I purchased two 2007 RX400h's from Scottsdale Lexus (Scottsdale, AZ) on 9/30/06, notably the last day to qualify for the full $2200 tax credits. (One for him and one for her is the rule of divorce.) Of course the salesman attempted to deviate from the agreed-upon purchase details from our numerous phone conversations, but that's another story for another day.

During my operational instruction session after the purchase, I noticed a groove in my steering wheel, at about 1:00, and pointed it out to the salesman's assistant giving me the instructions. It is not a deep groove but is noticeable whenever you place your hand on it. It was late Saturday, we all wanted to go home, the service department was closed, so nothing was done or documented. The assistant simply told me that it would not be problem to have it replaced and to either bring it in at my convenience, or wait until my first 5000 mile service. I also am fairly sure that I heard the assistant mention it to the salesman a few minutes later.

I chose not to make a special trip to the dealer for this matter, as I live in two states, and instead reported it to the service writer at my first service on 7/6/07. He inspected the steering wheel, agreed that it was defective, and said that he would order a replacement wheel. (Not surprisingly, he noted that the cost of the wheel is somewhere around $2200 retail.) When I picked up the vehicle, the service writer told me that the wheel was ordered, and that he would call when it arrives. The invoice shows the following, "client states blemish in steering wheel clear coat, SOP ordered." (I don't know what "SOP" means but it is clear that they had either ordered the part, or would do so.)

Two weeks passed so I called the service writer yesterday to inquire about the status of the steering wheel. He took my phone number and said he would check and call me back. Instead, some 5 minutes later, I received a call from the salesman who sold me the vehicles. I didn't particularly like this man when I purchased the vehicles but you "buy the car not the salesman" so I put up with him. The salesman was exceptionally confrontational, and told me the following:

1. Wood has irregularities and this is normal. (The rest of the wheel, and that on my other RX, is actually smooth as glass.)

2. There is no warranty on cosmetic defects, and (are you ready for this?),

3. Steering wheels cannot be removed because they have air bags and it could be dangerous. (I don't know how many fools have the money to buy new Lexuses but this fool knows quite well that steering wheels can certainly be removed, and in fact has done so with several vehicles. One simply must follow the proper procedure to avoid blowing an airbag in his face.)

As it stands, the salesman wants me to "come in to talk about it." In other words to debate with him the various reasons for not replacing the defective wheel. This I will not do as this is now a warranty matter, not a sales matter.

So cutting through the BS, what do I think is really happening here? The defective steering wheel was not noticed or noted when the vehicle arrived a Scottsdale Lexus, and thus the replacement is out of the dealers pocket, not Lexus corporate.

I could easily live with the flaw in the steering wheel, but on principal am fed up with this dealer. I had a bad experience many years ago with Scottsdale Lexus, but let it go and gave them another chance. They have blown it this time.

I'll be back when I have more to add about the status of my experience. For now I would highly recommend another dealer if you plan a Lexus purchase in Arizona, or for that matter, a dealership not owned by Roger Penske. http://www.penskeautomotive.com/

Tom
PS: Yes, I know I should have documented the matter in writing.

Thanks for posting this. Now I will definetly not consider Scottsdale Lexus when I purchase my IS250.

I have been dealing with Arrowhead Lexus. They were great and even offered to let me test drive a vehicle knowing that I wasn't purchasing that day.

Hi Jens.

I just notice your post. Good luck with your future IS.

Tom

FYI,

Penske Automotive Group (now Penske Motor Group) is separate from United Auto Group (UAG) which is owned/operated by yes, Roger S. Penske, Jr. Penske Motor Group is through Greg Penske, one of five Roger Penske, Sr. sons.

http://www.unitedautogroup.com/

I know becuase I work for PMG. We only have two Lexus dealerships that are based in California only. Longo Lexus (El Monte, CA) & Lexus of Stevens Creek (San Jose, CA).

-

Besides that:

1. Yes wood has irregularities, but they should've Goodwilled that because of the fact that you bought two RX-h's.
2. This is kind of true but the district service & parts manager (DSPM) / district operations manager (DOM) have authorization to replace it through Goodwill guesture.
3. That is so BS, becuase we've done steering wheel replacements before.

My advice to you is to speak to the service department or speak to a service consultant, more likely the service manager/service director. Explain the situation and explain how you are unhappy with the service you are receiving. If not, call the 800 lexus customer care # & get the DSPM/DOM involved.

Dealerships around are now all into customer satisfaction. Once you step in to that dealership for a 5,000 mile warranty maintenance service, you'll end up getting a survey through the mail. You can score them really low & bad, and they'll call you back & try to sort things out...

No harsh feelings, just wanted to clear things up, plus, good luck with your troubles. Hope it gets settled.

Hi ZD9. Thanks for the response and certainly no hard feelings.

The ownership is very confusing. Both of these links find Scottsdale Lexus as an affiliated dealer.

http://www.unitedautogroup.com/
http://www.penskeautomotive.com/

I agree about steering wheel irregularities, but mine is simply gouged, and can be felt when your hand is on the wheel.

I don't have any resolution yet, but I do have an update. I am now communicating with Scottsdale Lexus only via email, for obvious reasons. I have also saved phone messages from both the guest relations girl and the sales manager as mp3 files, a cool option with my voice messaging system. Both people have asked me to bring my car in, accept the free loaner vehicle, and they will "take care of me," because they don't want to lose my business. I emailed the SM and asked specifically why I was bringing the car in, did they have a steering wheel in stock, or was there even a new wheel in the United States. The response was that they were going to send my wheel out for repair. I suspect, but can't prove, that they had no plans to tell me this unless I asked, or noticed that the wheel looked different. I don' t plan on accepting a repaired (sanded and re-lacquered I assume) steering wheel.

What they don't get, of course, is that they will probably lose my service and warranty work on both vehicles for 5 years or so, and probably the sale of a third Lexus for my son who is entering college. Silly people.

I'll be back when there's more to report.

Thanks again for the post.

I will keep you informed.

Tom

Ah... you found a mistake! To clear up the confusion of Groups, this is what had happened. I guess ever since they changed our name from Penske Automotive Group to Penske Motor Group very recently, they failed to inform us that our group website has changed. They also should've redirected all traffic from http://www.penskeautomotive.com to http://www.penskemotorgroup.com/ (which is our California-based, current site).

That should clear things up a bit.

--

As far as your steering wheel goes, I have never heard of a steering wheel repair like that. They usually only Sublet it out for repairs if there is leather damage/scratches (not covered under warranty, but done anyway as a Goodwill gesture = low miles / frequent customer / new owner / other factors... usually depends on DSPM/DOM).

Yeah, definately keep us informed. If all else fails, contact Lexus directly .

This matter is finally resolved. I got a brand new steering wheel for no charge. But not without a great deal of time, effort and patience on my part.

The lesson to be learned here, is to get EVERYTHING IN WRITING. I should have known better.

Tom

They should just swap the steering wheel with another RX in stock and just eat the cost of the labor to do so.

Just to chime in here and pile on (hate to resurrect an old thread, but didn't want to start a new one), I purchased a vehicle at Scottsdale Lexus in February and have not been at all impressed by their service. I wish I had found this website before my purchase and would have avoided these guys, but such is life. Despite charging half as much for any service, Five Star Ford across the street always treated me better when I had my Mustangs and always responded if I indicated I wasn't happy for any reason. The difference in dealerships has made me wish I bought a Lincoln Town Car instead of a LS. A guy I spoke to at work has the same feeling about these guys and actually takes his car to Arrowhead Lexus where he says they have good service (and I assume Bell Lexus would be similar since it has the same ownership).

As soon as Scottsdale Lexus has your money, you are no longer worth anything to them. AVOID! I am going there one last time to get my free 5000 mile service, and then I'm done.