TL;DR: After more than a month in the shop and $800 in unnecessary parts, my original problem persists. And they also broke $4600 worth of AHC components during diagnostics and flat refuse to take any responsibility.
FULL ACCOUNT:
I had been a regular customer of Lexus of Winter Park/Lexus of Orlando for oil changes and other various services, repairs and parts since I had purchased my LX in 2016. On April 25, 2018, I brought my vehicle to Lexus of Orlando to locate and eliminate a "clunk" noise which sounded to be emanating from the front passenger-side suspension. My Service Advisor, Joshua Montgomery, was young guy who called me "bro" repeatedly. Note: At a premium brand dealership, I expect to be called "sir," not "bro." I explained the "clunk" I was hearing to Joshua, and suggested I go on a ride along with the tech to point out the noise. Joshua insisted that wouldn't be necessary and sent me to the waiting area. After about an hour, he came to me and said they couldn't hear the noise I was talking about, so I again offered to go on a ride along with a service tech to point out the noise. Tech acknowledged he heard the noise, and set about finding/fixing it. I knew it wasn't going to be quick, and suggested I be put in a loaner, but they declined. After a few hours of waiting, they finally agreed to put me in a loaner and sent me on my way.
I received a text from Joshua later that day saying my wheel bearings are bad. (I later checked and they were not. They were just hearing my off road rated tires and suggested I replace all wheel bearings, instead of checking them properly. Every single time I go to either dealer for a repair or oil change, they tell me my wheel bearings are bad. They aren’t.) No report about the “clunk.” The next day, Joshua tells me a lgihtbulb in the dash is out, and asks if I want to replace it for $98.48. I decline, and ask for an update on the “clunk,” and he tells me they’re going to need to use “chassis ears” to find it, and it will be an increased diagnostic fee. I agreed.
The following morning (April 27), he calls and tells me they used “chassis ears” to trace the “clunk” to my front passenger shock absorber, and that it would need to be replaced along with the front shock on the driver’s side. I explained that this seemed strange — my shocks seem to function normally. The LX470 has Automatic Height Control (AHC) which, amongst other things, adjusts suspension damping (firmness/softness of the “shocks”) allows the vehicle’s ride height to be raised and lowered at the press of a button for driving over obstacles off-road or loading/unloading the vehicle, respectively. I explained that this system was working flawlessly, the height goes up and down normally, and the sport/comfort suspension settings all operate as designed. **This is very important to keep in mind for later in this account** No matter, he insisted that their diagnostic specialist, Chris, used chassis ears to find the “clunk” was coming from inside the shock absorber. So, hesistantly, I said that if Chris was sure, then I would agree to replace them. This cost $768.46. It did NOT fix my problem.
They told me it was fixed though, and I drove it home, thinking it was fixed, but on the way home, I heard the “clunk” agian. I called Joshua immediately and told him that I was coming back because the noise was still present, and also mentioned that it was NOT cool that I had told him prior to installing those shocks that I thought they were fine and there was absolutely no change in performance or in the “clunk” sound. He said he spoke to his manager and assured me they would “take care of it” and to bring it back in.
I brought the car back in and leave in a loaner. They had my car until May 10th (15 days after I brought it in!). On that day, they told me that they would need more money from me in diagnostic fees to find the clunk I came in for. I told them they had already charged me the diagnostic fee, and the advanced “chassis ears” diagnostic fee, and they had not “diagnosed” anything yet, and they also had charged me $768.48 for shocks I insisted I didn’t need, which I was right about. The service manager told me that my car was old with a lot of miles so to find the problem they would need to replace “everything in the front suspension.” I told him I had JUST finished replacing everything in the front suspenion prior to this visit, which is true (all OEM parts). I offered to show him a list of what I had replaced—but he insisted I pay more money to them to find the problem.
So, 15 days, two diagnostic fees, and an unecessary $768.48 front shock replacement, and I’m leaving with the problem I came in with!! Whilst being insulted for not driving a BRAND NEW car with no miles and no problems. (Which is sort of insane for a service department if you think about it… Cars needs repairs/maintenance/fluid changes as they age… Thats the whole point of the service department. Unfortunately, the reality is of course, it doesn’t exist for the benefit of the customers, it’s just a way for dealers to maximize profits. But a “luxurious” dealership experience doesn’t include being treated as a second class customer merely because my $100,000+ Lexus isn’t brand new anymore. I’m willing to pay out of pocket for my post-warranty repairs. So long as you’re actually repairing what I asked you to repair and all that… anyway, moving on…) No wait not moving on— I almost forgot: When I left the Orlando store, I took a survey, which predictably I left bad scores on. I got a call from Joshua insisting I change my scores to all 10s! Unbelievable. I tell him maybe if he refunds me for the unnecessary shocks I’ll change his scores, but he texted me “Good morning John, its Joshua, unfortunately we are unable to refund you [sic] money. But we can give you future service credit on you [sic] account, as soon as you complete my survey with all 10s.” — that is a verbatim text. Extraordinarily unprofessional.
That same day (May 10) I head to Lexus of Winter Park, thinking that this being the older, more established branch, maybe I’ll get better help/treatment. I get to Lexus of WP and talk to the Service Manager, Jeff Moler. He initially seems very helpful and apologetic, and promises to put his Diagnostic Specialist, Terry on the job of eradicating the noise. He also promises me service credit for the $768.48 I spent on the shocks. Well, when they set you up for service, they give you a number you can text to ask about your service. I texted that number just about every other day for updates and got very few replies, and really felt like I had to hound these guys for updates—not cool. I really don’t have a full idea what they even did. Terry said he put a wrench on everything underneath the truck to make sure it was all torqued correctly. They mentioned the fluid getting changed a few times, even though it had just been done when Lexus of Orlando put the new shocks in.
Well finally, on May 23rd, they finally claim they have an answer. Body mounts. They take days to confirm. Around May 29 they tell me they think they’re right but the only way to confirm is to send it to a body shop and have them remove the body from the frame. So again, I’m told to get lost, in essence. I push back on this but eventually I give up and go to take my car out of there. I get in my car and find the height control (AHC) is taking an unusually long time to bring the car to normal ride height. I immediately turn it back over to them to diagnose this issue. I tell them it worked perfectly since I’ve owned it until they spent 4 weeks tinkering with it. (THEY BROKE IT)
June 8, Terry tells me they cycled the pump a lot with all their testing, and it seems to have worn out. They tell me I need a new AHC Pump & Motor Assembly and a Heigh Valve Assembly which will cost $4618… $3700 of that is parts! I insist that since they clearly broke it (they had it for a month, told me about 20 other things that they claimed were broken, but never mentioned anything AHC related being broken. Also, they defintely would’ve noticed it being broken when they replaced the shocks. So it 100% broke during their testing!). They tell me no way, it is not their problem. They denied all responsibility (even though Terry had stated their testing likely wore the pump out) and told me I could give them the $4618 and they’d replace all that stuff —— still not having fixed my original issue!!! I again insisted they were responsible and I refused to pay and insisted they fix it, but they told me no again. I asked to ask the store manager (Howard) about it, and Jeff went and “asked him” but he came back after literally about 2-3 minutes saying no way again.
I called Lexus corporate. The woman who answered my call and took my report initially sounded very concerned and seemed like she was going to help. I was promised a call back within 24 hours. 24 hours later, I had not been called back. I reached out and they promised a call by the end of the day. Finally I get a call, and I speak to someone who says they don’t deal with anything out of warranty, and so they can’t do anything except “facilitate a phone call between” me and the dealership management. I watied almost a week for that call, but they never called. I called back with my case number and let them know I’d been waiting on that call, and it hadn’t come. So they connected me right then — to Jeff Moler!!!! *Facepalm* I said “but thats the guy who already wasn’t very helpful… i was told i was going to speak to dealership management.” Jeff is on the line along with the lady from corporate, and he promises me Howard will call me. Howard never calls. I call corporate AGAIN and say tell them I’ve been waiting on a call from Howard for weeks now and I’d like to speak to him immediately. They call him with me not on the line, and come back to me (I had to wait 15 minutes on hold total during this last call) and tell me that he said he’s not going to do anything about it.
WHAT A NIGHTMARE
FULL ACCOUNT:
I had been a regular customer of Lexus of Winter Park/Lexus of Orlando for oil changes and other various services, repairs and parts since I had purchased my LX in 2016. On April 25, 2018, I brought my vehicle to Lexus of Orlando to locate and eliminate a "clunk" noise which sounded to be emanating from the front passenger-side suspension. My Service Advisor, Joshua Montgomery, was young guy who called me "bro" repeatedly. Note: At a premium brand dealership, I expect to be called "sir," not "bro." I explained the "clunk" I was hearing to Joshua, and suggested I go on a ride along with the tech to point out the noise. Joshua insisted that wouldn't be necessary and sent me to the waiting area. After about an hour, he came to me and said they couldn't hear the noise I was talking about, so I again offered to go on a ride along with a service tech to point out the noise. Tech acknowledged he heard the noise, and set about finding/fixing it. I knew it wasn't going to be quick, and suggested I be put in a loaner, but they declined. After a few hours of waiting, they finally agreed to put me in a loaner and sent me on my way.
I received a text from Joshua later that day saying my wheel bearings are bad. (I later checked and they were not. They were just hearing my off road rated tires and suggested I replace all wheel bearings, instead of checking them properly. Every single time I go to either dealer for a repair or oil change, they tell me my wheel bearings are bad. They aren’t.) No report about the “clunk.” The next day, Joshua tells me a lgihtbulb in the dash is out, and asks if I want to replace it for $98.48. I decline, and ask for an update on the “clunk,” and he tells me they’re going to need to use “chassis ears” to find it, and it will be an increased diagnostic fee. I agreed.
The following morning (April 27), he calls and tells me they used “chassis ears” to trace the “clunk” to my front passenger shock absorber, and that it would need to be replaced along with the front shock on the driver’s side. I explained that this seemed strange — my shocks seem to function normally. The LX470 has Automatic Height Control (AHC) which, amongst other things, adjusts suspension damping (firmness/softness of the “shocks”) allows the vehicle’s ride height to be raised and lowered at the press of a button for driving over obstacles off-road or loading/unloading the vehicle, respectively. I explained that this system was working flawlessly, the height goes up and down normally, and the sport/comfort suspension settings all operate as designed. **This is very important to keep in mind for later in this account** No matter, he insisted that their diagnostic specialist, Chris, used chassis ears to find the “clunk” was coming from inside the shock absorber. So, hesistantly, I said that if Chris was sure, then I would agree to replace them. This cost $768.46. It did NOT fix my problem.
They told me it was fixed though, and I drove it home, thinking it was fixed, but on the way home, I heard the “clunk” agian. I called Joshua immediately and told him that I was coming back because the noise was still present, and also mentioned that it was NOT cool that I had told him prior to installing those shocks that I thought they were fine and there was absolutely no change in performance or in the “clunk” sound. He said he spoke to his manager and assured me they would “take care of it” and to bring it back in.
I brought the car back in and leave in a loaner. They had my car until May 10th (15 days after I brought it in!). On that day, they told me that they would need more money from me in diagnostic fees to find the clunk I came in for. I told them they had already charged me the diagnostic fee, and the advanced “chassis ears” diagnostic fee, and they had not “diagnosed” anything yet, and they also had charged me $768.48 for shocks I insisted I didn’t need, which I was right about. The service manager told me that my car was old with a lot of miles so to find the problem they would need to replace “everything in the front suspension.” I told him I had JUST finished replacing everything in the front suspenion prior to this visit, which is true (all OEM parts). I offered to show him a list of what I had replaced—but he insisted I pay more money to them to find the problem.
So, 15 days, two diagnostic fees, and an unecessary $768.48 front shock replacement, and I’m leaving with the problem I came in with!! Whilst being insulted for not driving a BRAND NEW car with no miles and no problems. (Which is sort of insane for a service department if you think about it… Cars needs repairs/maintenance/fluid changes as they age… Thats the whole point of the service department. Unfortunately, the reality is of course, it doesn’t exist for the benefit of the customers, it’s just a way for dealers to maximize profits. But a “luxurious” dealership experience doesn’t include being treated as a second class customer merely because my $100,000+ Lexus isn’t brand new anymore. I’m willing to pay out of pocket for my post-warranty repairs. So long as you’re actually repairing what I asked you to repair and all that… anyway, moving on…) No wait not moving on— I almost forgot: When I left the Orlando store, I took a survey, which predictably I left bad scores on. I got a call from Joshua insisting I change my scores to all 10s! Unbelievable. I tell him maybe if he refunds me for the unnecessary shocks I’ll change his scores, but he texted me “Good morning John, its Joshua, unfortunately we are unable to refund you [sic] money. But we can give you future service credit on you [sic] account, as soon as you complete my survey with all 10s.” — that is a verbatim text. Extraordinarily unprofessional.
That same day (May 10) I head to Lexus of Winter Park, thinking that this being the older, more established branch, maybe I’ll get better help/treatment. I get to Lexus of WP and talk to the Service Manager, Jeff Moler. He initially seems very helpful and apologetic, and promises to put his Diagnostic Specialist, Terry on the job of eradicating the noise. He also promises me service credit for the $768.48 I spent on the shocks. Well, when they set you up for service, they give you a number you can text to ask about your service. I texted that number just about every other day for updates and got very few replies, and really felt like I had to hound these guys for updates—not cool. I really don’t have a full idea what they even did. Terry said he put a wrench on everything underneath the truck to make sure it was all torqued correctly. They mentioned the fluid getting changed a few times, even though it had just been done when Lexus of Orlando put the new shocks in.
Well finally, on May 23rd, they finally claim they have an answer. Body mounts. They take days to confirm. Around May 29 they tell me they think they’re right but the only way to confirm is to send it to a body shop and have them remove the body from the frame. So again, I’m told to get lost, in essence. I push back on this but eventually I give up and go to take my car out of there. I get in my car and find the height control (AHC) is taking an unusually long time to bring the car to normal ride height. I immediately turn it back over to them to diagnose this issue. I tell them it worked perfectly since I’ve owned it until they spent 4 weeks tinkering with it. (THEY BROKE IT)
June 8, Terry tells me they cycled the pump a lot with all their testing, and it seems to have worn out. They tell me I need a new AHC Pump & Motor Assembly and a Heigh Valve Assembly which will cost $4618… $3700 of that is parts! I insist that since they clearly broke it (they had it for a month, told me about 20 other things that they claimed were broken, but never mentioned anything AHC related being broken. Also, they defintely would’ve noticed it being broken when they replaced the shocks. So it 100% broke during their testing!). They tell me no way, it is not their problem. They denied all responsibility (even though Terry had stated their testing likely wore the pump out) and told me I could give them the $4618 and they’d replace all that stuff —— still not having fixed my original issue!!! I again insisted they were responsible and I refused to pay and insisted they fix it, but they told me no again. I asked to ask the store manager (Howard) about it, and Jeff went and “asked him” but he came back after literally about 2-3 minutes saying no way again.
I called Lexus corporate. The woman who answered my call and took my report initially sounded very concerned and seemed like she was going to help. I was promised a call back within 24 hours. 24 hours later, I had not been called back. I reached out and they promised a call by the end of the day. Finally I get a call, and I speak to someone who says they don’t deal with anything out of warranty, and so they can’t do anything except “facilitate a phone call between” me and the dealership management. I watied almost a week for that call, but they never called. I called back with my case number and let them know I’d been waiting on that call, and it hadn’t come. So they connected me right then — to Jeff Moler!!!! *Facepalm* I said “but thats the guy who already wasn’t very helpful… i was told i was going to speak to dealership management.” Jeff is on the line along with the lady from corporate, and he promises me Howard will call me. Howard never calls. I call corporate AGAIN and say tell them I’ve been waiting on a call from Howard for weeks now and I’d like to speak to him immediately. They call him with me not on the line, and come back to me (I had to wait 15 minutes on hold total during this last call) and tell me that he said he’s not going to do anything about it.
WHAT A NIGHTMARE
