lexus600hl

actually, it did. The dealership does a lot for me.

SW17LS

Allrighty then.

Vansibel

And he would also be 100% within his right to move on to another brand. The guy clearly showed he was a loyal customer and gave much business to the dealership and Lexus. Any rules can be bent even those written by the beans counter at Lexus. In the end Lexus will loose money in this case and regardless the rule and special favors if in the long run it result in a lost of profits then it's a poor business decision. People buy those car over the German because they expect them to be reliable. If they fail to do that then they are not as appealing over the German. People who buy Lexus tend to keep them longer than the 3 year lease because they expect them to last. I for one would be the first to shop only German car of I wanted to keep my car only 3 year (2008-2009 ls600hl being the only car I would still have chosen over the German for a 3 year lease). I find pretty alarming to hear so much reliability issues for a car like the ls600hl as it was also sold in such low volume. I was also on the receiving end on that car ridiculous repair bill. Wrote on the customer service part of the forum and didn't even had the courtesy of a reply. It's my second fully loaded ls600hl and when I bought the first one there was crack in the door trim and the original 3 year warranty was expiring the same day I was going to pick the car and the lady at the counter basically took my 80k$ payment including their most extensive warranty and told me too bad the warranty that would cover this just expired today.

Yes Germans might not be as reliable or also won't do free repair on an out of warranty car, but it's a non-issue for a car you only keep 3 year. And if I was this kind of shopper I would not buy a Lexus car. If I was to lower my expectation from Lexus I would also move out of the brand because if reliability and customer service are out of the equation then the German car manufacturer simply does it better.

lexus600hl

Well Said! I appreciate your comments very much. You understand, because it is your money you spent. It is always much easier to give free advice towards spending other people's money!
Having said that, there are some amazing members here on this forum. One guy took the trouble and time of posting a link to this part, but from japan! With part pictures and numbers! I thank him again! Aslo, Cjitty's experience is warning me to sell my 600.
ps: As I wrote, Audi replaced the nav in my friends A8, out of warranty, at no cost.. In the past, Lexus offered superior customer interaction. Now, others are offering the same, and actually more. When I take my BMW or Jaguar for service, the service people are almost pleading with me - to give them high feed back rating. Frankly, I don't see that much attention to feed back from lexus - maybe because they know that I would always give them top score. Are any of you getting requests from lexus service to give them top rating?

VQT

Yes, they asked but I have not given them any rating yet. I did not think their service advisor (at Lexus of Las Vegas) is working to help the customer, just doing what the customer ask is not always the correct ways.

lexus600hl

Service advisers, as you know, work on commission. They always try to over sell. They like to sell maintenance services.

CJITTY

After my experience, no surveys or typical phone calls like before. I think they are more than through with Uncle Jitty. That's ok though. I told corporate I would share my story because as someone who cares about fellow consumers and Lexus enthusiasts, I think it was the right thing to do and I don't regret it. They'll gladly take my money on future service or purchases so I'm not worried about it. Especially since they won't see me unless I have a warranty repair. Anything else, I'm going to an indy

CRowe14

Though my recent interaction with my local dealer and LC weren't nearly as involved as CJITTY's, it was still an interaction/exchange that was strained and not a carefree one, none the less.
Before this situation occurred, I was always made aware of the 'Lexus Rating Survey' and if possible, to rank them favorably, and like clock work, a survey reminder document would always follow a recent visit, in the mail.
As JITTY stated, since my last ordeal with Lexus, I haven't received anything in the mail, nor a phone call asking me my level of satisfaction during my most recent visit to Lexus.
For me, that's fine as well.
What's important to me is great customer service.

SW17LS

The customer service is not as incredible as people make it out to be, I think thats part of why people are disappointed. In my experience Toyota/Lexus doesn't stand behind the customer any more than any other company does. You can always cherry pick positive experiences with one brand a negative experiences with another...but I would just assume that when it comes down to it they're going to cover themselves and you're going to be on your own.

Thats a big reason why I tell people to not waste money servicing the car at the dealership expecting that its going to net them something down the road or in the end. Its not.

CRowe14

I concur.
Me personally, I don't expect to gain anything in return due to my patronage to a certain facility, or to be given special treatment. But what I do expect is for the staff to act in a courteous manner and offer assistance when they can.
I am a customer seeking a service and I intend to be treated with respect and hospitality.
I know that the reasons why people prefer the dealership can vary.
Speaking on my own behalf, my recent dealings with the dealership had to do with goodwill and outside of that, I do allow the dealership to perform my oil changes because the price they offer is about the same as if I were to do it on my own or cheaper than another facility in my area would change, so I allow to dealer to do it.
Outside of that, for me, if its not something that I feel as though a Lexus tech needs to diagnose, I am done with the dealership.
I think you hit the nail on the head with making mention of peoples expectations and what, in general, dealership service is.
But I also think that due to the vast array in levels of customer service, i.e.: The service a friend may have received versus what the level of service a forum member said he received, versus the level of service you/I may have received, or even comparing a present and past customer service experience..., it can all make for inconsistencies, and cause one to wonder 'why'.

VQT

For me, Toyota/Lexus still have the best reliability and their service/customer care are still better than the rest. Yes they went down a couple notch, but still better than the rest. This does not mean that their technician/mechanic perform a better job than other mechanic. It is up to the individual tech. is careful and due diligent on his work or not.

I do not take my vehicle to dealer except warranty or stuff that I can't fixed myself or independent shop are not capable of work on the car. Then again, this is the first time I have a 2013 and 2008 vehicles with more sophisticate electronic components. My previous SC 400, SC 430, LS 400, and LS 430 never see the dealer while it was in my possession.

DMVLS600HL

I am having the same issue with my LS. The dealer wants to replace the entire exhaust pipe. The part that needs to be replaced in inside the exhaust and can not be removed is what I'm being told and the exhaust pipe isn't sold in parts. I've been desperately searching for a work around but so far no luck. I've spoken with a far mechanics and they are telling me the same thing. Lexus also turned me down for financial help with the repair. They said something about my maintenance record. I'd been taking my vehicle to them for everything. Now that I've run into this problem I'll be doing my own maintenance from this point forward. I'm currently trying to find a used exhause from a salvaged car. If I figure it out, I'll post my results.

DMVLS600HL

my car just passed emissions without replacing the part but I still want to fix the problem.

VQT

Is there such a thing as a salvage LS 600? These things are rare to begin with. That's the second 600 with exhaust system failure. You guy are giving me a heart attack...

Nick T

DMVLS600,
What error code do you have and what part did they say is inside the exhaust that failed? Looking at the parts microfiche, nothing is 'inside'