wag100

I think I really screwed up. I had been thinking of trading my 04 GX470 for a LX for the past couple of months. The dealers in my area could never get an LX for me to drive. I got a wild hair and decided to trade for a '07 Land Cruiser. The dealer couldn't find one with Sat radio and rear DVD in the color I wanted but told me he could get those installed. He assured me they would be "factory". I made the trade late last week and took my car into the dealer today to have the remaining options installed. I picked it up after they had closed tonight and found an external Sirius radio stuck to the dash and an Advent DVD player screwed to the headliner. I expected the Sat radio to be intergrated with the Nav. system. The DVD player took the spot where the dome lights were. There are two led lights which face toward the back seat. No light is directed to the front seat. On top of that it doesn't match the color (ivory)
I Want A LX
I think I really screwed up. Any suggestions?

1loudLX

*scratches head*

Did you get in writing that these options would be factory OEM equipment and installed so? If so, then the dealer throwing in the aftermarket bs would be enough that you could return the vehicle for your full refund.....assuming you fought hard enough.

That would seriously **** me off. Anyways, since you thought on a LC and drove that, why didnt you just by the LX after testing the LC? They would have been the same.

V8_Fan

I don't know of any cases where the dealer has installed "factory OEM" electronics due to the cost. If they promised you an OEM DVD and sat radio, I'd demand they remove the aftermarket units they installed and install OEM. FYI, the OEM rear entertainment is a flip down that is located where the dome light was, but I think there's some other kind of dome light. I never knew the LC was available w/ the RES...thought it was just the LX. No use crying over spilt milk. You've already bought the LC, and it would be too much of a financial loss to trade it in for a 97 LX unless the dealer allows a direct swap w/ minimal or no financial hit.

If it were me, I'd do without the rear dvd and sat radio and have the dealer replace any pieces that were drilled into and replace the original OEM radio & dome light. A used LC w/ rear DVD and sat radio is worth no more than a LC w/o them.

1loudLX

jim, those options are usually installed at the port or even dealer installed. Still so, they are OEM not aftermarket.

aedgington

Sounds like you got punked. You should not have taken possession of the vehicle, biiiig mistake.

wag100

I was at the dealership at 8:30 this morning to discuss my options. They told me they would call by 10:30 with answers. They hadn't called by 12:00 so I went back. They told me they would have answers within an hour. At 4:00 I still had not heard from them so I went back again. They told me they were in contact with the installer but didn't have any answers yet. I asked if they had talked to their parts department about getting the OEM equipment and they said they had not. I beleive it was at this point I probably showed my *** a little bit. I got angry enought that the owner of the dealership came out and decided to personally handle the problem. I told him that I wanted my money back (face value) on the options I had ordered. He told me that I didn't pay face value. (maybe somewhat true since there was some discount off of sticker) At the end of the day he told me that he had ordered the factory Sirius radio module (5 days) and a "factory recomended" dvd player(14 days). I could never pin him down on a "factory recomended" dvd player. I've learned a hard lesson by this. I agree, I should never have taken possesion without having everything complete. I guess I was way to eager to get it.
I'll say it again 'I should have bought an LX'

V8_Fan

I thought the rear dvd (flip down from the ceiling) for the LX is installed at the factory? (at least some of them are) The rear spoilers are mostly added at port, but some are factory, even on LC's (but maybe not in this country...I have photos of the finished vehicles at the LC/LX plant in Japan and there is a black LC w/ rear spoiler and chromes). Not many, but some (I think < 5%). They can usually look it up w/ the VIN.

Ditto w/ chrome wheels. Most are NOT factory chromed, some are. Eventhough the salesman told me my chromes were factory (a year ago when I bought the car; I didn't care about the chromes, as the vehicle condition was more important), when I dropped off the spare for chroming a couple of weeks ago, I had the SM look up the VIN to see if my vehicle had factory chromes. Negative. He said they were chromed by a plating facility in Phoenix. Reason I asked was, I noticed many of the high-end Lexus in town (there are only two dealers by the same name under the same ownership in town) like the LX's, LS's, SC's have chrome wheels. These must surely be installed by the dealer, as the percentage is just too high.

Problem w/ buying any car is, once you take delivery, the problems are off the dealer's shoulders. Had I known my vehicle only had one master key, I would have put a new, second master key as a condition for delivery plus erasing the missing key from the transponder. And my vehicle was CPO...salesman said lexus is only required to provide two keys for CPO vehicles, so I had to fork out another $250 for a new key (wife and I were not happy). Dealer nickel & dimes me all the time (no advantage having bought it there in terms of doing stuff for free or on discount), so I just say screw it to them and do most of the maintenance myself.

This is one nice thing about buying a car in Japan. Eventhough you pay list price (no discounts anywhere), the car is made to order at the factory (takes about 2 months) to your specs (given the allowable individual options). You can order individual options, like the LC without roof rails/running boards/AHC, no dvd, rear diff lock, cloth seats, etc. The options are all priced individually, so you just pay for the options you want and add that to the base price. BTW, the base price for the LC in Japan is $39K USD. Leather seats are like $3K, dvd is $3K, roof rails $600, boards $600, 3rd row seats, etc. By the time you add up all the options, it's like $50-55K.

Max707

Sorry to hear about your communication problems with the dealer. Sounds like they are trying to make things right. Don't let this ruin your ownership experience. You saved $$$ buying the less expensive LC over a new LX. Bound to be compromises.

CACressida

iTrader: (1)

As much as I love the LX, the LC is just as good, and a tad bit lighter on its feet. Either way, if having a wood steering wheel is a must, and riding in complete silence, then you made the wrong decision. Otherwise, theres no other reason to pay extra for the fancier LX with the better leather Again, would you pay 10-20gs for the LX just because it has the factory DVD player lol.

Max707

Agreed, if I was buying new and going to keep long term I would save the $$ and get the LC. Used is a different story with Lexus having more available for resale and their CPO 3 year 100K mile bumper to bumper warranty.

valgs350

iTrader: (1)

I always thought the LX470 was lighter on its feet, the 1999 Lx470 has a 0-60 of 9.7 while the 2006 Land Cruiser has a 0-60 of 10.6, from 4 wheeler magazine.

Does the LX470 have an aluminum block engine?

I read a brochure that said something about that...

Max707

No they are the same. Same driveline, same sheet metal, just trim differences and the LX weighs more because of more insulation and some additonal luxury stuff. So the LC should feel lighter and faster then a LX. But comparing a 99 with a 2006? Could be a lot of reasons?

CACressida

iTrader: (1)

99 100s came with a 230hp and 320lbs ft torque 2UZ bolted to a 4speed automatic. The gear ratios in the 4spd are very different. Those of you with a 4spd know exactly what im talking about. When you mash the gas pedal from a dead stop in the 4spd LC/LX, it picks up aggressively until it changes into 2nd, then all that power just disappeared. Toyota addressed this problem with the 5spd autos in 2003.

You punch the gas in a 2003+ model, it just keeps on going with its powerband. 2006 gained VVT-i wich increased its hp/tq numbers. To me, I feel very very lil difference.

With the different 0-60 times, you gotta think of where its done. The altitude, the direction of the wind, type of gas. Stuff like that hampers the 1/4 mile time. For example, I took my Cressida to the drag strip and on regular 87 octane fuel, I did a lousy 14.8 run. I put 44psi in the tires and put 100 octane fuel, 1/4 mile was 13.6 and thats just adding 4psi more in the tires and a higher octane fuel.

Now a 2UZ-FE, I don't think adding 100 octane fuel will improve it by a significant amount, but I'm sure with better tire pressure and better fuel on a calm weather day on sea level, you should get a better 0-60 time.

valgs350

iTrader: (1)

The only thing I hate most about my LX470 is that 2nd gear, lol

V8_Fan

I have no idea what you mean by the power disappearing in second gear, as I have the 5 speed.

If I were buying a new car, I'd get a LC with vvti and w/o AHC or DVD and with 17" wheels instead of 18" (more tire choices). This will cut the costs and minimize what can go wrong in the long term. But again, I can't afford a new LC, so I have to settle for a used LX. Plus since it's used, I don't feel as bad when the car gets dinged, like when my windshield cracked from a rock. If it were a new car, even a 4runner, I'd feel bummed. But w/ 60k mi already, a few rattles & dings here and there are no biggie. Still, light years quieter than my old 4runner. You can't here most of the rattles since the engine/header & exhaust are so loud.