On July 31st 2012, Tuesday, “Lexus on the Park” a dealership in Toronto delivered a brand new RX350. The next day on August 1st, at 77KM warning lights appeared on the speedometer. This displayed issues with the ABS and Brake Malfunction warning. After switching the vehicle off and then on, the warnings notifications were disappeared. The dealership was notified. On August 2nd 2012, Thursday, both the brake malfunction and ABS warnings appeared on the display again. The dealership was informed and the vehicle was picked up from our home by the Lexus dealership. They checked the code and removed it as no appropriate action could be determined at that moment. The component suspected of being faulty was manually operated by a technician and was found acceptable for use. The technician kept the vehicle overnight and after a test drive of 65KM it was returned back to the customer on August 3rd. Upon returning the vehicle to the customer, the technician displayed the computer connected to the vehicle with no new coding information. On Saturday August 4th we, the customer, drove to London Ontario for a Wedding ceremony. On our way home at 2:00 AM on August 5th the Brake malfunction notification as well as the ABS warning reappeared on the speedometer. This put the driver in a peculiar position, as there was no safe area to immediately stop. The 401 highway was also filled with vehicles including large trucks. After a few kilometers, the vehicle was stopped on the side of the road and turned off. After a fresh start the warning notification disappeared.
These set of events are particularly disappointing considering this is a BRAND NEW vehicle which has not even covered 1000KM and has a quality issue which jeopardizes the safety of the vehicles passengers. The quality control from the factory end and the inspection process during the PDI are completely oblivious to this issue. This issue could have been easily identified and rectified at those earlier stages. Instead it caused great inconvenience and unnecessary stress to the customer who paid full price for this supposedly premium vehicle. This vehicle caused me to take two unnecessary days off from work and ruined a special occasion over the weekend. It is to be noted that we had great amount of trust and faith in Lexus over other manufacturers while making this expensive selection.
This matter was taken over by Lexus corporate office. They kept the vehicle for a week at the dealership to replace the faulty component because they didn’t have the new ABS actuator available. Customer requested extended warranty on the faulty system because it was happened on a brand new vehicle
As a result of this customer requested for extended warranty on the faulty system. Lexus Canada offered $1000 towards the extended warranty of $2260 for 120000KM/72months. It is to be noted that at the time of the purchase, the customer didn’t purchase the extended warranty thinking that the Lexus is a very reliable brand. Because of the brake issues, the confidence level went down on the Lexus reliability and in order to safeguard the investment, the customer has no option other than to spend $1260 dollar from the pocket.
There is another interesting thing that after few days of extended warranty purchase, the Lexus dealership “Lexus On The Park” sent an offer via mail to the customers on the discounted rate of the similar extended warranty from $2260/- to $1750/-. Customer contacted the dealership to reimburse the difference amount of $510/- because of the reduction in extended warranty price but they are reluctant to issue any re-fund. Lexus corporate office is denying their help in this matter because of the dealership pressure. “Lexus On The Park” dealership new Car Service Manager is not answering my phone calls.
I am really disappointed with this purchase. First there is no reliability promise by the Lexus Canada per their customer service manager on this expensive vehicle. Other thing, I am forced to spend extra money because of the new RX 2013 quality issue.