Dealing With Customer Satisfaction Over 2Nd Strut Job In 30K Miles

[almostret]

Wondering if anyone has any tips/experience dealing with Lexus Customer Satisfaction group?

In a nutshell, 2005 RX 330 with 90,000 miles. Had the rear struts replaced at 62K, and just been told that they need to be replaced again. Phoned Customer Satisfaction -- they've offered 50% discount on parts, no discount on labor. Final cost will actually be more than I paid originally.

Just wondering if there is a way to escalate the issue or if I am wasting my time and I should just move on.

[RX400h]

Struts should last far longer than 30K miles. Something is severely amiss. Have you tried the 1-800-255-3987 number?

[almostret]

Thanks for the reply -- yes, that's the number I called. The rep did some checking with the local Lexus dealer and came back with offer of 50% off parts. BTW, the local dealership is not the dealership where the original work had been done.

I had actually sold the RX350 to our son a few months ago, when we bought a new one. I got involved because I'm pretty anal about maintaining my cars, and I had all the records and receipts for the car. We had convinced our son that because of his job (military) he and his wife needed a reliable vehicle, and the Lexus was not only a great car, but every Lexus dealership I had dealt with was first-class, and also, we had just had the car checked out completely. Sure have egg on my face now -- nothing like a parent convincing your kid that this is the right move to make and having it completely backfire.

I can't really say that Lexus has done anything special from a customer satisfaction standpoint. Not at all what I expected (I'm on my third RX).

[RX400h]

If it were me, I'd push the issue with the dealership. Even The KYB struts installed in my 89 Mazda MX6 GT were great after 50,000 miles. My son's Honda Civic struts were still good after 100,000 miles when we replaced them with Eibach struts and springs. Any shock/strut that fails after 30,000 miles is defective, plain and simple.

If the majority of Toyota-specified shocks lasted only 30,000 miles, there would be a massive uproar among owners and Toyota/Lexus would (hopefully) replace them, free of charge. This is like having alternators last 30K miles - totally unacceptable.