Lexus Severe Delays In Replacement Parts

[FineCarFanatic]

I wanted to alert everyone that if you are buying a new car from Lexus keep in mind that typically it may take over 4-5 months for Lexus to source the parts from Japan if you should ever need them. I have witnessed this first hand as an owner of a new 2007 Lexus GS450h, I was involved in an minor accident where my Lexus ran over a small bush and it created some damage to the front passenger side of the car. The body damage was minimal, but since most of the electrical work is located adjacent to the front passenger side, there were electrical components that needed full replacement since the car pinned the bush just behind the front bumper. This occurred in the beginning of June 2007 and as of this writing (16 October 2007) I am still waiting for Lexus to receive in the parts. In fact, even Lexus of Wilmington, DE cannot get a good date on when the parts will ship and be delivered to the auto body shop. I was given about 5 missed dates and deadlines from Lexus over the course of 4 months. What is even more embarrassing is that the part is relatively minor, but it seems to control the entire electrical nervous system!

Lexus has given me almost every excuse in the book as to why there are delays for sourcing parts, but I thought the best one was when the head of the parts department at the Wilmington DE store told me that it is because this is a new car and a new model, Lexus does not have any parts available around the world. The moral of this story is that, if you can, avoid any accident with a Lexus, but if you can't do that, then you should avoid buying a new Lexus as they will not have parts available to you should you need them.

Like many of you, this is my first experience with Lexus and I am quite disappointed with the service I received as it relates to this unusual problem. I have owned, and still own, many high end luxury sedans and I am somewhat turned off by this experience as I thought in unusual circumstances Lexus, out of any company, would excel. I was wrong. It is ashame, because my GS450h was a car that I easily would have traded-in for the new LS600h if all went well with my Lexus experience.

I am still waiting to see if the parts will come in this Friday (that is the new date I was given after they missed last weeks deadline because they forgot to execute the order). As you can imagine, I am also waiting to hear back from Lexus North America to see why this is occurring and get to the bottom of this as it does not bode well for the Lexus experience.

I will keep everyone posted on my pursuit to get my car back!

[RX400h]

Just two months after we bought our 2006 RX400h (June of 2005), some guy in a pickup backed into the front corner of our vehicle at a gas station. It took one month before the body shop was able to receive the front bumper from Japan.

Rule of thumb: Don't get into an accident with a vehicle that is of a new body design. I'm fairly certain that should the damage have occured to our side door, an RX330 replacement would have been delivered, quickly. Unfortunately, the front bumper is an RX400h only part and we were somewhat upset as well.

Hopefully, you will be up and running, soon.

Dave

[Jim Nazium]

Nonetheless... We know Lexus is not responsible for the accident, but come on... waiting months on end for parts is completely unacceptable. Have they (the dealer) offered you a loaner? Nothing like driving a Ford Tempo for 3+ months...

The dealer NEEDS to go to bat for you, he carries more influence with respect to Toyota. Ask... NO, Tell... NO!!! DEMAND they do something about it. You have been patient enough.

Best of Luck

MadloR

[gordonw]

It seems like when they introduce a new car, the cars arrive at all the dealerships, but parts logistics lags behind. When the new IS first came out, seat belts were difficult to get. Its takes awhile before the warehouses even has sufficient inventory. Whats makes even worse is the fact you have a GS450h, a rare car, which probably makes it twice as hard to get parts. I wonder how this compares to other manufacturers, such as German or Korean cars. Domestics are probably not immune either, considering so many parts are outsourced overseas.

[Jim Nazium]

It seems like when they introduce a new car, the cars arrive at all the dealerships, but parts logistics lags behind. When the new IS first came out, seat belts were difficult to get. Its takes awhile before the warehouses even has sufficient inventory. Whats makes even worse is the fact you have a GS450h, a rare car, which probably makes it twice as hard to get parts. I wonder how this compares to other manufacturers, such as German or Korean cars. Domestics are probably not immune either, considering so many parts are outsourced overseas.

Good point, BUT we are not talking about a $14,395 plus PDI TOYOTA Yaris. I am sure it would not take much for someone at Lexus USA to pick up the phone (figuratively speaking) and call someone at Toyota JAPAN and have them get one of there "Gofers" to go and cherry pick the needed parts and ship them DHL. WHAT!?!?! There are no GS450h's rolling off the production lines? Did somebody at Toyota stop paying there suppliers? Is there a strike going on by the employee's of Lexus / Toyota?

In a Corporate world, it takes only one person to care enough to get things done... putting logistics aside, we are talking about a flagship product here not a run of the mill Yaris (no offense to Yaris owners intended) and you SHOULD get what you PAY for. If your hamburger is cold at McDonalds, well you know, it's McDonalds. Yes ok, there are some who will argue that it is unacceptable, but if you ask the majority of people if this is a rare or completely unacceptable the majority would say "hey, !Removed! happens, it's McDonalds after all". But if your 18oz 12 week aged New York cut steak @ $29.95 not including Hors d'Ouvres, nor side dishes, nor refreshements (well you get the idea), you better be damn sure that steak is served and cooked to perfection because you EXPECT it for THAT price. And if they fail in doing so, you are understood in your expectations to ask for another steak and not simply have the steak "reheated".

In the end, it's all B.S. if they cannot get some parts delivered in a timely manner. Bottom line, we are not sending a man to Mars, some guy somewhere in the USA has a non functional vehicle that requires a few parts from a manufacturer that sells high end vehicles and whom the people who work for, do not care enough to pick up the phone and DO something about it. Now, I wonder how fast Lexus would of reacted if say it were not FineCarFanatic, but some guy named Jarno Trulli, or Steven Spielberg etc... I wonder what the Lexus people in N.A. would of done differently... hmmm, let me see... Picked up the phone and called Lexus Japan?

Cheers,

MadloR

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

It seems like when they introduce a new car, the cars arrive at all the dealerships, but parts logistics lags behind. When the new IS first came out, seat belts were difficult to get. Its takes awhile before the warehouses even has sufficient inventory. Whats makes even worse is the fact you have a GS450h, a rare car, which probably makes it twice as hard to get parts. I wonder how this compares to other manufacturers, such as German or Korean cars. Domestics are probably not immune either, considering so many parts are outsourced overseas.

This aint the 1970's . . . where you could go down to the dealer & pick up (for example) chrome threshold passenger door molding, for an 8yr old car, or a driver's door window switch, for a 12yr old car, etc. Inventory is kept to a minimum now days, for both old AND new cars, high production AND low. The number crunchers simply do the math: Profit on parts kept in stock, versus customer aggravation, versus the cost of inventory tax. BOOM, that actuary's computation spits out the answer: keep virtually nil on hand. Let's face it, if it were OUR store, we wouldn't want to stock every thing made under the sun for dozens of models, for lots of years, either. In the same vein, we had to wait 4 weeks to get the MFD replaced under warranty, and only 3 weeks for one of the ECU's.

[FineCarFanatic]

I wanted to give everyone an update (and thanks to those of you who have read and responded/commented). They received the part on Wednesday (yesterday 17 Oct) and have installed it . Apparently, after my letter to Lexus NA and perhaps posting it on this board, they found someone to "make it happen" :chairshot: . They admitted that this was unusual and certainly not the experience that Lexus has ever had. Apparently, I got caught up in the shuffle. (quite a long shuffle for a few months). I agree with that this is not a Yaris and that my experience with owning this Lexus (my first one) has made it difficult for me to consider other Lexus's, especially since I have my eye on the LS600h.

After they installed the part, they realized that the right front wheel sensor is not working either , so they informed me this morning that they will have to order that part! They did stress that they have located it and it is in NYC and they are delivering it for installation tomorrow (I am in Delaware).

Lexus has been somewhat apologetic and is figuring out what type of "goodwill" can be offered for the time, aggravation and horrible experience I have had to endure. What do you think? At this point, do I want to continue with Lexus? Should I stick with my GS450h or upgrade to the LS600h or should I move on to an Audi A8?

Thanks!

[RX400h]

I think moving on to an Audi 8 is probably the LAST thing you should do (well, expept for moving to almost ANY Mercedes). Lexus is and will continue to be the most reliable brand you will ever find. Many of my coworkers have had it with Mercedes and Audi reliability issues and have moved on to Lexus vehicles. Read any Mercedes or Audi forum posts and you will run away from both brands.

...my 2 cents....