Lexus quality control (faults)

[Dippo]

12 hours ago, Las Palmas said:

It is far more expensive for car companies to build several version models than one of the same car model.

 

Already around year 2002 - 3 Citroen, Peugeot, VW etc. had cruise control built in the car, all the agents needed to activate it was to install the stalk with a couple of wires.

 

You do not think that Lexus is doing the same? It is not cost effective to have so many different versions of the same car.

I've worked for manufacturers. It used to be a standard procedure in the ongoing cost reduction exercises. A bright young lad fresh from college would come along and ask why each car had an individually specified wiring harness, as it would be more cost-effective to make them all the same for all cars, and would reduce line stoppages for cars waiting for their individual harness. So we went to standard wiring harnesses. In the next round of cost reductions, the next bright young lad asks why we are fitting all this unnecessary wiring to cars which don't have all the items fitted that the harness has wires for, and wouldn't it be cheaper to have individual harnesses for each specification? After all, it should all work with just in time manufacturing.

[Navnan2]

21 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

Indeed, I recently received a survey from Lexus seeking my views on shared servicing with Toyota. Obviously if implemented there could be a saving for the customer but definitely a saving for Lexus. For those customers who either don't care or don't pay themselves, Lexus will reap the extra monies from 'in-house' servicing. Perhaps a way to enhance the 'prestige' of a luxury marque? 

I'm very interested in this. I have a Toyota dealer 5 miles from me whereas my Lexus dealer is 25 miles away!

 

[Navnan2]

Just my opinion but I have no worries if Toyota takes over my servicing. Quite frankly most servicing is just lubricant and filter changes and a once over. The warranty would be respected whatever. Do people think the charge for a Lexus service would come down at a Toyota dealer? For myself in Hampshire both Toyota and Lexus is run by the Snows group of companies so I bet the staff quality and training is similar across both brands. They are also BMW dealers.

[GEN]

At my previous Lexus dealer: when taking the car for service I would park in the Lexus forecourt and the car would then be driven around the corner to the Toyota workshop (seen by me, time and again) but of course the paperwork was Lexus.  Toyota was closer to my home than Lexus so on one occasion I went to Toyota to get a quote for something (could have been timing belt).  They said they would do it but asked me to wait while they got the price from Lexus!

Six of this, half a dozen......

[Chris UXe]

Hi Nick, I would like there to be an option of AVS or 17- inch wheels on the UXe Takumi. This is my first Lexus and it's great but sometimes the ride on the 18-inch wheels is not the smoothest. About the servicing, I agree with the comments about Toyota dealers doing that. Part of the Lexus 'experience' I thought was visiting a dealer and expecting and getting very high levels of customer service.

The car is going back later this month to sort out a reoccurring and annoying rattle from the driver's seat belt area. I'd be interested if this problem was something Lexus UK are aware of. The Lexus dealer I use is next to a Toyota one but am presuming the former will be the one to deal with the issue! 

Best wishes, Chris    

[PRT68]

Please ask if they can update their systems so that those cars with personal plates can be identified. All government sites, and spare parts dealers can find my car. When I call a Lexus/Toyota dealer, I either have to quote the original registration number, or they have to input manually. 

[fourbanks]

33 minutes ago, Chris UXe said:

Hi Nick, I would like there to be an option of AVS or 17- inch wheels on the UXe Takumi. This is my first Lexus and it's great but sometimes the ride on the 18-inch wheels is not the smoothest. About the servicing, I agree with the comments about Toyota dealers doing that. Part of the Lexus 'experience' I thought was visiting a dealer and expecting and getting very high levels of customer service.

The car is going back later this month to sort out a reoccurring and annoying rattle from the driver's seat belt area. I'd be interested if this problem was something Lexus UK are aware of. The Lexus dealer I use is next to a Toyota one but am presuming the former will be the one to deal with the issue! 

Best wishes, Chris    

Thanks, Chris, and noted. 

i don't think that will be viable as the UXe Takumi is based on that specific spec, and where would you draw the line on how the drive is as that's down to the individual opinion 

I will need to focus my attention on fine details in the main, like seat belt buckle noise knocking on the pillar and wiper blade noise to be made quieter. Also sat nav with better resolution servicing costs etc things in general that need tidying up in the production of the cars rather than in how a car drives unless of course many complaining of something specific in the drive. 

If i managed to convey a professional approach then hopefully i will get invited back for another round of talks 

the chief executive knows i don't like my dealer and will need to understand why as the staff don't sound the part in general with a can't have can't do approach which is normal in most garages 

this is normally just a bad manager, with the good staff always kept in the background 

 

[fourbanks]

1 minute ago, PRT68 said:

Please ask if they can update their systems so that those cars with personal plates can be identified. All government sites, and spare parts dealers can find my car. When I call a Lexus/Toyota dealer, I either have to quote the original registration number, or they have to input manually. 

That's a good one Paul and noted 

[NemesisUK]

1 hour ago, PRT68 said:

Please ask if they can update their systems so that those cars with personal plates can be identified. All government sites, and spare parts dealers can find my car. When I call a Lexus/Toyota dealer, I either have to quote the original registration number, or they have to input manually. 

Never had a problem with my personal plate, even the Lexus Link and portal recognise it?

[GEN]

No problems either especially since Lexus are still showing my original plate even though the dealer actually made up and installed my personal plate!😁 Yes, all the Lexus paperwork is still showing the original plate...

[Roger Bill]

13 hours ago, fourbanks said:

Thanks, Chris, and noted. 

i don't think that will be viable as the UXe Takumi is based on that specific spec, and where would you draw the line on how the drive is as that's down to the individual opinion 

 

Ride is certainly a personal choice. I'm with Chris in wishing for more comfort but on the UX250h Takumi rather than the UXe. The more general point to suggest to Lexus would be that in the UK UX customers tend to be older and that this demographic is more likely to be seeking comfort rather than sports handling from a car of this type. I might be wrong about the customer age profile but I expect Lexus would have the data for the UK and for other markets like the USA where my impression is that the UX has attracted more younger buyers.

[Chris UXe]

Many thanks for your reply, Nick. I appreciate that Takumi models seem to have larger alloys as standard but was keen to get the equipment that the model has e.g., the HUD- I suppose you can't have everything!

With respect to the servicing, I do appreciate that if there is a Lexus and Toyota dealer nearby, like Barry I also use Hedge End, from a contingency and practical considerations it may make sense to have technicians from one 'brand' working on another.

The key thing I think is that the Lexus levels of hospitality and customer service are at the very least maintained- it's been their differentiator between Audi, MB and BMW and has served them very well. This and just going above and beyond with customer service generally. The service from Hedge End has been great- the UXe is a company car through Lex Autolease, but I'd hope every customer gets the same high level of care and attention.

[stepppy]

My 2016 Prius has been serviced at Hedge End since new and I cannot fault their service. This is even when I purchased it from another dealer for a better price. My personal plate has never been an issue either. 

With that in mind, when I do get my UX, probably next year, I would be more than happy if Toyota were to service it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dippo]

You might want to mention the inadequacies of their app. If I log onto My Lexus on my PC, it tells me that my car went from 'Order Processing' to 'Build in Progress' last Wednesday (21st). I received an email confirming this. Today (26th) the app still shows the car at 'Order Processing', even though they sent me an update message via the app saying that it had moved to 'Build in Progress'.

[fourbanks]

44 minutes ago, Dippo said:

You might want to mention the inadequacies of their app. If I log onto My Lexus on my PC, it tells me that my car went from 'Order Processing' to 'Build in Progress' last Wednesday (21st). I received an email confirming this. Today (26th) the app still shows the car at 'Order Processing', even though they sent me an update message via the app saying that it had moved to 'Build in Progress'.

Good point and thanks 

[kenhall]

For those of us who, for whatever reason, choose not to drive the most up to date Lexus model but instead rely on the well established reliability and longevity of older models it is a shame that better corrosion protection is not given a higher priority for new Lexus vehicles sold in the UK.  The effect of winter road salt can be readily seen even on vehicles only 2 or 3 years old and can sound the death knell for older otherwise reliable vehicles with, for example, excessively corroded subframes.

Obviously no manufacturer wants it’s vehicles to last indefinitely, but there must be a happy medium to be achieved somewhere.

[ColinBarber]

On 9/23/2022 at 10:46 PM, Las Palmas said:

You do not think that Lexus is doing the same? It is not cost effective to have so many different versions of the same car.

No they don't, apart from a couple of rare examples - CT200h cruise control functionality funnily enough is one.

[fourbanks]

15 minutes ago, kenhall said:

For those of us who, for whatever reason, choose not to drive the most up to date Lexus model but instead rely on the well established reliability and longevity of older models it is a shame that better corrosion protection is not given a higher priority for new Lexus vehicles sold in the UK.  The effect of winter road salt can be readily seen even on vehicles only 2 or 3 years old and can sound the death knell for older otherwise reliable vehicles with, for example, excessively corroded subframes.

Obviously no manufacturer wants it’s vehicles to last indefinitely, but there must be a happy medium to be achieved somewhere.

i think you will find that most cars sold today from Japan are only rust free for 7 years. You need to clean the car at least once a month minimum and even that won't guarantee to be rust free 

 

[KingHal]

I agree that it’s worth bringing up that the Lexus Link app is rather poor. I’m having to visit the dealer on Wednesday to, hopefully, get it fulling functioning. There’s a problem with the infotainment system trying to log on to a dead url (lexus.eu). It’s way too complicated to set up.

Does anyone else constantly get messages that a door isn’t properly closed when it is? It also stubbornly refuses to give my home address accurately. It’s made up a house number and a post code that probably doesn’t exist. A lot of the functions are circular and keep just going back to “my car”. 

[fourbanks]

18 minutes ago, KingHal said:

I agree that it’s worth bringing up that the Lexus Link app is rather poor. I’m having to visit the dealer on Wednesday to, hopefully, get it fulling functioning. There’s a problem with the infotainment system trying to log on to a dead url (lexus.eu). It’s way too complicated to set up.

Does anyone else constantly get messages that a door isn’t properly closed when it is? It also stubbornly refuses to give my home address accurately. It’s made up a house number and a post code that probably doesn’t exist. A lot of the functions are circular and keep just going back to “my car”. 

Same here, it tells me my car is parked down the next road to where I live. The app, is not worth the hassle, hence i no longer use it. As long as the voice commands work for driving and get me to where I need to be, then I'm OK 

[fourbanks]

My main goal at the end of the day in my meeting with the chief executive is to convey my views on how I see Lexus and not how he see Lexus. We are very different here, but with my in-depth overall knowledge much grater than his hopefully we could make the car a little better so that we don't have loose ends like in this thread of members complaining about what in fact are just basic failings of which there is no need of in the first place.

I think overall the staff at Lexus is split 50 / 50 good /bad/  that Iv'e met, and that would coincide of all dealers and garages iv'e been with over the past 50 years. 

Personally, i don't think i can bring about any big changes as the UK doesn't have the right sort of staff in this field of work but if I can get a few things fixed then that's something which would keep the brand at the top 

we have to remember the Lexus brand is renowned for its reliability, so it's only a few tweaks that need looking into 

[Thackeray]

I don't know if the DAB radio has been improved in recent models but it's hopeless in my 2014 car. This forum contains many comments on how people have given up on trying to make it work. This weakness indicates two managerial shortcomings that Lexus UK might be able to help with.

First, the software setup of the DAB seems to indicate a complete lack of understanding of how UK DAB works. The Japanese digital radio system is different, I believe, and it seems that whoever implemented the UK version had no idea of how it was supposed to be used. The result is that you have to switch from one "ensemble" to another (I had to look this up on Google) before you can switch from one station to another. This is nonsense and represents unfinished software. Instead you just want a complete alphabetical list of available stations. That's just one individual problem but it represents a lack of any attempt to understand non-Japanese requirements. UK input is needed on something like this at the design stage.

The second problem is that having designed some software that is very difficult to use, there should be a user manual which explains how to make it work. Here the problem is that the manual gives the impression that it was written in Japanese and then translated into English by someone who also didn't know anything about UK DAB radio. The result is that you have a feature that is not intuitive to use and the documentation does not help.

What's missing here from the managerial point of view is Document Testing. Ask the man at Lexus if they have a Document Testing department. Probably the answer will be "no". If it's "yes" that's good but in the case of the DAB radio it's obvious that they didn't get a native English speaker to test the document. The testing should involve getting a native English speaker with no knowledge of DAB radio and sit him or her in the car with the manual and see if he or she can get the radio to work. If they can't do it and the radio isn't broken this is a failure of the Documentation and the manual needs to be rewritten and re-tested until it achieves its goal of successfully helping the user. It's a complete waste of development and manufacturing time, even with good products, if the buyer can't make it work and the manual doesn't explain clearly how to use it.

So an English language Documentation Testing department is needed or if it already exists it needs to be reorganised to achieve its goals.

[fourbanks]

Thanks, William will do 

[RXtoNX]

20 hours ago, KingHal said:

 

Does anyone else constantly get messages that a door isn’t properly closed when it is? 

For “door open” read “door not locked” 👍

[KingHal]

1 hour ago, RXtoNX said:

For “door open” read “door not locked” 👍

Interesting and thanks Paul. I’ve just gone to the garage, unlocked the car, opened and closed the driver’s door and left it unlocked. Lo and behold minutes later …

I have a few small niggles with the car and am visiting the dealer tomorrow. This is one of them but it seems it’s simply incorrect nomenclature. Back to the 1960’s Japanese motorcycle manuals that advised you to slow down and “tootle the horn” when passing a horse?