jgr7

iTrader: (1)

I took my 08 RX350 to Lexus of Roseville, California for the free 5000 mile service on last Friday on my way to Reno. The service advisor told me that the oil and filter would be changed, the tires would be rotated and belts and hoses checked. When I got to Reno I looked at the wheels and noticed that the fronts were still very dirty on the inside like the fronts always are. I started looking at the tires and noticed that the rears still had the little excess pieces of rubber from when they are new on the edge of the tire. It was clear to me that these were not the tires that had been on the front or they would have been edge worn from turning like the ones that are still on the front. I called the service advisor and played phone tag all day till she finally got me this afternoon. I explained what I had seen and was put on hold, she never came back the service manager did. I explained again what I had noticed and he told me that they were rotated. We had a little discussion and he never would admit that it might have happened or even went to check with the person that was to have done the work. He wanted me to bring it back and show him however I told him I would not be taking a day off of work and driving over 50 miles so I could prove it to him. I also told him I had doubts as to weather the oil and filter had been changed. He assured me that they were, but how do I know for sure. He offered to pay for someone to rotate the tires for me locally but I told him I would do it myself that way I know it will be done. I also told him I will no longer be a customer at Lexus of Roseville.

Sorry for the rant but lenore had warned about this dealers service dept and I just wanted to back him up that they are not to be trusted. Screw me once shame on you, screw me twice shame on me.
Jeff

mandyfig

Wow, sorry for the bad taste in your mouth! BAD service. Bad, bad, bad, shame on that dealership!

gqr1c3boi

Jeff,

I'd check the dipstick and see what color the oil is. If it's black or much darker than what new oil should look like, then I'd take it back or talk to them about it.

Sorry to hear about the bad experience. Where exactly is Roseville by the way?

P7M13_user

Take some pictures and write an email or letter to Lexus.
A Toyota dealership regretted what one of their salesman did to my friend after she wrote to the company several years ago. I heard that Lexus treats this kind of matters only more seriously.

Lextranny

Jeff...sorry to hear that...that sucks! I know exactly what you are going through. I've learn my lesson before from dealerships. That's why whenever I need to bring my car for service, for whatever I need to have change, I always mark it. If I need to rotate my tires I put a hidden mark on the tire so I know if they did rotated it or not. Same thing for spark splugs, put a mark, etc.... As for the oil...as gqr1c3boi mentioned pull the dipstick out and check the color. If it is black they didn't change it. Good luck!


gqr1c3boi,

Roseville is located near Sacramento, CA.

salimshah

The trust has been broken and doubt has set in.

Service Manager's remedy was not acceptable to Jeff.

The way I understand Lexus operation is that a tech initials the work completed and writes comments if needed. So the service rep/manager looks at the work order and can make the statement that the work was done. Of all the things, the only one which is obvious is car being washed and vacuumed.

With the trust being broken, the obvious choice is to go to another dealer.

Salim

jgr7

iTrader: (1)

The oil did look like new, but it looked like new before I took it in also, less than 5000 miles. I will not go back to this dealer and I just wanted to give others in this area a heads up on them.
Jeff

korchen

Wow, sorry to hear about that...must be frustrating.

On the other hand, I do have to say that we purchased our car from that dealer and it was the best car buying experience ever! We live in the Bay area though, so we haven't had any service performed there.

The G Man

I bet they figure it a free service so they just did the oil change and skip the tire rotation hoping you wouldnt notice. I would call Lexus headquarter and file a formal complain.

19psi

i know why they didnt rotate the tires. the 5k service is paid by warranty. the tech gets paid very little by warranty for a 5k, basically the same as a regular customer pay oil change. so a lot of less honest techs will skip the rotation and just do the oil change because it takes too long to do the rotate as well as the OC for what it pays.
the flat rate system sucks, for both the techs and the customer. customers get taken advantage of by less honest techs, and techs get taken advantage of by shop owners. until the flat rate system of pay goes away, this kind of thing will always happen.

jfelbab

Lexus Corporate needs to hear your story. The dealerships get incentives for having completely satisfied customers. Since your service manager doesn't seem to get it, I'd write a letter to Lexus corporate and cc the local dealership's owner.

http://www.lexus.com/contact/

jgr7

iTrader: (1)

jfelbab, thanks for the link I will do that.
Jeff

LEXveryG8

Car sales and service are two separate departments. They can have a good sales department but not a outstanding performance on their service. It all depends on which dealership you go to.

AM1

iTrader: (6)

next time a marker with invisible ink and make a mark and use a UV light to see if it has been done. or do what i do when i get an oil change, watch them do it. But yeah, the service advisor i use has admitted to me that they dont like doing warranty work as much, since they get paid according to some chart or something. versus maintenance work where they can make more $$ and can charge more. im not surprised that dealership tried to cut corners, complain to lexus HQ

Lil4X

Mark a couple of critical bolts too if something is to be removed and replaced - filters, lug bolts, even a few items underneath. You want to be sure somebody's been there and put a wrench on the important parts. I caught a marine dealer fudging an entire factory engine inspection (for which he was paid by the factory nearly $500) - and cost him his franchise of some 20 years. Manufacturers take a dim view of this kind of ripoff, primarily because unchecked items come back to haunt them.