Rx350 = Junk

[Duffyone]

What a mistake we made buying a new Lexus RX350. We thought, how can we go wrong, the first 3 Lexus we bought were great cars, but his one… junk! The paint on the car is completely unacceptable; we’ve seen better paint jobs on fords and chevys at half the cost.

The car is 4 days old with only a 100 miles on it and we want Lexus and the dealer to take this pile of junk back. Easy? NO! The dealer and their paint shop agree it’s a factory screw up… but, does the factory take a proactive approach? NO! Lots of talk and no action.

Looking at the workmanship and quality of this car indicates that Toyota/Lexus is on a downward spiral. There is no comparison in quality from our previous Lexus cars to this pile of junk. This is the last Toyota/Lexus we will ever buy, period.

[LEXIRX330]

What a mistake we made buying a new Lexus RX350. We thought, how can we go wrong, the first 3 Lexus we bought were great cars, but his one… junk! The paint on the car is completely unacceptable; we’ve seen better paint jobs on fords and chevys at half the cost.

The car is 4 days old with only a 100 miles on it and we want Lexus and the dealer to take this pile of junk back. Easy? NO! The dealer and their paint shop agree it’s a factory screw up… but, does the factory take a proactive approach? NO! Lots of talk and no action.

Looking at the workmanship and quality of this car indicates that Toyota/Lexus is on a downward spiral. There is no comparison in quality from our previous Lexus cars to this pile of junk. This is the last Toyota/Lexus we will ever buy, period.

What is wrong with the paint? I can't understand why you bought it if you have seen better paint jobs on Fords and Chevys, didn't you look at the SUV before you bought it.

[Nebraska99]

LOL......great first post.

You know Im not a rocket scientist myself but I decided to do something wacky and inspect the whole car before I signed the papers. It had been raining and I had them dry the car off. Not only that but thinking outside of the box I actually test drove it.

Oh yea......Im a trend setter my friend.

[raymsixsix]

LOL......great first post.

You know Im not a rocket scientist myself but I decided to do something wacky and inspect the whole car before I signed the papers. It had been raining and I had them dry the car off. Not only that but thinking outside of the box I actually test drove it.

Oh yea......Im a trend setter my friend.

ROFL

[CanTex]

Just curious... Is yours Japanese-built or Canadian-built? (J or 2 to start the VIN)

I was hoping for a Canadian-built RX, being a Canadian ex-pat (hence my "handle"), but they tell me the Canadian cars are for the northern tier states so I had to "settle for" a Japanese-built RX350 here in Texas. (16K miles with absolutely zero problems, best car and fewest initial problems out of 25 or so in my life. Oh, and the paint, black, is flawless.)

I'd say take it up a couple of notches and contact the regional people. It probably wouldn't hurt to mention your "sharing of glad tidings" with the Lexus Forum. Get vocal and keep going until you get results.

[Duffyone]

duh? Sure the pile of junk was inspected before delivery; however, the defects in the paint don't show while inside where it was inspected, even with bright lights.... but get it out in the sun... poor poor paint job. It's silver and there are spots where there is no matalic, just gray with clear coat over it! We're done with Lexus, done with Toyota products. We want our trade-in back so we can buy else where. Too bad they were a good company, but so was GM 'til they to thought they could do no wrong and quality was no longer necessary.

BTW our other three prior Lexus cars were great with few problems, well, they did have to replace a transmission on one, but now after trying to resolve this at the dealer level, and after talking with everyone available at their headquarters in Kalifornia, it seems that things at Toyota have changed .... a lot! It's insured, I guess I could drive it to Mexico and leave the keys in it.

[scoop9]

duh? Sure the pile of junk was inspected before delivery; however, the defects in the paint don't show while inside where it was inspected, even with bright lights.... but get it out in the sun... poor poor paint job. It's silver and there are spots where there is no matalic, just gray with clear coat over it! We're done with Lexus, done with Toyota products. We want our trade-in back so we can buy else where. Too bad they were a good company, but so was GM 'til they to thought they could do no wrong and quality was no longer necessary.

BTW our other three prior Lexus cars were great with few problems, well, they did have to replace a transmission on one, but now after trying to resolve this at the dealer level, and after talking with everyone available at their headquarters in Kalifornia, it seems that things at Toyota have changed .... a lot! It's insured, I guess I could drive it to Mexico and leave the keys in it.

I saved and waited a long time looking forward to retirement and buying my first Lexus. The RX350 appeared to be just what I had been waiting for, offering more room than my sedan, luxury, etc.

I'm so disappointed in the product that I will be looking to replace it with a BMW, Acura,(which I have owned and never had a problem),or Mercedes in late spring / summer.

It appears to me that Lexus made a fine product years ago, but in order to maintain or improve the margin on the vehicle they have cut corners on workmankship and quality. I have also been to two dealerships and I believe my comment also applies to what I have seen of Lexus Customer Service.

I don't plan on ever buying another Lexus.

[cwirth]

I have been looking for an upscale vehicle for the last couple of months. I pretty much decided on the Lexus RX350. It seems that on every owner's message board that I go onto there are people that love their vehicle and those that don't. It seems to me that those that don't are much more vocal on these type of boards. There is NO perfect car and even BMW and Acura have their issues, especially Acura, just go to their owner's message board and check out those comments. If you read those you will stay away from Acura.

I really like the message boards but they sure can get negative. I guess one just has to make his or her's decision on their own as to which vehicle is best for them.

[Duffyone]

cwirth some of what you see is a perception issue, "One man's junk is another man's treasure." We have purchased a new car just about every year for the last 40 years. We've had GM products, Ford products, BMWs, Porsches, MBs, sedans, sports cars, vans, station wagon, race cars and plain janes, so we have basically encountered just about every situation imaginable, but this one was a complete surprise. My wife, the “inspector” went over that RX over and over again, we were totally surprised when we got it out in the sun three days later.

If I would have written here after the purchase of our first Lexus I would have painted a completely different picture. You say no car is perfect, but it was, and continued to be perfect through 70,000+ miles and five years. My next Lexus had a few problems, a bad water pump and air intake meter. My wife’s Lexus had no mechanical problems, but had a small paint problem on the rear bumper, which was easily repaired.

I’m rambling…. The bottom line, we have a new RX350 waiting for us to pick-up Monday, and we are hoping for the best, but are a little skeptical.

If a person has a good experience, on average, they will tell one person about it, but if they have a bad experience they will tell ten people. Unfortunately that’s human nature.

So I hope to write here in six months, telling everyone how great my new RX350 has been.

[cwirth]

I’m rambling…. The bottom line, we have a new RX350 waiting for us to pick-up Monday, and we are hoping for the best, but are a little skeptical.

So I hope to write here in six months, telling everyone how great my new RX350 has been.

Duffyone: Glad to hear that you will be getting a new RX on Monday. With only 100 miles on your current one that is the least that Lexus should do. I know that I would have demanded a new one too. Please let us know after you get it and check it over how it is.

I have never owned what I call an upscale vehicle and thought it was about time to have something nice before I hope to retire in 10 years or so. Keep us posted.

[Duffyone]

Here’s one of the book, well at least my book! Yesterday we went to exchange our RX, but before that they needed to transfer a few items from the old to the new. The mechanic asked, “why are we doing this exchange?” …” ‘cause of the paint problems on the door!” The mechanic looked at the door and stated that’s not a problem, that’s just condensation. He walks over to his tool box, takes out a heat gun, aims it toward the spots…… gone in an instant. Evidently during shipment the plastic cover is affixed using removable glue; however, on occasion condensation will build up under the glue, between the base coat and clear coat. There is no apparent damage to the paint as a result, so all is well.

[SKperformance]

I guess the paint didn't get enough time to cure before being covered with plastic and the gas built up under it instead.

Glad you updated the thread.

[raymsixsix]

Here’s one of the book, well at least my book! Yesterday we went to exchange our RX, but before that they needed to transfer a few items from the old to the new. The mechanic asked, “why are we doing this exchange?” …” ‘cause of the paint problems on the door!” The mechanic looked at the door and stated that’s not a problem, that’s just condensation. He walks over to his tool box, takes out a heat gun, aims it toward the spots…… gone in an instant. Evidently during shipment the plastic cover is affixed using removable glue; however, on occasion condensation will build up under the glue, between the base coat and clear coat. There is no apparent damage to the paint as a result, so all is well.

Well, how about that! Hope things go well from here on out

[rx350guy]

I guess I'm still a little confused. At first the whole car was a piece of junk, and in the end it was really a paint issue only. BIG difference!

[SW03ES]

Thats why its best to remain calm and reasonable and work for a solution to issues instead of just ranting madly.

Anger is your enemy in situations like this.

[Duffyone]

SWO3ES... You know nothing about the circumstances that lead to my post. If a manager at Lexus tells me that he will call me back, I expect to be called back, not ignored! If a rep. from Lexus tells me they will have a supervisor call me back, I expect to be called back! If Lexus can not meet these expectations then tell me and I’ll purchase from someone that can.

The first time I ask someone for assistance I do so calmly. The second time I ask, I’m still calm, but the smiles have gone. The third time I ask, and I’m still ignored, things start to get serious. My sales person asked his manager to call me at least five times, which stated at 10:00 in the morning and by 8:00 PM I still had not received a call. Dealing directly with Lexus in Torrance was no better.

Whether our RX350 is junk or not remains to be seen. It has certainly not started out to be a happy experience. The RX350? The DFI seems to be noisier than we expected. The transmission is not smooth at all, very jerky. I’ll remind you this is our fourth Lexus and these concerns are new to us. Where’s my cargo net… oh, that went away. That whole nav. system seems to be behind the times. Even my Verizon phone has a better Nav. system. And where do we plug our iPod? Is that asking too much of a $40K car? I could go on, but let’s just say I’m glad this is my wife’s car and not mine.

[zembl]

If a manager at Lexus tells me that he will call me back, I expect to be called back, not ignored! If a rep. from Lexus tells me they will have a supervisor call me back, I expect to be called back! If Lexus can not meet these expectations then tell me and I’ll purchase from someone that can.

The DFI seems to be noisier than we expected.

The transmission is not smooth at all, very jerky.

That whole nav. system seems to be behind the times. Even my Verizon phone has a better Nav. system.

And where do we plug our iPod?

Is that asking too much of a $40K car?

I agree with you on most of those points. although the transmission on the 400h is very smooth, but it is still embarassing to have such a junky nav system and no mp3 input, and no smart key.

But the headlights swivel!!

[jgr7]

The salesman told me at the dealer that the cargo net was no longer after I got the sales manager to throw on in for free. Today when my wife got home from a visit to the dealer for the Perma Plate treatment the cargo net was installed in the back. I guess they do have one still.

Jeff