New LX-470 Fiasco - Need To Vent

[e9999]

Excellent! Happy for you!

Once it's pretty clear they're committed to the new one, just remind them clearly that some goodies are expected to compensate you for being without a truck for several weeks and the aggravation. Take the extended warranty!


And get the color you really want! Btw, the white is boring compared to the silver IMO...

 

[tech_dog]

I WON!!!!

Called me back 10 minutes later to tell me they're getting me a replacement LX-470.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

It wasn't as easy as it should have been, but it's a relief that they finally stepped up.

I have to admit I had a lot of empathy with this, as I bought a 06 LX at pretty much the same exact time. I'm thrilled with mine, and it sucked to see you suffering with yours.

One last piece of advice... if you want silver, wait for a silver. You've already suffered enough and you deserve exactly what you want.

 

[Campfire]

I WON!!!!
I told her 3 things:

1) Thanks...

2) NO GuidePoint or LoJack. Definitely not worth the potential hassle.

3) I'd prefer silver but will take white if they can't track a silver one down.

To say the least, I'm psyched .

Did I mention I'm happy?

Wow! Take the money your saving from the GuidePoint, and put it toward a nice TJM front bumper or ARB. Glad to hear you won, it's nice to get some satisfaction every now and again.
Happy Wheeling!!!!! :shotts:

 

[LXPearl]

Geoff, great news. I am glad Lexus came through as I expected they should. I believe the dealer will do you right as well. I am glad you are happy with how it turned out. If they take two weeks, they should have a silver one for you.

Congratulations!

 

[jmarlo]

Great news. PLEASE make sure you send a letter TODAY to the person you spoke with confirming the details of your phone conversation. Include as much detail in the letter of all the items they promised you.

This is very important: if you dont, they can change their mind and it becomes a he said/she said, and it documents the process.

MAKE SURE TO SEND THAT LETTER TODAY BY FAX AND MAIL.

 

[a990dna]

If I were a gambling man (and I'm not), I would bet on myself at this point. The vehicle is far too expensive for me to simply walk away and pretend there's nothing wrong. The air bags are a pretty critical safety feature and given that there's a possibility they could deploy when they shouldn't, I'm not going to just ignore that blinking light (or disconnect it).

Thanks for the vote of confidence .

Hey bud congratulations... I just banked $5K with the bet I had in your favor.

When the new baby arrives make sure you take possession immediately... and get the silver one. I'm glad I did.

 

[jp213a]

I WON!!!!

Called me back 10 minutes later to tell me they're getting me a replacement LX-470.

I told her 3 things:

3) I'd prefer silver but will take white if they can't track a silver one down.

You can check IRA Motor Group's complete inventory on line. It is currently showing one silver LX at the Danvers dealership:

http://www.iramotorgroup.com/new_vehicle_details.htm?vehicleId=ec71294e4046381e00a9a32c57631786

I got to the inventory site through: www.iramotorgroup.com
Then: Site Map
Then: Research

Congratulations but I'll cheer much louder when you drive the new one off the lot. This dealer has reneged on you before!

 

[greynolds]

Great news. PLEASE make sure you send a letter TODAY to the person you spoke with confirming the details of your phone conversation. Include as much detail in the letter of all the items they promised you.

This is very important: if you dont, they can change their mind and it becomes a he said/she said, and it documents the process.

MAKE SURE TO SEND THAT LETTER TODAY BY FAX AND MAIL.

I got a response from Lexus Customer Satisfaction a little while ago:

Response (VWendelstadt) - 02/15/2006 04:44 PM
Dear Mr. Reynolds:

The Service Manager at Ira Lexus advised that she had been in contact with you about your concerns with your LX 470. The Factory Representative will inspect your vehicle tomorrow, February 16, 2006 to determine why the air bag warning light is illuminated. The Service manager also advised that the dealership is currently seeking a new LX 470 to replace the current vehicle. We hope this matter can be resolved quickly for you.

If you require further assistance, please respond to this e-mail, or contact Lexus Customer Satisfaction at 1-800-255-3987, Monday through Friday, 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., or Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time.

Sincerely,

Vaughn Wendelstadt
Lexus Customer Satisfaction

I think that should suffice as documentation that they're replacing the vehicle. It's nice that a factory rep will be looking at my vehicle, but I don't really care at this point...

 

[greynolds]

You can check IRA Motor Group's complete inventory on line. It is currently showing one silver LX at the Danvers dealership:

http://www.iramotorgroup.com/new_vehicle_details.htm?vehicleId=ec71294e4046381e00a9a32c57631786

I got to the inventory site through: www.iramotorgroup.com
Then: Site Map
Then: Research

Congratulations but I'll cheer much louder when you drive the new one off the lot. This dealer has reneged on you before!

Their online inventory isn't very accurate - the only silver one they have on the lot is mine, which I definitely don't want back. When I spoke with the service manager this afternoon, she seemed to think it was reasonably likely that they would need to wait for one to come from Japan. That's fine with me as I'd rather have 1 fresh out of the factory than 1 that has sat around on a lot for several months. I'm willing to wait so long as I can keep the loaner vehicle while I wait.

 

[mobi-arc]

If they would have knocked $10,000 off the price, would you have kept the vehicle?

 

[jp213a]

Their online inventory isn't very accurate - the only silver one they have on the lot is mine, which I definitely don't want back.

So are you saying the dreaded VIN is

VIN: JTJHT00W264010574

Is it shown on their inventory because it is for sale?

 

[greynolds]

If they would have knocked $10,000 off the price, would you have kept the vehicle?

Given a choice of $10k off or a replacement vehicle, I'm pretty sure I would have gone with the replacement if only for long term peace of mind - that's worth a lot. And that's assuming they could actually fix the problem within my lifetime. I don't really see much point in speculating about things that weren't likely to happen though.

 

[greynolds]

So are you saying the dreaded VIN is

VIN: JTJHT00W264010574

Is it shown on their inventory because it is for sale?

I can confirm that my VIN is different from that one. I'm also pretty sure that if they actually had a silver one in stock with the right options, they would make sure I get it UNLESS it was brought in for another customer before they decided to replace mine. And unless they sold it already (it was there this past Saturday), they have a Sand Dollar Pearl one in the showroom that's been there at least since I first went up there to purchase my LX that isn't listed in the online inventory.

I'm going to trust them to get me a replacement vehicle as soon as they reasonably can. It's costing them money every day for me to keep driving one of their loaner vehicles. They're going to have a better chance of repeat business the quicker they can resolve this mess.

As I already said, I will publish my initial VIN number once I've received a replacement vehicle - not until then.

 

[jp213a]

As I already said, I will publish my initial VIN number once I've received a replacement vehicle - not until then.

So until the VIN is posted, don't purchase any silver LX470's from IRA Lexus in Danvers, MA or for that matter, not from any dealer because they ship vehicles from dealership to dealership.

 

[greynolds]

This dealer has reneged on you before!

I assume you're talking about the wiring harness. The more I think about it, the more I think the General Manager simply had no clue just how involved a repair like that might be. I don't believe he had really had a chance to prepare to meet with me that night, so I'm sure I caught him off guard. Once he realized what he had agreed to, he obviously handled it poorly. But the current status certainly shows that they intend to make things right. I doubt I'll forget about what happened overnight, but I'm certainly going to give them a chance to make things right.

 

[greynolds]

So until the VIN is posted, don't purchase any silver LX470's from IRA Lexus in Danvers, MA or for that matter, not from any dealer because they ship vehicles from dealership to dealership.

I think it's pretty safe to purchase a new 2006 model with fewer than 200 miles on the odometer. Mine has around 260 miles on the odometer - which is way too much mileage to sell as a new vehicle anyway. Until things are finally resolved, I'm not going to publish the VIN number.

 

[jjbodean1970]

I think it's pretty safe to purchase a new 2006 model with fewer than 200 miles on the odometer. Mine has around 260 miles on the odometer - which is way too much mileage to sell as a new vehicle anyway.

for what its worth, you can legally sell a vehicle as new regardless of mileage as long as it still has the original MSO and is untitled

 

[Da Hapa]

for what its worth, you can legally sell a vehicle as new regardless of mileage as long as it still has the original MSO and is untitled

GR -
I'm so stoked for you. I was going to reserve congratulations until you actually drive your new silver off the lot, but I've already said congrat's twice in this thread so here's to the third time being the charm .

Some more unsolicited advice for you.
1) Wait for the silver one you want. We waited nearly 6 weeks for ours to come in on Sat. I really, really love the color and was so stoked to have the opportunity to literally peel the plastics off of our brand new baby. This is by far the most expensive vehicle I've ever bought (and accounting for inflation, probably ever will). Unless gas goes to $6/gallon, I don't see us selling this bad boy until she completely dies.
2) Ask politely about some of the other freebies they were going to kick in. As I suggested to you earlier, I'd gladly forgo the paint protection, transparent film, etc. as it's honestly nothing more than a waste of money if you're going to keep your LX waxed anyway. If you can agree to that, there's already some give and take built in with the dealer. I'd be focused on the extended warranty. The best price I could find in S. CA for the Lexus platinum extended warranty was more than $2,500. Yikes! I decided to hold off until right before the bumper to bumper warranty is out since we actually saved some money on the extended warranty we got for our old IS300 by doing this.

I'm really glad to hear that things look like they're working out for you and I'll continue to keep my proverbial fingers crossed.

From one brand new silver 2006 LX owner to one soon to be one!

Cheers!

 

[e9999]

geez, I never thought folks who buy brand new 06s would have time to spend on a forum like this...! shouldn't you guys be writing legal forms or putting braces on kids or something...? and generally refuse to mix with greasy-nail riff raffs like us?

 

[LXPearl]

Geoff, seing your response from Lexus confirmed my expectation that you will be treated right. I also had a response from Lexus Customer Satisfaction today that raised my confidence in their continuing pursuit of excellence and commitment to Lexus customers. It was also from Vaughn Wendelstadt:

"We appreciate your providing some information that you discovered on the ih8mud.com web site. Please be assured that Lexus is committed to the passionate pursuit of perfection in the area of service to our customers. We are unable to comment about Mr. Reynolds' concerns with his purchase from Ira Lexus but will respond to any concerns that Lexus owners raise with us."

Obviously, I have been pleased with my LX. I am confident you will be very pleased with your new replacement LX. This type of response by Lexus keeps them at the top of my list for my next vehicle. It is great to hear the good news; and I expect to hear that they find a silver one for you.