lexusk8

Kind of a crazy-but-no-biggie question... any legitimate reason why I see non-Lexus cars in Lexus service? Is it kind of the same way as Toyota capable of servicing Lexus cars (and Honda servicing Acuras, Nissan servicing Infinitis, etc.)? Yesterday when I was at service to place a parts/service order, I saw an Xterra, Camry and an Avalon at the service bays, as well as the rest of the ES, GS, IS, etc. Hopefully this thread will provoke some interesting discussion in the sometimes secretive service/maintenance world

VSsc400

iTrader: (1)

I wondered the same thing so I asked "why don't they go to their own dealers to get their stuff done?"

Many of them are cars that the workers own and they do oil changes and stuff.
They don't perform repairs on them. Just maintenance like oil changes and stuff.


thats what I've been told.

kreativ

Perhaps part of the dealership's used car sales collection. That and cars of the owner/employees.

tech237

Could be used car trade-ins, loaner cars, employee cars, any number of reasons...

lexusk8

It must be kinda nice to work at a Lexus (or any) dealership, and get maintenance work done on your car when you want to , but I heard that the technicians don't make much $$$. I guess that's some sort of trade-off.

BrianV

When I got into an accident with my mom's 98 4runner limited, we had a top notch body shop fix it so hopefully no one will be able to tell it was in an accident. For that same reason we opt'd to take it to the local Lexus dealer to have things checked over, that way it wouldn't be in the records on Toyota Dealer's computers.

The Lexus dealer had no problem taking it in, they gave it a thorough wash, and gave it a wash just like it was a Lexus. This was when it was brand new, and it was a $38K truck.

BrianV

A decent tech that's certified should get $15-$20 an hour at a dealer. However, most dealers are commission based now so they get paid more for the more work they do. Unfortunately, this motivates sloppy and careless work. My friend was a mechanic at Audi and he told me it's all about getting stuff done as quick as possible. He's actually been scolded by the service manager twice for forgetting to put the oil cap back on the car after an oil change. The customer comes back with oil oozing out of the grille, and then they have to spend a lot of time steam cleaning the engine, etc.

Frankly, dealers have the advantage of having the computers and a part's dept built in, but frankly the mechanics are rarely that qualified and rarely give half a damn about your car.

I find smaller places do more quality work, but often don't know how to fix big problems and don't offer any gurantees.

I only plan on taking my Lexus to the dealer for tranny flushes.

tech237

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I don't think it is fair to categorize all techs as sloppy and careless just because we have to work on a commission based-get paid for the work you do type of system. If you do sloppy work and it "comes back" you fix the car for free............if you have consistent problems the dealer cuts you loose. end of story.........