Ardmore Toyota and a bad taste in my mouth.

[Norcalscionchamp]

OK I will admit I have no clue about who you are or what your like, so yes I will admit I made a sweeping generalization that you might be a bit uppity based on the fact that you had to "Coax" you wife to consider a Toyota/Lexus/Scion product and that you wrote a letter to Toyota over a stereo you're not even going to use on your vehicle...But here's where my opinion is high of you....You allowed the dealer who made the mistake to make it right and regain your confidence in our brand...There are a lot of people in the Toyota family of dealers who are passionate about our customers and product...I do feel for you in that you were not given a proper presentation and sales experience, including after the sale follow-up...I just thought that a letter to Toyota over a stereo that you will not even be using is maybe going a little overboard thats all....but hey we are all entitled to our opinion and rights as customers...Congrats on the purchase, enjoy the sweet ride, and once again just try out a Lexus dealer and see if it's up to snuff...I think you'll be pleasantly suprised with the service

[trifenix]

Lol its not about the stereo....I always go in different stealerships to test and see who has the best customer service. I then decide which stealer and salesperson to buy from based on how they treat me during the whole purchasing ordeal. In general Longo Toyota in california has consistently always been on top no matter what I am wearing, what car I drive or who I am with. (it would seem other folks on the thread have also had good luck with them) Bad dealers should look at which dealer has the best ranking and highest sales and copy what they do=win for everyone imo.

P.S. I would write a letter and doc off marks on the customer survey over a radio... whether I use it or not should not matter. Sure you already got the sale and you have no reason to really "try"...but maybe he has friends or family interested in buying soon.

My cousin wanted to buy a lexus IS250...rolled into dealer and met an awesome salesman. Purchased. Refers uncle who buys IS350 next week. Refers another uncle who buys a GS who then refers another coworker who buys an IS. LOL so random I bet that salesman is super happy to have so many sales in a month.

[Primo86]

Thank you Ryan
It was a pleasure for me to speak with you as well. It is typically not like me to air grievances in such a public way, but I had a bad week and was venting.

I had a great conversation with you and feel completely taken care of. The follow-up instantly after I submitted the post displays the genuine interest in customer satisfaction Ardmore Toyota / Scion has shown me. The fact is that mistakes happen every day, as a fellow member of the automotive industry I understand this. It is how yo handle these situations which displays the true colors of the business. In this case, the colors are very bright. It would be my pleasure to do business at Ardmore Toyota in the future, and also refer them to family and friends.

Ryan- Thank you again for everything, I think we can all agree this ended up netting very positively for everyone. I look forward to meeting you and my FR-S.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[motofan]

I think we can blame this partially to Toyota as well. They did not do a good job supplying the radios. When my friend got her FRS, the radio was not in. But it became available the same afternoon.

Donald, there is a mode setting on the stock radio. The default is tC, you can switch it to FR-S. You can search in this forum about more details.

[Turbowned]

Good to see that they worked to rectify the situation. Customer service is THE service that a dealer provides. It's the one thing that they are supposed to do. You can buy any car anywhere, and for probably less money. What customers want is the value in getting excellent customer service and a positive ownership experience. Any dealer worth its salt should know that, and it's the key to their success, because repeat/referral business is the best business!

Originally Posted by kndonlee

I've seen this too. I had a VW Jetta/Audi A3. Audi definitely runs circles around VW, but VW still has the same lineage of care and service. VW and Toyota being on the same playing field, VW still trounces the experience I had. Also had a S2000/Integra/RSX/TL from the Honda/Acura world, and the non-upscale brands still did well.

The wifey's already made it clear that the next SUV will be the Q5. I really was trying to get her into an RX series, or even the Lexus CT (a3 replacement), but nope nope. This sealed the deal for the Q5.

Regardless of the dealer service, the Q5 is a better choice over the RX anyway. There's a reason it's the top-selling SUV in it's class. We can't keep enough of them in inventory - 90% of them are pre-sold before even touching dealer lots!

Originally Posted by fistpoint

The dealership is your problem, not the maker of the vehicle. If your wife thinks passing up on a Lexus for an Audi is a good idea, then I feel sorry for your pocketbook in the future.

I think that Lexus will drive twice as far and twice as long as that Audi. Audi's sure do look nice though.

Bullshit. Audi's last just as long as Lexus' do. Go search Craigslist for any Audi under $10k; you'll come up with dozens of examples with 150-250k+ miles on them. Their reliability has gone way, way up in the past 5 years, too - no more timing belts to snap or air suspensions to fail. Audi is known for oil consumption problems, but Toyota is known for sludge problems, so pick your poison - both manufacturers have TSB's out and will fix them under warranty. That and the fact that Audi were recently rated "Best Total Cost of Ownership" by KBB should seal the deal. Considering an RX costs the same as a Q5, I'll take the one that's designed to be driven at triple-digit speeds on the Autobahn, not the over-glorified Highlander. I can't believe Lexus has the nerve to charge that much money for a Tier 2 luxury vehicle! I could understand if it actually cost less than a comparable German car, but they don't anymore! How foolish.

[Norcalscionchamp]

My brother works in parts on weekends for an Audi dealer in Sacramento....while I am in love with Audi's styling...reliability and resale value is far more superior in th Lexus brand....JD Power and Associates is one of the most trusted providers of vehicle reliability ratings and in their 2012 Vehicle Dependability Study they of course ranked Lexus as #1 whereas Audi falls short of even industry average behind both Chevrolet and Volvo http://autos.jdpower.com/content/pre...lity-study.htm ....As I said my brother works at an Audi dealer and he is ALWAYS busy in the parts department...cost of ownership is huge for any premium brand, thats just the way it is...it might be how they weed out people who cannot truly afford their premium vehicles, but when Audi has more problems per 100 vehicles than even Chevy you better believe the expensive service department is also busy....a typical O ring that costs $21 for a Toyota would be over $90 at the Audi parts counter...Any time a brand has lower reliability it means that more problems will likely happen and unless the vehicle is under warranty....the customer will be bearing the burden...are really sweet looks and sexy lights worth it...maybe to some people

[trifenix]

Gotta pay to play!

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by Norcalscionchamp

My brother works in parts on weekends for an Audi dealer in Sacramento....while I am in love with Audi's styling...reliability and resale value is far more superior in th Lexus brand....JD Power and Associates is one of the most trusted providers of vehicle reliability ratings and in their 2012 Vehicle Dependability Study they of course ranked Lexus as #1 whereas Audi falls short of even industry average behind both Chevrolet and Volvo http://autos.jdpower.com/content/pre...lity-study.htm ....As I said my brother works at an Audi dealer and he is ALWAYS busy in the parts department...cost of ownership is huge for any premium brand, thats just the way it is...it might be how they weed out people who cannot truly afford their premium vehicles, but when Audi has more problems per 100 vehicles than even Chevy you better believe the expensive service department is also busy....a typical O ring that costs $21 for a Toyota would be over $90 at the Audi parts counter...Any time a brand has lower reliability it means that more problems will likely happen and unless the vehicle is under warranty....the customer will be bearing the burden...are really sweet looks and sexy lights worth it...maybe to some people

Exactly. Lexus is always at or near the top of those reliability surveys... that doesn't happen by mistake, and it goes far beyond anecdotal evidence.

[kndonlee]

Originally Posted by motofan

I think we can blame this partially to Toyota as well. They did not do a good job supplying the radios. When my friend got her FRS, the radio was not in. But it became available the same afternoon.

Donald, there is a mode setting on the stock radio. The default is tC, you can switch it to FR-S. You can search in this forum about more details.

Thanks for the heads up. I already have an aftermarket unit installed.

[Turbowned]

Originally Posted by Norcalscionchamp

but when Audi has more problems per 100 vehicles than even Chevy you better believe the expensive service department is also busy....

Oh I hate that term: "Problems per 100 vehicles". Audi is well aware of their ranking in that study, and have determined that many, if not most "problems" reported are not mechanical or design flaws, but perceived problems by the otherwise uninformed customer, i.e. "I don't know how to work it, therefore it must be broken". It's a big issue we're dealing with right now because 60% of Audi buyers are new to the brand, and because A. there's so much technology in the cars and B. some of the functionality of the vehicles are stark opposite from a comparable Japanese/American car (i.e. windshield wiper switches go up rather than down to turn on, fuel filler door is on the right side, reverse gear is in a different location, etc.) it's easy for a customer to get frustrated with the vehicle if they haven't been properly familiarized with everything. We combat this with a good solid hour of going through the vehicle upon delivery, because the cars functionality really is intuitive once you understand how they're designed to work. Oh, and Audi also makes bigger cupholders now, a big "problem" among American consumers

As for parts costing more, well many parts are engineered to a higher standard, but yes, there are plenty of parts that unnecessarily cost more than if you were to buy them for a Japanese car. Great example: last week I was looking at buying a car to fix and flip. A Porsche 944 and a Celica GT-S were the candidates, both needing clutches. A SACHS clutch for the 944 cost $720, while a SACHS clutch for the Celica cost a mere $110. Go figure. That said, a properly maintainted German car will last a very long time, and you may spend more to get there, but you can never be rich enough to buy something cheap

[Norcalscionchamp]

Audi's parts are Volkswagon parts aren't they?...just like Lexus parts are made by Toyota...if they are engineered to a higher standard then why are Toyota products considered to be so far superior in reliability than the Volkswagon group's...not only in the eyes of the public but also in numerous publications and studies.....think about it....lets say we want to buy a car for our daughter going off to college.....for $10,000 dollars you could get an Audi A4 with 100,000 miles on it....or a toyota corolla with maybe a little more...114,000....which one do you think will cost you less to keep on the road for your girl....and which one do you feel most confident will get her where she needs to go....now me if I ever have a daughter going to college...I will be sending her off in a Lexus....something I feel would be reliable for her, but also something luxurious and classy

[Klinn]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

Great example: last week I was looking at buying a car to fix and flip. A Porsche 944 and a Celica GT-S were the candidates, both needing clutches. A SACHS clutch for the 944 cost $720, while a SACHS clutch for the Celica cost a mere $110. Go figure.

Interesting that you happened to choose that example -- also check out the standard time required to change a 944's clutch. IIRC it was 10.5 hours! Sometimes it seems that German car engineering is just a little too clever for it's own good.

That being said, I'm glad I owned a 944 for a few years. Good fun.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Norcalscionchamp

OK I will admit I have no clue about who you are or what your like, so yes I will admit I made a sweeping generalization that you might be a bit uppity based on the fact that you had to "Coax" you wife to consider a Toyota/Lexus/Scion product and that you wrote a letter to Toyota over a stereo you're not even going to use on your vehicle...But here's where my opinion is high of you....You allowed the dealer who made the mistake to make it right and regain your confidence in our brand...There are a lot of people in the Toyota family of dealers who are passionate about our customers and product...I do feel for you in that you were not given a proper presentation and sales experience, including after the sale follow-up...I just thought that a letter to Toyota over a stereo that you will not even be using is maybe going a little overboard thats all....but hey we are all entitled to our opinion and rights as customers...Congrats on the purchase, enjoy the sweet ride, and once again just try out a Lexus dealer and see if it's up to snuff...I think you'll be pleasantly suprised with the service

Your posts in this thread say a lot about you as a person; I wouldn't buy a car from you. Also, please use less ellipses as I take personal offense to their misuse. Formatting is your friend!

Glad OP got everything handled. He absolutely had the right to write (haha!) that letter. THAT is how things get done. People don't give two shits about you after you've purchased from them, often times pressure is the only way to get things done.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Norcalscionchamp

OK I will admit I have no clue about who you are or what your like, so yes I will admit I made a sweeping generalization that you might be a bit uppity based on the fact that you had to "Coax" you wife to consider a Toyota/Lexus/Scion product and that you wrote a letter to Toyota over a stereo you're not even going to use on your vehicle...But here's where my opinion is high of you....You allowed the dealer who made the mistake to make it right and regain your confidence in our brand...There are a lot of people in the Toyota family of dealers who are passionate about our customers and product...I do feel for you in that you were not given a proper presentation and sales experience, including after the sale follow-up...I just thought that a letter to Toyota over a stereo that you will not even be using is maybe going a little overboard thats all....but hey we are all entitled to our opinion and rights as customers...Congrats on the purchase, enjoy the sweet ride, and once again just try out a Lexus dealer and see if it's up to snuff...I think you'll be pleasantly suprised with the service

Your posts in this thread say a lot about you as a person; I wouldn't buy a car from you. Also, please use less ellipses as I take personal offense to their misuse. Formatting is your friend!

Glad OP got everything handled. He absolutely had the right to write (haha!) that letter. THAT is how things get done. People don't give two shits about you after you've purchased from them, often times pressure is the only way to get things done.

Originally Posted by Klinn

Interesting that you happened to choose that example -- also check out the standard time required to change a 944's clutch. IIRC it was 10.5 hours! Sometimes it seems that German car engineering is just a little too clever for it's own good.

That being said, I'm glad I owned a 944 for a few years. Good fun.

"overengineering" is very German.