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Good And Bad - Lexus Cars Have Been Great!


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I read these posts and smile , some saying how good the IS220d is and some saying the opposite the and every other car manufacturer is better than Lex group.

I have had, VM, Mercs, Audi, BMW, and even a Ford, and I look at our company fleet list showing how good cars are in the real world. If you read car mags like me, i smile at the motoring press who get free lunches to say how a TATA 4x4 is reliable. Which Car seems honest and close to the real world but seems hard to get hold off unless at sainsburys?. My view only

Here is a list down memory lane to put some balance back.

Various VW's - Golf MkIV - Great car coil packs, so many door locks and various gearbox issues; dealers that cannot be bothered. New one broke down day two from a ECU error and coil pack recall -sigh . VW assist were great - fixed in three hours

VW passet on our fleet do not go there! I did 8K miles and got to know my local dealer on first name terms "Hi Kevin"... New Honda CIVIC - on our fleet, my next door Mk1 escort is more reliable

BMW. various 3 series inc 320d M sport Injectors, suspension gearbox and two air con units But when all fixed all ok!

Merc various CLK and C classes, seat belts, seats, and burned oil, last one CLK slammed the boot and rear brake light cover fell off.. Car was ok New ones are now better! Really old ones are also great but 2/3 year old mercs well! nice badge TAXI!!!.

Looking at our fleet list (with proper servicing) and just my experience, Lexus is so much better!! All RX have been bullet proof but do seem to eat brake pads. IS250 and IS220d also show a 9/10 and 10/10 "with correct dealer servicing and recalls done!" with the IS220d, recall all done etc doing really well with our reps driving up and down the M25 carpark and driving these cars very hard.

Has my company and me just been lucky with Lexus - I think not..... The Buz

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Sounds like you have a fair amount of experience with different brands there! And yes it does put it into perspective...........

It's often said on here, and definitely true that a lot of people come on here because they have a problem and many happy owners will not say anything. Having said that, there are clearly some inherent problems with the 220d, while other manufacturers may have more problems, problems on a Lexus are quite uncharacteristic which is why I think they get blown out a bit more :)

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Sounds like you have a fair amount of experience with different brands there! And yes it does put it into perspective...........

It's often said on here, and definitely true that a lot of people come on here because they have a problem and many happy owners will not say anything. Having said that, there are clearly some inherent problems with the 220d, while other manufacturers may have more problems, problems on a Lexus are quite uncharacteristic which is why I think they get blown out a bit more :)

Lexus have given buyers very high expectations with their claim to "pursue perfection" and their positioning themselves at the top of the customer service ladder. This may have been true in the past, but standards seem to have slipped in recent times, That in part is due to the attitude and actions of some dealers, but also due to build quality and reliability problems with some of the cars. It's also not helped with the apparent attitude of Lexus Customer Services.

There seem to be instances of owners being given the brush off when they have a complaint. In my own case When I had issues with the purchase of my car I wrote to Lexus and in May 2008 I had what can only be described as a standard letter of apology telling me that they had referred the matter to the dealer I had complained about. They made no attempt to contact me directly or mediate. The letter ended up by saying that they would write to me again when the matter had been resolved. I'm still waiting for that letter.

It looks as if once a car, used or new, is in the hands of the buyer Lexus wash their hands of it except for recalls and warranty repairs.

As I written elsewhere on the board I've recently sold my 220 and will never buy another Lexus.

It has often been said that a satisfied customer will tell 1 person & a dissatisfied one will tell 10. Lexus need to remember that in this age of electronic communication a disgruntled customer can, and probably will, tell hundreds, if not thousands.

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It has often been said that a satisfied customer will tell 1 person & a dissatisfied one will tell 10. Lexus need to remember that in this age of electronic communication a disgruntled customer can, and probably will, tell hundreds, if not thousands.

and it is better with other marques?

on the other hand, I can find you heaps of dissatisfaction examples for each marque.

The thing is, that japanese cars are still the most reliable.

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I feel the reasoning behind any negative comments against Lexus is the fact that it really is the latest generation of IS and GS that have let the side down.

It would seem that up until the release of the 2005 models, Lexus really were "in pursuit of perfection", but have now upset many long term customers with an inferior product...........and the real shame is that most of the complaints seem to be simple rattles and creaks.......... :crybaby:

Maybe though the likes of BMW and Mercedes arn't built like they used too either........or are they? :whistling:

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I always thought personally it might be somthing to do with the Skoda effect.

You buy a Skoda, expecting the car and service to be pants, but it turns out to bu much better than you expected so you think it's brilliant.

You buy a Lexus expecting the car and dealer to be brilliant, and even though the car and service turn out to be better than Skoda, you still think it's pants.

Choose your dealers wisely is all I can say.

I think the worst experience I have ever had is with Peugeot.

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I always thought personally it might be somthing to do with the Skoda effect.

You buy a Skoda, expecting the car and service to be pants, but it turns out to bu much better than you expected so you think it's brilliant.

You buy a Lexus expecting the car and dealer to be brilliant, and even though the car and service turn out to be better than Skoda, you still think it's pants.

Choose your dealers wisely is all I can say.

I think the worst experience I have ever had is with Peugeot.

I can definitely relate to that. I had a Citroen C4 VTR+ before I got the Lex, and to honest, it was brilliant. I had it for three years and it didn't go wrong once, and any dealings I had with customer service were a good experience.

I do, however, think that the customer service you receive boils down to what particular dealership you go to. From what I've heard, some are much better than others. I phoned T.Wells dealership in the week to book the car in for some warranty work, and I've never spoken to such a happy person on the other end of the phone. My experiences have so far been good.

Matt

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Maybe though the likes of BMW and Mercedes arn't built like they used too either........or are they? :whistling:

they are not, however the customer care is fine.

On the other hand, I have heard many complaints on the dealership, were I am satisfied.

we can not choose, and with acquisitions of marques it will become worse.

I think that quality in car industry has its upside downs, same as economy growth. Once you are down, once your up. Opel, VW, PSA were very bad in past years and now it looks they are improving a lot.

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I agree with Bumflake. Even if you get a "Friday car" a good dealership can do a great deal about sorting out delivery faults on the worst reputation car because he takes the time to properly PDI the car beyond the call of the tick boxes. A good Service Manager knows better than the customer where the potential faults are and can sort them. The number of times over the years that I have spotted new car faults, within a few miles, demonstrates this.

Once the car is within the warranty period I've found unbelievable differences bewteen dealers. Some will fight your corner with the manufacturer, others give the impression that they are on some sort of bonus system for low warranty claims.

These forum sites are worth their weight in gold because owners learn what is faulty, what can be justified as warranty work, how much you need to pay. Much better than the old days when you had to trust dealers far more.

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I agree with 90% of the comments; A good dealer is worth their weight in gold. Just heard on the grapevine that all the UK dealers have been away on Lexus training some place sunny. Maybe if any of you have issues it might be worth a call to the dealer while they are in all in a good mood. ;)

The buz.. PS bottom of our list is a French car called a citreon c1 .. 8 breakdowns in two months?

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Interesting insight Buzz...

I certainly don't think my Lexus is any better or worse than any other prestige brand I've owned, but the dealer, Lexus Reading, is defo the best of any marque, and I certainly feel that Lexus have gone the extra mile to keep me happy.

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