Lexus Used Approved car condition topic

[dutchie01]

sorry just realized you have the 200t but it does not change my view

[Linas.P]

It is 200t, not 300h, but regardless I have not tracked the car and seriously it would not be much better than hybrid. If anything I think 200t has bigger brakes, so they should last even longer. Both cars looks sporty, but seriously it would be last thing I would take to track day - they are relatively heavy and you cannot even take stability control off. Not suitable for any sort of track driving for sure.

Obviously, let be clear - they have not made this excuse yet and likely they won't make it, however I still think it is unlikely that they will cover the cost of replacement in "good will". That said being in their courtesy car I am not in the rush, we can have e-mail conversations for weeks and I could get Lexus HQ involved as well for moderation of the claims. I really cannot see how can they justify brakes weaning down so quickly. I don't know what is average mileage on brakes for these cars but I would guess 20k+ for pads and 60k+ for disks, certainly not 3000.

[paulrnx]

Last time I had an issue after buying an approved used car, a Jaguar XE, I let the dealership have one go at investigating and fixing the problem. They declared that all four tyres were indeed ok and that the car had passed its inspection prior to sale to me. All four tyres were showing signs of cracking where the sidewalls met the tread. I had numerous trips to different tyre fitters and they were about 70:30 in favour of the tyres needing to be replaced asap. I paid for replacements myself because I decided I wouldn't drive round on tyres that I wasn't sure about and determined I would claimed back from the dealership. I gave them one go at re-imbursing me and then I wrote to the head office of the dealer group and asked them to re-imburse me. They contacted the dealership and the dealership immediately contacted me and arranged payment to me.  It took a while but I kept my cool (I'm not saying you aren't btw), put everything in writing, noted down telepehone conversations and what was said and replayed everything back to the head office. I was polite at all times (again, not saying you aren't) and they paid in the end. I was going to take it to a small claims court if needed. Good luck, hope you get the result you deserve. I believe that the Lexus approved scheme requires brakes to be good for at least 3k miles and if any service or work is required within 3k miles / 3 months then it must be done prior to sale. I can't find this written down anywhere, it is word of mouth from more than one dealership.

[royoftherovers]

2 minutes ago, paulrnx said:

Last time I had an issue after buying an approved used car, a Jaguar XE, I let the dealership have one go at investigating and fixing the problem. They declared that all four tyres were indeed ok and that the car had passed its inspection prior to sale to me. All four tyres were showing signs of cracking where the sidewalls met the tread. I had numerous trips to different tyre fitters and they were about 70:30 in favour of the tyres needing to be replaced asap. I paid for replacements myself because I decided I wouldn't drive round on tyres that I wasn't sure about and determined I would claimed back from the dealership. I gave them one go at re-imbursing me and then I wrote to the head office of the dealer group and asked them to re-imburse me. They contacted the dealership and the dealership immediately contacted me and arranged payment to me.  It took a while but I kept my cool (I'm not saying you aren't btw), put everything in writing, noted down telepehone conversations and what was said and replayed everything back to the head office. I was polite at all times (again, not saying you aren't) and they paid in the end. I was going to take it to a small claims court if needed. Good luck, hope you get the result you deserve. I believe that the Lexus approved scheme requires brakes to be good for at least 3k miles and if any service or work is required within 3k miles / 3 months then it must be done prior to sale. I can't find this written down anywhere, it is word of mouth from more than one dealership.

A great and most useful Post Paul.

[Linas.P]

Surprising outcome

They agreed that reported 5-6mm on front pads wasn't right at the time of sale and agreed with Lexus Woodford recommendation of changing front disks, although they insist front disks are close to minimal thickness rather than below minimal thickness, but we talking 0.2mm here. Rear brakes, again they agreed that pads require replacement, however not disks - as they have some thickness left. Either way, the only reason they mentioned it is probably to make themselves look better I guess...  because they have replaced all brake pads free of charge, front disks free of charge and rear disks as goodwill (free of charge), as well they done MOT free of charge.

So in summary, they have replaced everything I asked for free of charge and added complimentary MOT on top. I don't have much else to complain about - in short I am very happy! Further, they will deliver the car to me from Reading to Romford today - which is 2 hours drive. They haven't even agreed to do it when I bought the car (in fact they didn't even pick me up from Reading train station!), so it was not expected for the service. 

Finally, I guess what can I say - they were at fault, but finally admitted it and have solved my issue to full satisfaction. It would have been better if they would have agreed with it straight away when I complained, rather than after 3 days of e-mail conversation and complaint to Lexus UK, but in the end of the day they solved it regardless. This means that Lexus can be trusted to put things right and my trust I authorised dealerships and Lexus policies is restored. Not sure what it was - Lexus UK or the box of sweets I gave them (maybe both), but they have showed minimal resistance once initial excuse failed.

[royoftherovers]

Just maybe it was the content of the first person who responded to your request for help Linas ?

[rich1068]

48 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Surprising outcome...

Excellent news. I've a feeling the original salesperson will have got a bit of a rocket. Deserves one at least. If your initial query hadn't been handled in such a dismissive manner all this unpleasantness could have been avoided. Well done Linas and well done Lexus.

[Linas.P]

I have contacted the original salesperson when I complained, because I had existing e-mail chain with him agreeing all the things which have to be completed before sale, so it kind of made sense.

He has rejected my comments back then and rejected them again when I complained (not much surprise there). Not sure if that is his personal style, or dealership policy (there are some evidence for later). When I doubled down on my complain and pointed out missing inspection, inaccuracies in the inspection provided and pointed out that I will need to recover costs later (I didn't say I will sue, but I guess it was possible to figure that out) - he came back with offer to inspect the car in Reading instead and it was all nice an polite from there. Obviously, I have made complain to Lexus UK in meantime and they said they will discuss the matter with General Manager of that dealership - so it is hard to say if it was genuine change in attitude or was it little knock from GM to get it sorted (I still count on my sweets as well 😁)...

And yes, it would have been much more pleasant if they have agreed with inspection, rather than dismissed it  - but in the other hand now I have sense of achievement + nice story to tell. Further, I think they managed to fix the brakes for much less than £1,155.00 and that is why they were prepared to accept such compromise, but not pay the cost outright (just wonder how much it actually costs?! ~£300 maybe?!).

Either way, issue was fully solved and I am satisfied with results, as well thanks all for your advise and support!

[royoftherovers]

Very good Linas. You know better than most to play everything with a straight bat, tell the truth, do not distort the facts and write everything down.

[Linas.P]

Thanks,

And indeed it is very good point, if I didn't have everything in the e-mails it would have been very difficult. Now it was quite clear that I had concerns about brakes before I bough and I have raised it with them, they have likewise promised to check, but never checked. I am glad court was not required here, but in such case I would have had reasonable story to tell and some proof to provide. If all would have been verbal, then it would have been lost cause from beginning. 

As you said it is as well important to keep the cool head and be constructive - I don't think hysteria has ever helped anyone.

[Shahpor]

Excellent result Linas, glad it worked out.

Also, as a customer of Lexus Reading for some years now, I am pleased that they came through in the end as well.

[Linas.P]

Yes, it did kind of require for me to give them not only second, but as well third chance - but in the end results are results.

I would as well like to note that whatever their response was positive or negative, it was always very professional. So they may be selling cars with naked brake-pads, but they have their manners 😁

As well, I forgotten to point out, but Lexus Woodford deserves some credit as well - they have facilitated the solution without any real gain for themselves. They had car in their workshops which had no brakes and was basically MOT failure and they have provided me with courtesy car which as I understand is in short supply nowadays + it costs them money (they need to insure it a very least). But they really didn't pressure me to return courtesy car and waited 4days until I agree something with Lexus Reading. This just shows that Lexus Dealerships are not your common garage - where I am pretty sure I would have been told to either pay for repairs or to return courtesy car same day as stated on the agreement (I think it was 24h).

So kind of interesting conclusion - seems like Lexus Dealers have hold-up to high expectations and good service, issues occurs, but I would say they were reasonable in solving them. Secondary conclusion - used car sales is tricky business and it is important for both buyer and seller to document transaction and to be precise when they agree to anything, there are a lot of grey areas and unless explicitly agreed it could work out either way. 

[paulrnx]

Excellent result, great news. Good for you, well done for sticking to your guns.