Back in mid July, it was determined by the techs at my local Lexus dealership that my 4 UCA's needed to be replaced.
I contacted Lexus Corporate and long story short, the decided to take care of the parts and I would be responsible for labor.
Fast forward...
I set up the appointment earlier this week to have it done today.
First of all, there are no master techs on Saturdays, and its a time consuming job, so it couldn't have been done today anyway.
Apparently, the SA that set up the appointment wasn't aware of this fact, and I was wrongly advised, so now its looking like Monday.
Secondly, the Service Manager comes out to tell me that Lexus is no longer able to provide assistance with the repair, as the offer was only valid for 30 days.
After 30 days, it's as if I never started the entire process.
This practically blew me away as I was absolutely not aware of this fact.
It was never mentioned in any of the email correspondence, nor was it divulged to me in any of the phone conversations.
Im also pretty sure that when I went in about 4 months ago to get an oil change, the SA told me that as long as Lexus offered to assist with the repair, I was good to go, as long as I took care of the labor element.
I'm saying all of this to say that, not once do I recall, to this day, ever feeling pressure to hurry and address this before the offer Lexus had presented, expired.
Now, all of the sudden, its 30 days take it or leave it...??
Now, if it was mentioned and I don't recall, then I'll take the blame for failing to be aware of that fact, but I honestly and really don't think that was ever told to me.
I will be making a lengthy road trip on Tuesday morning, and have decided to let Lexus do the repair, because I do not wish to drive the car with a vibration (although small) between 73-80mph, then seek the help Lexus Corp, and see if they will offer their assistance once again.
I have already written to Lexus earlier this afternoon.
My only worry is that Lexus will decide not to help and well...I'll have paid a pretty hefty fee for control arms.
Does this sound correct?
Has anyone ever heard of a Lexus Corp offer to assist a customer only lasting 30 days?
Also, if anyone has any comments on my thought process, feel free to comment.
Thank you everyone.

 

I would call Lexus corporate back instead of having the dealer tell you that.

Sounds weird IMO.

I'm not saying the dealer would try and take advantage of this situation by "double charging" this job, but who knows in this day and age.

Better to check and hear it from the horse's mouth.

 

Wow, weird. First off you don't need a master tech to replace the upper control arms, a 14 year old kid could do those...they are right out in the open and require no special tools.

Second, it sounds like the dealer is having a little post Christmas blues. They don't want to be there today and in walks you - appointment or not - so the service advisor doesn't want (or can't) contact Lexus corporate for your free control arms, or an owner, or the general manager. You'll get it taken care of...Lexus will extend whatever they promised you. It does make me laugh though that here wasn't a master tech there, because unless they only do oil changes on Saturdays, there certainly was someone capable that could have easily put those control arms in.

 

Hopefully you have an email or a letter from Lexus stating their agreement to pay for the parts. I would doubt that they had an expiration date on the offer. Although I can certainly understand that after 5 months they may have deleted the record off of their books.

I had one issue with Lexus Corporate where they agreed to supply a drip molding. As soon as they did I made an appointment with the dealer. I guess I'm not understanding why if you needed control arms back in July you wait until the day after Christmas to have them replaced.

 

I was told that once Lexus makes an offer to split cost of repair, it is valid without a time limit. I don't know if this changed. One time they extended an offer to split the cost of the actuator of my previous 460 and more than a year after I was told that the offer is still valid if I decide to take it.

 

Thank you kindly to everyone who has taken the time to read and provide feedback.
I do believe that Lexus will in fact remains steadfast on their offer.
Double, you post made me laugh out loud!
I didn't even think to look at it that way.
Unless I absolutely have to, this will be my last dealing with this dealership.
The next closest location is about 40 minutes away.
I look forward to wrapping this up and being done with it.

Nospinezone:
To be frank with you, over the last few months, I've had quite a bit going on, and control arms on my car weren't exactly on the top of my priority list.
They weren't that bad and still aren't. I'm just in a space to be able to address it at this point.
Regarding any sort of documentation stating Lexus would take provide assistance, I do have the email as well as a saved voicemail, however, I dont think that will serve to be an issue.
Both individuals I spoke with today at the dealership were well aware of the services that corporate was willing to provide.
It's simply be a matter of me making a phone call first thing Monday morning to Lexus corporate, providing my case number and determining if the offer still stands or is expired.
I honestly feel that they will honor it, but we'll see.

 

I would be prepared to walk away if they don't want to pay for the parts. I would buy the uca online and have an independent shop install them for a fraction of the price Lexus will charge you.

Here is a thread I quickly found detailing the savings. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ing-labor.html

 

When Lexus Corp made that offer they would definitely have put some notes on the account. You can call them back and say that you are ready to do the work now and shall you take the car to the dealership. Only issue being timing of your road trip and Lexus authorizes the repair to dearlership.

When ever I take car for a service, I normally speak to the technician to make sure I am comfortable with the technician who would work on the car and more importantly I emphasis a point that I am not one of those who would drop a car pay bill and walk away. Again, while picking the car, I will talk to the technican to make sure job is completed as I requested and ask for any suggestions for future services. Believe it or not when speaking to technician alone it is always more of the technical discussion than upsale. That happens when SA joins the discussion!!.

Coming to your point, I wouldn't take the car to service on weekend except for simple oil changes etc. No two tehnicians are the same and I have seen the quality difference between junior vs experienced guys no matter how small or big the work is. Just my 2 cents

 

Satiger, thank you for taking the time to comment, and indeed I took your advise and spoke with the tech before the job started. We spoke for 25 minutes and he had a solid understanding of what my concerns were and he made mention of a few things I thought to be important.
Thanks again for the pointers!
HNY!

 

So I called Lexus Corporate this morning and spoke with a rep there, and sure enough as others have mentioned, and the rep stated this is specifics, that a Lexus Corporate goodwill offer has no expiration date.
I was sure to write an email expressing my displeasure regarding the interaction that took place on Saturday, along with the information from LC, to the SAM, whom I dealt with on Saturday.
My car is being worked on as I type this, and I will be responsible for the labor and the cost of a 4-wheel alignment.
One thing i'd like to mention to everyone, is that while speaking to the Lexus tech who will be working on my car, he stated what I and most all of us know-that Lexus has revised the control arms.
he stated that, again, as most of us know, that the prior design was a bad one, and that the design of the bushing was like a 2-part bushing, with a metal ring in between the two bushings, and that was the cause for a lot of premature bushing breakdown.
Where as the new bushing design is a solid, wider bushing that can withstand more weight over a longer period of time.
He went as far as to make the claim that these bushings should last well over 100K, perhaps even close to 200K.
Its all relative of course, but the idea is that they definitely should be breaking down between 30K-70K as many of them have.
I also addressed the height issue with him, as a former member had said that once he had picked up his car after the CA repair, the front end was noticeably higher than the rear.
The tech stated that, yes, that can be an issue if the person installing the arms des not take note of the loaded arm position and index the arms, so that one the new ones are installed, the former resting position will remain the same.
He stated that due to these bushings being much more robust, they are very strong and firm, and that is evident by the fact that if the arms aren't indexed, the stiffness of the bushing can and will actually make the car sit a bit higher, and in order to fix the issue, you have to practically do everything over again, as you have to remove the strut/shock tower to loosen the bolts, re-adjust the arms and tighten the bolts.
With all of that being said, im looking forward to feeling the difference in the ride.
Thanks again everyone, and I will report back once the car is ready for pick up.
Oh-on a side note, they provided me a 2015 NX as a loaner...
Decent vehicle, but it is an entire world away from my "older" LS.
If anyone wants to know my thoughts on the NX, I'll be more than glad to share my little 2 cents!

 

Good stuff. Figured you'd get it sorted today.

 

Glad to hear you finally got the right thing done. Also an interesting perspective from the tech.

 

Good to hear as I am in a similar situation. Corporate stated they will pay labor for a rear shock mount if I buy the part. That was in June. It only causes a little rattle so I haven't been in a rush. Glad you got it sorted.

 

Nice, I wouldn't trust that service manager one iota from now on.

He just flat-out lied to you.

 

Fantastic! However, you do see that delaying things too long could present a problem.

I have no intention of buying a NX, but I am truly interested in your thoughts on it. Enquiring minds want to know!