do something. Any opinions would be appreciated, including if you think they could fix it or not.

Mink92890

 

Well this is your chance to build a good or crap relationship with your service manager. I would call and ask for the service manager. Explain to him that you were just in. You inspected you car before you took it but never thought of looking back there. Tell him what you found. If you sound seneire and understanding that things happen but thought you should bring it to his attention because you dont know the best way to handle it.

I bet you if you dont come off as a arogant pissed off guy they will be more than happy to fix the issuse. We al understand these guys are working and they do have grease around. At the same time we do expect to get are cars back in the same or better condtion than when we brought it in. Just be patiant and polite and all will work out.

Stuff like this has happen to me and I always come out ahead, but I am always polite. I live in SOuth Florida. This is the Gumppy old fart capital of the world. Unfortuantly most of these elderly people are roud and mean to service people wether its Lexus or Walmart. These service guys usually respond very kindly to some one treating them like a person and understand things happen.

Thats my $.02

 

My recommendation is to clean off the grease yourself but still call the dealer to complain. Take it back to the dealer only if the grease does not come off easily.

I have had lots of damage (usually minor but some major) done by repair shops - both dealer and non-dealer - over my 40 years of driving. I get tired of taking cars to dealers and having them returned to me with grease stains, dings, scratches, broken trim, etc. etc. One of my "favorites" was when the dealer mechanic did not secure the large underengine cover on our 90 LS and it was dragging on the ground and shredded by the time I got home. Or when the hood of one of my Mercedes was trashed by an air gun hanging from the ceiling in the service area. I could go on and on with these stories.

"Lexus's service is the best?" Not from my experience. Not even close. They do, however have "free" gourmet coffee, pastries, plasma TV's and nice furniture in their waiting areas.

I last took my LS to the Lexus dealer (twice) a few months ago for warranty repairs just before the basic 4 year warranty expired. One of the less serious issues was with the DRL's which two service writers, in a heated discussion, swore my LS did not have. Did they apologize when I showed them the DRL information in the owners manual? No.

My recommendation is to find a good independent repair shop and get to know the owner. The waiting room may not be as nice but you might find much better service and prices.

 

Gimme a break. Just used some terry cloth towels and wipe the grease up. I do like the idea of discussing the idea with your service manager first. I'd recommed telling him that you will try to clean it up first, and will come visit them only if you cannot get the stuff up. That way you appear to be making an effor to fix their mistake.

Yes, it sucks that something got on your car, but IF it can be easily cleaned, just do it. If you have problems, then goto the dealer and ask them to make it appear the way when you dropped it off.

 

I'm with the other's on this.

Geezzz, don't work yourself up over some grease that was left by accident due to the dealer.
The service manager should have checked the car prior to releasing it but mistakes happen and occasionally things are over looked by accident. Just remember, service people are humans and not robots.

Simply clean it up and make sure you mention it to your dealer in a calm/polite way and that's that. Possibly you'll get a free oil change or something out of it.

 

Another service tip that I recently broke and regretted....INSIST on talking DIRECTLY to the mechanic(s) who will be working on your vehicle. I had my snow tires installed last week on my '04 LS430 and I asked the service manager to be sure they clearly marked which tires came off of which wheels. Wouldn't you know it....of course...they had no idea. We could tell more or less from the wear which were from the back and which were from the front so that's probably good enough to reinstall on the proper axle in the spring. But it made me mad at myself that I trusted the service writer to relay that important (to me) info but he did not. I almost always ask to speak DIRECTLY to the mechanic and usually it pays off in less mistakes about the instructions and the mechanic is more careful because he personally has connected with the customer.