Lexus Dealer Quality - A Natural Decline?

[Phil xxkr]

7 hours ago, fourbanks said:

i have managements ear and that's about it. No one from Lexus at director level or above know nothing about the forum 

Thank-you Nick, my point entirely 😎

[fourbanks]

17 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

Thank-you Nick, my point entirely 😎

I give feed back on the staff I came across, and for the most part it's negative. i just can't seam to get the numbers up to make a solid team and put them in one centre. There are some good staff i should add but very few in numbers 

if you won't solid staff throughout, you would need to adopt the working practice of businesses like Emirates Etihad Airways etc from a pool of people across the world 

[Cs150]

As a fairly recent Lexus customer in recieving a new vehicle late last year dealer experience has been appalling. Service noticeably inferior to the local Ford and Kia dealers that I have direct experience with. Lexus UK in communication come across out of touch, distant and a million miles away from the original intentions of the brand many years past.

[wivenhoe]

1 hour ago, fourbanks said:

I give feed back on the staff I came across, and for the most part it's negative. i just can't seam to get the numbers up to make a solid team and put them in one centre. There are some good staff i should add but very few in numbers 

if you won't solid staff throughout, you would need to adopt the working practice of businesses like Emirates Etihad Airways etc from a pool of people across the world 

And pay them a lot less than Westerners - there is a reason you don’t see many Brit stewards and stewardesses on those 2 Airlines  !

[fourbanks]

1 hour ago, wivenhoe said:

And pay them a lot less than Westerners - there is a reason you don’t see many Brit stewards and stewardesses on those 2 Airlines  !

Not true at all, westerners won't come even close to get a look in as they don't speak many languages, and you need to be the real deal in mixing with others worldwide. Plus the fact most UK workers in these industries also like councils' insurance etc are negative people and in the main the UK is a negative country hence the disillusionment with young people and their depression 

it's not a game 

[Phil xxkr]

8 hours ago, fourbanks said:

Not true at all, westerners won't come even close to get a look in as they don't speak many languages, and you need to be the real deal in mixing with others worldwide. Plus the fact most UK workers in these industries also like councils' insurance etc are negative people and in the main the UK is a negative country hence the disillusionment with young people and their depression 

it's not a game 

Oh dear Nick, you started off so well and like so many others descend into biting the hand that feeds you! This is a great country, always has been yet acts like a magnet for the criterati - why? At the same time acts like a magnet for people wanting to come here - why? You are standing on the shoulders of giants, appreciate it. 

As to the two middle eastern airlines you mention perhaps they have seen the Virgin airlines ad and don't see their future being that inclusive. 

[dutchie01]

Emirates is full of western cabincrew. Good pay and housing comes with the job. A multilingual multinational staff is common. Not sure where you got your view from?

[fourbanks]

9 minutes ago, dutchie01 said:

Emirates is full of western cabincrew. Good pay and housing comes with the job. A multilingual multinational staff is common. Not sure where you got your view from?

That depends on where you are flying to and from. The vast majority of staff are not from the EU. No EU airline matches the overall quality of Emirates/Etihad, along with Singapore Airlines. These are the Lexus character staff that Lexus will never have 

[dutchie01]

Not sure if you can compare a car company with an airline?

for me imagewise swiss or indeed singapore come close to the Lexus brand image but not emirates or etihad. I see lexus more as “ old world old money” .

[Spacewagon52]

I give feed back on the staff I came across, and for the most part it's negative. i just can't seam to get the numbers up to make a solid team and put them in one centre. There are some good staff i should add but very few in numbers .  (Fourbanks)

I find that very interesting. What are the reasons for this?

Not enough people with the right qualifications?

Training?

Or a general attitude people now adopt to work?

What are your thoughts Nick?

[fourbanks]

54 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

I give feed back on the staff I came across, and for the most part it's negative. i just can't seam to get the numbers up to make a solid team and put them in one centre. There are some good staff i should add but very few in numbers .  (Fourbanks)

I find that very interesting. What are the reasons for this?

Not enough people with the right qualifications?

Training?

Or a general attitude people now adopt to work?

What are your thoughts Nick?

I think in general it's not the work they wish to be in, like many today. My daughter from uni was working alongside mp's and lords thinking they had an up-to-date understanding of things and after 5 years came to realize nothing changes and just goes round and round in a loop. She has now had to quit the country and is much happier. She just wishes she had done it sooner. I guess the staff at the Lexus dealerships are just going through the motions of a boring job because of lack of education 

but that's life, only those educated have the power to do as they please they make their own way in life. Everyone else just looks for a job the best they can and hopes for the best 

[Gary H]

On 8/5/2023 at 7:51 AM, LenT said:

I’m sure they will appreciate a mention.  It might even encourage the Sales side to up their game.

Which brings me to another thought about Lexus Dealers.  I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but I’m not aware of Lexus Dealers publicly contributing to relevant posts on this site.

If I felt that unfair criticism was being directed at my company or employees, I would want to defend my reputation.  Or take the opportunity to apologise for an uncharacteristic lapse!

After all, that’s one of the more entertaining aspects of TripAdvisor when reading hotel and restaurant reviews!

Is there some contractual reason involving Lexus itself that keeps Dealers off this site - even to contributing technical advice?

You’d think so, yes. Honestly Len, the difference between both sides of my local dealer is like chalk and cheese. 

I don’t recall any Lexus dealer officially coming forward making themselves known to this forum. Not during my time here at least. One of the reasons why I have yet to name the specific dealer I’ve been having ongoing issues with is for a few reasons. Firstly, I’m fully aware they have the right to defend themselves, although in my particular case I think that would be hard for them to do. Secondly as I’ve said in the past, we do have a former member here (no longer with us) who I know looking through the ‘search’ function seemed to be quite fond of them and our experiences are wildly different. Thirdly, this is purposefully a little vague, but there has been two very specific situations where I’ve posted about something and then, literally, within 48 hours something has happened to change what I’ve said - which leads me to believe the dealer may not be posting here, but are at least ‘aware’. I generally don’t like coincidences.

On 8/5/2023 at 10:49 AM, dutchie01 said:

Too much credit given to most dealers i think. They see their job as selling something thats it. Could be fridges or shoes but in this case its cars. I honestly cannot recall one person in my 30 years of buying new cars that had much interest in the automotive landscape. The job stops at five. Needless to say i am not impressed by the overall commercial knowledge of car dealers. 

I’m into year 20 of buying new cars. My very first salesman was someone who I’d known for several years prior, as he’d also dealt with my father on several occasions. An excellent salesman with genuine knowledge, not pushy and an all-round friendly, approachable person. He retired ten years ago now, but I said to him before he retired I’d happily take him with me to any dealer I’d subsequently deal with to buy cars from. I do really miss him. 

Since then, I can truthfully say there has only been one other who I feel has been close to his standard. I still remember his name and his enthusiasm was clear. I’d have very happily dealt with him again but it turned out he returned back to another car manufacturer he was selling for about 18 months later. He was still there when I took the car in for it’s first service and fair play to him, he remembered me well. Sadly, that was the last time I saw him. He’d gone by the time it come to change and I whilst I stuck with the manufacturer, I ended up buying from another dealer as his replacement wasn’t interested in deals. It was buy at full list price or nothing - so I walked away.

As for the rest? A few I’ve completely forgotten about (couldn’t tell you their names or what they even looked like) as whilst they were pleasant enough, left no lasting impression on me at all. One was incredibly miserable and gave the impression he was truly fed up with his job. To be fair, he must have been nearing retirement age.

21 hours ago, Cs150 said:

As a fairly recent Lexus customer in recieving a new vehicle late last year dealer experience has been appalling. Service noticeably inferior to the local Ford and Kia dealers that I have direct experience with. Lexus UK in communication come across out of touch, distant and a million miles away from the original intentions of the brand many years past.

Whilst it comes as no consolation at all, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels similarly. There does seem to be quite a marked difference in some new car ordering/sales-side experiences. For instance, I currently have an NX on order and barring the last few months (and even then, detail is incredibly scant), have had literally no communication at all with the dealer. Whereas there are others who have been kept up to date quite regularly with what's going on...and those who have such information seem to be getting their cars notably more quickly too. It's as if some dealers seem to have more influence over the company than others. I have genuinely been shocked at how 'left out in the cold' I have been. 

[Juicedrinker]

Regarding my RC300H I can now update the outcome of the dealer rectifying issues. 

n a nutshell the dealer collected the car and left me a loan car to action the correct major service (they had sold me a 4 year old car that was meant to have full Lexus service history) but actually only had 3 services which were all minor ones and totally at the wrong times / mileage!  Also to supply and pair the second key which they had failed to give me and set up global opening and closing.

The loan car (I guess was taken without the sales person who used it knowing it was going!) as contained empty vape cartridges, a bag of what looked like womens clothing, school leaflets, sunglasses, sweet wrappers, school fleece, dirty interior, exterior etc.  It didn't bother me but my fiance thought that was poor especially the children's school info etc.  Anyhow I was grateful to be able to try the UX model out in case I wanted one on the future.

They said it would take a couple of days but due to factors it ended up being a week which was fine with me I was able to Autoglym the exterior of loan car thoroughly and give it a good trial.  This was very helpful as the UX would not be suitable for us at all especially the ridiculously small boot.

The service person called me after it was completed to say that all ok except I needed a new OSR tyre now and in the next 500 or so miles would need a new NSR tyre.  This infuriated me because I have worked in Motorsport for over 12 years (tyres and tyre compounds are something that I deal with nearly every day of the working week) and when I looked over the car I specifically discussed with the sales guy that the OSR was close to limit on part of the tyre and the NSR wasn't looking great either.  He spoke to his manager and came back with 'it passed our Lexus service standards so all is ok and we can not change the tyres or discount'.  They informed me £255 per tyre special price (I can get the same tyres for less through my work but wanted it sorted while it was with the dealer), so explained what I had said about the tyres when I looked at car and said I also had email communication regarding this (I always get email confirmation of anything discussed when buying expensive items).  I said that she needed to speak with the sales manager as I had only had the car 6 weeks, it was at the top end of price it should of been and I would not pay for new tyres.  In all fairness to them within 10 minutes I had a call back saying both tyres would be replaced free of charge.

I then suddenly thought that I had better check the key fob situation and surprise surprise she knew nothing about the second key or the pairing of it and setting up for global opening and closing.  She looked into it and sales had forgotten to tell them or give them the key fob.

I received the car back and major service done, new tyres and key fob supplied but they had not programmed for global opening / closing; Anyhow all else was fine.

They were trying to sell me a service and MOT plan but I didn't want to give them anymore business so contacted Swindon Lexus where I have always had my previous Lexus's serviced.  As usual they could not have been better, I set up the plan with them easily and then they asked me about what had been done to resolve my issues  with the dealer that sold me the car.  They told me that under no circumstances would they ever loan a dirty car and even more so with personal belongings in it, I said it didn't bother me only my fiance.  I then mentioned the key fob global opening and closing and could I get it in / pay to have this set up and they replied 'just let us know when you are in the area and we can arrange with you to drop it in at a convenient time and we will do it for you free of charge'.  I am utterly amazed at how good Lexus Swindon service department are, I have never had a bad experience from them in all the years that I have dealt with them and although well over an hour from where I live (and there are two much closer dealers) I will continue to use them everytime.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Spock66]

53 minutes ago, Juicedrinker said:

I am utterly amazed at how good Lexus Swindon service department are, I have never had a bad experience from them in all the years that I have dealt with them

Lexus Swindon also operate the Lexus Parts Direct website which many members make use of.

[Juicedrinker]

1 hour ago, Spock66 said:

Lexus Swindon also operate the Lexus Parts Direct website which many members make use of.

Yes thats absolutely correct and I've used them a few times.  They are also less expensive for installing parts than Lexus Reading along up the M4.  Last year an offside front caliper cost £412.00 at Reading, a few weeks later I decided to have the NSF caliper changed as was the same age as the other one was and thought that it may fail.  I went to Lexus Swindon and they charged £299.00 for the NSF caliper a saving of £113.00 for just being in a different location! (thats the dealer not the location of the caliper 😂)

[DavidCM]

6 hours ago, Spock66 said:

Lexus Swindon also operate the Lexus Parts Direct website which many members make use of.

 

5 hours ago, Juicedrinker said:

Yes thats absolutely correct and I've used them a few times.  They are also less expensive for installing parts than Lexus Reading along up the M4.  😂

It looks like I had a lucky break in Reading not bothering to answer their phone when I was booking a service.They are my nearest dealer but the extra miles going elsewhere are well spent.Peter/Nemisis also speaks highly of Swindon .I couldn't fault Hedge End on my experience of them.

[wivenhoe]

On 8/8/2023 at 10:36 AM, dutchie01 said:

Emirates is full of western cabincrew. Good pay and housing comes with the job. A multilingual multinational staff is common. Not sure where you got your view from?

A Gold Card holder flying business & first to and from Dubai with Emirates. Also flying with Etihad to and from Abu Dhabi, Qatar Airways to and from Doha. Other Emirates destinations - Joburg, Mauritius, Singapore ……

[Rabbers]

On 8/8/2023 at 12:24 PM, dutchie01 said:

Not sure if you can compare a car company with an airline?

I don’t see much connection between airline and car dealership personnel. The only function they have in common consists of face-to-face contact with customers who, being generally more demanding than they once were, have also become more demanding and consequently more prone to anger.  In no other areas of activity are the two staffs functionally interchangeable.  
 

Of course, airline personnel, be they ground or flight, are likely to handle and resolve customer-related issues more effectively because they have been given job-specific training enabling them to do so.  That said, in normal workaday circumstances, I’m sure that most Lexus receptionists, monolingual or otherwise, would be as capable of serving me a glass of bubbly as civilly as any Etihad or Emirates or Singapore steward or stewardess.