NX300h mileage dispute with dealer

[Harvey H]

Hi. I recently had my NX300h serviced at a Lexus dealer. Upon collecting my car I realised that the car has done an extra 200 miles while it was with the dealer.

I happen to remember the mileage I did from last service to the day I brought the car to the dealer. So I could easily calculate the extra mileage that had been done while the car was with the dealer by using the car actual mileage when I came to pick it up, the recorded mileage from last year service and the mileage that I have done myself.

However when I pointed this out to the manager he asked me for photo evidence to back up my claim which I don't have as I have always trusted the dealer and never had any problems with them. I don't really have a leg to stand on as all I said was just based on my memory.

Moreover, on the day that I came to pick up the car I noticed the steering wheel now had a squealing noise whenever I turn it which wasn't there when I brought the car to the dealer so I suspect this have something to do with the extra 200 miles.

The manager denied responsibilities as I don't have a definite evidence. I would like to ask if there is anyway I can prove that the car was indeed driven excessively without my consent. Does the car ECU store a mileage log before and after the service? I would really appreciate any idea that could help me prove the dishonesty of the dealer. Thanks

[ColinBarber]

Unfortunately it is only the MY2020 and onwards that the NX was fitted with Lexus Link and therefore logs every journey the vehicle makes.

Without this, a dash cam or tracker it is essentially impossible to prove the extra mileage occurred, other than a photo of the odometer when you dropped off the vehicle.

I find the attitude of the manager disappointing. I'd understand it if this was a small independent backstreet garage where I'm sure they get the occasional person trying it on, but an expensive vehicle being serviced at a franchised dealer - I'd expect them to take your word on the matter.

 

Personally I'd make sure no one you know ever uses them again.

I'd suggest complaining to Lexus GB, but I have a strong suspicion that they will just side with the dealer, which they seem to do 99% of the time 😞 

[NemesisUK]

How long did the dealership have the car for?

What mileage is recorded on your service invoice after this service?

 

[royoftherovers]

In the absence of incontrovertible evidence you will have to putt his down to experience I`m afraid Viet.

Avoid using the Dealer again and mention the incident to your friends. Do not accuse the Dealer of anything other than being less than sympathetic to your claim.

A polite but strongly worded email to the Dealer Principal setting out the facts ( and copied to Head of Customer Service at Lexus.U.K.), might just produce results, but don`t bank on it.

Take a photo of the odometer reading next time.

[Harvey H]

16 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Unfortunately it is only the MY2020 and onwards that the NX was fitted with Lexus Link and therefore logs every journey the vehicle makes.

Without this, a dash cam or tracker it is essentially impossible to prove the extra mileage occurred, other than a photo of the odometer when you dropped off the vehicle.

I find the attitude of the manager disappointing. I'd understand it if this was a small independent backstreet garage where I'm sure they get the occasional person trying it on, but an expensive vehicle being serviced at a franchised dealer - I'd expect them to take your word on the matter.

 

Personally I'd make sure no one you know ever uses them again.

I'd suggest complaining to Lexus GB, but I have a strong suspicion that they will just side with the dealer, which they seem to do 99% of the time 😞 

I also think it would not go anywhere as I don't have evidence. But I will try to complain to Lexus GB to see where it goes.

[Harvey H]

9 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

How long did the dealership have the car for?

What mileage is recorded on your service invoice after this service?

 

They kept it for 2 days. The recorded mileage on invoice was 51590 which did not match the actual mileage. That was why I recalculated my mileage.

[Harvey H]

5 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

In the absence of incontrovertible evidence you will have to putt his down to experience I`m afraid Viet.

Avoid using the Dealer again and mention the incident to your friends. Do not accuse the Dealer of anything other than being less than sympathetic to your claim.

A polite but strongly worded email to the Dealer Principal setting out the facts ( and copied to Head of Customer Service at Lexus.U.K.), might just produce results, but don`t bank on it.

Take a photo of the odometer reading next time.

I prepared a strongly worded email implied to the manager that they are being dishonest to me. I think I will turn it down a notch like you said.

[Spacewagon52]

Could it be possible that you have made a mistake? The attitude of the manager would suggest he has something to hide. 200 miles is some distance to be put on a car - how long was your car with the dealer? A day for a service?

[paulrnx]

6 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Could it be possible that you have made a mistake? The attitude of the manager would suggest he has something to hide. 200 miles is some distance to be put on a car - how long was your car with the dealer? A day for a service?

Two days confirmed I am earlier post.

[Harvey H]

They kept it from 19/07 morning to 21/07 afternoon. I always set the service counter interval on to make sure I bring the car to service on time so I remember the mileage very clearly.

[Spacewagon52]

Sorry I was typing when that came through, I missed it.

[NemesisUK]

200 miles over 2 days, that's a long time on the road, especially around London.

What was the fuel level before and after?

Does the trip or mpg meter(s) show anything to support this?

[royoftherovers]

1 minute ago, NemesisUK said:

200 miles over 2 days, that's a long time on the road, especially around London.

What was the fuel level before and after?

Does the trip or mpg meter(s) show anything to support this?

There is much useful information for the O.P.to incorporate into his polite email. It make a compelling case for the Dealer Principal to consider.

[Malc]

maybe the speedo / mileage reading was miscalculating in some respects possibly 

accusations once formally, or even informally made are irretrievable and damning and the boss at the service centre would have to do something serious to a member of staff if your allegations are to be proven ....... and PROOF from YOU would be needed I feel to even start this irretrievable process ... and without it your stirring a can of worms could result in some unfortunate and challenging outcomes for ALL concerned 

I personally would leave it at the serious discussion level that you have already had with the Dealership itself ..... not what you want but maybe the best outcome in these specific circumstances 😊

Malc

[Harvey H]

16 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

200 miles over 2 days, that's a long time on the road, especially around London.

What was the fuel level before and after?

Does the trip or mpg meter(s) show anything to support this?

I did not check the mpg meter and I don't keep track of the trip meter but the fuel level did go down compared to when I brought the car in. It did not have enough petrol to do a 200 mile trip so I think the fuel must have been refilled but not to the original level. I pointed that out to the manager as well but he just ignored it because I don't have evidence. The dealer is near M25 so it would only take 3-4 hours for them to do a 200 mile trip if they take the car outside London.

[Harvey H]

13 minutes ago, Malc said:

maybe the speedo / mileage reading was miscalculating in some respects possibly 

accusations once formally, or even informally made are irretrievable and damning and the boss at the service centre would have to do something serious to a member of staff if your allegations are to be proven ....... and PROOF from YOU would be needed I feel to even start this irretrievable process ... and without it your stirring a can of worms could result in some unfortunate and challenging outcomes for ALL concerned 

I personally would leave it at the serious discussion level that you have already had with the Dealership itself ..... not what you want but maybe the best outcome in these specific circumstances 😊

Malc

I really don't want anyone to lose their job over this. If the car has no problems I would just forget about this but now I potentially have a steering wheel fault that would cost nearly £1000 to fix which was not my fault.

[NemesisUK]

1 minute ago, Harvey H said:

I really don't want anyone to lose their job over this. If the car has no problems I would just forget about this but now I potentially have a steering wheel fault that would cost nearly £1000 to fix which was not my fault.

How do you come to that conclusion? Have you had someone else look at the car?

[Harvey H]

My previous Lexus had the same steering wheel problem and it cost about that much to fix it.

[NemesisUK]

So what was the issue with the previous Lexus steering wheel and what was done to fix it?

[Harvey H]

I'm not very car savvy and it was a long time ago so I don't remember the exact name of the part that needed changing. But the steering wheel made knocking and squealing sounds when driving. It cost £800 to get the old part changed

[paulrnx]

Something strange about this thread in my opinion. There isn’t any conclusive proof that the phantom 200 miles was put on by the dealer. Unless you know the exact mileage recorded when you drop a car off I don’t understand what basis there is to claim 200 miles have been added. I might be wrong but I think the OP is adding up all journeys since the last service and adding this to the stated mileage at the last service and comparing this to the current mileage reading. I’m not sure that this is conclusive proof that any discrepancy between this and the recorded mileage is mileage added by the dealership whilst they had it. Also the fault. To suggest it will cost x because it cost x for a similar fault on another car in the past is also pretty flawed. This one doesn’t add up to me, so far at least.

[Deathstar]

Unfortunately, it's one of those things, without proof you have no way of knowing. Many years ago I took my Passat to have discs and pads done. I picked the car up, took it home. Later on that day I noticed a large scratch on the passenger side bumper which had been touched up with silver paint. When I returned to the garage, they said they would investigate, but ultimately, it was my word against theirs. Luckily, a young mechanic admitted that he had scuffed it earlier, but it was 'alright as he used touch up paint'. Needless to say, the garage were apologetic and sorted it. 

[Harvey H]

I don't have to know the exact mileage when I dropped it off to work out the extra mileage that had been done. Last service mileage was 41461, this service mileage was 51651. So total mileage since last service is 51651 - 41641 = 10010. I know for a fact that from last service to the day I dropped the car off I have done 9800 miles. Therefore the difference is 10010 - 9800 = 210 miles. 

I admit the cost to fix the steering wheel is an assumption on my part. But any repairs done by dealership is expensive nevertheless. I have no reason to make this up. I only found out about the mileage difference by chance as the mileage on the invoice does not match the actual mileage. In addition, the lad at the reception was trying to brush me off and being very evasive when I first raise the problem to him when the manager was not there.

[NemesisUK]

I love these threads where the OP trickles out little bits of extra information as their stories are challenged.

@Harvey H I think you are going to have to chalk this up to experience and move on. 

[Harvey H]

@NemesisUKyes, I have prepared to let it go after learning that there is no way to get a definite evidence to prove my point. I'm very sure about the extra 200 miles so that's why I don't want to go into too much details on it. I created this thread to ask if I could retrieve mileage history from my car to make the dealer admit the extra 200 miles they have done not to prove it hence the trickles of information.

Thank you all for your help and opinion. I have sent an email to the manager to look into the steering wheel problem for me and he agreed to do it FOC if it is an easy fix but I have to pay if there is any parts need changing. From now on I will go to another dealership and always take a photo of my mileage in case something like this happens.