Lexus Certified Pre-Owned program is a load of crap! ***UPDATE***

[Pakman]

Ok, so here's the story. I convinced my folks to get a used 2001 Lexus ES since all the research I have done says that is a solid choice for a decent used luxury sedan. Anyways, I bought the vehicle with 50K miles on it with the 3 yr. 100K Certified by Lexus warranty. Anyways, yesterday, my father takes the car in because it was having strange problems. They call back and say it's the ignition coil or something like that and that is covered under warranty, however, they say they will also need to replace the spark plugs and spark plug wires because they got damaged by the coil going bad, but that is not covered under warranty. It'll cost $290 to replace those. I'm like WTF! If the coil damaged the spark plugs, shouldn't the warranty cover that as well? Anyways, I'm sooooo fvcking pissed! They pull this sh!t all the time so I called Lexus Corporate office to complain. And this wasn't the first time they did this. When the alternator went out a couple months ago, they said I had to replace the battery because of the alternator... and guess what? The alternator is covered, but the battery wasn't. I asked the guy, didn't the alternator going bad cause the battery to go bad as well? He says, "yeah, probably"... then why the hell do I need to shell out for the battery? That was another $125 down the drain! This is crap! The people at Corporate told me they will look into this matter and get back to me within 2 days.

-Cliffs-

-Lexus service department sucks!

UPDATE 11/19/05
The Lexus customer service rep called me yesterday after initially giving me a call on Wednesday to let me know he will talk to the service manager. Anyways, they agreed to go ahead and do the work without charge. I still think this dealership scams alot of uneccesary work out of their customers taking into concideration that they assume most of their customers can afford a few hundred bucks.

 

[FoBoT]

yeah, well cars cost money to maintain
warranties are pretty much like that, they are a marketing tool, not something to keep customers from adding to the bottom line

 

[mrchan]

replace the plugs and wires yourself. Will cost you less than $100.

 

[nakedfrog]

No, that's not a ripoff. Plugs and wires are pretty much never covered under warranty, same with battery.
$125 for a battery seems like a lot to me though. No idea what the plug wires/plugs normally cost.

 

[deadlyapp]

lol copper plugs: 15 @ autozone. Wires: 75 @ Autozone. Showing the dealership who is boss: priceless.

 

[Pakman]

Originally posted by: mrchan
replace the plugs and wires yourself. Will cost you less than $100.

It shouldn't cost me anything... those plugs are rated to last 120K miles... The service guy even said so himself... I'm just pissed that I paid a premium price to get the certified warranty, and this is the crap they pull. They even tried to sell me the 60K maintenance... I was like, they did that during the initial inspection when I bought the car. Everytime I go in there to change the oil, they recommend some service that costs hundreds of dollars and I'm just tired of it.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Pakman

Originally posted by: mrchan
replace the plugs and wires yourself. Will cost you less than $100.

It shouldn't cost me anything... those plugs are rated to last 120K miles... The service guy even said so himself... I'm just pissed that I paid a premium price to get the certified warranty, and this is the crap they pull. They even tried to sell me the 60K maintenance... I was like, they did that during the initial inspection when I bought the car. Everytime I go in there to change the oil, they recommend some service that costs hundreds of dollars and I'm just tired of it.

BTW, all dealerships are ripoffs. This behavior is not unique to a Lexus dealership in any way.

 

[Pakman]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
No, that's not a ripoff. Plugs and wires are pretty much never covered under warranty, same with battery.
$125 for a battery seems like a lot to me though. No idea what the plug wires/plugs normally cost.

But, if a defective part causes the damage, it should be. That is what I learned from previous experiences. For example, if faulty brakes causes the pads to wear out, the pads should be replaced if the vehicle is under warranty because the faulty brakes caused the excessive wear. I don't see the differnece in this case.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Pakman

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
No, that's not a ripoff. Plugs and wires are pretty much never covered under warranty, same with battery.
$125 for a battery seems like a lot to me though. No idea what the plug wires/plugs normally cost.

But, if a defective part causes the damage, it should be. That is what I learned from previous experiences. For example, if faulty brakes causes the pads to wear out, the pads should be replaced if the vehicle is under warranty because the faulty brakes caused the excessive wear. I don't see the differnece in this case.

Heh, well, you've got to read the small print in your warranty next time. There's a line that reads a lot like this:
"We reserve the right to screw you at every opportunity we get."
The warranty most likely explicity states that it does not cover the aforementioned parts, so they simply aren't covered, regardless of the reason they went bad.

 

[goodoptics]

Originally posted by: mrchan
replace the plugs and wires yourself. Will cost you less than $100.

not if you use oem parts.

 

[Titan]

Holy crap dude, plugs and wires don't cost 1/4 that much, and a battery shouldn't cost 120. Take them to small claims for price gouging, unless you agreed to the price ahead of time.

 

[CraigRT]

Sounds like more than just the service sucks, a 2001 Lexus that has had even that much since you've had it, is some sort of Lemon

 

[NutBucket]

Face it, they're still wear items and I'm sure its a "limited" powertrain warranty anyway.

Do I agree with it? Hell no.

 

[Pakman]

I'm just so pissed because they make you think the warranty is just as good as a new car warranty. Even their website states that it's better than some new car warranties. Man, if this is the experience I get with lexus, I'm never buying another one. I've never had these type of issues with Honda or Acura. They just fix it, and that's it.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Pakman
I'm just so pissed because they make you think the warranty is just as good as a new car warranty. Even their website states that it's better than some new car warranties. Man, if this is the experience I get with lexus, I'm never buying another one. I've never had these type of issues with Honda or Acura. They just fix it, and that's it.

Find me a new car warranty that covers plugs, plug wires, and batteries.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Pakman
I'm just so pissed because they make you think the warranty is just as good as a new car warranty. Even their website states that it's better than some new car warranties. Man, if this is the experience I get with lexus, I'm never buying another one. I've never had these type of issues with Honda or Acura. They just fix it, and that's it.

Find me a new car warranty that covers plugs, plug wires, and batteries.

I got a battery covered under warranty on my 2001 Neon when it was under warranty.
Their batteries notoriously suck, but still.

 

[JEDI]

goto mechanic school and do it yourself.

thats what i did for changing brakes. got tired of the BS from midas. now i do my own.

btw- spark plug should cost $1 each.

and a battery is $40 installed at Walmart! Runs great!

and ignore everything the dealer says about you need this extra or that extra. how can you tell he's lying? his mouth is moving!

 

[Pakman]

Originally posted by: JEDI
goto mechanic school and do it yourself.

thats what i did for changing brakes. got tired of the BS from midas. now i do my own.

btw- spark plug should cost $1 each.

and a battery is $40 installed at Walmart! Runs great!

and ignore everything the dealer says about you need this extra or that extra. how can you tell he's lying? his mouth is moving!

You know what? That's a good idea, sign me up. I need to find a class in the Northern Virginia area. Anyone know of any?

 

[njmodi]

Your Lexus has electronic ignition - not a traditional rotor/wire/plug setup, so I'm not sure what "spark plug wires" are being replaced - you don't have any "spark plug wires", in the traditional sense.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: njmodi
Your Lexus has electronic ignition - not a traditional rotor/wire/plug setup, so I'm not sure what "spark plug wires" are being replaced - you don't have any "spark plug wires", in the traditional sense.

there must be wires traveling to the plugs, correct?

 

[Papagayo]

Call the Lexus main office and complain..
It does wonders..

 

[fatkorean]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Pakman
I'm just so pissed because they make you think the warranty is just as good as a new car warranty. Even their website states that it's better than some new car warranties. Man, if this is the experience I get with lexus, I'm never buying another one. I've never had these type of issues with Honda or Acura. They just fix it, and that's it.

Find me a new car warranty that covers plugs, plug wires, and batteries.

I had some wierd electrical problem.. where my interior light would light up (did this twice) found out the battery wasn't putting out the correct voltage so they replaced it under warranty. I guess some electrical things turn off or on depending on the voltage it gets?

-fk

 

[OutHouse]

first of all what does your warranty actually cover?

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: Citrix
first of all what does your warranty actually cover?

Ignition coil, alternator and power windows. That is about it.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Pakman

Originally posted by: JEDI
goto mechanic school and do it yourself.

thats what i did for changing brakes. got tired of the BS from midas. now i do my own.

btw- spark plug should cost $1 each.

and a battery is $40 installed at Walmart! Runs great!

and ignore everything the dealer says about you need this extra or that extra. how can you tell he's lying? his mouth is moving!

You know what? That's a good idea, sign me up. I need to find a class in the Northern Virginia area. Anyone know of any?

northern virginia community college (NoVA). annadale and manassas campus has car mechanic classes.