Lexus Dealer Not Great.

capese21 · February 27, 2015

I have read lots of reports of how marvelous Lexus dealers are, the best for customer service and how they come top in surveys.

My local dealer is not great. They are polite enough but no better than any other dealer for other makes.

Last week I sat in the show room for an hour and a half for them to tell me the parts were not in stock for the warranty repair that I had booked in a week earlier.

They called the day before to remind me of my appointment to.

When I first collected my car it looked clean but there was dust and dirt down the sides of the seats ect When I put the sun visor down there was a spiders web complete with a egg sack hanging down quite disgusting!!

My impression so far is not great. The is300H F-sport is 10/10 but Lexus dealer more like 2/10.

A few days afterwards they sent me one of those "are you happy with your Lexus" emails. I filled it in! I then got a service for free so at least I dont have to go near them for a year.

Today they sent another email asking me to recommend them to family & friends and if I do they will give me a Fortnum & Masons hamper. I doubt I will be doing so!!

Ed

rayaans · February 27, 2015

Cant see where the beef is? OK maybe I can see where your frustration is coming from but seriously tell them face to face!

They gave you a free service and offered you a hamper if you recommended your friends to them so they essentially sorted out the problem that you had in the first place? Try that with Mercedes or Audi and see where you get lol

When they reminded you of your appointment, Im guessing it was the receptionist? How is the receptionist supposed to know if they have the parts in stock or not? She just rings you to remind you of your appointment because its on the computer!

As for the cleanliness of the car - sometimes they miss things, it happens, you should have pointed it out when you got in the car!

Instead of ranting on here, maybe you should speak to the dealer? They can't rectify anything if its on forums which they dont read. Phone your dealer up, say youre unhappy, get them to sort it out. Job done.

capese21 · February 27, 2015

I spoke to the dealer "face to face" thats why they did the service. Thanks for the advice though not.

I expected the car to be spotless but perhaps I was expecting to much. I didn't immediately notice the dirt so told them the next day.

Why would it be even slightly acceptable for me to arrive and then sit there for an hour and a half and then say they have not got the parts.

A phone call in the morning and the appointment could have been rearranged. The receptionist could have been told by the service manager.

Do you honestly feel that it is just a rant and unreasonable to have expected a higher standard?

BMW & Audi dealers dont do that well in surveys whereas Lexus come top. Thats why I was expecting better from them.

They only offer a hamper if you recommend them for having impeccable service but imho they do not.

I didn't post on here expecting them to read although on the Jag XF forum the customer service guy does read and did respond to posts.

The reason for "ranting" on here is to see if my dealer is just not very good or if it is it normal. I may try a different one next time.

Ed.

Martin F · February 27, 2015

Last week I sat in the show room for an hour and a half for them to tell me the parts were not in stock for the warranty repair that I had booked in a week earlier.

They called the day before to remind me of my appointment to.

That is not acceptable and I think would warrant an invoice to them for wasting your time. I'm pretty sure as Ray says it's just the receptionist running through the diary, but hopefully if you made your point with them process improvement, or common sense, will have kicked in.

dochybrid · February 27, 2015

This does sounds frustrating!

On one side there is such a hype of Lexus customer service, raising customers' expectations. These sort of failures are almost avoidable, with good communication within Lexus dealership. At the end of the day, they are providing a service for money..

capese21 · February 27, 2015

My post was more to garner if my dealer is typical or just one of the poorer ones. I wasn't asking for advice on how to resolve the issues I had.

Maybe everyone else's experience is perfect!! My F-Sport is pretty close to perfect now I am settled in.

Ed.

rayaans · February 27, 2015

My sincere apologies - I figured you were ranting on here without speaking to the dealer first. Anyhow.....

Which dealer is it? I've found the relatively poor ones to be fish brothers and listers group. Listers group is probably the worst dealer network in the UK, maybe that's why they have so many Audi and BMW showrooms?

I've found RRG and the Benfield group to be good Lexus ones. I'm yet to test the vantage and Jardine group though.

para999 · February 28, 2015

have to disagree about fish brothers as they are my local dealer and where I bought my own car from. found them very obliging and in fact they went out of their way to have the wheels removed, the car stored on a ramp ( covered) for 2 days whilst they took them round to a local wheel refurb to have them done black and at no extra cost to myself. how many garages would have done that?

in my day to day job if I have to take cars into their garage, which is rare compaired to other makes, they are very welcoming to both the customer and myself and even make me a coffee which is a bonus

rayaans · February 28, 2015

have to disagree about fish brothers as they are my local dealer and where I bought my own car from. found them very obliging and in fact they went out of their way to have the wheels removed, the car stored on a ramp ( covered) for 2 days whilst they took them round to a local wheel refurb to have them done black and at no extra cost to myself. how many garages would have done that?

in my day to day job if I have to take cars into their garage, which is rare compaired to other makes, they are very welcoming to both the customer and myself and even make me a coffee which is a bonus

With regards to the wheel refurb - im pretty sure all dealers do that anyway?

To be fair, fish brothers are great when it comes to selling cars, politeness and general courtesy. Its when the problems start that they arent very good at managing them. Same with Listers group, they'll be fine when selling the car or if you have questions, when you have a problem they'll take a relatively long time to sort it out.

From my experience, RRG and Benfield sort problems out better than the others including any warranty work and servicing too.

Steve44 · February 28, 2015

This does sounds frustrating!

On one side there is such a hype of Lexus customer service, raising customers' expectations. These sort of failures are almost avoidable, with good communication within Lexus dealership. At the end of the day, they are providing a service for money..

This is the issue I think, I agree my expectations were raised based on all the hype and reporting on how great they were in the media. Reality is, they suffer the same problems other manufacturers have with parts availability, poor comms, mis-informed sales people etc... its just they are nicer at telling you and the environment, coffee, pastries, TV's etc are nicer too. :D

They are only ever as good as the people working for them at the end of the day.

para999 · February 28, 2015

can I just say it was not a refurb as such the car was brand new and it came with silver wheels and I wanted them black. what I was saying is which dealer would leave a car on their workshop ramps for 2 days whilst the wheels were being painted. they did not have to do this they could just have said its up to you to take the car round to the wheel guys after you've taken the car off the forecourt a bit like audi did to me after my 3rd purchase from them.

I cannot comment on the servicing and or warranty work as most of the cars I have had I've not kept until the first service is due, but time will tell.

Rabbers · February 28, 2015

Complaints about the services provided by Lexus dealerships have always existed and always will, disappointed

customers being a fact of life in any commercial organization. The issue for Lexus is whether the standard of the

services provided by dealers continues to be sufficiently high to distinguish the brand from competitors and,

secondarily only to the quality of the cars themselves, remain a key factor in attracting prospective customers

away from competitors. Having had occasion use Lexus dealerships in five countries over the past fifteen years

for both major and minor jobs, my own opinion is that the level of customer service, both technical and commercial,

is generally very good. By this I mean that, other than occasionally breaking into a sweat over the cost of spare

parts and servicing, I have rarely had cause to complain about what I have asked them to do or the speed and

conscientiousness with which they have done it. But, then again, having had no points of comparison with other

houses since becoming a Lexus loyalist, I am not really able to judge how accurate my opinion might be. Still, one

less frequently hears negative comments, let alone horror stories, about Lexus dealerships than others, and the

brand continues to score high in consumer surveys.

Certainly, having come to Lexus from BMW, Audi and Lancia, I was originally very impressed and even amazed at

the general level of service and the enthusiasm of the staff providing it. These virtues clearly used to derive from

an underdogs-try-harder David v. Goliath-type motivational scenario, and if they have become somewhat less

noticeable over the years - and I regret to say this may well be the case - it is because the scenario has grown

less credible and the commercial pressures greater. Or maybe I have become grumpier with age.

tinka · March 1, 2015

I have a wheel that is a different shade to the others. I took it to my local dealer, who looked into it and couldn’t find any history of it being refurbed, or replaced. Lexus uk didn’t want to know and left it to the dealers to sort out, with the option of me having to go to swindon (where I bought it) from Kent to have it resolved.

I contacted Lexus customer relations, and said that, if no history can be found on the wheel being replaced or refurbished then why isn’t it a warranty claim?. The outcome was, they have offered to cover the cost of a refurbishment. I don’t think Lexus are light years ahead, it depends on who the dealer is really, I didn’t expect to have to chase around and have to speak to customer relations.

I had an Audi before the IS, and I got to know the service advisor quite well, who often went out of the way to help me, with costs and servicing etc, my parting e-mail to him was, if Lexus are as good as he has been to me then I will be very happy.

rayaans · March 1, 2015

I have a wheel that is a different shade to the others. I took it to my local dealer, who looked into it and couldn’t find any history of it being refurbed, or replaced. Lexus uk didn’t want to know and left it to the dealers to sort out, with the option of me having to go to swindon (where I bought it) from Kent to have it resolved.

I contacted Lexus customer relations, and said that, if no history can be found on the wheel being replaced or refurbished then why isn’t it a warranty claim?. The outcome was, they have offered to cover the cost of a refurbishment. I don’t think Lexus are light years ahead, it depends on who the dealer is really, I didn’t expect to have to chase around and have to speak to customer relations.

I had an Audi before the IS, and I got to know the service advisor quite well, who often went out of the way to help me, with costs and servicing etc, my parting e-mail to him was, if Lexus are as good as he has been to me then I will be very happy.

Isnt Lexus Swindon part of the Fish Brothers group? :P