Gatie

I appreciate the sincere encouragement I have received from many you. It has helped me get to this point with my issue. I look forward to your continued support. Thank you.


For the ones who made what could be perceived as less than encouraging comments, I thank you as well. Your comments have given me the strength and drive to pursue this issue until it is resolved and remedies are in place to protect other Lexus Owners in the future.....even if it only helps one other Lexus Owner. So, I say thank you to you as well.


I will let everyone know what happens after my service appointment on Tuesday, February 16th.

situman

Dont let those folks off the hook! Its a $70k car for godsakes. Please do send the letters to all of Lexus about your experience.

Gatie

In California, after adding in the Sales Tax, CA Tire Fee and all of the other charges and fees, the total cost is over $80k.


All the envelopes are addressed and ready to go. The basic letter has already been written. I just need to adjust it based upon what happens at the service appointment on Tuesday. Thanks for your support.

keithS

Stay strong and hang in there.

I am reminded of the story of Nick Murray who had dozens of things go wrong with his new Porsche 911 and after repeated failed attempts to get it squared with Porsche, it took several youtube videos showing the issues and over a million views before Porsche finally bought the car back in full, which is what he wanted after it was proven that the dealer couldn't get the issues fixed. In my opinion it doesn't mean Porsche or Lexus cars are bad, just that the manufacturer needs to stand behind their products in good faith as the cars were bought in good faith and after making reasonable attempts to correct the problem(s). You shouldn't have to make videos and/or send numerous letters or get a lawyer to get the situation resolved.

So far, I've had good luck with mine, hope your situation gets resolved sooner than later so you can enjoy the car like most of us.

Frog98

Ditto, I hope there is a resolution to this a.s.a.p. so you can enjoy your car again I think we all want to love our RC-F's.

Gatie

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I believe I heard Nick Murray speak at a conference a number of years ago.


I agree with you....I like the car. And, like you said, I just want them to stand behind the product. They should use this as an opportunity to increase client satisfaction by providing excellent service.

JCtx

Good luck Gatie. No f***ing way I'd trust or drive that car on any trip with your issues either. You'll have to exercise your ignore list quite a bit initially. But once you weed out the undesirable people here, the rest are okay.

As a side comment, my tranny has become very whinny lately. That could be part of the noise you're hearing too. You can hear it best under the car, behind the front wheels (where the tq converter is). Don't know exactly where your noise is, but just wanted to comment that. If it's the fuel pump, you must hear it further back, since the pump is under the rear seat, inside the tank. The whinny tranny noise is very clearly heard with the stereo off, and is rpm dependent, so easily told apart from a fuel pump whine, which should be constant in pitch. Please let us know what happens next Tuesday. Good luck.

Gatie

Thank you for your comments. The noise is a constant pitch, as you say, and sounds like it is coming from behind me as I am sitting in the driver's seat. Now, every time I start the car, within 2 minutes, the noise will start. The volume of the noise makes it very noticeable. It is the same distinctive noise I heard when I took my car in the first time and was told it is the fuel pump. Only this time (with the replacement fuel pump) the sound is much louder.

mjeds

You are in CA;


The California Lemon Law requires a vehicle manufacturer that is unable to repair a vehicle to conform to the manufacturer’s express warranty after a reasonable number of repair attempts to replace or repurchase the vehicle.


Although there is no set number for "reasonable repair attempts," California’s Lemon Law Presumption contains guidelines for determining when a "reasonable number" of repair attempts has been made.


The California Lemon Law covers the following new and used vehicles sold or leased in California that come with the manufacturer’s new vehicle warranty:

1. Cars, pickup trucks, vans, and SUVs.
2. The chassis, chassis cab, and drivetrain of a motorhome.
3. Dealer-owned vehicles and demonstrators.
4. Many vehicles purchased or leased primarily for business use.
5. Vehicles purchased or leased for personal, family, or household purposes.

The California Lemon Law applies throughout the duration of the vehicle manufacturer’s original warranty period. Consult your vehicle manufacturer’s warranty manual for warranty periods pertaining to your vehicle.




Lemon Law Presumption*


Within the Song-Beverly Act, there is a presumption guideline wherein it is presumed that a vehicle is a "lemon" if the following criteria are met within 18 months of delivery to the buyer or lessee or 18,000 miles on the vehicle’s odometer, whichever comes first:

1. The manufacturer or its agents have made two or more attempts to repair a warranty problem that results in a condition that is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if the vehicle is driven;
2. The manufacturer or its agents have made four or more attempts to repair the same warranty problem; or
3. The vehicle has been out of service for more than 30 days (not necessarily all at the same time) while being repaired for any number of warranty problems; or
4. The problems are covered by the warranty, substantially reduce the vehicle’s use, value, or safety to the consumer and are not caused by abuse of the vehicle;
5. If required by the warranty materials or by the owner’s manual, the consumer has to directly notify the manufacturer about the problem(s), preferably in writing. The notice must be sent to the address shown in the warranty or owner’s manual (for bullets 1 and 2).

If these criteria are met, the Lemon Law presumes that the buyer or lessee is entitled to a replacement vehicle or a refund of the purchase price. However, this presumption is rebuttable. The manufacturer may show that the criteria has not been met (for example, because the problems are minor) and therefore, the buyer or lessee is not entitled to a replacement vehicle or refund.




*Source: California Civil Code Section 1793.22(b).







These are OR options, if this OR that happens..


Go over everything you have done, the time it has taken, the time the vehicle was out of service, and send a letter to the Lexus Warranty office advising them that you feel this is a safety issue and in its current state (the noise) devalues the vehicle and you wish to explore a Lemon Law buy back of the vehicle.




I just went through Lemon Law with my 2012 Camaro, after 3 years 6 dealer trips to replace the same faulty part with the vehicle out of over 90 days GM had no choice but to buy back the vehicle under CA arbitration law, even though I had 37,000 miles on the vehicle and had owned it for 3 years, the issue started within the first 1,700 miles and in my 3rd month of ownership the dealer had the car for 6 weeks.


CA Lemon Law is VERY consumer friendly, most manufacturers do not want to deal with CA lemon law buy back, because it requires that they pay 100% of your attorney fees, refund 100% of the MSRP of the vehicle (not what you paid, but what the MSRP was), down payment, all interest payments, all extended warranties, all dealer add on services and product, all maintenance you have receipts for, all registration, etc. They have to put you whole again as if you never purchased the vehicle.


By them refusing to perform the repair indicating they are aware of the issue and are waiting for Lexus to come up with a solution, falls under Lemon Law that the vehicle is UNREPAIRABLE at this time by their own admission.

Lemon Law in CA is 100% free to the consumer, the manufacturer has to pick up all the expense:


http://www.dca.ca.gov/acp/pdf_files/englemn.pdf

Gatie

Thanks for the great information. I appreciate you taking time to put all of it together.

mjeds

something else I will point out, once you threaten lemon law one of two things will happen:


they will all of a sudden decide to fix the issue
they will simply approve the buy back.




Something to take note of. while some state require they replace the vehicle, CA does NOT.


You as the consumer have the option for a 100% refund (as stated above) or a replacement vehicle equal to what you had (same options and setup).


be advised that the replacement doesn't have to cost the same, nor do they have to honor any rebates, special financing, etc. that you had.




just be careful, do not sign anything that says if you agree to the repair that they are no longer liable for further repairs, or that you waive your right to further lemon law proceedings. GM tried this with me, to allow them to fix the car one more time (would have been the 7th) and if the repair was successful then I waived my right to any further lemon law claims..


if you want to ask me any questions or get specifics on my experience, feel free to PM me. I will give my number so we can talk.


while my experience was with GM, the CA law is the law and it is all handled by a third party arbitrator, my experience with GM was almost identical to a friends experience with Ford.

7No

iTrader: (1)

Are there stats available about the numbers, makes, models, years of lemon-lawed vehicles in CA?

mjeds

I doubt it, it would be the manufacturers that would have to release that information.


I will note that once a vehicle is bought back, the title is notated that it is a Lemon Law buy back, similar to the salvage declaration on a title. So you would know if you went to buy a used vehicle if it was a lemon buy back or not.

coolsaber

Zero give or take 2.


Seriously tho, not a single Mfg wants to go down that road with titling a Lemon car. The minute they know they are in the wrong, and the plaintiff has enough criteria met, mfgs settle and move on. They only lead on cases where they know they have a good shot of wining in.

Gatie

Thank you for the additional information. I take my car in tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Hoping they will handle the situation proactively.