Alternative to the Dealership in MD, VA, DC Metro
01-29-08, 05:04 PM
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Alternative to the Dealership in MD, VA, DC Metro
I've been looking for an alternative to the local Lexus Dealership in my area for some time. I always had the feeling that my local dealer here has been doing me a favor servicing my 2 Lexus vehicles. Over charged, and under serviced. So much so, that when I purchased a new vehicle recently, I went in an entirely different direction. There just wasn't an alternative unless I was willing to drive an additional twenty miles. Not any more. Yesterday I went to an independent shop which seems to understand the meaning of service and value. Great service, at reasonable prices with LEXUS and Toyota certified specialists in Rockville Maryland, LXT Automotive, 301.881.4033. Owner operated with an expert diagnostic specialist who worked at Lexus for 16+ years. They advertise "Will save you lots of time and $$." They did. They aren't a fancy shop and I have no affiliation with them. I'm just happy to get great service and value.
Location: MD,DC,VA
Location: MD,DC,VA
01-29-08, 07:19 PM
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Oh finally! A supposedly decent Lexus expert outside of the dealerships. I hate going to the dealers around MD and VA...because they're all the same.
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.
02-13-08, 12:59 PM
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Highly Recommend LXT Automotive
Nelson at LXT Automotive recently worked on my 1998 LS400 and I had a very good experience and it saved me at least $1500! What makes LXT Automotive such a great deal is that Nelson is an experienced Lexus mechanic with lower rates than the dealer. When you enter his office in Rockville you can see all of his Lexus training and master mechanic certificates so you know you are getting a mechanic with years of experience working on Lexus’ at the dealership. You save money because his hourly rates are lower and he charges fewer hours for the same repairs than the dealership. Nelson even showed me the damaged parts that needed to be replaced. OK, there is no fancy showroom and no free loaner cars, but Enterprise picked me up and gave me a car for $28. All in all I saved about 40% from what the dealer would have charged for my repairs. I will definitely go back in the future.
02-13-08, 02:03 PM
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Service Provided
C/V Boot
Engine Mounts Left and Right/ Rear Tranny Mount
Rear Strut Bar
Basic Fluid / overall service and check of complete engine & drivetrain.
Too many little things were worked on for me to list here, including PCV, Carb cleaned filters, tire balance, inspection of fuel lines and vapor system.
What did I like ? Previous post summed it up well.
Price/ I asked Lexus for a price before going to LXT
Service/ I was shown what needed to be done. We looked at the car together.
Service/ We went on a test drive together at my request.
Service/ The guy bent over backwards to diagnose a vibration I was experiencing. He drove with me on the interstate . . . together at 75/90 mph for diagnosis.
Feel free to ask any additional questions. I had the itch to buy another car. This one runs so well now, I can't bring myself to replace it.
Engine Mounts Left and Right/ Rear Tranny Mount
Rear Strut Bar
Basic Fluid / overall service and check of complete engine & drivetrain.
Too many little things were worked on for me to list here, including PCV, Carb cleaned filters, tire balance, inspection of fuel lines and vapor system.
What did I like ? Previous post summed it up well.
Price/ I asked Lexus for a price before going to LXT
Service/ I was shown what needed to be done. We looked at the car together.
Service/ We went on a test drive together at my request.
Service/ The guy bent over backwards to diagnose a vibration I was experiencing. He drove with me on the interstate . . . together at 75/90 mph for diagnosis.
Feel free to ask any additional questions. I had the itch to buy another car. This one runs so well now, I can't bring myself to replace it.
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02-14-08, 02:06 PM
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I was taking my ride to Lexus of Silver Spring but we had a small incident and I started driving all the way out to Rockville cuz I know some of the people there. 3 members from CL work there and I can definitely trust them with my ride. One person works at the service desk and two other people in parts and I'm pretty cool with some of the mechanics. So they always look out for me and get me a fair deal. I've personally never had a problem with them and they are the only people I would let work on my ride. Just my 2 cents 
Glad u found an alternative though.
-Smitty
Glad u found an alternative though. -Smitty
02-17-08, 07:44 PM
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You're right, it is about trust.
If you have an incident at a dealership, you are going to look elsewhere, as we both have.
Having owned this Lexus for 12 years I've come to believe I paid way too much for dealer service which wasn't up to par. Hence the alternative.
If you have an incident at a dealership, you are going to look elsewhere, as we both have.
Having owned this Lexus for 12 years I've come to believe I paid way too much for dealer service which wasn't up to par. Hence the alternative.
03-11-08, 09:27 AM
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Most of my servicing, I take my car to Lindsey Lexus in Alexandria. Even though I live near Pohanka and I bought my car from Rockville, Lindsey Lexus gives my car better treatment then the dealership I bought the car from. They have taken care of a lot of TSB without question/hassel (unlike Rockville). My car is still only 8 months old so no major costly problems... yet. I'll keep in mind about the alternative.
04-22-08, 02:58 PM
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This is going to be a testimonial and a review of the LXT Automobiles at MD and Jaxon, thanks so much for the info on this vendor.
Recently the “Ignition Key Lock” problem struck my 2003 IS 300 which rendered my car useless as the Ignition hole was firmly stuck at the “Accessory” spot. I’ve called AAA for help and they first sent down a “car lock smith” who claimed to know what to do in situation like this and demanded $130 for his trip. AAA covered $50 through my membership but I had to cover the rest. The guy wiggled my transponder key for about 5 minutes and then determined that there was nothing that he could do and I had to get the whole unit replaced and left in a hurry…
AAA then sent for a local tow truck and transported my vehicle to Lexus of Rockville. While I have to say that the service was superb and they’ve even given me a 2009 RX 350 as a loaner “free” of charge for the duration of the time that my vehicle was with them, they were more than ready to make up for it from the premium charge of their services. The whole bill came out to be $1,100!!! The breakdown was roughly this:
$400 for the Ignition unit
$550 for the 5 hours of labor?!?!
the rest were for the programming of the existing key and all the rest of the locks.
As if my day wasn’t bad enough already, I knew there was no way that I was going to dish out more than a grand for a simple ignition key hole. So I started my search on the net and found this article.
The owner of LXT Automotive is Nelson Guevara, he has 16+ year of experience dealing specifically with Toyota and Lexus and he claims with other types of vehicles. I’ve only needed to describe briefly to him over the phone about my problem and he immediately knew what the problem was. He only wanted to charge me $300 total for parts, labor and the programming of the transponder key. He also noticed that my old key was part of the problem as the grooves were grinding against the cylinder of the key hole which caused it to break. He sent for a new key and only billed me $200 for what an earlier dealership estimate came out to be $300. After he had received all the parts, it only took half a day to get the job done and I got my IS 300 back in less than 2 business days. Needless to say that had saved me a lot of headache and money.
So I highly recommend this vendor as an alternative to Lexus of Rockville in MD. If you’re around the MD, VA and DC Metro areas, definitely check them out when you’re in trouble with your beloved luxury vehicle that likes to break your wallet. Here are some info:
LXT Automotive
12273 Nebel Street
Rockville, MD 20852
301.881.4033
It is an obscure location and it is right around a busy train track. There are a series of auto shops there but look for this spot at the end of the plaza.
Recently the “Ignition Key Lock” problem struck my 2003 IS 300 which rendered my car useless as the Ignition hole was firmly stuck at the “Accessory” spot. I’ve called AAA for help and they first sent down a “car lock smith” who claimed to know what to do in situation like this and demanded $130 for his trip. AAA covered $50 through my membership but I had to cover the rest. The guy wiggled my transponder key for about 5 minutes and then determined that there was nothing that he could do and I had to get the whole unit replaced and left in a hurry…
AAA then sent for a local tow truck and transported my vehicle to Lexus of Rockville. While I have to say that the service was superb and they’ve even given me a 2009 RX 350 as a loaner “free” of charge for the duration of the time that my vehicle was with them, they were more than ready to make up for it from the premium charge of their services. The whole bill came out to be $1,100!!! The breakdown was roughly this:
$400 for the Ignition unit
$550 for the 5 hours of labor?!?!
the rest were for the programming of the existing key and all the rest of the locks.
As if my day wasn’t bad enough already, I knew there was no way that I was going to dish out more than a grand for a simple ignition key hole. So I started my search on the net and found this article.
The owner of LXT Automotive is Nelson Guevara, he has 16+ year of experience dealing specifically with Toyota and Lexus and he claims with other types of vehicles. I’ve only needed to describe briefly to him over the phone about my problem and he immediately knew what the problem was. He only wanted to charge me $300 total for parts, labor and the programming of the transponder key. He also noticed that my old key was part of the problem as the grooves were grinding against the cylinder of the key hole which caused it to break. He sent for a new key and only billed me $200 for what an earlier dealership estimate came out to be $300. After he had received all the parts, it only took half a day to get the job done and I got my IS 300 back in less than 2 business days. Needless to say that had saved me a lot of headache and money.
So I highly recommend this vendor as an alternative to Lexus of Rockville in MD. If you’re around the MD, VA and DC Metro areas, definitely check them out when you’re in trouble with your beloved luxury vehicle that likes to break your wallet. Here are some info:
LXT Automotive
12273 Nebel Street
Rockville, MD 20852
301.881.4033
It is an obscure location and it is right around a busy train track. There are a series of auto shops there but look for this spot at the end of the plaza.
Last edited by Ryviusx; 05-15-08 at 01:14 PM.
05-06-08, 04:19 AM
#13
Driver School Candidate
This is going to be a testimonial and a review of the LXT Automobiles at MD and Jaxon, thanks so much for the info on this vendor.
Recently the “Ignition Key Lock” problem struck my 2003 IS 300 which rendered my car useless as the Ignition hole was firmly stuck at the “Accessory” spot. I’ve called AAA for help and they first sent down a “car lock smith” who claimed to know what to do in situation like this and demanded $130 for his trip. AAA covered $50 through my membership but I had to cover the rest. The guy wiggled my transponder key for about 5 minutes and then determined that there was nothing that he could do and I had to get the whole unit replaced and left in a hurry…
AAA then sent for a local tow truck and transported my vehicle to Lexus of Rockville. While I have to say that the service was superb and they’ve even given me a 2009 RX 350 as a loaner “free” of charge for the duration of the time that my vehicle was with them, they were more than ready to make up for it from the premium charge of their services. The whole bill came out to be $1,100!!! The breakdown was roughly this:
$400 for the Ignition unit
$550 for the 5 hours of labor?!?!
the rest were for the programming of the existing key and all the rest of the locks.
As if my day wasn’t bad enough already, I knew there was no way that I was going to dish out more than a grand for a simple ignition key hole. So I started my search on the net and found this article.
The owner of LXT Automotive is Nelson Guevara, he has 16+ year of experience dealing with specifically with Toyota and Lexus and he claims with other types of vehicles. I’ve only needed to describe briefly to him over the phone about my problem and he immediately knew what the problem was. He only wanted to charge me $300 total for parts, labor and the programming of the transponder key. He also noticed that my old key was part of the problem as the grooves were grinding against the cylinder of the key hole which caused it to break. He sent for a new key and only billed me $200 for what an earlier dealership estimate came out to be $300. After he had received all the parts, it only took half a day to get the job done and I got my IS 300 back in less than 2 business days. Needless to say that had saved me a lot of headache and money.
So I highly recommend this vendor as an alternative to Lexus of Rockville in MD. If you’re around the MD, VA and DC Metro areas, definitely check them out when you’re in trouble with your beloved luxury vehicle that likes to break your wallet. Here are some info:
LXT Automotive
12273 Nebel Street
Rockville, MD 20852
301.881.4033
It is an obscure location and it is right around a busy train track. There are a series of auto shops there but look for this spot at the end of the plaza.
Recently the “Ignition Key Lock” problem struck my 2003 IS 300 which rendered my car useless as the Ignition hole was firmly stuck at the “Accessory” spot. I’ve called AAA for help and they first sent down a “car lock smith” who claimed to know what to do in situation like this and demanded $130 for his trip. AAA covered $50 through my membership but I had to cover the rest. The guy wiggled my transponder key for about 5 minutes and then determined that there was nothing that he could do and I had to get the whole unit replaced and left in a hurry…
AAA then sent for a local tow truck and transported my vehicle to Lexus of Rockville. While I have to say that the service was superb and they’ve even given me a 2009 RX 350 as a loaner “free” of charge for the duration of the time that my vehicle was with them, they were more than ready to make up for it from the premium charge of their services. The whole bill came out to be $1,100!!! The breakdown was roughly this:
$400 for the Ignition unit
$550 for the 5 hours of labor?!?!
the rest were for the programming of the existing key and all the rest of the locks.
As if my day wasn’t bad enough already, I knew there was no way that I was going to dish out more than a grand for a simple ignition key hole. So I started my search on the net and found this article.
The owner of LXT Automotive is Nelson Guevara, he has 16+ year of experience dealing with specifically with Toyota and Lexus and he claims with other types of vehicles. I’ve only needed to describe briefly to him over the phone about my problem and he immediately knew what the problem was. He only wanted to charge me $300 total for parts, labor and the programming of the transponder key. He also noticed that my old key was part of the problem as the grooves were grinding against the cylinder of the key hole which caused it to break. He sent for a new key and only billed me $200 for what an earlier dealership estimate came out to be $300. After he had received all the parts, it only took half a day to get the job done and I got my IS 300 back in less than 2 business days. Needless to say that had saved me a lot of headache and money.
So I highly recommend this vendor as an alternative to Lexus of Rockville in MD. If you’re around the MD, VA and DC Metro areas, definitely check them out when you’re in trouble with your beloved luxury vehicle that likes to break your wallet. Here are some info:
LXT Automotive
12273 Nebel Street
Rockville, MD 20852
301.881.4033
It is an obscure location and it is right around a busy train track. There are a series of auto shops there but look for this spot at the end of the plaza.
05-16-08, 07:37 AM
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LXT seems to buy from Silver Spring or Rockville depending on who can get the parts to him the fastest. You will almost always pay more for service at a dealer. A dealership has many more expenses than a small repair shop. Who do you think paid for all the training Nelson received.. the Dealership he worked at did. I work on all my cars myself so I dont worry about the cost of labor anywhere. There are pros and cons to both independent repair shops and dealers but it all comes down to who you trust and the service you get. You cant put a price on trust.