Service woes

[Garyp573]

This is the first time I have felt necessary to write a review on my recent service received from a Lexus garage (located in Cumbria).

 My car a 2019 RX450h was booked in for its second service (major), I dropped my vehicle off at Lexus and a Toyota Yaris was provided to me as a courtesy car (the dealer didn’t realise that I had requested a courtesy car so I had to hang around whilst they found a suitable car) other than that the handover went ok.

 I picked up my vehicle following the service and was initially concerned with the inconsistent tyre tread wear. This was recorded as follows:

 Year 1 at 10,000 miles

Front tyres

NSF 5.10

OSF 5.50

 Year 2 at 16,000 miles

Front tyres

NSF 2.50

OSF 4.00

 I raised this concern with the service representative and asked why the tyre wear would be so inconsistent across the tyres and what could be the reason for such a huge amount of wear in only 6,000 miles. He was unable to answer my questions and the mechanic had left no notes. I also noticed that the 4 wheel alignment check hadn’t been carried out even though this is part of the 2 year (major) service schedule. I did ask why it hadn’t been carried out but again the representative didn’t know and his solution was for me to take my vehicle to a Kwik Fit garage and for them to carry out a tyre inspection. On a separate complaint the so called “complementary valet” carried out on my vehicle was extremely poor with the interior of the vehicle covered in dirty marks and smelling like a wet dog as if it had been quickly wiped over with a dirty cloth.

 After arriving home and going through the paperwork I also noted that the front/rear differential oil hadn’t been changed and the charcoal canister had not been inspected as noted on the service sheet. I emailed the service principle (Dougie) who called me back to explain that the items I noted were actually no longer part of the 2 year (major) service for my model and that Lexus had failed to supply the dealership with the correct paperwork/service sheets. He could not comment on why my tyre wear was so poor other than taking it to a tyre specialist. He apologised about the valet and said it was a known issue with them. I even had to ask why they still continued to use them to valet their vehicles with such standards).

 His explanation didn’t really sit right with me so I contacted Lexus customer services for clarification. It turns out that the three items mentioned (diff oil, charcoal canister and 4 wheel alignment check) all should have been carried out as per the service schedule supplied by Lexus. Lexus customer services contacted the dealership who have since collected my car and carried out the missed items (whilst also completing the recent recall service). I am still none the wiser around the tyre wear as the dealership didn’t supply the alignment paperwork.

 To say that I am disappointed with the Cumbrian dealership is an understatement. The service principle at best incorrectly understood the service requirements of a Lexus RX450h (model 2019) or lied to me. I will from now on use another Lexus dealership for all future business. What makes it worse is that this was the dealership I bought the vehicle from in the first place....!

[Herbie]

Tell us who it was so that we can avoid them. I bet it was Carlisle.

[Garyp573]

You guessed correctly! Shocking service from them, not even an apology for missing the service items but happy to relieve me of £520. Thank goodness for Lexus customer services who picked this up for me. 

[Herbie]

I only went in once and they were the most unhelpful bunch of people I've ever had to deal with.

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, Herbie said:

Tell us who it was so that we can avoid them. I bet it was Carlisle.

You just beat me to that Sunshine and I would have guessed Carlisle too.

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, Garyp573 said:

You guessed correctly! Shocking service from them, not even an apology for missing the service items but happy to relieve me of £520. Thank goodness for Lexus customer services who picked this up for me. 

Gary, you should take an enormous amount of credit for the way in which you dealt with the matter.

I understand that Lexus Carlisle is operated by the Border Motor Group which does not I understand, have any other Lexus Dealerships.

A strong letter to the M.D. of the Group might be appropriate and should you so desire you can report that your report to the L.O.F was received with utter dismay by several long standing Members who might be of a mind to request Lexus.U.K. to  carry out a formal appraisal of Carlisle`s suitability to retain the Lexus franchise.

Many thanks for your candid assessment of Lexus Carlisle.

Edited December 19, 2020 by royoftherovers
typo

[Garyp573]

Thanks Roy, Carlisle have let themselves down massively fortunately Lexus customer services have been brilliant in dealing with Carlisle. Other than the call back from Dougie and 3 calls to try and sell me up to a service plan I have heard nothing from them which is a disappointment. I will now go to Preston for my servicing needs as I would struggle to trust Carlisle. 

[royoftherovers]

34 minutes ago, Garyp573 said:

Thanks Roy, Carlisle have let themselves down massively fortunately Lexus customer services have been brilliant in dealing with Carlisle. Other than the call back from Dougie and 3 calls to try and sell me up to a service plan I have heard nothing from them which is a disappointment. I will now go to Preston for my servicing needs as I would struggle to trust Carlisle. 

Preston is part of the Vantage Group and Herbie might be able to offer you advice as he lives in that region.

Good luck Gary.

[Habu]

I know a member on the ES forum bought his new car from Lexus Carlisle and it was very poorly prepped (black car) but the guy is a detailing Jedi so probably enjoyed a few days of extreme paint correction.  I think he has bought previously from Carlisle hence buying from them again even though he has a Lexus dealership on his doorstep in Leeds. I think the guy is SH20 so may have some insight into Lexus Carlisle in more general terms.

[Herbie]

18 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Preston is part of the Vantage Group and Herbie might be able to offer you advice as he lives in that region.

Good luck Gary.

I do indeed live in Preston (funnily enough I married a Carlisle girl and we have family up there) but I'm afraid I've not yet had any dealings with them. We bought our car from Lexus Teeside and at that time Preston didn't have a Lexus dealership. Teeside were excellent to deal with in all respects so we took out a service plan with them, which has now expired, and that means that I will begin dealing with Preston in the next couple of months.

[Habu]

31 minutes ago, Herbie said:

I do indeed live in Preston (funnily enough I married a Carlisle girl and we have family up there) but I'm afraid I've not yet had any dealings with them. We bought our car from Lexus Teeside and at that time Preston didn't have a Lexus dealership. Teeside were excellent to deal with in all respects so we took out a service plan with them, which has now expired, and that means that I will begin dealing with Preston in the next couple of months.

I agree with Herbie regarding his comments regarding Lexus Teesside.  It’s my nearest Centre and I’ve purchased my last 6 Lexus from them.  CT, IS, GS, NX, ES and RX in that order.  GS F Sport was the best my a country mile insofar as quality over the others whilst the ES was the most advanced and complete.  I haven’t driven my RX much yet to make any useful comments.

When dealing with Teesside I either speak with David, Tom or Chris on the sales side.

[Rutlandlex]

Gary - is it possible that they have recorded the NSF incorrectly i.e. should it be 3.50mm rather than 2.50mm?  3.5 would be consistent wear given the reduction in the OSF tread.  Maybe get Kwik Fit or another garage to check them again.

[Barry14UK]

A tyre gauge is cheap and I recommend that one is obtained.  It enables you to check for wear and investigate any significant discrepancy earlier.  

[Garyp573]

Hi Rutland & Barry, my thoughts exactly - I purchased a tyre gauge and carried out my own check and confirmed the numbers. 

It is a strange one as I always keep my tyre pressures the same at 2.6 bar and wouldn't expect this kind of wear. It could be down to a tyre defect, I will change the fronts to a different make/model and see how they perform (the factory fit Dunlops are an eye watering £360 from Lexus and difficult to get hold of!).

Looking forward to any comments /reviews on Lexus Preston as Teesside are a little too far away from Seascale! Once we start some sort of normality I will take the car to a specialist and get a geometry check and will update the forum accordingly. 

[Herbie]

35 minutes ago, Garyp573 said:

Looking forward to any comments /reviews on Lexus Preston as Teesside are a little too far away from Seascale!

How far? From Preston, Teeside is just slightly over 100 miles but it takes about 2hrs 10min due to the roads.

My point is - nowhere is too far for a nice trundle in sheer luxury, just sit back and enjoy

[Garyp573]

😂 A very good point sir, as a bonus I have family in that part of the country so could easily combine the trip... 

[JBPRX400h]

Hi Gary

I have a 2017 450h and have just had a service at 17600 miles.

Tyre wear as follows

NSF 4.1 4.1 4.1
OSF 4.5 4.5 4.5
NSR 5.6 5.6 5.6
OSR 5.6 5.6 5.6

I think they are the original tyres and show even wear across the treads but like yours NSF worn more than OSF.

We live in Milton Keynes and I put this down to the abundance of roundabouts we have here effectively giving more "right hand bends".

JBP

[Garyp573]

These are the tyre readings at 16,728 miles as recorded by Lexus:

Its good to see that they report slight uneven treadwear for the NSR tyre 😑

 

 

 

[Old Git]

I think you will find the NSF tyre will always wear more as we do more right hand turns, ie roundabouts, the body load and force is transferred to the nearside when turning right wearing the tyre more.