Not really happy with the treatment received from Lexus Cork

[serbarry]

 

I have always been pleased reading how you members of the LOC are so happy with the treatment you receive from your Lexus dealer, so I was really looking forward to my first ever service at Lexus Cork confident to receive the same outstanding treatment. So here below is the story:

 

On the 19^th January 2023 I emailed my local dealer Lexus Cork to reschedule the major service for my GS450H and I booked it with Mr Drazen Baotic for the 8^th March 2023. I agreed that I would drop my car the day before around 5pm and drive away in a loan car that would be provided to me by the dealer. Mr Baotic told me that the loan car would have been available from 8:30am the day before the service (7^th March) until the 8^th March at 5pm.

 

On the 6^th March at 08:13 am I emailed Mr Baotic asking for the registration plate of the loan car in order to transfer my insurance temporarily. I did not receive any reply to my email.

 

On the 7^th March at 10:45am I called Lexus Cork and I spoke to someone at reception who, after listening to me, assured me that he would either call me back or email me as the person he needed to ask for the loan car was not there at that moment.  

 

After approximately 2 hours as I had not received neither a call back nor an email, I emailed again Mr Baotic asking again for the registration plate of the loan car (the time was 12:27pm and please note that I have always emailed Mr Baotic on the general email address and not him personally so I suppose someone else could have replied if he was absent). I did not receive any reply to my second email.

 

2 hours after sending my second email, having not received any reply, at 02:30pm, I called again Lexus Cork and I spoke to the same person I had talked earlier. He apologised for not calling or emailing me back and said that there had been a problem with the loan car and it would come back to them in 20 minutes from then and he surely would call me back to give me the registration plate. Nobody called me back.

 

So I guessed that there was no loan car available for me (I wonder is there only one loan car for all Lexus customers? There was no other loan car available for me? Or for some reason that specific loan car had to be assigned to me?). At 4:15pm I asked my wife to collect me from Lexus Cork at 5:10pm.

 

At 4:45pm I arrived at the Lexus Cork dealer to drop my car for the service booked. I went to the service reception and I was welcomed by Bernard, an employee who also spoke a bit of Italian. I think he was Albanian or from Macedonia. I told him that I was supposed to get a loan car but given that nobody called me back I guessed that the loan car was not available.

He smiled and, showing me the keys, said that the loan car was there. I smiled as well and I replied that it was too late for me to transfer my insurance to the loan car, that I had sent 2 emails and called twice and nobody called me back or emailed me back even though they had told me that they would call me back. He said (without apologising) that they had been very busy that day (so I guess they just ignored a customer because they were very busy), but that I could purchase the insurance from them for 15 euros a day.

I suddenly realised that there might have been a reason for being ignored for 2 days.  

I thanked him but declined the loan car. He looked very surprised: “ you really don’t need the loan car?”. “No I don’t, my wife is on the way to collect me” I replied.

Before leaving I told him that I did not want neither the wipers nor the tyres be replaced and made sure that he would call me if extra works were needed before proceeding.

The day after (8^th March) at 11:30am he called me and said that some extra works were necessary but that he would give me a quotation when I would collect the car. He asked me to replace the wipers (40 euros) because they were sticky and I reminded that I did not want to replace the wipers and that after 10 days without rain the wipers could be sticky. I agreed to have the lights checked and focused for extra 20 euros. He told me that they could not fit the mudflaps that I had in the car (previously quoted 80 euros for 30 mins job) because there were no screws with them. I asked him if they had some spare screws as they were original dedicated Lexus mudflaps. He said that they did not have the screws and did not know where I could find them. So the only Lexus dealer for Cork city and county did not have some spare screws to fit a set of original Lexus mudflaps and moreover did not know where to source them.

 

At 4:30pm I arrived at Lexus Cork to collect my car. I paid 720 euros for the major service and Bernard gave me the quotation for the extra works needed (LHF and LHR caliper sized; rear AFS sensor damage (I don’t know what it is); rear exhaust section defective; rear shock absorber defective (complete unit)) for the total amount of 3,689.53 euros!!!

When I asked if these works were urgent he answered that they were not urgent but necessary at some stage. I remember when I bought the car the seller told me that the shock absorbers had been replaced by the previous owner 6 months earlier because the car had not passed the NCT (MOT) at that time but he had no receipts to prove it.

 

Now, given that my car passed the NCT (MOT) last September without advisories there are 3 possible scenarios:

1)      The mechanics at the NCT centre did not understand anything about my car or were drunk;

2)      The conditions of the car have badly deteriorated since last September until now with only 3,000 kms done since then;  

3)      Lexus Cork is trying to rip me off.

 

Obviously for the moment I am not going to do anything with Lexus Cork but I have already booked my car with my trustworthy garage on the 22^nd March to have all these issues checked.

 

Your views are highly appreciated

 

[Moleman]

9 minutes ago, serbarry said:

Obviously for the moment I am not going to do anything with Lexus Cork but I have already booked my car with my trustworthy garage on the 22^nd March to have all these issues checked.

 

Your views are highly appreciated

 

Sensible approach to take.

[IanA2]

If you do decide to complain, do so through the head office. I wasted a couple of months with a main dealer complaint that was resolved almost instantaneously by HO.

[serbarry]

If the head office is the same as Toyota Ireland it will be a waste of time: some years ago I took my Prius to this same dealer (it is the same dealer for Toyota and Lexus even though with separate showrooms and entrances but they share the same garage) for the major service with spark pugs. When I dropped the car I asked how much it would cost me approximately and they said "200 euros more or less". I ended up paying 400 euros and they even put the oil 10W40 in my car. I wrote a complaint to Toyota Ireland who replied to me defending the dealer as "for the high mileage of your car (200,000 kms) that oil is correct". That was the first and last time that they saw my car.  

[johnatg]

Don't despair!

My take on the list.

1) Caliper front. These cars have fixed 4 pot calipers (I think - Mk 4 GS does anyway) It is possible that the pistons have seized - if so the caliper may need rebuilding, or it may just need a bit of working the pistons in and out to free them up. Shouldn't be too expensive.

2) Caliper rear. Here you have a sliding caliper - there's  a single piston and the caliper slides to transfer the push to the opposite side from the piston. The piston may have seized (see above) or more likely, the sliding pins have seized. It should be possible to clean the pins and regrease them. New seals may be required.

The calipers on the rhs of the car should be checked. (BTW - Lexus would want to replace the calipers with new)

3) AFS sensor. This senses the height of the rear of the car (for adjusting the headlights to not dazzle oncoming cars). See pic attached for what it looks like. It is common for the pushrod (the silver bit) to break. New pushrods are available (Ebay) cheaply, but not from Lexus. They will want to replace the whole thing at vast expense.

4) Exhaust. Well they do deteriorate - anything may be required from a bit of welding to a replacement. Lexus (new parts) are stupidly expensive - a garage should be able to advise and fix at reasonable cost.

5) Shock absorbers. If they were replaced they should be perfectly OK. If not a garage should be able to check if they are defective (leaking?) or not.

Good luck!

[serbarry]

16 minutes ago, johnatg said:

Don't despair!

My take on the list.

3) AFS sensor. This senses the height of the rear of the car (for adjusting the headlights to not dazzle oncoming cars). See pic attached for what it looks like. It is common for the pushrod (the silver bit) to break. New pushrods are available (Ebay) cheaply, but not from Lexus. They will want to replace the whole thing at vast expense.

Good luck!

Is is this one below that I may need?

 

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/275192263967?hash=item4012bcb51f:g:8GUAAOSw5M9aivTl&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA8NstOxFNTSRyGkeG6ib74TFHGOz63v%2FvX%2F9PeAC7pCy%2FaLrxB9H6waUbw8SPTqS48NjtCwn34lY2lfg8AlGqcvxi8qjS7I0dsapAlknNlkuiwoDBK8CyXLhTRSuXlDHTxECeERoPqM8te3eTnYp3LnJs909rQWPfwoh0PIM4X2FGaqMmajjw%2B98t1jt%2B4YM1Q8YfHdKfzWjN513VBZ8iTzQWrEk9uKXPDS0im6jzqk%2B%2BnIvf%2FLsXhFIZN1YWmoWekZMOz%2BhZHTeCJh6mZMQkgUDnYLP0kHmsnkwamzLOaM0vGIgjKh0%2FNlCezSpQzP0Glg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5zyiezYYQ 

[johnatg]

I guess that's the actual sensor. You might need it - it depends what's wrong. You might need the pushrod instead. I suggest to wait for the garage diagnosis.

[serbarry]

I can't find the pushrod on eBay. 

[Linas.P]

Sadly it is kind of hard to find the threads, but if you look at the experience I had with Lexus Service, then it would be more or less similar to one you had. To be fair - it is still one of the best services you could get from any make and generally speaking they are not "pushy" for extra work they identify in my experience i.e. when they say that may 200k miles 14 years car needs £2690 worth of repairs and I say "no thank you", they never say anything more. Try that with other dealers and I am sure you will have to block their number to stop them bothering you, so I kind of appreciate that Lexus knows that "no means no". 

On the point of  courtesy car - they have messed this up several times for me. Either I haven't asked for one and they have it, or they asked for one and they don't have it. One-time I even said - well if you don't have the car then could you change it to the "taxi appointment" (they used to have that option) and they said - "yeah sure". Imagine my surprise when taxi driver asked me for £58 at the end of the journey!

As for repairs and service quality - you get exactly what you paid for, so if it says you got filter and oil, then you got filter and oil. They do visual inspection, but they don't check everything. For example - once I have broken down with A/C compressor exploding on the way home 11 miles after the Lexus service. So there is no magic that they can use to diagnose everything.

As for upsell - the usual one I get is "lip on the brake disk", "corrosion" on the brake lines, uneven weak on the tyres... I ignore them all. This is normal, and to be fair as I said better then other dealers.

In terms of what I do - exactly what you did, take their advises, reject everything and then replace things myself or with trusty independent. Paying whatever £1600 for shocks makes no sense. Although you should as well consider possibility that shocks were never replaced e.g. I got advisory once for "shock misting, but not severely damaged" in MOT. Then I went to Lexus service and they didn't mention it, as suck I asked "are the rear shocks alright" and they said they are all good. Turns out I was replacing brake pads before MOT and had to spray WD40 to loosen the slider pin, some WD40 misted onto the shock and that was the reason for advisory, shock wasn't misting at all.  My point is - they may not be upselling you, but genuinely noticed some misting which may have been there as result of shock replacement and not necessary because shocks were leaking after 6 months. Mistakes happen, I rather them tell me something needs attention and finding out it was mistake, rather than not telling me it needs attention and having breakdown. 

[Kijan]

Hey Sergio,

I would like to share a bit of my experience here to add on the same dealer (Cork) - as I started to have some mixed feeling about.

Initially, had no issues at all with first service and some small work done early in ownership of my GS.

At end of November I went for another full service as I did 15k kms and I've been asked if I want to do pre-nct check (I had it booked for early December but I said why not). It pre-NCT result was that my rear shocks have imbalance and very likely they will fail NCT. I was bit surprised, as there are no issues with them, no sounds, leaks, they look dry and like new. This was quoted for about 1000E with labour!! Funnily enough, I though that F-Sport model have different shocks due to S+ mode and suspention stiffening - and quote was for standard IS/GS300h shocks?

I decided to give a try on NCT - I went to Blarney and surprise surprise - I have failed. Man said that he is surprised as they indeed look like new and he made few tries - lowest imbalance he could see is 42% which is above passable 30.

I was a bit let down and called to Lexus to discuss options of replacement. They said that they quote is up and if  Iwould like to book service. Then I decided to give another try for a retest on another centre after Christmas and NY - this time in Little Island. Guess what - I passed in flying colours. Of course there were no changes or anythign done with the car.

So I called Lexus to say I'm not going to replace anything.

In general I felt really weird that they did service, pre-nct check and I failed NCT.. Then passed re-test perfectly fine with no changes (and haven't done much km's in between tests).

Still, I had same set of questions about wipers, lights set, pre-nct (where I choose to get lightgs set and that pre-nct) and last thing they have tried to sell me was fuel additive as they said it's winter and it will be better for the car - I declined that saying I have no issues at all with it in winter or any other season and dont want any additives in my engine lol. I don't remember them on previous services but looks to me that they may try to do some upselling.

Fun fact about loan car - I took it on each service and each time I ended up with Toyota (Yaris & C-HR) - quite funny that Lexus here can't provide Lexus loaner - I was actually genuinely interested in having a feel of ES300h or IS300h so I could compare it to my GS but I see that's not happening here. Bit silly.

Another fun fact - on first service I took their insurance for 30E and they said at the end they cover that and I don't have to pay, then on another time I paid 30E - seems that it's bit out of control - with you having 15E.

Oh and interestingly on the sticker they put my next service after 12k kms - which I believe is a typo as should be 15k as usual.

Attaching NCT reports too

[serbarry]

I understand your point Linas and I hope it is just a genuine mistake as I would be very surprised if my car has deteriorated so much since last September. I will see what my garage says and hopefully it will be able to fix whatever needs to be fixed for a cheaper price than Lexus Cork. 

[serbarry]

Hi Bart, nice to read you again after some time. Yesterday they did the pre-NCT check also for my car. It was anyway included in the price so I did not care even if I have the NCT again in September but in the invoice it says that "the car is ready and checked for NCT but they don't guarantee that it will pass". I was laughing reading it. This is why I usually never do a pre-NCT check. What is the point of paying for something which is not guaranteed and moreover if you fail the NCT and have to pay for a re-test, the garage would not refund you the money of the re-test or the money paid to them for the pre-NCT test. I prefer to fail the NCT directly and fix whatever needs to be fixed rather than paying for an useless pre-NCT test. I think sometimes with the NCT is just a matter of luck depending who checks your car. So you did not change the shocks in yours as Lexus suggested? I remember when I bought my car the seller told me that the previous owner he had bought it from 5 months earlier (yes he had kept the car only for 5 months as his wife did not feel comfortable driving it) had told him that the car had failed the NCT for the shocks. He replaced them and the car failed again. So he went to the garage which replaced the shocks ( I don't know if it was a Lexus dealer) and they told him to go again for the NCT with the switch of the shocks in Power (or Sport). He did it and passed the NCT. And I did the same when I passed the NCT last September.  I will see what my garage says about the car but I am not so sure if I will bring it to Lexus Cork again for the next services. I don't see the convenience for a car out of warranty to overpay their services when my garage should be able to service it for much less.  

[johnatg]

1 hour ago, serbarry said:

I can't find the pushrod on ebay. 

Here are some useful links:

https://www.evansweb.info/2009/11/23/ls400-ride-height-sensor-repair/?utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121954943010?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&mkcid=1&itemid=121954943010&targetid=938486033460&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9046500&poi=&campaignid=10195651343&mkgroupid=103308028793&rlsatarget=pla-938486033460&abcId=1145985&merchantid=114888573&gclid=CjwKCAjw_Y_8BRBiEiwA5MCBJoUEdsq0Til1XLYPmUf51IvtOa6h9oJExTaV-bOQHtr2FY5GPZP0HRoCplgQAvD_BwE&utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks&siteid=3&customid=link&campid=5338910164&toolid=20001

You'd need a bit of stainless threaded rod with the last one.

Someone posted on this forum some time ago with a link to complete rods available in various lengths. Can't find it just now. Anyone?

[m4rkw]

3 hours ago, serbarry said:

I understand your point Linas and I hope it is just a genuine mistake as I would be very surprised if my car has deteriorated so much since last September. I will see what my garage says and hopefully it will be able to fix whatever needs to be fixed for a cheaper price than Lexus Cork. 

You're assuming all MOT testers are equal, this is not the case. Some testers are biased towards recording marginal issues (typically because they work for a garage that carries out repair works), other testers are biased towards not recording marginal issues because their business is focused on having a reputation for passing cars. Several aspects of MOT inspections end up falling to the subjective opinion of the tester. It's entirely possible all the issues they've raised were present when the car was MOT'd but that the MOT station for whatever reason didn't think they were issues worth raising.

[sheamus]

why would anyone use a Lexus main dealer when all hybrid warranties have expired (battery) - are they expecting better service than a good independent - that's a lucky dip. Franchises have no incentive to exceed expectations because there are enough naïve motorists that are too lazy to find better. 

[serbarry]

57 minutes ago, sheamus said:

why would anyone use a Lexus main dealer when all hybrid warranties have expired (battery) - are they expecting better service than a good independent - that's a lucky dip. Franchises have no incentive to exceed expectations because there are enough naïve motorists that are too lazy to find better. 

The only reason why I brought my car to the Lexus dealer is because the car has been serviced by an independent garage in the last 5 services and I don't know if the spark plugs were replaced at 180,000kms (the car has now 195,000 kms and I bought it at 189,000 kms). I just wanted it to have the proper major service with the spark plugs replaced which, I have been told, is a complicated work as there is much to dismount to access them.  I simply preferred to have the job done properly by Lexus. It also passed the hybrid health check but it does not matter as there is no warranty anymore. 

[Steven Lockey]

On 3/9/2023 at 7:58 PM, serbarry said:

The only reason why I brought my car to the Lexus dealer is because the car has been serviced by an independent garage in the last 5 services and I don't know if the spark plugs were replaced at 180,000kms (the car has now 195,000 kms and I bought it at 189,000 kms). I just wanted it to have the proper major service with the spark plugs replaced which, I have been told, is a complicated work as there is much to dismount to access them.  I simply preferred to have the job done properly by Lexus. It also passed the hybrid health check but it does not matter as there is no warranty anymore. 

What my garage did was take out the front 4 which are easy to access and checked those. If all 4 were fine he didn't do the back 4.
If there was any wear on the front 4, he'd take all 8 out and replace them all. 

Seemed like a fair compromise and first thing he did when I went in was apologise for not checking all 8 but he wouldn't of had
the car ready in time otherwise.

[serbarry]

Why 8? They are 6 on the GS.

[Steven Lockey]

1 hour ago, serbarry said:

Why 8? They are 6 on the GS.

Sorry, might have been back 2 he didn't check not back 4. Was a while ago. 
I remember it was just the back ones that were difficult to get to. Sure he said
he checked the front 4. Maybe I just assumed there were another 4 😉

[johnatg]

Lexus V6 engines (eg IS250, GS250 and GS450h) have inaccessible plugs in the 2 rear cylinders on the left bank. (the air surge tank - which people think is the inlet manifold but isn't - needs to be removed. An hour or so job) All 3 plugs in the right bank are easy to get to.

GS300h only has four easily accessible plugs.

[RONNIE W HODGEKINSON]

On 3/9/2023 at 1:34 PM, serbarry said:

 

I have always been pleased reading how you members of the LOC are so happy with the treatment you receive from your Lexus dealer, so I was really looking forward to my first ever service at Lexus Cork confident to receive the same outstanding treatment. So here below is the story:

 

On the 19^th January 2023 I emailed my local dealer Lexus Cork to reschedule the major service for my GS450H and I booked it with Mr Drazen Baotic for the 8^th March 2023. I agreed that I would drop my car the day before around 5pm and drive away in a loan car that would be provided to me by the dealer. Mr Baotic told me that the loan car would have been available from 8:30am the day before the service (7^th March) until the 8^th March at 5pm.

 

On the 6^th March at 08:13 am I emailed Mr Baotic asking for the registration plate of the loan car in order to transfer my insurance temporarily. I did not receive any reply to my email.

 

On the 7^th March at 10:45am I called Lexus Cork and I spoke to someone at reception who, after listening to me, assured me that he would either call me back or email me as the person he needed to ask for the loan car was not there at that moment.  

 

After approximately 2 hours as I had not received neither a call back nor an email, I emailed again Mr Baotic asking again for the registration plate of the loan car (the time was 12:27pm and please note that I have always emailed Mr Baotic on the general email address and not him personally so I suppose someone else could have replied if he was absent). I did not receive any reply to my second email.

 

2 hours after sending my second email, having not received any reply, at 02:30pm, I called again Lexus Cork and I spoke to the same person I had talked earlier. He apologised for not calling or emailing me back and said that there had been a problem with the loan car and it would come back to them in 20 minutes from then and he surely would call me back to give me the registration plate. Nobody called me back.

 

So I guessed that there was no loan car available for me (I wonder is there only one loan car for all Lexus customers? There was no other loan car available for me? Or for some reason that specific loan car had to be assigned to me?). At 4:15pm I asked my wife to collect me from Lexus Cork at 5:10pm.

 

At 4:45pm I arrived at the Lexus Cork dealer to drop my car for the service booked. I went to the service reception and I was welcomed by Bernard, an employee who also spoke a bit of Italian. I think he was Albanian or from Macedonia. I told him that I was supposed to get a loan car but given that nobody called me back I guessed that the loan car was not available.

He smiled and, showing me the keys, said that the loan car was there. I smiled as well and I replied that it was too late for me to transfer my insurance to the loan car, that I had sent 2 emails and called twice and nobody called me back or emailed me back even though they had told me that they would call me back. He said (without apologising) that they had been very busy that day (so I guess they just ignored a customer because they were very busy), but that I could purchase the insurance from them for 15 euros a day.

I suddenly realised that there might have been a reason for being ignored for 2 days.  

I thanked him but declined the loan car. He looked very surprised: “ you really don’t need the loan car?”. “No I don’t, my wife is on the way to collect me” I replied.

Before leaving I told him that I did not want neither the wipers nor the tyres be replaced and made sure that he would call me if extra works were needed before proceeding.

The day after (8^th March) at 11:30am he called me and said that some extra works were necessary but that he would give me a quotation when I would collect the car. He asked me to replace the wipers (40 euros) because they were sticky and I reminded that I did not want to replace the wipers and that after 10 days without rain the wipers could be sticky. I agreed to have the lights checked and focused for extra 20 euros. He told me that they could not fit the mudflaps that I had in the car (previously quoted 80 euros for 30 mins job) because there were no screws with them. I asked him if they had some spare screws as they were original dedicated Lexus mudflaps. He said that they did not have the screws and did not know where I could find them. So the only Lexus dealer for Cork city and county did not have some spare screws to fit a set of original Lexus mudflaps and moreover did not know where to source them.

 

At 4:30pm I arrived at Lexus Cork to collect my car. I paid 720 euros for the major service and Bernard gave me the quotation for the extra works needed (LHF and LHR caliper sized; rear AFS sensor damage (I don’t know what it is); rear exhaust section defective; rear shock absorber defective (complete unit)) for the total amount of 3,689.53 euros!!!

When I asked if these works were urgent he answered that they were not urgent but necessary at some stage. I remember when I bought the car the seller told me that the shock absorbers had been replaced by the previous owner 6 months earlier because the car had not passed the NCT (MOT) at that time but he had no receipts to prove it.

 

Now, given that my car passed the NCT (MOT) last September without advisories there are 3 possible scenarios:

1)      The mechanics at the NCT centre did not understand anything about my car or were drunk;

2)      The conditions of the car have badly deteriorated since last September until now with only 3,000 kms done since then;  

3)      Lexus Cork is trying to rip me off.

 

Obviously for the moment I am not going to do anything with Lexus Cork but I have already booked my car with my trustworthy garage on the 22^nd March to have all these issues checked.

 

Your views are highly appreciated

 

That Is Horrendous especially coming from a Lexus Dealership..I Would forward a copy of this message to the principal Executive Responsible for the overall Area Management of this Garage And make him Aware of the treatment you have Encountered..Don,t accept this Kind of Behaviour.. It Falls short of the policy and Established Rules of service which all dealerships must Uphold....I Would go straight to the top..!!!

[Frank the Hornet]

Sergio, from reading your unfortunate & highly contradictory experience, my daughter had  similar dealings with a very well known fast fit repair centre here in the UK with a not too dissimilar total recommended to put right all what was supposedly  wrong with her AUDI A2.

I obtained an appraisal on all the repairs that were recommended from an Independent, which in almost all the areas were found to be bad advice and communicated this to their Head Office who appointed an Area Manager to oversee an inspection, as expected a full apology given and a goodwill payment made.

Depending on your visit to your garage on 22nd March a similar approach including your Customer Service issues detailed to LEXUS HQ will hopefully restore your confidence with the brand.

 

[serbarry]

Thank you both Ron and Frank. I will see what my garage says and I will report here. I had also thought about writing to Lexus Ireland but I would not want to make things too bad than they really are. I may still need to use the services of Lexus Cork in the future.

[DavidCM]

You really must involve Lexus Ireland in this.That sort of service is simply unacceptable.

I would advise you to copy all future correspondence to both the dealer and Lexus.Try to get the name of of the MD of Lexus and address correspondence directly to him,ideally by your equivalent of Recorded Delivery post.Be firm,but fair, in your letters and document everything...dates,times, comments and conversations.That will kick the dealer into touch.

Good luck.

[serbarry]

Hi David, I don't know the name of the managing director at Lexus Ireland but I guess I could still address the complaint to him. I have all the emails with date and time that I can print. I will wait for my garage to tell me what is the condition of my car in order to have the bigger picture.