Lexus quality and dealerships

David lings · October 19, 2023

My own experiences with Lexus quality and their dealerships have not been good and l notice in various posts other people making comments on the quality and service.

l was wondering if, after all the various comments, has anyone ever been contacted by Lexus to take issue with comments or to help resolve them.

David

lexuST7 · October 20, 2023

The product quality may be due to an increase in electronic configuration, which can be understood. But poor service is unacceptable.

lexuST7 · October 20, 2023

But they will suffer the consequences themselves.

RONNIE W HODGEKINSON · October 20, 2023

6 hours ago, David lings said:

My own experiences with Lexus quality and their dealerships have not been good and l notice in various posts other people making comments on the quality and service.

l was wondering if, after all the various comments, has anyone ever been contacted by Lexus to take issue with comments or to help resolve them.

David

When You Compare The Customer service You Get from Other Garages The service From Lexus In My Opinion Is Really Good..And yes There are complexities Surrounding A Plethora of different problems Particularly And Regarding Such new and Innovative Technology Nowadays But Lexus seem to Have there head well above The Water Line.. In The real World All Garages are Different in there own way Its the Nature of the Beast... I Personnally have found Lexus to be Very Good at what they do and Have an endemic record Of Keeping customers Happy.. Once again This Reflects My Opinion Only.. Keep in mind we don,t live in a perfect World And the Motor industry Is certainly No Different...If The Treatment you get from your Garage is Good Hang on to That Ideology Because there are lots of other Garages out There whose Customer service Is Abysmal To Say The Least...!!!!!!!

Spock66 · October 20, 2023

I think the general quality of service from car dealerships and independents in the UK is very poor, so Lexus have a very low bar to reach in order to be the best.

Notamech · October 20, 2023

My experience has been mixed. Had a not so great experience with a big dealership in London and an average run off the mill experience with a smaller official lexus workshop. It certainly didn't live up to the hype or the fantastic "Lexus experience" that i had read about everywhere. I have had better experiences with local indies.

Bounce75 · October 20, 2023

I have not had a great experience with my local Dealership with my last 2 services, but they have now closed so I have got to try another dealership next week for my annual service, lets hope they are an improvement.

ikeja · October 20, 2023

Always received good service from both Lexus Chester and Lexus Liverpool

rayaans · October 20, 2023

Seems like the southern ones have the most complaints.

Never had any problems with Lexus Leeds, Stockport, Chester

DBIZO · October 20, 2023

12 hours ago, David lings said:

My own experiences with Lexus quality and their dealerships have not been good and l notice in various posts other people making comments on the quality and service.

l was wondering if, after all the various comments, has anyone ever been contacted by Lexus to take issue with comments or to help resolve them.

David

I only have experience with one dealership, it's Snows, Hedge End (Southampton). It's a fairly rich mix. I bought the car from their Exeter branch during a lockdown and was happy with how it went. But then it slowly dawned on me, novice in car ownership, that there were say short cuts. Turned out the tyres were largely gone, the starter 12V Battery was in poor health and us stranded in Stansted just after 2 weeks in the parking lot.

Then I made a complaint and it was dealt with impeccably by Snows Hedge End. So I stuck with them, and entered a service plan with them, for peace of mind. It was great, for a while they had car collection, so whenever the car needed servicing, I booked a time and a guy showed up and took the car, and returned it.

This was the mixed but good part.

Here comes the bad, from which I hope someone can learn that you need to be on your toes even with Lexus dealers, which to me undermines the whole value proposition. You don't buy a Lexus for a cocktail of excitement and grief, I want dependable boredom in style.

Then earlier this year the car developed a heating servo issue, covered under warranty. But they had to order the parts so released the car back to me, and I went abroad for a few weeks and needed the car after that frequently enough so I couldn't really leave it in for service. Turns out, there is a clause that says that if the repair doesn't get done within a certain time because the customer doesn't bring the car in, the warranty is void on that repair. So they claim.

Anyway, when I took the car back because I had the next service coming up, I told them I had that issue still and would like to now do the repair. Rejected. Cost would be £1000. I asked for confirmation saying I have never been let know about a time limitation and in any case I only have a single email from the dealership saying the part has arrived and I can book the repair.

Go figure. Always courteous, overall pleasant, they had a couple of thousand pounds already off of me and another couple at least within 24 months, because we're doing 20k miles a year, eating through service plan at 2x the rate, buying tyres from them, plus the fixes not covered under warranty.

Then when you make essentially a clerical error, according to them, it's "gotcha" time. Still courteous, but it was clear they were indifferent. It's the rules, as it stands.

I'm still considering a complaint on the back of how they handled my first one 2 years ago, surely still within statutory rights (it all went down in June I think), but I am really put off. That it is exactly the kind of thing I paid for good money to avoid, and then I still get caught out by bureaucracy. Unfair and unnecessary, and can't fathom how it is in their best interest. Even if I buy another Lexus, would I be buying from them?

Randomizer · October 20, 2023

At least outside UK, we get great service in dealership. Service is always top notch, never left unsatisfied. The service is also much, much cheaper than rival German counterparts.

Overall quality of my IS 300h has also been top notch. Only issue has been flat 12v Battery and some slight issues with AC system but they got solved.

Mr_Groundhog · October 21, 2023

22 hours ago, Bounce75 said:

I have not had a great experience with my local Dealership with my last 2 services, but they have now closed so I have got to try another dealership next week for my annual service, lets hope they are an improvement.

The one I used last year also closed, so you may be talking about Maidstone?
I went to Lexus Canterbury to have my dashcam fitted and the experience was very good, so I may try them for annual service. Heard good reviews of Lexus Sidcup too.

talaipwros · October 21, 2023

Lexus Bolton is fine ( although I am still waiting for that antitheft plate)

Bounce75 · October 21, 2023

3 hours ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

The one I used last year also closed, so you may be talking about Maidstone?
I went to Lexus Canterbury to have my Dashcam fitted and the experience was very good, so I may try them for annual service. Heard good reviews of Lexus Sidcup too.

Yes Maidstone is the one I have been using.

I have a service & my first MOT booked in at Canterbury on Friday, so I will see how I get on.

I originally thought I would try Tunbridge Wells, but they never returned any of my calls or emails, so I changed it to Canterbury.

fourbanks · October 21, 2023

IAN is the manager of both Tunbridge wells and Gatwick. He's not great as he's never around, overall all the dealers in the south of England are hit-and-miss, especially miss when it cones to any warranty work that needs to undertaken.

Unless of course you have an executive job and if that's the case the service is perfect as the dealers like to stay out of court

Bounce75 · October 21, 2023

20 minutes ago, fourbanks said:

IAN is the manager of both Tunbridge wells and Gatwick. He's not great as he's never around, overall all the dealers in the south of England are hit-and-miss, especially miss when it cones to any warranty work that needs to undertaken.

Unless of course you have an executive job and if that's the case the service is perfect as the dealers like to stay out of court

That is not good to hear.

Hopefully Canterbury will be ok.

javadude · October 21, 2023

I used to get really good service from Lexus Reading although its been 3 years since my last experience of them.

Mr_Groundhog · October 21, 2023

1 hour ago, fourbanks said:

IAN is the manager of both Tunbridge wells and Gatwick. He's not great as he's never around, overall all the dealers in the south of England are hit-and-miss, especially miss when it cones to any warranty work that needs to undertaken.

Unless of course you have an executive job and if that's the case the service is perfect as the dealers like to stay out of court

What do you mean by an executive job and staying out of court? If it's a reference I'm not getting it sorry

fourbanks · October 21, 2023

12 minutes ago, Mr_Groundhog said:

What do you mean by an executive job and staying out of court? If it's a reference I'm not getting it sorry

I have a very powerful friend executive, and he always gets perfect service from any dealer and gets way more than what you or i will get

that's how it's always been, people like lawyers also get perfect service as do airline pilots and surgeons

people like myself thou who are retired are far more likely to get poor service.

Boomer54 · October 21, 2023

20 minutes ago, fourbanks said:

I have a very powerful friend executive, and he always gets perfect service from any dealer and gets way more than what you or i will get

that's how it's always been, people like lawyers also get perfect service as do airline pilots and surgeons

people like myself thou who are retired are far more likely to get poor service.

Given that the average dealer as no idea what career you are in then I doubt the above holds true.

What will always help is to understand any contract that you have and how to be polite, but firm in making sure the contract is upheld.

fourbanks · October 21, 2023

1 hour ago, Bounce75 said:

That is not good to hear.

Hopefully Canterbury will be ok.

Canterbury is one of the better dealers, so you should be OK. Tunbridge and Gatwick with the same manger just hit-and-miss just depends on who's in that day

fourbanks · October 21, 2023

5 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

Given that the average dealer as no idea what career you are in then I doubt the above holds true.

What will always help is to understand any contract that you have and how to be polite, but firm in making sure the contract is upheld.

People in the know let it be known of their professions in the chit-chat with the salesperson, so just subtle hints for going forward is my experience of the public

wharfhouse · October 21, 2023

4 hours ago, javadude said:

I used to get really good service from Lexus Reading although its been 3 years since my last experience of them.

I've been using Lexus Reading for 7 years for all my needs (bought the 2 year old car there too) and have always been well looked after. This month they called me to let me know my 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty was about to expire and did I want to renew, which i did.

I know some others on here have had some less happy experiences there but I have no complaints.

Also same with Toyota Reading (both owned by Jemca) for the last 4 years for my wife's Toyota - no complaints and have gone out of their way a couple of times to help us.

Cs150 · October 21, 2023

As a newish owner taking receipt of a new ES nearly one year back I find the dealer terrible. Service appalling and witnessed them nearly damage my vehicle during investigation of an issue when it was only a few months old. Lexus UK have also been abysmal when raising the issue of the thefts of current vehicles through the Canbus not having encryption. Lexus UK even did not respond to a complaint for months. This changed when I posted a public TrustPilot review they responded in 48 hours. Overall this will be the first and last Lexus unfortunately and would rather run a cheaper Toyota or even another make such as Ford...

Mr_Groundhog · October 21, 2023

1 hour ago, Cs150 said:

When raising the issue of the thefts of current vehicles through the Canbus not having encryption. Lexus UK even did not respond to a complaint for months. This changed when I posted a public TrustPilot review they responded in 48 hours. Overall this will be the first and last Lexus unfortunately and would rather run a cheaper Toyota or even another make such as Ford...

So the ES is also affected by the Canbus thing? I thought it was only the RX