Lexus Croydon, Any Experiences Please

willydoit · June 5, 2015

Hi all,

Has anyone had any experience with lexus Croydon? Am looking to purchase a 13k 2007 vehicle from them with Lexus 5+ 12 month warranty. My concern has been raised by the fact that when enquiring about the vehicle I sent the salesman an admitedly lengthy email of checks I requested on the car to ascertain whether it was the right car for us before looking at a 400 mile round trip to view and likely purchase the vehicle. The check list was a number of items that appear to be issues with that particular model, bonnet/boot strut weakness, shock absorbers speaker and amp failure, water ingress into the boot, paintwork bubbling issues on the roof, bodywork etc. the following day I received an email from the salesman advising that while he was checking the items for me another salesman sold the car.

Although the car wasn't our preferred colour and had higher mileage (86.6k) than I would have preferred I was dissapointed that the car had gone as I felt that the car having full dealer history with a 12 months warranty from a Lexus dealer would provide substantial peace of mind that I wasn't going to end up with huge repair bills after purchase.

I did have my suspicions over whether the car had been sold and it turns out that my suspicions were justified as an enquiry by another family member via a different sales person confirmed that the car is still available for sale!!! The new salesman has sent photographs and is supposed to be calling me tomorrow to discuss the car.

This worries me considerably, why was I lied to by the first salesman? Is it that he just couldn't be bothered to check the vehicle for me and preferred to lose his employers a 13k sale or could it be that there are issues with the car that were on the list I requested checked which wouldn't be cost efficient to put right prior to sale? If that was the case then why not just tell me what the issues were and be honest rather than lie? I appreciate that perhaps a sale was made that subsequently fell through but if that was the case surely any sales person worth their salt would have re-established contact to resume thisnpotential sale.

Something stinks somewhere and I am hoping that it is just the original salesman rather than the dealership or the car.

I am now questioning just what the Lexus 5+ 12 month warranty is worth as I assumed any issues would be covered by this so wasn't too worried so far as mechanics and electrics were concerned, however if the car has issues that were on my check list and the salesman considered it was better to lie to me rather than be asked to rectify the issues due to potential cost could it be that the issues if not spotted before purchase may not be covered on the warranty?

What are other owners experiences both with this dealership and the 5+ warranty? Could I end up buying a fsh car from a dealer with a warranty and still end up with a poor car, big bills and issues?

Finally the car has 86.6k miles on the clock, this car should have a cambelt change at 90k, would it be normal practice for a reputable dealer to change the cambelt and water pump on a car with this mileage before sale? Would it be unreasonable to request this before parting with 13k of my money. If they say they cannot replace the cambelt and pump within the purchase price ( looks as though car has been reduced from 14.5k before I saw it advertised.) is the car and immediate expense still worth buying due to the benefits of purchase from a dealership and the 12 month warranty?

Any info or advice would be gratefully appreciated, I appreciate that when talking about a Lexus 13k may not seem like a lot of money but it is a lot of money to us and we cannot afford to end up with a preverbial pig in a poke. i already own a 1998 mk4 ls400 with 55k on the clock that in 10 years of ownership hasnt cost me a penny beyond tyres, new pads, a Battery and windscreen wipers so rightly or wrongly am assuming that all lexus models supply the same build quality and reliability providing you get a good one to start with.

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

willydoit · June 15, 2015

Just a quick FYI,

decided against buying car from Lexus Croydon, took the time to write an email thanking the second salesman for his help and advising that I hadnt been able to shake off the concerns raised by the actions of the first salesman lying about the car being sold, presumably either due to knowing the car had issues with the items I had asked to be checked and would prefer to lie rather than be honest or because he just couldn't be bothered for the commission he would make on a £14,000 sale.

Anyway, got an automated received receipt, even got a read receipt but not the common courtesy of a response.

Judge from this what you will but personally, if this is the level of customer care or consideration one can expect from the Croydon Lexus Dealership then possibly better to give a wide berth.

Hope my experience will help someone else to appreciate that just because they have been granted a Lexus dealership doesn't mean the ethics or general courtesy expected by Lexus from their dealerships are automatically employed.

Please note that I can only review Lexus Croydon on my own experience as outlined above. If others have a contradictory experience they may wish to post details to redress the balance.