Juicedrinker

Regarding my RC300H I can now update the outcome of the dealer rectifying issues. n a nutshell the dealer collected the car and left me a loan car to action the correct major service (they had sold me a 4 year old car that was meant to have full Lexus service history) but actually only had 3 services which were all minor ones and totally at the wrong times / mileage! Also to supply and pair the second key which they had failed to give me and set up global opening and closing. The loan car (I guess was taken without the sales person who used it knowing it was going!) as contained empty vape cartridges, a bag of what looked like womens clothing, school leaflets, sunglasses, sweet wrappers, school fleece, dirty interior, exterior etc. It didn't bother me but my fiance thought that was poor especially the children's school info etc. Anyhow I was grateful to be able to try the UX model out in case I wanted one on the future. They said it would take a couple of days but due to factors it ended up being a week which was fine with me I was able to Autoglym the exterior of loan car thoroughly and give it a good trial. This was very helpful as the UX would not be suitable for us at all especially the ridiculously small boot. The service person called me after it was completed to say that all ok except I needed a new OSR tyre now and in the next 500 or so miles would need a new NSR tyre. This infuriated me because I have worked in Motorsport for over 12 years (tyres and tyre compounds are something that I deal with nearly every day of the working week) and when I looked over the car I specifically discussed with the sales guy that the OSR was close to limit on part of the tyre and the NSR wasn't looking great either. He spoke to his manager and came back with 'it passed our Lexus service standards so all is ok and we can not change the tyres or discount'. They informed me £255 per tyre special price (I can get the same tyres for less through my work but wanted it sorted while it was with the dealer), so explained what I had said about the tyres when I looked at car and said I also had email communication regarding this (I always get email confirmation of anything discussed when buying expensive items). I said that she needed to speak with the sales manager as I had only had the car 6 weeks, it was at the top end of price it should of been and I would not pay for new tyres. In all fairness to them within 10 minutes I had a call back saying both tyres would be replaced free of charge. I then suddenly thought that I had better check the key fob situation and surprise surprise she knew nothing about the second key or the pairing of it and setting up for global opening and closing. She looked into it and sales had forgotten to tell them or give them the key fob. I received the car back and major service done, new tyres and key fob supplied but they had not programmed for global opening / closing; Anyhow all else was fine. They were trying to sell me a service and MOT plan but I didn't want to give them anymore business so contacted Swindon Lexus where I have always had my previous Lexus's serviced. As usual they could not have been better, I set up the plan with them easily and then they asked me about what had been done to resolve my issues with the dealer that sold me the car. They told me that under no circumstances would they ever loan a dirty car and even more so with personal belongings in it, I said it didn't bother me only my fiance. I then mentioned the key fob global opening and closing and could I get it in / pay to have this set up and they replied 'just let us know when you are in the area and we can arrange with you to drop it in at a convenient time and we will do it for you free of charge'. I am utterly amazed at how good Lexus Swindon service department are, I have never had a bad experience from them in all the years that I have dealt with them and although well over an hour from where I live (and there are two much closer dealers) I will continue to use them everytime.

Lexus LBX..... oh no what are they thinking!🤮

You are absolutely right with what you have said there about the inconsistent practices - its ridiculous. Also because of this it seems you have to question, check everything that they say and provide evidence to support your case which is so irritating. My partners 4 year old Yaris Hybrid had its service and I had told them that there was a fault with the front parking sensors in that they get triggered at very random points when driving by a leaf blowing past, exhaust vapour from a car a mile away, spec of dust drifting across (ok a bit of an exageration :)) but makes my partner edgy when the car suddenly warns of an obstruction ahead that isn't there. They are ridiculously sensitive and trigger for no reason at all. They said no fault found and all ok, I went outside with her to drive off and as soon as I started the car was warning me of proximity danger at front, I was still stationery and the object in front was the dealership building but it was at least 8m away. I went back inside they sent the service person out and he said oh yes that's not right but don't know what it could be and we haven't got any available appointments today so bring her back in future and we will keep her for a day / look at it again. When I got home I did some research myself through my work system and found that Toyota were very aware of this issue on the 2018 Yaris models and had implemented a free 'chip' change / fix completely rectified this but were not doing it as a recall and only if the customer complained about the issue and insisted it to be done. Toyota however had rectified it for 2019 models onwards. I PDF'd the information and emailed the dealer and they said they knew nothing about it at all but would order the chip and replace free of charge. Its a bit mad that its the customer who has to do the work to identify the fault to get it sorted especially with a company such as Toyota who seem to recall cars for the pretty much everything.

That’s good they were fine with you, it is weird how things vary and seems to depend on who you get on the day. Unfortunately for me with Reading it started when I went with my partner to look at an IS250 they had for sale, my partner said that the way the receptionist was and how she spoke to us (looked down) forget it and spend your money elsewhere which is what I did. As an example the last (and only time in late 2022) I went there for a service as couldn’t get to Swindon (they are closed on Saturdays!). Needed a minor service they identified a small leak on Air conditioning condenser (ok), new nsf calliper required (ok as I was expecting / hoping that due to something not feeling right occasionally although two independents couldn’t see anything wrong). They also said I needed new front pads (30% left) and discs (heavily ridged) and new rear pads (25% left) I had new Lexus discs / pads less than 20,000 miles before and am known for being gentle on brakes / making them last a long time even on sports cars I’ve had in past. I challenged this as it is a thing that most if not all Reading dealers often say you need new pads and or discs when you don't, my friends with Aston’s, Range Rovers and Audis have experienced this also. the service person said well it’s clear you think know more than a Lexus technician, I didn’t bother answering that but what he didn’t know is that in my workplace every couple of months we get our cars up on the ramps and a Motorsport mechanic friend of mine checks underneath, pads, discs, tyres and a quick look for any potential leaks on suspension etc as a favour. the price for discs and pads seemed high and I wanted to get car checked over by another dealer, so I just had calliper done at c£410 and said leave the rest. I contacted Swindon branch and chatted to them and they were amazed the discs and pads needed doing as on prior service figures had 70-80% left on them, but they ordered in a set of pads and front discs, air condenser and a new calliper as I didn’t want one new one one side and the original on the other (I had full history of everything done to the car and it was still on the original callipers amazingly)! the upshot was that Swindon did the other sided calliper for £120 less than Reading, condenser £100 less and what a surprise they said why did I want my pads and discs replaced as they had a long time to go in fact my pads at front were c70% left on them and the slight ridges were negligible and my braking on the test centre rig was fully balanced and fully compliant. I showed them the info that Reading had given me on the service report sheets regarding the pad depths and they said they must of been looking at another car or should have gone to Specsavers 😂

That’s great to hear. I am pleased for you that Reading Did not answer. To say I’m disgusted with their service and attitude would be an understatement and I will never ever get my Lexus or Toyota serviced in Reading, I drive over an hour away for both vehicles for each service

Hello all, I am now in a position to give my view on the standards at the Lexus dealership I bought my RC300H from. I did not want to give full details before until I had given them the chance to rectify (which they have just completed). The dealer I used to have my last Lexus serviced at (Swindon) could not get a used model that i required so I had to purchase from another dealer. At the time I bought I explained I was not happy with the offside rear tyre at all (wont go into the specifics but I have worked in motorsport for many years and had a good reason to not be happy about it. The sales guy said Lexus technicians would not have approved it during the very recent service if it was not ok so I had to accept that. Anyhow I was delivered the car and the driver said 'you do know it only has one key?'. That riled me as it was an expensive purchase and at no point did the sales guy say it was short of a key. Then after the delivery driver had gone I looked at the service book which had not been shown to me before, I was told 3 services done by Lexus and all as they should be. The service book didn't match at all and I spoke to a Lexus contact I had who validated that the service book was accurate which meant that they had in fact not completed any major service at all and it was now 4 years old. Long story short I complained to Lexus HQ and within 30 minutes the dealer principle phoned me to sort things out. He agreed their service department had failed to do the correct service, he agreed that I was meant to have a second key but he said he couldn't do anything about tyre as passed the service. He said I needed to bring it back asap to have the brake fluid etc changed and have the full 4 year, 40,000 mile service done foc plus the second key paired. This dealer is 2 hours from my home and I said I was not prepared to lose time off work and drive over 2 hours each way in my own time to put right what should of been done in the first place. In all fairness to him he was brilliant, he arranged for a really nice loan car to be delivered to me and my car collected for the work to be done. When the service was completed a service person contacted me to advise that lo and behold the rear tyre was close to limit and would need changing in the next month or so and they would do at a special price of £255! I knew that the other tyre on the axle would need changing in next 8-10k so I said there is no way I'm paying for a brand new tyre when I queried this at the start and was told service said it was fine plus they did not supply me with any of the service paperwork to cross reference. They said they would speak with dealer principle and ten minutes later phoned back to say they were replacing both the rear tyres free of charge!!! They have now returned the car to me with all work completed and nothing to pay and collected the loan car. The driver was a really nice person as well and clearly passionate about Lexus. So I am extremely happy with what they have done, they acted rapidly, sorted the immediate issues (service and key / pairing) and also replaced the two rear tyres free! Absolutely brilliant work and I would highly recommend Snows of Southampton to anyone looking for a Lexus and will not hesitate to buy my next Lexus from them.

Good morning, not sure if this comment was directed at myself but if so I am in both Berkshire and Oxfordshire in the UK

Hi all, unfortunately there is definitely a dramatic downward change with regards to some Lexus Dealerships. I have to say that Swindon branch where I used to get my IS250 serviced and recall work done are brilliant in everyway and really excelled in both their attitude and the work that they did. However my personal direct experience of two other dealerships has been really infuriating and costly! I am currently in the middle of a huge issue regarding an RC300H 2019 that I bought a month ago from a main Lexus dealer. I will not go into details on the specific branch as I have reported them twice to Lexus HQ for the sales guy clearly misleading me and for them NOT working to or knowing the Lexus servicing schedules; I will not name them as trying to resolve amicably. As soon as (if) this is all resolved I will explain fully but for now all I will say is that while I have a Lexus I will only ever use Swindon for servicing and repairs, although it is over an hour from where I live they have always been honest and straight with me and really do all they can to act / represent a Premium brand as it should be represented. I became a loyal / avid Lexus fan over the past 7 years but sadly my current experience has made me think that I will never buy another Lexus in the future or at the very least never buy from a main dealer and only use Swindon for work required.

Hi all, just wanted to give an update as I have finally (at last) had my airbag replaced, an essential minor service and air con cleanse / re-gas. I ended up going to Lexus Swindon and have to say I am extremely pleased with everything about them! The whole Atmosphere in the dealership, the service manager and front of house reception were lovely people and the technician who I met outside when I arrived was also brilliant. I am very thorough with my cars and check all lights, tyres etc at least once per week and had new Michelin Cross Climates less than 1,000 miles ago. The technician found a small (and I mean small) bulge / damage to the inside of a front tyre that I know could of potentials been extremely dangerous / have blown out!!! It was amazing he spotted it and shows just how thorough they were at checking around. When the service manage brought the car around to me we spent ages trying to find it and whilst extremely small I never take any risks at all with tyres so ordered a new one from a business I use. I get ridiculously good prices on tyres as work in Motorsport and have great contacts but unbelievably the service manger said he would not only match but try to better the price that I could get!!! On top of this I wanted two new wiper re-fills / rubbers, I have had a Michelin equivalent and whilst perfect at clearing I did not like the ‘J hook’ appearance. I still can not believe it but I was told they could not supply just the rubber but only the complete piece. I said oh well I will just have to pay the £50+ for the two and when I got the invoice the total for both of them was under £20!!!!!! In fact I am totally confused with their invoicing (doesn’t really make sense) but the cost of everything was superb and my Mazda MX5 is FAR more expensive for parts and servicing which I have done at Mazda. The best company I had ever dealt with before was BMW Carlisle but even though the service was fantastic it was all a bit too pretentious and uncomfortable in the dealership and the people were totally ‘up themselves’. The experience I had yesterday at Lexus Swindon was without doubt the best I’ve ever had and I have had a huge variety of brands both company and private. So I’ve decided that after the summer my Mazda is going and next year when I get a pension through i am buying a used RC as love everything about Lexus.

I was just really surprised by the variable response etc from the Lexus dealers I have dealt with so far, as prior to this I had seen all the reports about how good they are. I would never have a personal BMW again (dont like their image) but the level of service / back up parts department etc I got from BMW Carlisle was just unbelievable in every way (simply perfect the best I've ever known) during my 4 years / 90,000 miles of ownership. My Mazda dealer is excellent to, so much so that I drive 180 miles round trip for the service

That is interesting regarding not replying back to some of your emails, I was trying to get answers from a dealer in London when I was originally looking and it was nigh on impossible getting an answer.

Hello Shahpor, That is very interesting regarding the Reading dealership... I went in there when looking for an IS250 and they had an approved one for around £12k. The woman I saw when I walked in (on a Sunday) talked to me like she thought I could not afford a Lexus even an older one which surprised me and she hadnt obviously noted the car that I had arrived in either. Anyhow I waited until a man was available and he was pleasant but for various reasons the car wasnt for me (it had sat nav wich I do not want) and I decided on an older one from soemwhere else to test Lexus out with the view (as will happen) that I will buy a much newer one in 2021. Once I got my car I needed a new wiper blade and phoned Reading and they said they would call me back, a week later no reply so I tried again and got the service department this time. They said they wuld have to find out the price of the arm or refill and let me know. As I didnt hold out they would reply I also contacted Swindon Lexus ad they to said they would call me back. In the end I purchase a Michelin hybrid arm whcih unfortunately had the J hook design but works brilliantly. 4 months later still no phone call back from either branch about the wipers. I tried to book in for the airbag at Reading as they are my cosest dealer b ut they wanted the car at least a day and INSISTED I took a loan car. So I booked in the airbag with Swindon a good hour drive away but they were very polite on the phone and I thought I may as well have a full service at the same time (which isnt due yet). It was them that told me they never work on Saturdays which I have never heard of with all the cars that I have had. When I had company cars I didnt want any impact on my work day so always had any service carried out on a Saturday morning and that was a large range of brands. Anyhow I have now decided to have my family member / engineer friend do the servicing in their garage that they have owned 60 years and I will supply the oil etc as I can buy at great prices through my job. When I get a much newer one I will take that into Lexus for servicing as I do with Mazda for my Mazda.

I absolutely agree with everything you have said there regarding the mechanics at main dealers. It is completely ludicrous that most know very little compared to experienced mechanics and engineers, they rely on plugging system checkers in and seeing what the diagnostics come up with. They NEVER agree or acknowledge comments that you may make for example I used to have a Honda S2000 and am a fanatic about them. There were very well known minor issues / niggles with them that have been documented by owners and Honda themselves but if you ever mentioned anything to a Honda mechanic no matter how experienced they were they would deny / act as though they had never heard of such a thing. It was completely ridiculous. In fact with the S2000 there are a handful of independent specialists that are Far Far better than Honda when it comes to servicing and repairing them, Honda are not at all good with them. I actually work in a Motorsport company (Export division for past 8 years) but one of my biggest customers is not a Motorsprt team / individual but a prestige insurance repair centre in Thailand. He works on Porsche, Bentley, Aston Martin, Lamborghini etc. Occasionally he has Audi R8's and (in his words definatley not mine!!) low value cars. I order parts for him from bodywork to the smallest electronics items like Air bag detonators etc. A few parts I ordered for a Lambo the other week were delivered to me by the Audi dealership and in VW/Audi branded cartons, obviously I know of the company ownership structure etc. However I was concerned because I could not accept them in as there was a slight difference in part number on the label although the actual parts looked identical in every way to what I had ordered. I phoned Lamborghini and they apologised and said their parts were on back order so substituted with the exact same Audi part. They thought we were fitting it so the box part number difference did not matter. I told them it had to match in every way or my customer could not put through with the insurers in Thailand who had signed off what was going to be an £80k job following a smash! So they arranged for me to receive some cartons branded Lambo with the correct part number on them, I established following receipt of the invoices and phoning them to query them as too low value (from what we had BACS payment across to them) that each Audi part which was exactly the same as the Lambo one was 30% less expensive!!!!!!!!!!!! This is just one of the examples of the lunacy that goes on in the car world that I have seen. As you say a good independent wants to keep their customers and because they have no allegiance to a specific brand can be as truthful as they wish. My Mazda was maintained on the dot every year by Mazda regardless of how low the mileage was at the time for a full 12 years and it made diddly squat difference to the resell value of the car.

Thats interesting because every single car that I have had be it company or private, Ford, BMW, Alfa, Mazda, Peugeot, Renault, VW, Audi, Honda... I have always had serviced on a Saturday. My current MX5 had the big 3.5 hour service done on a Saturday morning last year. However you have made a very good point regarding independents. I have a friend of mine who owns a family garage, MOT and service centre it has been operating since 1960. I may as well get them to do the servicing work as they looked after my Volvo for 5 years perfectly and my mothers cars. The Lexus stamp is not going to make the blindest difference to value when I sell it in 3 years time - it will be pretty much worthless then anyway. When I next get a nearly new one I will keep that maintained at Lexus themselves until it reaches a high mileage.

Ha ha, I'm exactly like you... many years ago I was a car detailer and will not let anyone wash my cars at all. Mazda and Honda never understood why I always said 'DO NOT' wash my car when they were serviced.

Thank you for this info.... maybe they just want to keep the whole day clear in case they come up against issues? A friend of mine in a diffferent part of UK has an IS250 and they had his car in for a 3 hour / morning slot which is what I originally expected.

Firstly I apologise for the length of the message. I have owned / driven many many different cars in my life reasons being 1. That I'm old and have driven for ages 2. I spent over 20 years on the road in various sales roles 3. I love cars and driving. Recently following many years of research and due to a back problem I decided that my sports car can not be used much anymore and that I should get an older Lexus to try it out with the view of buying a much newer one in a couple of years. I ended up with a IS250 petrol 08 plate 2 owner with full Lexus / Toyota history and have now driven 3500 miles in just under 3 months and love everything about it, even that it is automatic which was (for me) always the HUGE hurdle I had to get over as have previously returned 3 company automatics within a few weeks of receiving them.. The only issue I have so far is the one that I was least expecting.... Lexus dealerships!!!! I had read time and time again just how good they are in every way but to be honest I am VERY unimpressed so far and am wondering if this is typical of them or just an area related thing (I live in the South East). I found that when I lived in Northumbria the dealers in Carlisle for Honda, BMW and Alfa Romeo were absolutely brilliant but in the many years I have lived in different areas of the South of the UK only one Peugeot dealer and a Mazda dealer I used that provided a good service and all other brands have been extremely poor indeed. I knew the Lexus I was getting needed the airbag replaced under recall and phoned the main local'ish dealer. I asked if I could bring it n on any day they had available and I would wait or go to the local retail park for however long they needed to do the job. They said I could not wait and they would only let me leave the car if I did not take a loan car from them! I said I had no issue at all with keeping myself occupied the whole day but they insisted I could only leave my car if I took a loan car. Now I know a lot of people would say what is the issue with me doing that but due to their opening times I would have to take extra time off work if the job went past one day, also two loan cars I had in the past, one was driven into and one was stolen!!!! So I said I would never have one again. I assumed they just wanted my car there for them to fit in when better for them and if I have a loan car they could keep it for days potentially. I spoke to Lexus recall centre about this and they said it was nonsense, typically a 3 hour job and I could wait if I wanted to and did not have to have a loan car if I did not want. They also said as I was only 12 miles from the centre they could collect it from me and return, however the dealer had told me I was ouotside their permited mileage and they would not offer this Lexus recall recommended I contact another main Lexus dealer so I selected the next one closest which is 40 miles from where I live. They were very obliging and said I could wait in the service reception no problem at all. As they were so affable I booked it in for a full 80K service and knowing (from what they said) this would then take about 5-6 hours total I would go shopping. However they could not guarantee to complete this in one day so I suggested if they could not I would go home by train and collect the next day Saturday to which they replied their service department is always shut on a Saturday!!! I have NEVER in my life with all the cars I've owned known a service department of a main dealer be completely closed on a Saturday; This would mean I would need to reserve two week days off work just in case they can not complete in one day. I thought oh well if I have to do that then maybe they can adjust some settings whilst it is for me regarding the auto lighting sensitivity which I would like increased and steering wheel retraction which I would like switched off whilst they have it as it says this can be done by dealers in the manual. However the service manager said he had no idea how and if this could be done and that I should find my own independent garage who might be able to do this for me, I offered to pay for this but he said it is something they are not equipped to do!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I was expecting too much from all that I have read about the amazing Lexus back up service but to be honest I'm surprised because although I would never own a BMW again their back up / attitude etc etc in Carlisle (and Honda and even Alfa Romeo!!) was simply outstanding and WELL beyond what I had expected. Would appreciate any of your thoughts on this please, thanks Charlie