Gramz L.
Yelp
We took our 2006 Lexus SC430 to Premier Auto recently for the vehicle's scheduled 70,000 mile servicing. We were advised by Val that part of the required 70K service included the replacement of the front end control bar assembly for both the driver and passenger side, (which consisted of the control arm, ball joint and sway bar linkage). They also included the "actual" required replacement items which consisted of synthetic oil, oil filter, air filter, cabin air filter, tire rotation and wheel alignment into their estimate. They quoted us a total price of approximately $2,300.00, but they discounted the job to just over $1,800.00.
This is where the story gets interesting. On the third day after receiving my vehicle back from Premier Auto, I am pulling into a local parking lot and as I'm turning, I hear a loud noise, the vehicle refuses to move. It turns out that the driver front wheel collapsed and dropped the car onto its undercarriage. AAA arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and discovered a castle nut that appeared to have come loose from the newly installed control bar assembly. According to the tow truck driver, it appeared as though the Premier mechanic had failed to install a required cotter pin into the castle nut. Fortunately, the AAA tow truck drivers, (yes two drivers were required in order to load my vehicle onto their flatbed truck), and after about 2 hours, they were able to load my vehicle without sustaining any further damage to the undercarriage or body of the car. AAA obviously accompanied me back to Premier, at which point the AAA driver presented the castle nut to the mechanic and told him we had a problem that Premier was obligated to correct immediately, and at no charge. He told them everyone, including Premier, was extremely fortunate that the wheel collapsed in a parking lot, and not while I was traveling at 70 MPH on the interstate.
To the credit of Premier, they did take full responsibility for the mishap and corrected the problem at no cost to me. They also paid for a new custom wheel that was sheared, and a one week car rental. Premier did place the blame for the mishap on faulty parts as opposed to poor workmanship on the part of their mechanic. Upon hearing their claim that the parts were faulty, my husband insisted that they replace both the driver side and passenger side assemblies with factory approved parts, which, keeping our fingers crossed, they actually did.
After the problem was corrected, I took the vehicle to another auto repair shop for them to inspect and insure that the rework performed by Premier was satisfactory. Only after the outside inspection, and after my husband contacted Lexus of Riverside to confirm whether or not the control bar assembly is part of the required 70K maintenance, did I decide to write this negative review.
As it turns out, according to the Lexus dealer, the control bar assembly is NOT a required 70K mile replacement item. And, according to Lexus, in all likelihood, the assembly replacement was unnecessary. Lexus also suggested that in the future we get a second opinion on high cost repairs. "Shame on us".
The people at Premier seem nice enough, and they did take full responsibility and corrected the problem in a timely manner, but needless to say we won't be back, as one can only wonder what might have been had the collapsing of the wheel occurred at high speeds.
