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A recall earned Lexus a top reputation (2006)
- known 6y agoTakumi masters will tune Lexus cars https://www.lexus.eu/discover-lexus/craftsmanship/takumi-masters/ https://www.lexus.eu/discover-lexus/craftsmanship/takumi-mas...
- ObsoleteNerd 6y agoI recently bought my first new Lexus, and have to say it was one of the nicest experiences I’ve ever had buying a car. The staff were all no-bullshit, no-pressure, and all legitimately friendly people. The first service did similar to the story linked, picked it up from our home, gave us a loaner (higher model fully specced out), and left some decently high end gift products in the back seat when we got our car back, as well as it being detailed with a full tank. In comparison when I bought a brand new “high end” VW that had major mechanical issues within the first few months (needed entire motor and gearbox replaced with 5k kms on the clock) they made me drop it in and get a taxi home, then tried to charge me extra for “storage” for picking it up late (I couldn’t get there on the day they said it was done). Similar horror stories for other dealerships. Lexus aren’t the fanciest cars in the world, but what you get for the price and the overall owner experience after years of dealing with sleazy stingy dealerships has pretty much guaranteed I’ll always go back to them from now on. Goes to show how far a bit of genuine customer care goes. Of course it’s a business decision and not purely then wanting to be nice, but it’s proven time and time again to create customers for life, and customers who’ll pay a premium purely to be treated like a human being.
- virgilp 6y agoWell, in all honesty, VW are the "Toyota"; Audi is the group brand that one should compare to Lexus. That said, I find it entirely plausible that the Audi experience would not be too dissimilar.
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- rbg246 6y agoI've owned both Toyota and Audi and wouldn't touch another Audi for its finicky engine and suspension. That being said the Audi drove a hell of lot more smoothly and beautifully but just stuff needed to be tweaked and fixed all the time. Toyota (and Lexus) just know how to make vehicles that run super well for long periods of time.
- ramraj07 6y agoWhat does a lexus cost? Asking because I find it generally impossible to just lookup how much a car costs more or less, especially as someone who's never had to buy a car.
- gambiting 6y agoLexus, like any brand nowadays, makes an upwards of dozen models in all kinds of price brackets. You need to be a little bit more specific.
- twic 6y agoChicken and egg, though - as someone who has never owned a car, i wouldn't know which model to look at! Is there scope for a levels.fyi for cars?
- supercollision 6y agoyes, and IIUC it's already a crowded market. I haven't been car shopping in a very long time so I'm not sure what's the current state of the art, but the Kelley Blue Book (edit: mentioned in a sibling comment) is probably the original and best-known one. First published in 1926, online since 1995. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelley_Blue_Book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelley_Blue_Book
- Brozilean 6y agoKelly Blue Book and Edmunds can help you estimate. Although it's heavily affected by age and model.
- daniellarusso 6y agoAlso note, pre-owned vehicle prices in the US have greatly increased since March. The company I work for, we can provide the original window sticker for a pre-owned vehicle. This had been a desired feature for several years. Now, dealerships no longer want the customer to see that info on a pre-owned vehicles, because it has the list price of the vehicle as new. The pre-owned price is very close to the new price.
- gambiting 6y agoEverything you described depends 100% on the individual dealership not on the brand. It's not like Volkswagen sends a manual to their dealerships that says "be dicks to customers" and Lexus tells theirs "only hire nice people and shower customers in expensive gifts". Nearly all dealerships are run as franchises and there is no "standard" of care beyond some very basic rules. The owner of the dealership(not the manufacturer) will dictate how well the customers are treated and what kind of perks they get. You happened to find a decent Lexus dealership - maybe somewhere else there will be an equally nice Volkswagen dealership. The thing that does matter is how quickly and easily the manufacturer approves repairs and warranty claims - in my experience Nissan was always dragging their feet, Mercedes was ok-ish, and Volvo was completely outstanding. But even then, it has little to do with "the manufacturer" and everything with their national HQ in whichever country you live in - some operate on tighter budgets so aren't as keen to approve repairs as others. In EU a good solution sometimes is to literally just drive across the border and try to get the repair done in a neighbouring country, if you aren't having luck getting the warranty claim approved.
- alaties 6y agoMy family has owned Lexus cars and dealt with dealers along the east coast for 30+ years. Maybe we've been lucky all along, but every one of them have provided similar experiences like the one described in the OP. Purely anecdotal but maybe there's a trend in Lexus to have great customer service at dealerships. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that there is a crappy Lexus dealer, but my experience in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Florida indicates otherwise.
- eptcyka 6y agoI doubt the family has dealt with Lexus for 30 plus years. Lexus has barely been around for 31 years, with the first model having been released in September of 1989.
- function_seven 6y agoThere's no doubt that variance exists among franchises. But how much leverage do manufacturers have over their dealer networks? I imagine if Toyota is going around building their Lexus brand around "concierge" level service, they could attach bonuses to this metric—maybe weight the bonus more heavily in that direction than they do for their Toyota brand—and punish dealerships that disappoint their customers. Then again, a lot of dealerships are owned by huge dealer groups now, so the power balance isn't always tilted toward the manufacturer.
- p1mrx 6y ago> 5k kms [cries in metric]
- anoncake 6y agoThere are weirder ways to write "5 megameters".
- rachelbythebay 6y agoLook out, they're about to screw everyone with a 2017, 2016, or older. They installed 3G-only cell stuff for the "phone home when the air bags pop" infrastructure, and it's being sunset in 2022. There seems to be no way to upgrade the telematics stuff to anything newer. All of these cars are going to have shit resale value very soon now. Paging class action lawyers... there's a big juicy target out here just waiting to be seized. Selling cars when you know it has technology that's already dated and won't last long enough? Then not providing a way to remedy it? Gold!
- layoric 6y agoI’m confused, so what functionality are you losing when this is sunset? Is a auto notify Lexus you had an accident super useful or more some data Lexus wanted more than anything else? Unless I’m miss understanding something about the feature (very likely), I think there would be a lot of people that wouldn’t care and it wouldn’t hurt the resale value that much.
- sircastor 6y agoLike OnStar, it’s sold as a safety feature. You get in an accident and a rep calls you to make sure you’re okay, send a tow truck or what not.
- rachelbythebay 6y agoAutomatically summons various first responders if you crash and it can dial out. Lets you locate the car. That means an insurance discount. Tells you if it gets boosted while you're away from it. All of that... gone.
- sircastor 6y agoMy 2012 Nissan LEAF had a similar problem because it has a 2G modem in the telematics unit. They sent out a flyer offering to update it (replace the unit) for $200 or so. I passed because I didn’t use the telematics services much.
- extropy 6y agoThere is very likely small print in the contract stating subject to cell coverage availability. Also beyond warranty period IMO it's reasonable expectation the owner pays for any upgrades.
- crispyporkbites 6y agoWell they don’t call it the Japanese Mercedes for nothing. I’ve owned several Lexi in my time.
- flobosg 6y ago> I’ve owned several Lexi in my time. I went into a rabbit hole trying to find out the plural of Lexus. According to Toyota it's Lexus[1]. Lexi is another option, but apparently the brand name is not derived from the Latin term, so some lean towards Lexuses[2]. [1]: https://jalopnik.com/breaking-minds-and-spirits-everywhere-lexus-says-the-p-1834330863 https://jalopnik.com/breaking-minds-and-spirits-everywhere-l... [2]: https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/03/lexus.html https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/03/lexus.html
- Danieru 6y agoFor further fire on the speculation: Japanese nouns are always both singular and plural. Japanese as a language does not encode plurality. Thus if one considers Lexus to be a Japanese word the plural form being Lexus is reasonable. Like how tsunami is never tsunamis. Or sushi is never sushis. One might argue that "eating sushi" implies multiples by the nature of sushi. Yet McDonalds sells French Fries not French Fry. Likewise we eat Potato Chips not Potato Chip. Thus in other words beyond Lexus the english language adopts the Japanese style.
- lmilcin 6y agoA problem is not something to hide, it is an occasion to show your strengths. It always seems silly to me that companies try to hide some kinds of problems that just inevitably pop up at companies of large enough size. By trying to hide a problem they usually expose themselves to risk of much worse PR disaster and loose occasion to come transparent about the issue and even gain points with customers for resolving it. Also, this lesson is not just for companies, this can also be useful personally, very effectively. --- It says something when there is an article about company getting "top" reputation for doing what is basically their job.
- LeonM 6y agoI've owned several Lexuses (Lexi?), and the one thing that struck me was the recalls, and how long they keep doing that. I got my first experience when I bought an 2006 IS250. In 2014 (the car was now 8 years old) I got a recall letter that one of the windshield wiper bolts may not have been torqued to spec at the factory. Not kidding. I ignored this letter, as I was sure this was just some trick to get me to visit the dealership. After 2 months I got another letter telling me that this issue was not yet resolved, urging me to go get the free repair. I did. In 2015 I had a complaint that the parcel shelf would make a creaking noise if the car was parked in the sun for a while. They replaced the parcel shelf under warranty (this was a 9 year old car at the time!). In 2016 I got a recall that the fuel filter may not have been properly installed 10 years prior at the factory, so I got a free repair again. Finally in 2018 (12 year old car), they replaced the passenger airbags free of charge, as there may be something wrong with those. Their attention to quality is insane. In the 10+ years that I have owned Lexus cars (first an IS250, now an IS-F), I've had zero defects (that I had to pay for). That said, I do always bring in the car for service at dealership at the recommended intervals. Proper maintenance gets you a long way.
- vaccinator 6y agopretty much all brands had the airbag exploding in your face issue and were replaced for free... but either way isn't Lexus the same as Toyota?
- LeonM 6y agoYes, Lexus is the luxury branch of Toyota. Most Japanese brands have a separate branch, mostly for the US market. Honda has Acura, Nissan has Infinity. AFAIK Lexus is the only branch that is sold worldwide under the same badge.
- Kipters 6y ago> Proper maintenance gets you a long way. One thing I discovered recently is that vehicle maintenance and regular inspections are not a requirement in the US for it to be street-worthy, I found that surprising given how important cars are there in many cities. Here in Italy cars must go through this inspection in their fourth year and then every two years, by law. Not doing that can get your vehicle confiscated. Same for insurance, it's illegal to drive without one.
- someperson 6y agoIt's worth noting that Toyota ended up paying $1.2 billion for concealing details and making deceptive statements about the 2009-2011 'unintended acceleration' issue that killed 5 people. https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyota-pay-12b-hiding-deadly-unintended-acceleration/story?id=22972214 https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyota-pay-12b-hiding-deadly-...
- MobileVet 6y agoTIL. All I ever remember hearing about was that it was determined that the vehicles were NOT at fault and Toyota was exonerated. Sad that the follow on investigations wasn't as widely reported on, or at least I missed them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_unintended_acceleration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_unintended_acceleration
- specialist 6y agoReading a post mortem of this unintended acceleration is on my to do list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009–11_Toyota_vehicle_recalls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009–11_Toyota_vehicle_recalls Something like Richard Feynman's uncovering of NASA's Space Shuttle O-ring problem (which led to the Challenger disaster), Donald Norman's recap of the Three Mile Island disaster, and the examples detailed in the book Why Most Things Fail. Know of any insider accounts? My noob hunch (gleaned from popular reporting) is that Toyota outsourced this system, lacked institutional expertise to detect and prevent these kinds of failures. This outsourcing surprised me. Toyota was known for keeping some fraction of all work in-house, like battery production, explicitly to prevent this kind of organizational dysfunction. I'd like to know why these systems were handled differently. And what org changes they've made since. Per Sandy Munro and the Autoline pundits, Tesla develops all of they own systems in-house. While I'm aware of their struggles, long term I think this is the better strategy. Thoughts?
- RickJWagner 6y agoThree years ago, I bought a second-hand 2008 Lexus. The car had little pits in the arm rests and the dashboard was faded from the original black color. It turns out this was due to a defect in manufacturing. Earlier this year (2020!) Lexus replaced all the door coverings and the dash, without cost to me. They even gave me a loaner car to drive while the work was being done. On a second-hand, 12 year old car. I don't know of any other manufacturer that would do that. P.S. The car still runs great. Everything works as it should.