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The Response From The Md Of Lexus Gb Ltd


im24601
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Some have talked of meeting and heading to Epsom - now let's fix a date. Gonna have to be a weekday - how does Thursday 20 March sound? If anyone knows anyone in the local press who want to join us - please let them know. Ditto for the motoring mags et al.

We can refer to it in other threads as "The Surrey Meet"...

Rant over (for tonight).

Chris

You may want to change that date as they (Lexus GB) may see this and have a police prescence waiting for you at the gates. ;)

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I got rid of my IS300 last week, but for info here is what I've found over the last couple of years:

May 2004 - got a 51 Reg IS200 SE Auto. Had really bad inner tyre wear. Must have bought 6 tyres in 2 years of ownership (20k miles)

May 2006 - changed to Honda for a bit

Feb 2007 - got a 53 Reg IS200 Sport. Only had it for 3 months, but this also showed inner wear.

May 2007 - got a 04 Reg IS300. Brand new tyres on it when I picked it up from Lexus Cardiff. After 6000 miles both front tyres had bad inner wear.

March 2008 - Got rid of the IS300 as I couldn't face anymore tyre wearing.

No longer a Lexus Owner and probably won't be again - now driving a Toyota Prius!

It's such a shame that you sold your IS300. I had exactly the same problem as you until I found out about Tony at W.I.M. He sorted my car straight away and the car is better than from brand new. No more bad tyre wear and the handling is superb !

I nearly sold my IS300 because of the nervous handling this car produced and the uneven tyre wear on the fronts, but i'm soo glad of this website and finding Tony, I would recommend him everytime no matter what car or alignment problem.

One happy customer :) :) :)

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i was always told by someone within toyota, that the issues with the is200 and 300 geo was because the original settings were set up for the Altezza with 3sge, a much lighter engine, in a lighter car overall, as a result of fitting the heavier engines the geo is under greater stresses and therefore acts in a different way under compression.

ive had 3 brand new IS200's, the very first one, a W reg suffered tyre wear really bad, when i handed the car back into Lexus after 16 months for a swap to the next one, I had to pay for a new tyres.........

at the time it wasnt "known" that there was an issue with the wear, it was only when i had the next car for 6 months and the same problem arose, did it come to light in conversation about the known issue!!, needless to say when i then swapped the second car after 6 months for the white lex, i had the settings checked every 3 months, eventually getting them done at TTE direct......and not to the factory settings

Makes perfect sense Mat , having been in the motor trade for years and always priding myself on setting tracking stting as reccomended by the manufacturer , I for one will obtain the settings that Tony has and reset mine using his knowledge , then I'll know its done .

Regards

Paul.

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Picture this conversation in court......

Mr Bones.....(Doc)

Q: In your professional opinion is the handling or braking performance of the IS200/300 impaired

A: No

Q: Do you feel the design in the chassis is flawed?

A: Yes

Q: Why?

A: The position of the cars weight is not perfectly placed at the tyre footprint during cornering so the handling and braking is impaired.

Q: But you said the handling and braking wasn't impaired

A: It's acceptable to most but can be improved!

Q: Lexus has stated the inner tyre wear is a simple trait of the car and it's the duty of the owners to check their tyres/ pressures in regular intervals, do you agree with this?

A: Absolutely not!!... By design no respected manufacturer would make a car that wears tyres to the wire in as little a 5000 miles..... It's like buying a pair of shoes and wearing out the heel at the end of the road, is that acceptable?

Q: Seemingly your positions belay the tyre wear? why haven't Lexus adopted these new positions?

A: Politics and liabilities in my opinion.. wim released the data to the public domain in 05, the solution is hardly a mystery, we are not trying to capture the calibration market.

Q: What consequences do you feel this fashion of tyre wear has had to Lexus owners?

A: Devastating, not just in material costs but i also feel in lives.... The wear is so rapid and violent i feel the tyre failure could have been fatal somewhere in the world

And that's food for thought.... It's not just about the tyre wear, it's about the danger of the wear...

Hi Tony

I have access to use of a four wheel laser aligner ( flags on the rear wheels , plates under the front , you know the type probably ) and was wondering what settings you would reccomend me setting my IS 200 sport nav 2001 model too . I have just fitted four new boots and have done less than 300 miles , touch wood they look ok but adjusting to your settings would put my mind at rest .

Regards

Paul.

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.

Hi Tony

I have access to use of a four wheel laser aligner ( flags on the rear wheels , plates under the front , you know the type probably ) and was wondering what settings you would reccomend me setting my IS 200 sport nav 2001 model too . I have just fitted four new boots and have done less than 300 miles , touch wood they look ok but adjusting to your settings would put my mind at rest .

Regards

Paul.

Hello

Problem with the IS200/300 is the castor, the laser is blind to this angle.... Small changes in Toe will help but not much?.... sorry.

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Another day, another Lexus Centre...

Today I was in Wales and popped in to the local Lexus dealership there to put the "tyre wear" issue to them. One of the helpful service advisor's told me that I shouldn't expect to get more than 10,000 miles out of the front tyres. He also said that whenever a customer comes in for a wheel alignment - the cars go about 800 yds down the road to a tyre centre. I asked which one, he told me - and advised I asked for one of the technician's directly - telling him that "M***, from Lexus sent you).

Off I drove in a BMW X5 to this centre and asked for R****** by name - and said that M*** from Lexus had sent me. R asked if I needed a wheel alignment that I needed doing. Lucky guess, eh?

Anyhow, R told me that they have 2 settings - Lexus' own which don't work, and their own - which they claim do. When asked if Lexus were aware that Lexus' customers were having different settings to the one Lexus advise, R replied "oh, yes" adding that his settings definitely fixed the inner tyre wear issue.

Alas, R wouldn't give me his settings - just those which Lexus "publish" - and we all know what use they are.

So Lexus Oxford use one set, Lexus Reading another and now one of the dealerships in S Wales use a third. Have I struck lucky and found 2 dealerships which use different settings from the ones Lexus GB distribute - assuming that one of the 3 are the "true Lexus-own settings"?

Needess to say, I'll be putting this to Ms Want tomorrow when she 'phones. :tomato:

Can someone please remind me what she said in her letter if settings other than Lexus' own were used??? ;)

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Another day, another Lexus Centre...

Today I was in Wales and popped in to the local Lexus dealership there to put the "tyre wear" issue to them. One of the helpful service advisor's told me that I shouldn't expect to get more than 10,000 miles out of the front tyres. He also said that whenever a customer comes in for a wheel alignment - the cars go about 800 yds down the road to a tyre centre. I asked which one, he told me - and advised I asked for one of the technician's directly - telling him that "M***, from Lexus sent you).

Off I drove in a BMW X5 to this centre and asked for R****** by name - and said that M*** from Lexus had sent me. R asked if I needed a wheel alignment that I needed doing. Lucky guess, eh?

Anyhow, R told me that they have 2 settings - Lexus' own which don't work, and their own - which they claim do. When asked if Lexus were aware that Lexus' customers were having different settings to the one Lexus advise, R replied "oh, yes" adding that his settings definitely fixed the inner tyre wear issue.

Alas, R wouldn't give me his settings - just those which Lexus "publish" - and we all know what use they are.

So Lexus Oxford use one set, Lexus Reading another and now one of the dealerships in S Wales use a third. Have I struck lucky and found 2 dealerships which use different settings from the ones Lexus GB distribute - assuming that one of the 3 are the "true Lexus-own settings"?

Needess to say, I'll be putting this to Ms Want tomorrow when she 'phones. :tomato:

Can someone please remind me what she said in her letter if settings other than Lexus' own were used??? ;)

dont forget nottingham using WIM settings..

they did it on site while i waited..

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That is so sad...... And what's so annoying is the reason for the tyre wear is simple to solve.... If you decide to give Lexus another chance give me a call an i will set the chassis for free....

Thanks for the offer Tony - it really is very much appreciated. The tyres were not the only reason I got rid of the IS300, just one of many factors including fuel consumption, insurance costs and increasing road tax prices. I had always planned to bring the car to you for the fix, but with my hectic work schedule I never got around to it. Had I not traded it in a couple of weeks ago, I would have put on some new tyres and made the journey having found how fast the IS300 ate the other tyres.

Cheers

Phil

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Some have talked of meeting and heading to Epsom - now let's fix a date. Gonna have to be a weekday - how does Thursday 20 March sound?

Chris

You may want to change that date as they (Lexus GB) may see this and have a police prescence waiting for you at the gates. ;)

I'd suggest another date as I'm on the Nurburgring trip as are a few others that may like to attend :D

I would also suggest a poll to see what day of the week is most suitable to most members wishing to join us.......

If anyone who is interested could PM Chris with contact details/emails/mobiles etc

and this can be arranged off the forum for final date security

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The tyres were not the only reason I got rid of the IS300, just one of many factors I would have put on some new tyres and made the journey having found how fast the IS300 ate the other tyres.

Cheers

Phil

Have you contacted the new owner to advise of the tyre wear issues the Lex has, i mean he/she could have an accident, then who would be responsible.....Lexus or you for selling a motor with a known fault !!!!

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Some have talked of meeting and heading to Epsom - now let's fix a date. Gonna have to be a weekday - how does Thursday 20 March sound? If anyone knows anyone in the local press who want to join us - please let them know. Ditto for the motoring mags et al.

We can refer to it in other threads as "The Surrey Meet"...

Rant over (for tonight).

Chris

You may want to change that date as they (Lexus GB) may see this and have a police prescence waiting for you at the gates. ;)

Not really, as then you wanting to call the press tooo, news news and bad news for lexus, ring tv people to, the more press/tv/police the better, well not for Lexus anyway :D

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The tyres were not the only reason I got rid of the IS300, just one of many factors I would have put on some new tyres and made the journey having found how fast the IS300 ate the other tyres.

Cheers

Phil

Have you contacted the new owner to advise of the tyre wear issues the Lex has, i mean he/she could have an accident, then who would be responsible.....Lexus or you for selling a motor with a known fault !!!!

not your liability at all - lexus claim there is no fault after all.

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Have you contacted the new owner to advise of the tyre wear issues the Lex has, i mean he/she could have an accident, then who would be responsible.....Lexus or you for selling a motor with a known fault !!!!

Tyres were still legal. The car was traded in at a Toyota Main Dealer, who checked right round the car and offered a p/x price accordingly.

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Have you contacted the new owner to advise of the tyre wear issues the Lex has, i mean he/she could have an accident, then who would be responsible.....Lexus or you for selling a motor with a known fault !!!!

Tyres were still legal. The car was traded in at a Toyota Main Dealer, who checked right round the car and offered a p/x price accordingly.

I was pulling your leg.

@ Rob....that cant be true as not all IS's were prone to tyre wear.

The tyres were not the only reason I got rid of the IS300, just one of many factors I would have put on some new tyres and made the journey having found how fast the IS300 ate the other tyres.

Cheers

Phil

Have you contacted the new owner to advise of the tyre wear issues the Lex has, i mean he/she could have an accident, then who would be responsible.....Lexus or you for selling a motor with a known fault !!!!

not your liability at all - lexus claim there is no fault after all.

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Following another conversation with Ms Want from Customer Relations, I now can pass on this piece of info: a Lexus Centre (dealership to you and me) are not required to follow directives sent out from GB as they (the Centres) are franchised. This means that, in the example of tyre wear, whatever settings GB send out - the independent dealership is fully allowed to follow or not follow as they see fit.

It would seem, that like the NHS, Lexus operate a postcode lottery system...

Surrey Meet o/s Lexus GB on 22 April from 11am.

All welcome.

Press invited.

Chris

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Following another conversation with Ms Want from Customer Relations, I now can pass on this piece of info: a Lexus Centre (dealership to you and me) are not required to follow directives sent out from GB as they (the Centres) are franchised. This means that, in the example of tyre wear, whatever settings GB send out - the independent dealership is fully allowed to follow or not follow as they see fit.

It would seem, that like the NHS, Lexus operate a postcode lottery system...

Surrey Meet o/s Lexus GB on 22 April from 11am.

All welcome.

Press invited.

Chris

Its almost like my old thread......a 'Lexus approved service history' doesnt mean a 'full service history'

In other words,If it doesnt have a full service history they just make one up and call it a Lexus approved service history

:tsktsk:

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Conversation had with solicitors.

For obvious reasons I will not post here the advice given as the element of surprise can be advantageous. Rather, if people want to do something they can PM or email me at im24601@googlemail.com and I will pass on the advice.

The more that do contact me - the more people who can confirm that the problem is what we all believe it to be (and that it is rectifiable) the greater our chance of success.

It is my belief that apathy amongst owners is the reason why nothing has happened thus far allowing Lexus to get away with it. How long will this apathy go on?

Sure there are many who are ****** off but how many have done a damn thing?

I am. Will you?

Chris

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