Stolen headlights from RX400h
#61
Originally Posted by LeslieRC
Russianmd - I've continued to moniotor this thread and am curious to learn whether you plan to give Lexus a chance to correct. This is a very interesting problem. I must say that although Lexus' response to your situation at the beginning seemed to leave much to be desired, they now appear to have taken full stock of the issue and are doing things more "Lexus-like". Please continue to keep us apprised.
So I am still not sure what to do. Meanwhile, I've been taking the subway and thinking that not having a car in NYC is not such a tragedy afterall. I may be losing quite a chunk of money, but gaining a piece of mind. This has taking far too much energy - I'd rather spend my monthly installments in nice dinners and cabs, which may soon be Lexus RX400hs in New York!
The arbitration service, by the way, said that since this was not a product defect, but a 'design issue', they would not consider my case.
#62
Originally Posted by russianmd
So far, the only offer they made to me was to reimburse my 1k insurance deductible. When I asked the general manager of the dealership about trade-in value for a car without HIDs (and lower profile, e.g. ES330), he told me $35k for my RX400h... For a car that was sold to me at sticker price, and with less than 2000 miles.
So I am still not sure what to do. Meanwhile, I've been taking the subway and thinking that not having a car in NYC is not such a tragedy afterall. I may be losing quite a chunk of money, but gaining a piece of mind. This has taking far too much energy - I'd rather spend my monthly installments in nice dinners and cabs, which may soon be Lexus RX400hs in New York!
The arbitration service, by the way, said that since this was not a product defect, but a 'design issue', they would not consider my case.
So I am still not sure what to do. Meanwhile, I've been taking the subway and thinking that not having a car in NYC is not such a tragedy afterall. I may be losing quite a chunk of money, but gaining a piece of mind. This has taking far too much energy - I'd rather spend my monthly installments in nice dinners and cabs, which may soon be Lexus RX400hs in New York!
The arbitration service, by the way, said that since this was not a product defect, but a 'design issue', they would not consider my case.
#64
Blog
In case anyone cares, I am going to start a blog to vent this some more - freedom of speech, and all. And a lot of bitterness. Right now, no one returns my phone calls - not even the bodyshop, even though they still have the car.
http://suckylexus.blogspot.com/
http://suckylexus.blogspot.com/
#65
Originally Posted by russianmd
In case anyone cares, I am going to start a blog to vent this some more - freedom of speech, and all. And a lot of bitterness. Right now, no one returns my phone calls - not even the bodyshop, even though they still have the car.
http://suckylexus.blogspot.com/
http://suckylexus.blogspot.com/
You have my support. I don't care what comapny it is or even it it is Lexus. If you are not satisfied with the product and the customer service you have every right to speak your mind. Hopefully you will reach a large audience and maybe Lexus will take note. Personally I don't think they care.
#66
Originally Posted by CK6Speed
You have my support. I don't care what comapny it is or even it it is Lexus. If you are not satisfied with the product and the customer service you have every right to speak your mind. Hopefully you will reach a large audience and maybe Lexus will take note. Personally I don't think they care.
Why should the big corporations always be on the winning side? I can at least be on the whining side!
#67
It's a shame. I've had terrific caring from the dealership. When the dealership and I couldn't figure a problem on my old RX they and I submitted it to corporate Lexus for answers which never came. Instead, I received a call from what sounded like a japanese person at headquarters describing something totally different! I told him that wasn't my issue and complained to Lexus that if they were having someone look into things they needed to make sure the person could communicate! Eventually, the dealer figured out the answer to the problem themselves. To this day, the goodwill I receive is truly at my dealer's end. I have nothing but praise for them. They do make sure all is as terrific as it can be. There motto is that there really is a difference.They were the ones who installed my Data Dots. Just a note--I was never notified by Lexus headquarters about the existence of data dots and I'm not holding my breath.
#68
Originally Posted by russianmd
Last week, the headlights were stolen out of my RX400h. I drove to work and parked the car before I even noticed they were gone.
Yes, I parked the car on the street - but I live in Park Slope area of Brooklyn, which is nice in most respects, except there is NO garage space - anywhere. I'd have to walk 20 min and pay $375/mo for the closest garage.
The car is being fixed by the dealer right now. I am desperately trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening again - and was just told by the dealer's bodyshop that they can't install the grille guards on the car b/c it would interfere with the Synergy hybrid drive.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, I parked the car on the street - but I live in Park Slope area of Brooklyn, which is nice in most respects, except there is NO garage space - anywhere. I'd have to walk 20 min and pay $375/mo for the closest garage.
The car is being fixed by the dealer right now. I am desperately trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening again - and was just told by the dealer's bodyshop that they can't install the grille guards on the car b/c it would interfere with the Synergy hybrid drive.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
#69
Originally Posted by koolaidman
how in the world did ur head lights get stolen. u have to remove the bumper and have the hood open to get them out
This has been common with the RX, the Acura TL (2nd generation, 99-03), and the Nissan Maxima.
#70
Originally Posted by koolaidman
how in the world did ur head lights get stolen. u have to remove the bumper and have the hood open to get them out
#71
Originally Posted by CK6Speed
You are thinking like a service tech who does things the correct way and not like a thief who takes a crowbar and rips it out in under a minute. Serioussly, it is that easy and what they are after is the projector within the headlight casing so damage to the car or even headlight itself is no bid deal as they will open it up and discard everything but the projector itself. This has been a problem on various HID equiped cars for years.
#72
My 2 cents
It is certainly an unforunate series of events that have caused this issue to erupt. Underhanded criminals, furious owners, scrambling designers and manufacturers, dealerships and call centers stuck in the middle. Definitely and emotionally charged situation.
Is this problem a defect? No. The halogens are constructed in the same way and there is no problem. Is this a serious problem? Yes. Is Lexus trying to correct this issue? Yes.
Unfortunately due to the nature of automotive design, testing and manufacture it takes time to develop and implement changes to a production vehicle. Pleasde consider that first a countermeasure has to be developed. Then a viable design has to be established that will adequately fix the problem, that will work on the current vehicle, can be retrofit to the vehicles in the field and also be carried forward to the next model. Once complete prototype parts must be fabricated and tested in all of the above scenarios. Once proven the parts then must go out for tender to suitable suppliers who then have to design and procure tooling, equipment and facilities to manufacture the parts. Logistics of component delivery has to be setup and then a substantial pipeline of parts must be accumulated for all of the production facilities globally as well as the parts centers for the in-field retrofit. Meanwhile the production facilities must prepare for the additional work required to install the new components and procure and setup tooling as well. All in all a lengthy process that simply can't happen overnight.
It is dissapointing to hear that they are giving you such terrible service. I have had similar instances with the body shop portion of the dealer I used to go to. The service side was great but I got the same kind of treatment from the body side....no calls, messages ignored, etc. I hope that you don't write off Lexus as a result of this dealership. Is there another that can be used?
Originally Posted by LeslieRC
As a lawyer who dislikes overly litigious people, I agree with "russianmd" about making manufacturers accountable when they have prior knowledge of hidden defects in their products ....
Unfortunately due to the nature of automotive design, testing and manufacture it takes time to develop and implement changes to a production vehicle. Pleasde consider that first a countermeasure has to be developed. Then a viable design has to be established that will adequately fix the problem, that will work on the current vehicle, can be retrofit to the vehicles in the field and also be carried forward to the next model. Once complete prototype parts must be fabricated and tested in all of the above scenarios. Once proven the parts then must go out for tender to suitable suppliers who then have to design and procure tooling, equipment and facilities to manufacture the parts. Logistics of component delivery has to be setup and then a substantial pipeline of parts must be accumulated for all of the production facilities globally as well as the parts centers for the in-field retrofit. Meanwhile the production facilities must prepare for the additional work required to install the new components and procure and setup tooling as well. All in all a lengthy process that simply can't happen overnight.
Originally Posted by russianmd
..Right now, no one returns my phone calls - not even the bodyshop, even though they still have the car...
#73
The fix and why
There are two portions to this fix:
This bracket is intended for two purposes
The ID marks
The intent of the marks is to allow for tracability of the headlamp to it's original vehicle. This data is linked to the VIN. The problem in the past is that theives caught with a set of headlamps in their arms could not be charged since it could not be proven that they did not belong to the individual, even if the defaced vehicle was just down the street. If the cops did not physically catch them in the act then they had no recourse but to let them go.
The downside to both of these countermeasure is of course that in the short term is does not prevent headlamps from continuing to be stolen and or damaged. However, in the long term these deterents will greatly reduce the number of thefts since the RX headlamps will no longer be considered "easy to steal" and theives will move on to the Nissan down the street.
- The addition of a steel bracket
- The addition of ID labels/dots
This bracket is intended for two purposes
- Reduce the ability to remove the headlamp from the car
- Cause the headlamp to "self destruct" if it is removed
The ID marks
The intent of the marks is to allow for tracability of the headlamp to it's original vehicle. This data is linked to the VIN. The problem in the past is that theives caught with a set of headlamps in their arms could not be charged since it could not be proven that they did not belong to the individual, even if the defaced vehicle was just down the street. If the cops did not physically catch them in the act then they had no recourse but to let them go.
The downside to both of these countermeasure is of course that in the short term is does not prevent headlamps from continuing to be stolen and or damaged. However, in the long term these deterents will greatly reduce the number of thefts since the RX headlamps will no longer be considered "easy to steal" and theives will move on to the Nissan down the street.
#74
Originally Posted by krpster
There are two portions to this fix:
This bracket is intended for two purposes
- The addition of a steel bracket
- The addition of ID labels/dots
This bracket is intended for two purposes
- Reduce the ability to remove the headlamp from the car
- Cause the headlamp to "self destruct" if it is removed
The ID marks
The intent of the marks is to allow for tracability of the headlamp to it's original vehicle. This data is linked to the VIN. The problem in the past is that theives caught with a set of headlamps in their arms could not be charged since it could not be proven that they did not belong to the individual, even if the defaced vehicle was just down the street. If the cops did not physically catch them in the act then they had no recourse but to let them go.
The intent of the marks is to allow for tracability of the headlamp to it's original vehicle. This data is linked to the VIN. The problem in the past is that theives caught with a set of headlamps in their arms could not be charged since it could not be proven that they did not belong to the individual, even if the defaced vehicle was just down the street. If the cops did not physically catch them in the act then they had no recourse but to let them go.
The other idea that another RX330 owner would be running around with stolen headlights which probably has broken mounting tabs is also kind of odd. It sounds like Lexus/Toyota Coporate still doesn't understand the "Why" it iss being stolen and the "How" the stolen parts are being used.
Now, I'm not all bad news The brakets does sound like it will make it harder to pysically remove the headlight. The question is now how visable is that to a potential thief? If a thief comes up to one of these beefed up headlights on an RX with his crowbar, will he reallize before he takes action or will he find out after he already tried to rippped it out damaging the headlight, hood and fenders? Either way you are left with a half broken headlight and body damage. The only difference is the headlights will still be there and may or may not be reusable.
Over all I do give Lexus/Toyota credit for at least trying to address the problem even if personally I think they are still on the wrong track.
#75
Originally Posted by CK6Speed
.... The thieves don't care about damaging the headlight casing itself anyway. They are after the projector within the headlight casing which shouldn't get damaged at all..
Originally Posted by CK6Speed
.... Again, I may be misunderstanding the data dots but it doesn't seem toa address the problem. Does that data dots go on the prokector itself? I can't see how they can do that since that would require Lexus to open up the headlight casing. When a cop pulls over an guy in a Civic with a HID retrofit using a an RX330 projector, how is the cop going to know if the data dots are scrappeed along with the casing? All they will see is the front of the projector...
Originally Posted by CK6Speed
.... The other idea that another RX330 owner would be running around with stolen headlights which probably has broken mounting tabs is also kind of odd.