Lexus Battersea (Service) - Closing!

[Jose DS]

First topic!

Just picked up 'Bonito' (as in the tuna - on account of the colour) after it's 80k service with Lexus Battersea and I've been advised to cancel my service plan with them as they're closing down at the end of March!

Pity as it's a 5 year service plan and we're only a year in - as it's with the Inchcape dealers, the next nearest service centre is Guildford. Can't really justify going that distance for a service (I live in the Oval, London area).

Anyone got any advice on whether I should try get a service plan with Edgware Road (for the Lexus relax) / any experience with them? They're part of the Jemca group - OR - any other recommendations on what I should do next? Thought about calling Lexus and seeing if they'd have the power to upgrade my service plan to national...

[wharfhouse]

27 minutes ago, Jose DS said:

First topic!

Just picked up 'Bonito' (as in the tuna - on account of the colour) after it's 80k service with Lexus Battersea and I've been advised to cancel my service plan with them as they're closing down at the end of March!

Pity as it's a 5 year service plan and we're only a year in - as it's with the Inchcape dealers, the next nearest service centre is Guildford. Can't really justify going that distance for a service (I live in the Oval, London area).

Anyone got any advice on whether I should try get a service plan with Edgware Road (for the Lexus relax) / any experience with them? They're part of the Jemca group - OR - any other recommendations on what I should do next? Thought about calling Lexus and seeing if they'd have the power to upgrade my service plan to national...

I can't speak directly about Lexus Edgware Road but I use Lexus Reading which is part of the same Jemca Group. I have been happy with the service I have received from Lexus Reading (I also have a service plan with them) and when I phone or email them it's often the Jemca central service centre (in London - I assume probably based at Edgware Road) that answers and I've always found them very helpful. I am sure others may have direct experience of the Edgware Road dealership but could be worth a call to them explaining what has happened. Also, as far as I can tell from Companies House, Jemca is at least in some way part owned/controlled by Toyota but like many big companies it's a bit convoluted.

[Barry14UK]

Haven't used them myself but Lexus Croydon is another possibility for you, (also Jemca I believe). Somebody did express satisfaction with them some months ago on the forum I recall.  However, although not far from Battersea further from you so maybe not suitable.

[Duggie B]

2 hours ago, Jose DS said:

I've been advised to cancel my service plan with them

Surely if the car is under a service plan it would be via Lexus approved agency not solely for your dealership and could be used at any other dealership or does each dealership have their own credit service facility?

[wharfhouse]

1 minute ago, Duggie B said:

Surely if the car is under a service plan it would be via Lexus approved agency not solely for your dealership and could be used at any other dealership or does each dealership have their own credit service facility?

Unfortunately not - service plans (unlike Extended Warranty) are only valid within the same dealership group. A gotcha that's caught a few people out in the past. A refund of any funds over and above already used towards services would be available though so a new plan with a different dealership group can be taken out. 

[Duggie B]

Sidcup Lexus is also Jemca and they've always been good to myself for the last 4 years I've taken the GS there, saying that though Lexus Maidstone are good but bit of a distance from the Oval 

[Jose DS]

Thanks all,

Was slightly reluctant to go back to Jemca (I had a terrible experience with Jemca Croydon) but good to hear they're not all cut from the same cloth.

[wharfhouse]

23 minutes ago, Jose DS said:

Thanks all,

Was slightly reluctant to go back to Jemca (I had a terrible experience with Jemca Croydon) but good to hear they're not all cut from the same cloth.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Jemca Croydon - if it was a number of years ago maybe things have changed - I guess any experience to some extent comes down to how the actual people on the ground deal with things.

[Shahpor]

I have had experience of Edgware (used to live nearby), Sidcup (bought my GS there) and Reading (now my local dealer).  So you could say I am well versed in dealing with the Jemca group!

Overall the experience was very positive.  A couple of issues with my GS, but resolved without too much fuss.  Edgware road had to deal with a particularly tricky failure under warranty for me and again did very well.  Reading did all of the work on my GS and the service was always excellent.

So, in my opinion, you should be ok using one of their dealerships.

[PDM]

I like Edgware Road - both for sales and servicing - always very helpful and efficient.

I was less impressed with Croydon.

I'm using Gatwick at present who have also been good to me but that's probably a bit far for you from Oval.

Paul

[Caspa]

I'd also throw Twickenham into the mix as it used to be my local, and had no issues with them (Jackie is lovely). It's Currie Motors.

Also used Edgware Road once and no complaints. 

[Brad Ched]

Hi all,

As my car is sufficiently old and high mileage (2009 RX 450h at 175k miles) (all Lexus dealer service, except the last two - indie)

What is the prevailing opinion - is the Hybrid Health Check worth it? Would I really get another year of Battery warranty?

Also, should I book a free vehicle health check - wonder if this is shameless plug for mildly unnecessary repair recommendations...

Or, should I go for a an intermediate service, by one of the indies listed here?

Thanks in advance for any opinion!

Brad

[Bluemarlin]

Does anyone have any experience of Lexus Guildford. I too have a service plan with Battersea, so it would be less faff for me to  just switch to another Inchcape dealer like Guildford, rather than cash in and start again.

[Mossypossy]

Used Guildford twice. Did not feel unduly ripped off.

Will use them again this year.

[MartinH]

I've had lots of experience with Lexus Edgware Road and feel that their lead tech Sunil probably knows my IS250 better than any other of his customers' cars. It was after all occupying a berth in their workshop for three months in 2020! They dealt with a deep-seated problem that proved very costly, but their customer-service chap Ash prevailed on Lexus GB to supply the extremely costly replacement parts at deep discount (not least because the car has a a GU reg and is a former in-house car).

They have deep expertise but of course are motivated to monetize their customer relationships so you have to watch out for suggestions for possibly factitious extra work. Labour rate is not cheap but they do know their stuff. And they are very civil, it hardly needs be added.

[Shahpor]

18 hours ago, MartinH said:

I've had lots of experience with Lexus Edgware Road and feel that their lead tech Sunil probably knows my IS250 better than any other of his customers' cars. It was after all occupying a berth in their workshop for three months in 2020! They dealt with a deep-seated problem that proved very costly, but their customer-service chap Ash prevailed on Lexus GB to supply the extremely costly replacement parts at deep discount (not least because the car has a a GU reg and is a former in-house car).

They have deep expertise but of course are motivated to monetize their customer relationships so you have to watch out for suggestions for possibly factitious extra work. Labour rate is not cheap but they do know their stuff. And they are very civil, it hardly needs be added.

I remember Sunny 🙂  He, along with the master tech, had a similar experience with my IS when it eventually turned out that the engine mounts needing changing.  About a month in the workshop all in, lots of replacement parts changed for free and a final job completed at a very highly discounted price.