Had my RX300 in for 50K service at Lexus ******* yesterday, not sure if i can name them in this forum but if you PM me i will reveal.

On collection of my car i am informed of the following on the visual safety report:

Front pads 70 - 80% worn and need replacing and caliper sticking.
Rear Pads 40 - 50% worn.
Front and rear wiper blades torn and need replacing.

At this point i became somewhat suspicious as only two weeks ago i had my motor in at another Lexus dealer and they had also issued a report stating the following:

Front pads 30% worn.
Rear Pads 15% worn.

Had i not vehemently challenged this information and been in possesion of the previous visual safety reports and reciept for the rear pads, that incidentally were only changed 3 months ago, then i may have been shelling out for work that in my opinion did not need doing.

This is bad enough but when i also inspected the wiper blades, i found them to have been torn from the end up by about 1 inch, now at this stage i am fuming as i know for a fact that they were in perfect condition when i arrived as i had not only used them as drove on to the forecourt but i had actually wiped them of grime also.

I asked to speak to the GM and Service Manager at this time, neither available, the service receptionist then had the balls to ask me for payment for my service, I refused until the blades had been replaced FOC, or i was calling the police (criminal damage), I also asked to see the stae of the pads for myself.

The car was taken and i waited to be called to inspect, imagine my suprise when 30 minutes later the receptionist returned and advised me that they had asked the head mechanic to give second opinion and low and behold they felt that the original mechanic had over exagerated his readings, new visual safety report as follows:

Front pads 40-50% worn.
Rear Pads 20% worn.

All blades changed for free.

By the time i left the Service Manager had arrived and spoke with me offering his sincere apologies, too late mate you will never see my money again.

Others beware.

That's terrible...

But how many before were not as wise as you ???

That's a complete shambles. Sorry to hear you had a crap experience.

How do dealers measure wear on brake pads anyhow?
Is it just visual?
Or do they actually measure the wear using some sort of instrument?

If it just visual, it's all subjective, as it depends what the mechanic thinks the original pad depth should have been when new!

If I were you I'd speak to Lexus GB. This sort of thing makes me mad!! There is no excuse.

Name & Shame them!

I agree.... name and shame.

disgusting behaviour - no excuse at all, a strong letter to the MD and a few of the car mags is in order.

Lexus Teeside is the culprit and up until yesterday they had been great and yes a letter is in draught to Lexus GB.

what was that LEXUS TEESIDE

That's ***** mate. You'd have thought that Lexus would act responsible and not like a small back street garage



Leicester told me that one of my rear discs had corroded when they did my service and needed changing ASAP. When I changed them at the weekend they were all fine

I was told my front pads were 85-90% worn by Lexus Reading and that should be replaced, I declined their kind invitation to replace them while I waited.

When I checked them at home they were no more than 50-60% worn.

Makes you think!

Well Done leedsunited for being on the ball!!!

Its good to see them wriggle when a garage is caught out,keeps them on there toes

chips..

Mine had about 4,000 miles' worth of wear in them apparently, at my last service. Just changed them, 9,000 miles later. Back ones still have about 3mm on them, one of the front ones was almost to the metal though

It's a shame Lexus are giving themselfs a bad name but thats a discusting way to treat customers

Would be good to know the outcome or your letter to Lexus GB.

It does suck - you read/hear about potential dodgey garages charging you for uneccessary work - but certainly dont expect it of a reputable prestige mark.
At the end of the day though, if i'm not mistaken to be a Lexus dealer is just a franchise like many other big names.

Definately interesting to see what Lexus GB say/do about it...

My recent service my VSR said about 3-4k left in my front pads... so we'll see...


D.

Absolutely nothing I'd say

thats terrible!

Another one for my file

You do have to watch them, had a similar experience with Citroen some years ago.

I declined their advice of changing the front pads at 20K and at 40K I still had not had the dash warning light and all was well.

It's an easy buck as they generally charge an hours labour for a job that can take less than half that with the correct tools.

for the front it takes about 15 mins per side inc removing and re fitting the wheel - on the IS/GS

And rear are quicker than front cause there's no bolts to undo.

It seems to be a habit that premeates to other manufacturers. In my 'early days' fell foul of it a couple of times with the old brake debate and tyres worn. But thanks to forums such as these and learning to do some basic service and maintanance checks on my own cars...taught me a lot and made me wiser to this sort of behaviour.

The outer when they get 'caught out' is that it is an estimation (no measuring etc. involved and as such it is relative to the person doing the check). When you ask why they do not physiclaly measure and check - answer is that it is not part of the schedule fropm the manufacturer (here I am specifically thinking of the Insp. II Service on BMWs where they used to remove the wheels and measure brake thickness - now they don't and simply inspect but thats a totally differnt story).

So you have to be on the ball. I always ppoint out that I will not pay a penny extra over and above the quoted service price (like additional charges for Environmental Disposal Levy or filling my already full washer bottle or misc. sundries etc.) ...