Just purchased--Lexus Silver Spring, MD--my first Lexus. I should be happy, right!?! NOT!!! We decided on the 2019 ES 350 with Panoramic Moon Roof, Blind-Spot Monitoring, and a few other options. However, we did not feel the need to purchase the Heads Up display or the Mark-Levinson Audio Package, after all, Lexus is a "Luxury" brand and as such, the stock audio package, we incorrectly presumed, would certainly deliver a sound commensurate with our now retired 2008 Toyota Sienna mini-van, or my stock 2015 Chevy Tahoe...right? Well, actually, NO! The stock audio/sound system in the 2019 Lexus ES350 is the worst audio I ever owned!! One would think that Lexus, being the luxury brand--they love to tell you they're a luxury brand and love to tout their excellent customer service--would, as a bottom line, include a basic sound system that actually sounds good. Such is not the case--listen for yourself.
Admittedly, we did not test the sound system before buying the car. However, we did not perform compression checks on the cylinders either--because when you're purchasing a Lexus, it is thought, that you're purchasing luxury through-and-through, including, yes, the audio system.
Problem: When you use the fader to increase the sound coming from the back--vs the too prominent front--speakers, the quality and volume from the back diminish greatly. And, although the salesman and service manager both agreed with us that the audio system indeed "...sounds like ****!" they did nothing for us except to inform Lexus of our discontent. Indeed the car was only three days old when they picked it up from our house to test for amplifier problems, only to discover that ALL the 2019 Lexus ES350s on their lot "...sound like ****!!"
I told them WE DID NOT want a car with such an inferior sound/audio system. They agreed!!--terrible sound system. They too could not understand why Lexus would put their name on such a sub-standard audio product.
The sales manager, Andreas Tsirikos, laid out our options: $5,000 more for a different, upgraded car, with the Mark-Levinson Audio Package (and Heads Up display and a few cameras) or keep the car with a terrible audio system. Huh? Held hostage, we buckled and laid out another $5,000 lest we be stuck with an inferior audio/sound system the dealer even admits, "...sounds terrible!!"
We feel we were swindled by Lexus and taken advantage of by the dealer. Instead of paying FULL retail on the "upgrade," we should have been given SOME discount on the upgraded vehicle. But NO!!
Instead of $5,000 for a audio system that actually sounds good, perhaps they could have charged us a little less, say $2,000 or so. After all, we did not want the Heads Up display or any of the cameras that come with the "better" (read:standard on ALL other luxury cars) audio system!! We just wanted an average audio/sound system!!
All and all, $52,500 vs the original $47,500. WTW??? Buyer beware!!
If this is how Lexus and Lexus dealers treat their customers my first Lexus will likely be my last Lexus.
