Lexus Damaged Car During Service

[LexKid630]

Lexus scraped the center console (not badly, just enough to bother me) on the inside of my rx300 last week when they were fixing the front seat. When i picked it up, i noticed the scrape and told one of the service people. They told me the service manager would call me the following morning to discuss the issue, as he had left for the day... He never did... I called corporate at 800 25-lexus, pressed 4 and spoke with someone who deals with the lexus dealers in my region. She stated i would have to speak to the service manager. I called my service manager and have still not received a call back. I plan on calling again tomorrow...

I have a few questions i was wondering if someone could anser for me:

1. How much of a problem will the service manager give me? Will he question me, saying they didn't create the scrape?

2. Did me speaking with corporate help me in any way? Do they have any effect on them?

3. Is it possible for them to just send the part to my house? Can they make deals like this?

4. If so, would they need the damaged part back?

5. Also if so, would i need to take my car back to the dealer? One of their service people DID see the scrape. I'd rather put the part in myself; it's real easy. It's not worth the drive.

6. How much of this is the dealer paying out of pocket? Do they have some kind of insurance? I'm trying to find reasons they might not want to replace the part for me... if it's free for them they might be more willing. What's the process for them?

Thanks

[denslexusgx470]

Lexus scraped the center console (not badly, just enough to bother me) on the inside of my rx300 last week when they were fixing the front seat. When i picked it up, i noticed the scrape and told one of the service people. They told me the service manager would call me the following morning to discuss the issue, as he had left for the day... He never did... I called corporate at 800 25-lexus, pressed 4 and spoke with someone who deals with the lexus dealers in my region. She stated i would have to speak to the service manager. I called my service manager and have still not received a call back. I plan on calling again tomorrow...

I have a few questions i was wondering if someone could anser for me:

1. How much of a problem will the service manager give me? Will he question me, saying they didn't create the scrape?

2. Did me speaking with corporate help me in any way? Do they have any effect on them?

3. Is it possible for them to just send the part to my house? Can they make deals like this?

4. If so, would they need the damaged part back?

5. Also if so, would i need to take my car back to the dealer? One of their service people DID see the scrape. I'd rather put the part in myself; it's real easy. It's not worth the drive.

6. How much of this is the dealer paying out of pocket? Do they have some kind of insurance? I'm trying to find reasons they might not want to replace the part for me... if it's free for them they might be more willing. What's the process for them?

Thanks

Your position is just going to get weaker and weaker as everyday passes. I had the same problem with my GX rim, but luckily one day I decided to talk to the service advisor manager and he got it repainted. Talk to the manager, usually they're your only best bet. But I suggest to everyone that issues like this should be taken cared of right after the servicing. I learned because the guys at Toyota scratched my rim (not in a graffiti way like they did to my GX) and my service advisor saw it. consulted the manager, and came out asking for the tire size! :D ;)

But as I said, the manager's the best bet. I hope he's a reasonable, and customer friendly guy.

[Rx330driver]

well...i didnt ever talk to the service manager when this happened to me.

i recieved a call from my service rep after i dropped it off and they admitted to hitting my bumper when doing the car wash. 3 days later, i got there to get my car (i had a loaner) and they fixed the bumper and gave me free brake pads. lol happy story ending there.

im guessing your lexus dealer is far far away. I would call then today again, and see what they say, or maybe just call your service rep to get some idea of what to expect. If your speaking honestly, they should see the genuine-ness of your situation.

be nice, and they will return it. try to get onto his good side. be more passive. lol. i dont expect otherwise from you, but just dont *BLEEP* them off and they should fix it.

[Gryphon]

Before I take a car to anyone to do anything, I take a bunch of dated digital pics inside and outside. Good protection against such damage.

Tom

[LexKid630]

This dealer is 1.5 hours away :cries: I had never been to this dealer but decided to go since i was in that area when it stopped working. I just drove up and asked if they could fix it.

I called the dealer again today with the response of, "The service manager is out for the day but i will leave a post-it note on his desk to call you back"

That was before noon today. It's now 8:35.

If he doesn't call me tomorrow i will call again monday morning.

I just want my car fixed :(

[denslexusgx470]

This dealer is 1.5 hours away :cries: I had never been to this dealer but decided to go since i was in that area when it stopped working. I just drove up and asked if they could fix it.

I called the dealer again today with the response of, "The service manager is out for the day but i will leave a post-it note on his desk to call you back"

That was before noon today. It's now 8:35.

If he doesn't call me tomorrow i will call again monday morning.

I just want my car fixed :(

Don't rely on phone calls. They won't respond. Unless the message is "I want to buy a new car NOW, and I have cash" then maybe you will receive a call from them within seconds, but if it's a complaint call, they'll shrug it off as "I didn't receive a message". Sorry to say, but you do have to make that 1.5 hr trip to the dealer if you want your car fixed. :(

[Gryphon]

In my humble opinion nothing works as well as an old fashioned letter delivered by the USPS. Sending it certified is even more effective. Phone calls and emails are largely ignored today.

Tom

[93LSOwner]

In my humble opinion nothing works as well as an old fashioned letter delivered by the USPS. Sending it certified is even more effective. Phone calls and emails are largely ignored today.

Tom

True. I have experienced similar situations with some other professionals.

[LexKid630]

I'm gonna try to call tomorrow one last time then maybe i'll send a letter. Thanks

Should i contact my lawyer too? He's my brother in law; it wouldn't be a problem :whistles:

Also, could i have my autobody shop see how much it is to replace the part and give me an "estimate" to give them?

Theoretically, they damaged my car, so shouldn't i be able to decide where i have it fixed?

[bartkat]

I did that once with a radio. The car dealer wanted to take out the radio and send it off to be fixed. Instead I took it to a local radio shop, had it fixed, and took the bill and the bad part back to the dealer. Never heard any more about it.

[LexKid630]

did they send you the money?

[LexKid630]

I called again this morning and left the service manager another message to get back to me. This afternoon around 3 he called me back. He told me to take my car back to his dealership so HE could look at it

I told him one of the other service people saw it, but he stated he needed to see it himself. I also mentioned i spoke with corporate, to which he responded, "I'm the one who makes the decisions around here."

Then i asked if i could just take a picture and send it to him. He said that was fine!

So i sent him the picture of the mark in the console. What do you think will happen next? Here's the picture...

[Rx330driver]

lol he sounds like a

he probably will end up fixing it for you. looks like it will cost him less than his daily lunch. no more being mr nice guy

[lexuus]

Why is returning calls such a burden for these service guys? I mean it only makes them look more incompetent when you have called countless times and they never call back. And then days later when they actually do call back, like in LexKid's case, why can't they just be polite?

[SW03ES]

The guy's definately a jerk. Thats exactly the same response I got from the service manager at Lexus of Silver Spring after they backed my car into something for the second time. Whatever happened to respect? A simple "I'm sorry this happened to you sir, we'll take care of it immediately". I know that accidents happen, and I have no problem with it as long as they own up and make it right. For instance I had a brand new $1200 suit ruined by the dry cleaner one time. Did I get mad? No because the manager apologized profusely and promptly wrote me a check to replace the suit.

It made me so mad I told the guy off and haven't set foot in the dealership since.

This just goes to show you, if you're going to use a dealer use the same one and establish a relationship with the service adjuster and with the service manager.

[LexKid630]

All i wanted was for the guy to say something along the lines of "Sorry, we'll fix that right away, and how about a free oil change?". We've been playing phone tag for weeks now; it's so sickening

I looked in an rx300 parts catalog and found the piece that needs replacing. It's called the "Upper Box" in sandalwood, 99-03 5880148012E0. It has 129.20 listed next to it; i assume that's the price?

Does his dealership have to pay for this? Or do they ge the money from corporate or some insurance etc? Why would he make such a big deal? It's not like it's coming out of his pocket...

I remember when i got my first Ls in '89. Things were so much different, as far as customer service and treating the customer as a guest goes. If this problem ever came up in the early years of Lexus, it would have been solved in a better way.

I just hope he agrees to replace it. Any chance he will agree to send the part to my home address? I'd rather put it in myself (i'm pretty handy) than drive all the way there.

[Rillo]

I once picked up a Jaguar from a fall service to find it spotless apart from one minor detail. There was a leaf stuck on the fender covering a dent they had inflicted upon it!! As if I wasn't going to remove a leaf from the body of the car????? :D

[denslexusgx470]

This just goes to show you, if you're going to use a dealer use the same one and establish a relationship with the service adjuster and with the service manager.

Exactly. I've established a relationship with all three dealerships (Honda, Lexus, and Toyota). That's probably one of the reasons why i got my door lock replaced FOR FREE even though my warranty expired in Jan. Not to mention the free rim replacement when the Toyota dealer scratched it from rotating it. ;)

[LexKid630]

Took the car back to the dealership yesterday, with the guys WORD the damaged part will be replaced. when i got there, they had the wrong part! They had the flip up cup holder piece to the center console; not the drawer that was damaged. I was outraged!

They're going to mail me a WHOLE new center console to my house. I'm 100% sure i can install it; i just need to connect a wire and bolt it down. I had them remove the whole damaged one last night, so i wouldn't need to mail it back to them...so now i'm driving around without a center console! Oh well, i guess i'm making out with a $500 console for free :)