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l3xu5

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  1. Good idea. I didn't even think of that.
  2. I just sent a letter to McGrath Lexus in Chicago (www.mcgrathlexusofchicago.com on Division St. and Elston Ave.) about their crappy service and how they made a habit of ripping me off time-after-time, and how I was stupid enough to let them. I've e-mailed them and sent a letter before, but never heard anything (actually I did receive a mass mailing from them once that said they would like to hear any comments about the service and they pay special attention to everyone - yeah right!). After this last experience, I decided I would write one final letter and be done with them. I've copied and pasted the letter I sent below so that maybe if someone has a choice between the Lexus dealerships to go to in Chicago, they don't choose McGrath of Chicago (or Westmont, since that's owned by McGrath as well). Customer Relations Department McGrath Lexus of Chicago 1250 W. Division St. Chicago, IL 60622-9857 To Customer Relations Representative: On 7/12, I called to schedule a service appointment for my vehicle on 7/19 at 8:00am, explained the issues I was having with the vehicle and requested that a loaner be made available. On 7/19, I arrived at 8:00am, had my information taken down, and explained the issues I was having with my vehicle in greater detail to my service representative. I had also asked about my loaner, which I specifically asked for, and he said that there might not be one available, and hopefully someone will cancel due to the weather. I subsequently went to the lounge to wait to hear about my vehicle. Over an hour later, at approximately 9:15am, my service representative finally came to speak with me about my vehicle (which seems to be the norm for me). He began to list off item after item of things that needed to be replaced on my vehicle. I did not request a full vehicle inspection, but I was obviously ignored and that’s what happened. What I had brought my vehicle in for was an oil change, a rear lamp to be replaced, a noise from the front passenger tire, and the check engine light (which I already knew had to do with the emissions system since I scanned the on-board computer myself). After he rattled off the list of items that needed to be fixed totaling $1,990, I asked for my loaner vehicle, and he said he would go see if there was one available. He came back and said he was able to get me one and then I left the dealership. On 7/22, I received a call from my service representative telling me that my vehicle was ready for pickup. At approximately 4:30pm I went to the cashier requesting to pickup my vehicle and my total came to over $2,400, which was 20% more than I was originally told! I immediately requested to have my service representative go over the invoice with me. He was paged, and as we went over the bill, I starting pointing out items that seemed incorrect. He agreed and went to revise the bill. After his revisions, the total was $2181, over $200 less than my original total, but still way too much in my opinion. I do not appreciate being overcharged because of "mistakes" on the invoice. Once I paid the cashier, I was told that my car was parked just outside the garage entrance. After going outside and looking, I did not see it. I went back in to the garage thinking it was being washed, and was told by one of the cashiers that it was outside and to go look for it, as if I wasn’t welcome anymore after paying my bill. I went to search some more and I finally saw it, not by the garage entrance, but by the showroom entrance, parked under a tree. The first thing I immediately noticed about my car was that it was completely covered by some kind of dust or pollen. So much for my car being cleaned when I picked it up, especially after being swindled to the tune of nearly $2,200. After entering my vehicle, no more than 30 seconds passed before I heard a noise coming from my car that was not there before. I immediately drove it back into the garage and told my service representative and he heard the noise too, saying it might be a "loose heat shield". He said the mechanic wasn’t there and to bring it back the next day, and he’d see about getting me a loaner, if needed. He also commented about the dust on my car and said, “I’ll also give the car a wash.” As I was driving my car home, what did I hear coming from my front passenger tire? The same noise that I had originally heard, and one of the reasons I brought my vehicle in to be serviced! I don’t know what kind of worthless mechanic worked on my vehicle, but on top of paying the ridiculous amount I did, I get a mechanic who can’t even fix my car. The next day I brought my vehicle in and told my service representative that I continued to hear the noise and he drove my vehicle to the lift and the mechanic raised it off the ground. After banging on the underside of my vehicle for a few minutes, the mechanic told me the exhaust pipe was rusted and that was the reason for the noise. I said the noise wasn’t there when I brought it in and he said that we didn’t touch the exhaust. How convenient to deny the problem and when I asked how much it would be to fix the problem, I was told it was going to be a measly $1,200. Then the mechanic tried to find the noise from the tire that I continued to hear. He couldn’t figure it out, and finally decided to take it on a test drive. Once again, I was sent to the lounge to wait. My service representative came back saying that the brake pads just needed to be shimmed, whatever that means. So after I paid $2,200 to have my rotors removed and resurfaced, tires rotated and aligned (among other things), the problem was nothing more than a simple shim of the brake pad. It’s nice how your dealership first squeezed every dollar they could from me, fixing things that weren’t even an issue until I brought it in, and then tells me the original fix to my problem was just a simple fix at no charge. If you’ve read the above, I’m sure you’ve probably already figured out that I am never coming back to your dealership. This was the last time that I was going to be treated like some leper who would get attention only after everyone else was taken care of. I’ve sent comments about your service before, but never received any response, and I don’t expect that this time will be any different. And I wanted to mention that being treated as a second-class customer is something that has become especially apparent to me from visiting your dealership. As I pull into the garage, or sit in the lounge, it seems like everyone else there is being treated like they’re old buddies with everyone at the dealership. They joke around and have fun, but when it comes to me, after coming for 2 years, I’m asked, “Is this your first time visiting us?” Time after time when I visit your dealership, I never get any worth wile attention, I am kept waiting in the lounge for a minimum of an hour (even for a simple oil change when I’m the first one to pull in), and then I am told that I need hundreds (or in this case, thousands) of dollars of repairs, even when I don’t ask for any check-up. There is absolutely no reason for me to ever come back to your dealership and waste any more of my money. Not only that, I will never again recommend your dealership to my friends or relatives, which I mistakenly did once. And when I ask my cousin and her husband about the service from their leased RX350, they have this disappointed look on their face and tell me, “It’s hit or miss.” I hope you enjoy that $2,200 you scammed from me because I’ll never be spending another dollar at your dealership again. I’ll be taking my car to Glenview for any service from now on. It’s a shame too, considering how close your dealership was to my home, but I’d rather drive the extra distance and get treated properly. And about that carwash I was promised when I brought my car back in – it never happened. The above experience is courtesy of the crappy service you receive at McGrath Lexus in Chicago when you're not buddies with one of the service reps or salespeople.
  3. I was wondering if anyone here knows of a good body shop in the Chicagoland area that I can take my GS400 to fix the numerous rock chips on the front bumper and hood and isn't going to rip me off. I was thinking of the Lexus dealer, but 1) I'm not sure if they would do it and 2) they'd probably charge twice what a body shop would. Thanks.
  4. I have a previous post about a GS400 that I want to buy and I am considering it. Based off the records the dealership has pulled for me on the VIN, the summary report shows that the car has been taken to the dealer for service every 5,000 miles for the past 160,000. However, that doesn't necessarily mean the GS400 is in perfect operating condition, so I would like to know if anyone out there can recommend to me an independent inspection service that I can use. The car is located in Indianapolis, but I'm in Chicago, so I can't take my mechanic out there to have a look at it. I was looking online and there seems to be dozens of these nationwide inspection services, like Carchex, Magoos, AutomobileInspections. com, etc... and their prices range anywhere from $80 to $300. I've also heard that the inspectors associated with some of these services do a half a$$ed job of inspecting since the company contracts mechanics in various cities and gives them about a 50% cut. I can't imagine someone getting $40 is going to do a good and thorough job of inspecting a car I want to buy. But then again, I would rather not pay $300 for an inspection if the $80 is going to be the same. So, can anyone help me with a service that I can use? Or if you've had an experience with one of the nationwide online ones, I'd like to hear about that as well. I hate to buy this GS400 and find out I have $2000 worth of repairs coming soon.
  5. Lots of good thoughts. It is being sold by a Lexus dealer, but I'm not sure if it was taken care of by that dealer (I'd just assume not). However, the salesperson is going to fax me over service records he has, so I'll take a look at those and see what's been done recently. As for the ownership, there was a corporate lease (fleet) on the vehicle's title from when it was purchased until 20k miles. After that, it was sold to a private owner. If that owner took good care of it for those 147k miles, and took it to a Lexus dealer regularly for service, that would be nice. I've heard that the 90k service is in the $1200 range or so. Can't I just take the GS400 to a Toyota dealer and have them do it there? I mean, it will definitely be less and they should have identical parts (or close to it). Has anyone tried doing this? Or maybe I can just have the dealer do the 90k service now and negotiate it in to the price (unlikely though considering it's that expensive). But that 90k service would definitely kill the deal.
  6. Well, the dealer says the car has had only one owner while the CarFax report says 2. It also shows that the car was registered as a Fleet vehicle at one point, so not sure if that's a + or a -. As far as the service history, not sure how much is available from the Dealer and there's almost nothing on the CarFax report. I guess this is just one of those where you have to get an independent inspection done and roll the dice. Any other thoughts?
  7. I'm actually looking for a GS (just posted a topic after yours about a GS400) and I'd be willing to give you a bit more than $10.5k cash. Let me know if you're interested (I would e-mail, but I think only Gold members can do that). [sorry in advance if this message violates any forum rules]
  8. Since most of you here own/have owned a Lexus, I wanted to get your opinion on a deal I found. I found a used 1998 GS400 at a Lexus dealer for $9800 (can probably deal him down a bit) and as far as I can tell, it has no damage, looks clean, and the CarFax report shows no accidents or any other questionable history. The reason that it's so cheap is that the car has a lot of miles on it, almost 167,000 miles. Even though I don't plan on driving more than 6k mi/yr, it still seems like a lot of miles to me. Based on the blue book value of the car, this is a pretty good deal. But should I be buying a GS400 with this many miles on it? I asked the dealer if it was CPO and they said too many miles and too old. It has Nakamichi, heated seats, and traction, so it seems pretty tempting. I know if treated right, these cars can go easy 300k+ miles, but I'm worried that with so many miles, I might get problems if the previous owner didn't baby it. Thanks.
  9. Never mind, I went to the dealer and they convienently had it at an auto auction (where it didn't sell). They also said the driver's side door was misaligned, so I'm pretty sure it was in an accident. Looks like my search for a GS/SC goes on.
  10. Had a few questions for those that know a bit about the Lexus instrument clusters. I found a 98 GS400 at a dealer in my area and their asking price is pretty cheap. But of course there's a catch: the instrument cluster needs to be repaired/replaced since it isn't working. I don't know if it's just not lighting up and the gauges work or if it's completely dead. I haven't taken a look at the car yet (hopefully tomorrow) but I was wondering, is this a common problem with the GS300/400? Also, can anyone give me an approximate cost to repair/replace it? I've heard Lexus dealers are a bit on the expensive side when it comes to service, so I don't expect this to be a cheap fix. Also, another problem they pointed out is that the driver's door sensor is broken and the dome/door ajar lights don't turn off. This doesn't seem like a major repair, but will probably cost a few hundred to fix nonetheless. Thanks.
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