Lexus quality control (faults)

[fourbanks]

I have a meeting with one of the Lexus UK chief executives coming up in the not too distant future. Are there any issues that you would like me to talk to him about with regards your new cars and faults that you have been made aware of. 

I have found 3 areas for attention, at the designer stage, one is the passenger seat belt buckle that rattles on the pillar now and again. The other being the rear wiper motor noise, which could be made quieter. Also, the wing mirrors don't retract automatically, this is specific to the model in question but nonetheless it needs addressing. They may be miner, but the overall idea of the meeting is to get these miners details understood and then hopefully fixed 

if you have any concerns you won't me to address, then do please say so 

[fourbanks]

i should add for me to find just 3 things is coincided as excellent as i'm very much a takumi type of character 

[rayaans]

45 minutes ago, fourbanks said:

I have a meeting with one of the Lexus UK chief executives coming up in the not too distant future. Are there any issues that you would like me to talk to him about with regards your new cars and faults that you have been made aware of. 

I have found 3 areas for attention, at the designer stage, one is the passenger seat belt buckle that rattles on the pillar now and again. The other being the rear wiper motor noise, which could be made quieter. Also, the wing mirrors don't retract automatically, this is specific to the model in question but nonetheless it needs addressing. They may be miner, but the overall idea of the meeting is to get these miners details understood and then hopefully fixed 

if you have any concerns you won't me to address, then do please say so 

I wouldn't regard the automatic folding mirrors as a fault. It's entirely specification dependent and not a fault of the vehicle 

I would say that Lexus probably needs to address the servicing situation. It's always coming up on the forums as being ridiculously expensive for what you get especially on low mileage vehicles. 

 

 

[fourbanks]

1 minute ago, rayaans said:

I wouldn't regard the automatic folding mirrors as a fault. It's entirely specification dependent and not a fault of the vehicle 

I would say that Lexus probably needs to address the servicing situation. It's always coming up on the forums as being ridiculously expensive for what you get especially on low mileage vehicles. 

 

 

Quote

I would say that Lexus probably needs to address the servicing situation. It's always coming up on the forums as being ridiculously expensive for what you get especially on low mileage vehicles. 

Good point and noted 

[NemesisUK]

The term "fault" implies something not working as intended, which would be rectified under warranty?

I think those you mention are 'poor' design? Apart from the door mirror auto-fold which is a deliberate model differentiation.

Not a new UX but a new RC, when opening the door after the car has stood in rain allows water to drip onto the driver's seat! That's irritating, not a fault but a design flaw?  Didn't stop me buying a second new RC though..

 

[NemesisUK]

3 minutes ago, rayaans said:

I would say that Lexus probably needs to address the servicing situation. It's always coming up on the forums as being ridiculously expensive for what you get especially on low mileage vehicles. 

That's just business, costs are calculated to provide income and it works, or they would rapidly go out of business!  Service cost should be considered when deciding to purchase a car 

[Spock66]

There have been a number of recent posts re poor quality service and maybe these are just isolated incidents, but Lexus does need to maintain high quality customer service as a key market differentiator. Poor quality customer service is a real detractor regardless of the quality of the vehicle.

[royoftherovers]

17 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

That's just business, costs are calculated to provide income and it works, or they would rapidly go out of business!  Service cost should be considered when deciding to purchase a car 

I detect the smell of a change of direction towards Servicing by Lexus U.K. 

[fourbanks]

28 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

The term "fault" implies something not working as intended, which would be rectified under warranty?

I think those you mention are 'poor' design? Apart from the door mirror auto-fold which is a deliberate model differentiation.

Not a new UX but a new RC, when opening the door after the car has stood in rain allows water to drip onto the driver's seat! That's irritating, not a fault but a design flaw?  Didn't stop me buying a second new RC though..

 

Quote

Not a new UX but a new RC, when opening the door after the car has stood in rain allows water to drip onto the driver's seat! That's irritating, not a fault but a design flaw?  Didn't stop me buying a second new RC though..

noted and thanks 

[Dippo]

You may have noticed a little discontent about the delays to new vehicles. This is happening to all manufacturers, but Lexus seem to be poor at keeping customers advised of the status of their orders.

[fourbanks]

the reason 

Just now, Dippo said:

You may have noticed a little discontent about the delays to new vehicles. This is happening to all manufacturers, but Lexus seem to be poor at keeping customers advised of the status of their orders.

good point 

[fourbanks]

The reason why I stated the wing mirror as a design fault is because in keeping using that switch you will find it will fail at some point and there is no reason for it to be made in that way other than an oversight. I may be wrong but with no other manufacturer with this oddity Lexus will need to be able to demonstrate on why on just one type of grade of car this has been applied to 

as I say, my meeting is to get rid of the miner niggles or odd things that are computer generated and applied for no good valid reason and leaving the staff unaware of such oddities which in turn causes confusion 

 

[fourbanks]

18 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

I detect the smell of a change of direction towards Servicing by Lexus U.K. 

Indeed john

£270 plus for the first service is steep. I think the plan is for Lexus to build in the 10 warranty costs in to the service plans 

 

Model	Intermediate/Full
CT200h, UX250h	£270 / £480
IS, NX, RC, ES	£290 / £550
GS, SC430, RX	£325 / £630
LS, RC-F, GS-F, IS-F	£395 / £735
UX300e, RZ350e	£150 / £300

[royoftherovers]

13 minutes ago, fourbanks said:

Indeed john

£270 plus for the first service is steep. I think the plan is for Lexus to build in the 10 warranty costs in to the service plans 

 

Model	Intermediate/Full
CT200h, UX250h	£270 / £480
IS, NX, RC, ES	£290 / £550
GS, SC430, RX	£325 / £630
LS, RC-F, GS-F, IS-F	£395 / £735
UX300e, RZ350e	£150 / £300

Thanks Nick.

[Roger Bill]

Again not a fault but I wonder if the adaptive variable suspension were included in the Takumi spec or as an option it would provide a more comfortable ride. Also for the same reason perhaps a 17" wheel option. I'd be interested in anything to help ride comfort which if most UX owners are in the older demographic, might be a better marketing strategy than sports handling which would appeal more to younger customers.

[NemesisUK]

2 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

I detect the smell of a change of direction towards Servicing by Lexus U.K. 

Indeed, I recently received a survey from Lexus seeking my views on shared servicing with Toyota. Obviously if implemented there could be a saving for the customer but definitely a saving for Lexus. For those customers who either don't care or don't pay themselves, Lexus will reap the extra monies from 'in-house' servicing. Perhaps a way to enhance the 'prestige' of a luxury marque? 

[royoftherovers]

3 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Indeed, I recently received a survey from Lexus seeking my views on shared servicing with Toyota. Obviously if implemented there could be a saving for the customer but definitely a saving for Lexus. For those customers who either don't care or don't pay themselves, Lexus will reap the extra monies from 'in-house' servicing. Perhaps a way to enhance the 'prestige' of a luxury marque? 

I think that what I took to be a carefully worded posting by Colin B today in which he inserted the word "currently" alerted me to the possibility.

[NemesisUK]

2 hours ago, fourbanks said:

I may be wrong but with no other manufacturer with this oddity Lexus will need to be able to demonstrate on why on just one type of grade of car this has been applied to 

Mercedes also applied this differentiation to it's various model grades. In my C class all the required hardware was there and all that was needed was a simple code change. It's a cheap way for the manufacturer to encourage the buyer to spend that little extra for the next grade up.

[fourbanks]

35 minutes ago, Roger Bill said:

Again not a fault but I wonder if the adaptive variable suspension were included in the Takumi spec or as an option it would provide a more comfortable ride. Also for the same reason perhaps a 17" wheel option. I'd be interested in anything to help ride comfort which if most UX owners are in the older demographic, might be a better marketing strategy than sports handling which would appeal more to younger customers.

i don't think the adaptive variable suspension is a viable proposition for UX as it would make the cost too high for this type of vehicle

you already have a 17 inch for the UX in the basic form. What you're asking is you won't a 17 inch wheel in a higher grade? 

 

[Las Palmas]

2 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

Not a new UX but a new RC, when opening the door after the car has stood in rain allows water to drip onto the driver's seat! That's irritating, not a fault but a design flaw?  Didn't stop me buying a second new RC though..

Never had that problem. I come because you live in a rainy country. 😇

[fourbanks]

4 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Mercedes also applied this differentiation to it's various model grades. In my C class all the required hardware was there and all that was needed was a simple code change. It's a cheap way for the manufacturer to encourage the buyer to spend that little extra for the next grade up.

But the next grade up in my case is the sports build which is £5000 extra just so that the mirrors can fold automatically. That's not a good deal at all, if I may say so. 

[Las Palmas]

2 hours ago, fourbanks said:

Indeed john

£270 plus for the first service is steep. I think the plan is for Lexus to build in the 10 warranty costs in to the service plans 

 

Model	Intermediate/Full
CT200h, UX250h	£270 / £480
IS, NX, RC, ES	£290 / £550
GS, SC430, RX	£325 / £630
LS, RC-F, GS-F, IS-F	£395 / £735
UX300e, RZ350e	£150 / £300

Lucky you in UK. Just paid 700€ for a full service yesterday.

 

[NemesisUK]

5 minutes ago, fourbanks said:

But the next grade up in my case is the sports build which is £5000 extra just so that the mirrors can fold automatically. That's not a good deal at all, if I may say so. 

Ouch! Neither would I...

[fourbanks]

1 minute ago, NemesisUK said:

Ouch! Neither would I...

I can live without, it's just that switch area is very weak overall especially the rocker that adjusts the mirrors up and down and to keep using that area to do what should be automatic, I feel needs to be addressed. Of course if that area of switch was of good sturdy quality then no problem, but it isn't overall and will break I can assure you in due course 

[VFR]

I am amazed that “any” new Lexus does not have auto folding mirrors out of the box in this day & age, or have I missed something ?