fairygodmother

Makes you wonder, maybe they have taken the advice of FG and realised they were not making enough.

You really think that they have increased the price after what i wrote!!!!.

Lexus dealers are mostly run by big PLC companies. Weekly price checks are done every to ensure that their stock is competitively priced. Sometimes we get it wrong and the last thing big companies want is to under sell a car.

You decided to accept the offer that they made nobody forced you. It is up to them to decide how much they sell that car for car.

You can see why outside of work i never tell anybody what i do for a living as they automatically think you are a bit of sh@t. There are some honest genuine people in the trade who just want to make a sensible living and do a good job but the minority of idiots give us all a bad name.

Fairygodmother did you buy my Lexus?

No i did not buy your car but i would have bought it if you had offered it to me!!!!!!

The only reason i have posted is to show you what the real margin is the dealer you sold the car to is making.

I know they have to make a living, but one ally refurb. and a wash and hoover. It still has five months manufactures warranty. So they just have to find a buyer.

If only it was as simple as a wash and hoover and make £3500!!! Let me tell you how a dealer works its margin:

£3500 - VAT = £2975

£2978 - Warranty extension £560

£2418 - two hours workshop approved pre owned cheque £186

£2232 - Pay salesman's commission and Valet car £200

£2032 - Most customers want a deal on the car so minus at least another £500

Total margin £1532 not allowing for any other prep work tyres service pads ect.

There you go the secret is out the average used car profit per unit in the Lexus network is between £1200 and £1800.

That is really eye opening... and thinking about it makes total sense, are you a Lexus employee or generally in the trade?

I have worked in the motor trade for the last 13 years. I have been working at a Lexus dealer for the last 9 years in lots of different roles but the last 4 years i have been the sales manager.

I do not normally comment on these forums very often but i do enjoy reading about peoples experiences. However people do not realise just how difficult it can be to make money out of used cars and keep 100% of customers happy. The hardest part of my job at the moment is finding good quality used Lexus cars that you can buy cheap enough, low preparation cost and be able to sell them at a sensible price.

If you have any questions at all about Lexus dealers please ask.

I don't want to upset anyone but...... dealers can go way WAY higher on discount than the figures quoted in this thread !!

Its all about supply and demand. The average Lexus dealer will get between 30-45 maximum new RX450h's to sell this year. If a dealer can sell his quota with no discount then that is what they do. Lexus will ony import 8000 new vehicles into the UK in 2010 so a dealer has not a lot of cars to make enough money to keep the doors open and people in jobs.

Feel free to ring every dealer and get the best price you can but the biggest fleet companies in the UK get NO MORE than 2% discount and free metallic paint. Those who have got 2-3k discount have got a great deal.

The flip side is that in two or three years there will be very few used examples for sale so the residual value will be strong.

I know they have to make a living, but one ally refurb. and a wash and hoover. It still has five months manufactures warranty. So they just have to find a buyer.

If only it was as simple as a wash and hoover and make £3500!!! Let me tell you how a dealer works its margin:

£3500 - VAT = £2975

£2978 - Warranty extension £560

£2418 - two hours workshop approved pre owned cheque £186

£2232 - Pay salesman's commission and Valet car £200

£2032 - Most customers want a deal on the car so minus at least another £500

Total margin £1532 not allowing for any other prep work tyres service pads ect.

There you go the secret is out the average used car profit per unit in the Lexus network is between £1200 and £1800.

May be be talking rubbish here but I notice from the manual that the key fob has a battery driven transponder in it which cancels the engine immobiliser when you insert the key in the ignition. What if a run down battery doesn't transmit the code. Does the engine still turn but there are no sparks. I don't know. I have been having intermitent starting problems for some time and checked the fob battery. It read 2.5V, it should be 3.0v. I've replaced it and am watching this space. It was necessary anyway, cost £2 from Moparts (car parts place).

The battery was last replaced by Lexus at 4 years. It is now 8 years old. Could be co-incidence.

When the car was first launched it was a well known problem that 300's where difficult to start. After 6 months of the launch Lexus issued an ecu re flash that only Lexus dealers could do to fix the problem. This was Lexus service bulletin number EG-2004. The fault was basically problems with over fueling when engine at temperature between certain degrees. Take you car to your local dealer and ask them to check that your vehicle had its ecu updated.

Firstly - your problems appeared to start with the "new saleguy" and lack of training - which is the dealership issue - not Lexus directly (though of course he represents Lexus...)

Guys - I have found very little difference between any of the Sytner (owned by Penske USA, and not Frank Sytner) garages - as an example...

Audi in Nottingham appeared to be the best overall - but I have never experienced their after sales

BMW and Lexus in Leicester are a total joke (actually on a par with the Leicester Audi when they were by Fox, and are now Sytner too)

The worst thing Lexus did was "split" Lexus from Toyota. They tried to make it into a standalone marque and are now beginning to pay the price - even though it's been a few years.

The dealership Quality has dropped to what is deemed acceptable by the "franchise management" that runs it and, for example the Fiat dealership that may also run within franchise, and therefore not quite what Lexus aimed for....

The other side of this is that one or 2 recent Lexus models have been poorly designed - the diesel being one - with a list of recalls and issues as long as your arm. As each car owner discovers a problem, they go to the dealer where they are let down by the "human" attitude, fixes after fixes, tweak after tweak, etc etc, only to discover even more issue coming out of the woodwork...

The only thing currently, in my view, that Lexus dealers are very good at is the no quibble approach with warranty work. No questions - replace it...which is great. But the more "diesel" type issues they get, the more they will start to target dealers to reduce the number of warranty claims, and there won't be much left between BMW, Audi, MB or Lexus...that's the fear!!

So far my Beemer hasn't had to go back for anything at all - it's run perfectly, but I know it'll be hassle if I do...the only advantage is that I have a shed load of Indies I can go to too!!!

Having said that - for all you Leicestershire based Lexus owners - Sturgess Nissan (Who are Excellent) also service all Toyota' to manufacturer spec - they might even do your Lex...

I agree, most of the problems I have highlighted are dealership issues.

In the first instance a full customer re-train was offered, but as I am "independantly employed" :-) that would have meant time off, there was no apology, no offer to cover my lost time (remember the dealer insisted on the specific hand over date to "meet their end of month figures" & when I sent in a survey to Lexuus lambasting the dealer for such a soddy hand over & subsequent attitude (I was as nice as pie in every interaction with them, really, no, really, I was, honest!) the original salesperson (who wasn't there for the handover) called me to complain that the delaership (& themselves in particular) had received "a black mark" for the poor survey results.

Besides, by the time that offer came - about a month+ later, I'd spent an evening in the car, with the books & worked it all out for myself - could have done that with a Ford & saved a packet!

Now, excuse me for being a little indifferent here, but if you don't do the job you are supposed to do & you delegate the task to someone who can't do it you have no right to complain if you get sent to the naughty corner. Most certainly you don't call the customer on the end of your antics to tell them they've dropped you in it!

I think the problems are two fold, I started off my time with Lexus from a low point, when it should have been the highest point (buying a new car) & probably, my expectations were tinted less than rose cloured from there on. And Lexus are afraid to stick to their standards & require their dealers to do the same or bring sanctions (smaller dealer discounts for example) against those who consistantly fail to deliver.

That's fine, I can accept all that that, so long as Lexus understand that their highly publicised "fantastic service" isn't as widely described because, like the salesperson above, they don't do the required things to ensure standards are mantained.

For sure, there are some shining lights out there, I've noted a few recommended following this post & will endeavour to make to the time to try them for myself, however, my point still stands.

Whilst we all accept that "S**T happens (we've all seen Forrest Gump! LOL) the Lexus dealerships I've encounterd have all been found lacking in one way or another - short cuts & poor service do not a Prime Brand Reputation make...... they undermine the whole & as a result Mercedes & BMW will be at least equal on my next shopping list - will I compalin if things go wrong with my choice? Of course! However, instead of Lexus being my bench mark on "how to do it" they are my example on "how easy it is to get it seriously wrong".

When have you ever seen Lexus advertise their highly publicised "fantastic service"? Lexus never shout about that in their marketing that i have ever seen.

It all comes from the reputation the dealers have made over the years in this country, United States and the motoring press hype. Sure by the sound of it some dealers are doing their bit to destroy this but there must be many satisfied Lexus owners still out there that we never hear from. I am certainly one of those and after previous experiences i would not go near a merc or a bmw dealer.

Personally i have always found the Oxford garage very helpful and professional and i too took delivery of my car at the end of the month to help their sales figures. This was not an ideal time for me but i was more than happy because it worked out to be a fantastic deal :winky: .

Have you contacted your Lexus dealer about the fixed price service plans they do? i recently got the next 3 services on my GS for £688, this is for 20000, 30000 and 40000.

Which dealer quoted that? I have just been quoted £1300+ for 3yrs. 70K/7yr, 80K/8yr and 90K/9yr. My car has done less than 50K but has had all the services up to 60K/6yrs

That was from Lexus Oxford my local dealer. When i set it up they also offered me interest free credit credit on the monthly payments. Not sure why your quote is so much more expensive will yours need a cam belt change?

I am not really sure what you want Lexus to do for you?

The dealer network are owned by independent dealer groups and not Lexus. Labour rates will vary depending on location and overheads. With regards to service quotes a dealer asking for your details and checking the price must be good business practice with all the different services and models?. Would you rather them get it wrong and have issues when you go to pay?. My advice is get quotes and you decide where you want to go for your servicing.

From this thread you seem happy with your car, its not broken down or had faults but you are not happy with the dealers you have dealt with. So you should be speaking with the relevant dealer staff to get you problems resolved.

What is the Lexus ownership experience you talk about???? What do you expect from a car maker???? I would have said its a well made car that you enjoy with competitive running costs, a good quality dealer network and if something goes wrong it is dealt with professionally and quickly.

I had an IS220d recently with 93000 miles on and the head gasket went. The dealer spoke to Lexus who were very suprised by this and although it was out of warranty by 33000 miles and cost over £2000 they fixed it and loaned me a 250 for a week free of charge. Now that is great customer service from Lexus and the reason why i bought another one.

I think you've missed some of the detail....

Lexus claim to compell their dealers to prove a set level of standards & support & whilst I accept they cannot control what individual business acting on their behlaf charge, it s very much in their interest to ensure that some common sense comes into play when the bills are produced.

Some of the dealers are, without doubt (I have checked things like local taxes etc on a comparitive basis) charging sky rocket prices vs others & that's to our cost & Lexus's discredit.

Being totally fair, Lexus are far from unique in this situation - however, a very large part of the promotional angle is centred on the service levels a Lexus owner can expect & to effectively say that this can come at any price the dealer wants to charge is a cop out because the price should come as part of that mantra.

That others on this site have decalred a fall in standards, the press have also expressed (not just the article I referred to either) concerns that dealer standards are slipping only adds to the discomfort when the bill is handed over.

I seem to recall that a valet was part of every service - somewhere along the line I'm sure I heard/read that - as part of the Lexus deal - mine has been into different dealers on 3 occassions & not been valeted once- maybe I keep it too clean?

I would be the first to agree that not all the dealers are cast in the same mould - but I think you'll agree that a price hike of 40% when the dealer changes hands (over night as far as I can tell) is seriously questionable.

Hence my suggestion that Lexus, in line with their desire to provide customers with the best service possible, require all their main dealers to subit a monthly tarrif to Lexus as to their service charges for the routine services (at least for the warranty period where Lexus can claim to have a vested interest).

Any customer or even dealer can check the going rate at any delear they wish - & then book the service.

There is the risk, of course, that other dealers will see what the competition "get away with" & bring their charges into line. But I doubt it will happen, competition is how business survives & if that did happen Lexus sales would fall as other marques slot their costs beneth Lexus dealers to attract business as a whole.

In the end we all make choices, manufacturuers, delears, customers alike - the problem right now is that there is no control over the costs of keeping the promises Lexus makes & requires their delears to fulfill on their behalf. That makes the promise depreciate in value, becuase anyone can promise anything if the price to cover that is high enough. The question then becomes, who will/can afford to pay for that promise?

I'm not saying Lexus must, that would be unreasonable, but I do think Lexus have a moral obligation to see fair play on behalf of their customers as part of ensuring that promise is kept & publishing the dealer charges in one place is the least they could do to help achieve that.

I understand your point but how is dealers charging different rates for servicing any different from selling new cars at different prices? Why should Mr Smith get his car for £38000 and Mr Jones who is not good at haggling or living in a different area paying £41000? The reason why Lexus can't do anything is because it is against competition laws and if they made dealers charge the same price they would be creating a cartel. The office of fair trading would be over them like a rash. All Lexus can do is set a recommended retail price and it is up to the dealers to charge as much or as little as they like.

Have you contacted your Lexus dealer about the fixed price service plans they do? i recently got the next 3 services on my GS for £688, this is for 20000, 30000 and 40000.

I am not really sure what you want Lexus to do for you?

The dealer network are owned by independent dealer groups and not Lexus. Labour rates will vary depending on location and overheads. With regards to service quotes a dealer asking for your details and checking the price must be good business practice with all the different services and models?. Would you rather them get it wrong and have issues when you go to pay?. My advice is get quotes and you decide where you want to go for your servicing.

From this thread you seem happy with your car, its not broken down or had faults but you are not happy with the dealers you have dealt with. So you should be speaking with the relevant dealer staff to get you problems resolved.

What is the Lexus ownership experience you talk about???? What do you expect from a car maker???? I would have said its a well made car that you enjoy with competitive running costs, a good quality dealer network and if something goes wrong it is dealt with professionally and quickly.

I had an IS220d recently with 93000 miles on and the head gasket went. The dealer spoke to Lexus who were very suprised by this and although it was out of warranty by 33000 miles and cost over £2000 they fixed it and loaned me a 250 for a week free of charge. Now that is great customer service from Lexus and the reason why i bought another one.

Marty read this and wonder why i'm now driving a Mercedes!

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=51698

Just before Christmas the clutch broke going up a hill in the snow. I rolled back and ended up powerless in a snowdrift, in the middle of mini roundabout! The Mercedes recovery system didn't recognise my car as having a warranty so the time it took to be told i was going to be recovered went on and on. I found the dealers card in the glove compartment and to say the got on the job is an understatement. Recovery, replacement brand new Ford Galaxy(which wasn't bad) and lots of follow up calls. Even the Mercedes specialist popped round a month later to see if things were now OK.

Lexus seemed in my short experience to have lost that fighting spirit when it came to customer service and personal decency. Never again.

Tonka,

Just read the thread originated by your earlier post, in full. I'm a bit surprised that I had missed most of it.

I have no faith in Lincoln, and I used to work for them as a part-time driver. Their inept sales dept shafted me in relation to the 220 I bought in Dec. '07. I won't go there now for so much as a light bulb. I have been using Hull instead, even tho' it's the thick end of 40 miles away, & Lincoln is less than a mile.

Interestingly the local Mercedes dealer, (where I was also a driver), which is also part of the Lister's group take a whole different attitude to customers. Not only that, there are a few of the Merc staff who view the Lexus crew with contempt, and not just because of brand rivalry.

well thanks Tonker & Bothby,

As I surmised, "we are not alone"!!!!

I've sent a very clear fax about all my experiences to Belinda Poole, who is Director of Lexus GB Ltd - answering to Toyota (so I am promised). I'll have to wait for her comments over the next few days to see what olive branches are offered.

Sadly, since the above, I noticed a chip in the side of the car that wasn't before the service, it hasn't moved since it came back & also that the service indicator hadn't reset either.

I guess the former explains why they didn't valet the car (as promised) & the latter is self fixable after a look in the handbook.

But it does rub salt in the wound!

However, if anyone wants ths, after the current conversations with Belinda Poole are over I'll publich the response here so everyone can judge for themselves just how serious Lexus are about being seen a top line motoring brand - rather than just a posh name for Toyota.

For the list price of my RX400h I could have bought my partner & I a Prius each &, going by local comments, had better service - now that's ironic, sad &, frankly dispicable.

Also, my intent is to copy all my notes & correspondence to the Editor at Autocar - more non-Lexus folk need to know the risks they run by believing the hype! :-(

The really, really sad part is that aprt from some interactive roll bars to quell the roll I am pleased with the car - I regularly see 33mpg on a run & my worst is 28 around twon - not bad for a 3.3 litre 2 tonne machine. So what's right is right, sadly when you need suppport it all goes like the handling - a bit wobbly!

The cars are actually tested by an independent company and are not issued by the manufactures. Don't forget that all the consumption figures you see are taken in a laboratory and are done the SAME each time. Below is how they measure each car:

Cycle:

The urban test cycle is carried out in a laboratory at an ambient temperature of 20oC to 30oC on a rolling road from a cold start, i.e. the engine has not run for several hours. The cycle consists of a series of accelerations, steady speeds, decelerations and idling. Maximum speed is 31mph (50km/h), average speed 12mph (19km/h) and the distance covered is 2.5 miles (4km).

Extra-Urban Cycle:

This cycle is conducted immediately following the urban cycle and consists of roughly half steady-speed driving and the remainder accelerations, decelerations, and some idling. Maximum speed is 75mph (120km/h), average speed is 39mph (63 km/h) and the distance covered is

4.3miles (7km). Combined Fuel Consumption Figure:

The combined figure presented is for the urban and extra-urban cycle together. It is therefore an average of the two parts of the test, weighted by the distances covered in each part.

Thanks,

the only problem is, if I pay any more, I may as well get a new car and I wanna avoid that.

I've spoken with several dealers for a good deal on a new car but none of them will budge below a certain point.

This is why I have elected to go for a 2008 model which is priced in the low £30k area.

Oh well, gotta keep looking.

JH

A new SE-L with the adaptive cruise is a factory order car and would take 14-16 weeks to get to the uk. The other thing to think about is how few of these cars are sold each year in the UK. Lexus is going to sell a maximum of 459 new GS450h's in 2009 including all demo's, this is how many they are importing over. The chances of somebody having the same spec and colour that you want and is going to sell it after a couple of months and lose over ten grand are slim.

The GS540h will be fitted with the new smaller lighter ni mh hybrid Battery from the RX450h in 2009 which will increase the cars boot size carn't say any more on that at the moment :shutit:.

Could be a bit more money of some of the new cars in stock early next year but nothing availible in the spec you want.

Good luck finding what you want i know you will love it when you get it.

Auto Trader has several 08 listed at between £30-£35k, all very low miles from main dealers, so maybe ex dem.

You need to look at what model year car you want.

06 model year cars in SE-L had a sunroof and adaptive cruise control fitted as standard, these cars ran out on 08 plates and are a bit cheaper.

08 Model year cars in SE-L do not have adaptive cruise or a sunroof fitted but do have the semi analine leather and wood steering wheel. You can tell these cars by the indicators in the door mirrors and the different front grill.

They do offer the sunroof and the adaptive cruise as a factory fitted extra but it costs £2835, no dealers will have a demo with this on because it adds no value to the car when they sell it on.

My advise would be to buy the 06 model if you want the adaptive cruise, or order a new one and shop for the best price

Lexus Brighton is owned by the Lookers group. They are also closing Lexus Southend at the same time.

The costs that are needed to run a Lexus dealership are so high and the profit margins are so low that it is not worth keeping the business open.

Do not understand the need to "retain" when you are moving between cars & the plate is going on a new car:clearly I am missing something?

Tel

They sell you the car with the original plates to save time, then deliver it like that, and you go back when you get the registration certs to swop the plates over. It's purely to save time and so they can claim any credit for selling a car in the month...

The reason why the dealers want to do retentions instead of transfers is you have to allow the DVLA 7 working days to process a plate transfer. For a dealer to make money they need to sell and deliver used cars quickly to get the money back into the bank and then they can invest in new stock. Having a car sat sold for a coulple of weeks awaiting payment and delivery is dead money. Your part exchange if you have one will need to be traded on asap as cap and glass's guide are droping up to 5% per month at the monent. Finally all sales staff are paid on what they sell and deliver in the month so its vital they get cars delivered asap!!!!.

Just had the Lexus Dealer on the phone saying its been hard to track down the car I want, and that they can get an IS250 SR, but without heated front seats. This would be £200 less than the one with.

Can this be right? Would it be a proper IS 250 SR or some bodge made up one from a dealer....ie a Base IS250 with body kit, wheels, and extra scuff plates, and pedals??

I initially have said that I want heated seats, as I am forgoing a lot of features such as leather and heated/cooled seats, so heated was a must.

Thoughts?

stick it out for the heated seats :) you'll always be thinking is it or isnt it a real SR

You now can order the SR model without heated seats providing you do not want the multimedia pack. A bulletin was sent out to the dealer network on 16th October. Model code 1ZB for Automatic and 11D for manual cars. :winky:

Hi I have recently purchased a RX400h from my local dealership and got the whole 10% off ! While i was amazed at the level of discount, i was also amazed at the level of new RX400h'sss they had in stock, I dealt with Susie Brown not only did she know what she was on about but fantastic to deal with .

The dealership is Oxford. her no is 01865865111

I’ve returned to this web site after a couple of years absence as I’m coming up to 3 years as a RX300 owner, it’s decision time. Get another Lexus? Keep the RX300 (I’ve only done 15k), change to something completely different?

My wife wants a Range Rover Sport (I must admit it’s pretty good inside), I want an RX400h. I’ve been reading through the forum and I had a test drive in the SE-L on Saturday (05May07).

I was quite impressed with how nippy it was, compared to my RX300 which now seems quite sluggish in comparison. I love the Multimedia controls and that visual which shows how the power is being handled (you can see I like my toys). A very impressive car. Now I’ve just got to convince my wife.

I’ve taken a look at the “drivethedeal” web site and they quote 40,583 for a 45,294 SE-L, which the dealer said is impossible to match. I got a feeling that my RX300 will be given a trade in value between 18,000 and 19,000.

What I was wondering is has anyone every tried “drivethedeal”? Is it really as easy as they make out? What don’t they provide that a Lexus dealer would?