Juicedrinker

That is interesting regarding not replying back to some of your emails, I was trying to get answers from a dealer in London when I was originally looking and it was nigh on impossible getting an answer.

Hello Shahpor, That is very interesting regarding the Reading dealership... I went in there when looking for an IS250 and they had an approved one for around £12k. The woman I saw when I walked in (on a Sunday) talked to me like she thought I could not afford a Lexus even an older one which surprised me and she hadnt obviously noted the car that I had arrived in either. Anyhow I waited until a man was available and he was pleasant but for various reasons the car wasnt for me (it had sat nav wich I do not want) and I decided on an older one from soemwhere else to test Lexus out with the view (as will happen) that I will buy a much newer one in 2021. Once I got my car I needed a new wiper blade and phoned Reading and they said they would call me back, a week later no reply so I tried again and got the service department this time. They said they wuld have to find out the price of the arm or refill and let me know. As I didnt hold out they would reply I also contacted Swindon Lexus ad they to said they would call me back. In the end I purchase a Michelin hybrid arm whcih unfortunately had the J hook design but works brilliantly. 4 months later still no phone call back from either branch about the wipers. I tried to book in for the airbag at Reading as they are my cosest dealer b ut they wanted the car at least a day and INSISTED I took a loan car. So I booked in the airbag with Swindon a good hour drive away but they were very polite on the phone and I thought I may as well have a full service at the same time (which isnt due yet). It was them that told me they never work on Saturdays which I have never heard of with all the cars that I have had. When I had company cars I didnt want any impact on my work day so always had any service carried out on a Saturday morning and that was a large range of brands. Anyhow I have now decided to have my family member / engineer friend do the servicing in their garage that they have owned 60 years and I will supply the oil etc as I can buy at great prices through my job. When I get a much newer one I will take that into Lexus for servicing as I do with Mazda for my Mazda.

I absolutely agree with everything you have said there regarding the mechanics at main dealers. It is completely ludicrous that most know very little compared to experienced mechanics and engineers, they rely on plugging system checkers in and seeing what the diagnostics come up with. They NEVER agree or acknowledge comments that you may make for example I used to have a Honda S2000 and am a fanatic about them. There were very well known minor issues / niggles with them that have been documented by owners and Honda themselves but if you ever mentioned anything to a Honda mechanic no matter how experienced they were they would deny / act as though they had never heard of such a thing. It was completely ridiculous. In fact with the S2000 there are a handful of independent specialists that are Far Far better than Honda when it comes to servicing and repairing them, Honda are not at all good with them. I actually work in a Motorsport company (Export division for past 8 years) but one of my biggest customers is not a Motorsprt team / individual but a prestige insurance repair centre in Thailand. He works on Porsche, Bentley, Aston Martin, Lamborghini etc. Occasionally he has Audi R8's and (in his words definatley not mine!!) low value cars. I order parts for him from bodywork to the smallest electronics items like Air bag detonators etc. A few parts I ordered for a Lambo the other week were delivered to me by the Audi dealership and in VW/Audi branded cartons, obviously I know of the company ownership structure etc. However I was concerned because I could not accept them in as there was a slight difference in part number on the label although the actual parts looked identical in every way to what I had ordered. I phoned Lamborghini and they apologised and said their parts were on back order so substituted with the exact same Audi part. They thought we were fitting it so the box part number difference did not matter. I told them it had to match in every way or my customer could not put through with the insurers in Thailand who had signed off what was going to be an £80k job following a smash! So they arranged for me to receive some cartons branded Lambo with the correct part number on them, I established following receipt of the invoices and phoning them to query them as too low value (from what we had BACS payment across to them) that each Audi part which was exactly the same as the Lambo one was 30% less expensive!!!!!!!!!!!! This is just one of the examples of the lunacy that goes on in the car world that I have seen. As you say a good independent wants to keep their customers and because they have no allegiance to a specific brand can be as truthful as they wish. My Mazda was maintained on the dot every year by Mazda regardless of how low the mileage was at the time for a full 12 years and it made diddly squat difference to the resell value of the car.

Thats interesting because every single car that I have had be it company or private, Ford, BMW, Alfa, Mazda, Peugeot, Renault, VW, Audi, Honda... I have always had serviced on a Saturday. My current MX5 had the big 3.5 hour service done on a Saturday morning last year. However you have made a very good point regarding independents. I have a friend of mine who owns a family garage, MOT and service centre it has been operating since 1960. I may as well get them to do the servicing work as they looked after my Volvo for 5 years perfectly and my mothers cars. The Lexus stamp is not going to make the blindest difference to value when I sell it in 3 years time - it will be pretty much worthless then anyway. When I next get a nearly new one I will keep that maintained at Lexus themselves until it reaches a high mileage.

Ha ha, I'm exactly like you... many years ago I was a car detailer and will not let anyone wash my cars at all. Mazda and Honda never understood why I always said 'DO NOT' wash my car when they were serviced.

Thank you for this info.... maybe they just want to keep the whole day clear in case they come up against issues? A friend of mine in a diffferent part of UK has an IS250 and they had his car in for a 3 hour / morning slot which is what I originally expected.

Firstly I apologise for the length of the message. I have owned / driven many many different cars in my life reasons being 1. That I'm old and have driven for ages 2. I spent over 20 years on the road in various sales roles 3. I love cars and driving. Recently following many years of research and due to a back problem I decided that my sports car can not be used much anymore and that I should get an older Lexus to try it out with the view of buying a much newer one in a couple of years. I ended up with a IS250 petrol 08 plate 2 owner with full Lexus / Toyota history and have now driven 3500 miles in just under 3 months and love everything about it, even that it is automatic which was (for me) always the HUGE hurdle I had to get over as have previously returned 3 company automatics within a few weeks of receiving them.. The only issue I have so far is the one that I was least expecting.... Lexus dealerships!!!! I had read time and time again just how good they are in every way but to be honest I am VERY unimpressed so far and am wondering if this is typical of them or just an area related thing (I live in the South East). I found that when I lived in Northumbria the dealers in Carlisle for Honda, BMW and Alfa Romeo were absolutely brilliant but in the many years I have lived in different areas of the South of the UK only one Peugeot dealer and a Mazda dealer I used that provided a good service and all other brands have been extremely poor indeed. I knew the Lexus I was getting needed the airbag replaced under recall and phoned the main local'ish dealer. I asked if I could bring it n on any day they had available and I would wait or go to the local retail park for however long they needed to do the job. They said I could not wait and they would only let me leave the car if I did not take a loan car from them! I said I had no issue at all with keeping myself occupied the whole day but they insisted I could only leave my car if I took a loan car. Now I know a lot of people would say what is the issue with me doing that but due to their opening times I would have to take extra time off work if the job went past one day, also two loan cars I had in the past, one was driven into and one was stolen!!!! So I said I would never have one again. I assumed they just wanted my car there for them to fit in when better for them and if I have a loan car they could keep it for days potentially. I spoke to Lexus recall centre about this and they said it was nonsense, typically a 3 hour job and I could wait if I wanted to and did not have to have a loan car if I did not want. They also said as I was only 12 miles from the centre they could collect it from me and return, however the dealer had told me I was ouotside their permited mileage and they would not offer this Lexus recall recommended I contact another main Lexus dealer so I selected the next one closest which is 40 miles from where I live. They were very obliging and said I could wait in the service reception no problem at all. As they were so affable I booked it in for a full 80K service and knowing (from what they said) this would then take about 5-6 hours total I would go shopping. However they could not guarantee to complete this in one day so I suggested if they could not I would go home by train and collect the next day Saturday to which they replied their service department is always shut on a Saturday!!! I have NEVER in my life with all the cars I've owned known a service department of a main dealer be completely closed on a Saturday; This would mean I would need to reserve two week days off work just in case they can not complete in one day. I thought oh well if I have to do that then maybe they can adjust some settings whilst it is for me regarding the auto lighting sensitivity which I would like increased and steering wheel retraction which I would like switched off whilst they have it as it says this can be done by dealers in the manual. However the service manager said he had no idea how and if this could be done and that I should find my own independent garage who might be able to do this for me, I offered to pay for this but he said it is something they are not equipped to do!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I was expecting too much from all that I have read about the amazing Lexus back up service but to be honest I'm surprised because although I would never own a BMW again their back up / attitude etc etc in Carlisle (and Honda and even Alfa Romeo!!) was simply outstanding and WELL beyond what I had expected. Would appreciate any of your thoughts on this please, thanks Charlie