Another Unreal Dealer Experience

[whitt]

I thought I would respond with a similar response to a previous topic....a little background to the situation.....Was looking for an IS350 in Houston, couldnt find one, ordering takes 3 months....so I track the exact model/color/options/etc. down in Santa Monica....BINGO! Thought I would have the same enjoyable Lexus dealer response that I got in Houston...you know..the one that a dealer actually goes out of their way to try and make a sale and treat the customer like they are numero uno...

So this sales manager (Matt Unger) and I work out the deal with shipping and everything figured out and I put down $1K to reserve the car so no one else comes in and gets it. (He actually tried to get me to put down $5K but I told him he was crazy and he agreed to $1K) So today when he demands the check be in his hand before he will ship the car rather than verification from USAA that the loan was approved (last time I checked a pretty reputable organization). Not a completely insane notion...I can see his point that out of state I could be running a scam, but my point is that after signing and mailing the check I am paying interest and principal on this car before it is even shipped. And once it gets here the thing could be damaged in some form. I guess the dealer wins on this argument, but the thing that really got me was the second they billed me for the $1K, this guy turned into the biggest raging prick, threatening to just "go sell the car to someone else" or saying that if I "dont like it then I can go buy it in Houston and wait 3 months"...etc, etc and just being a real !Removed! about the whole situation. I really am not doing his nonsense justice, but his tone and antagonistic attitude really got me steaming....

Am I out of line in my thinking here or are these normal requirements for out of state purchases? Never bought out of state before and maybe this is typical. What I think is not typical is that this guy came off as being such a huge !Removed! while completely holding the deal over my head. In any other situation I would have told the guy to go blow it out his !Removed!, but I do want this car before 3 months. Obviously he knows the same thing. Dont want to tick the guy off before the car is in my hands so he cant do anything to screw the car up, but I for damn sure want to make sure I let everyone know not to go to Santa Monica Lexus....the sales manager there is truly a *BLEEP* who was taking advantage of the fact that everything had to take place over the phone and not face to face and they will never have to worry about any repeat business or service from me anyway in one week....true colors always shine through!

Down with Santa Monica Lexus - if you live in Cali. (or anywhere else for that matter - dont give them your business).

Whewww!

[mwmorph]

After the sale, theyll want you to fill out their customer satisfaction survey. They take this seriously since I think Toyota only lets the higher rated dealers to become Lexus franchise dealers. Tell them you'll go in and do it, fill out all 0s or 1s and then write what a pita it was doing business there and the bad expreience you had with the sales rep(be sure to use detailed info as well as the sales rep's name). Then mail it.

Oh yeah, what he's doing is borderline//mnaybe over borderline extortion threaten him about that.

[Rx330driver]

!!! you MIGHT want to give him a bad rating...but, my wife put down average with our first lexus...and the next thing you know, phone calls, lots of them, call me to explain why i gave him such a bad review. Man, it was a pain and embarassing since that guy technically didnt do anything wrong. So, yeah i guess if you really hate this guy, then go ahead and get him fired. lol. just a rule of thumb, car salesmen suck. lol and the sales women...yo ucant say no to them, tricked me into buying my IS300. lol i was too embarssed to say no after she gave me the bells and whistles.

[Scott M]

Well, since you asked for my opinion..... ;)

Wait the 3 months or find it somewhere else, he doesn't deserve your business.

[ProjectIS250]

Like Morph said, wait for the survey and kill them on it. Make sure you mention names and exactly what took place. He forgets that even though your kind of stuck with this deal with them you still get the last laugh with the survey. Lexus/Toyota take them VERY serious.

[lenore]

Absolutely dont give him the business, Why reward them after treating you that way, unless you have the battered wife syndrom. Shop on the internet at another dealer and you will find you will be treated better. I bought at Lexus of Sacramento and was treated with respect and got a great price. 7500 off MSRP on my 1999 Lexus RX300. Hopefully they still have that kind of sales routine.

[LEXIRX330]

Well, since you asked for my opinion..... ;)

Wait the 3 months or find it somewhere else, he doesn't deserve your business.

I agree!

What's 3 months...buy it from someone who wants your business! But I would still call or send a letter to Lexus about the bad experience. If you must buy it now...fill the survey out like everyone else has said...they do not want to get bad ratings...

My salesman was great...I would have given him and the dealership a great rating anyway, but he even sent 2 cards after I bought mine to let me know that anything less than a perfect score on his survey was totally unacceptable. He deserved the perfect score and he worked for it!!!

Point is there are to many people that want to earn your business...I would give it to someone who wants it!

Best of Luck! B)

[SW03ES]

Yeah, that sucks.

I agree, buy the car locally. Local dealers have more of an incentive to treat you well because they will earn MUCH more off of you in service and referral business than they will on this one sale. A lot of times thats why out of town dealers will seem aloof to your interest in buying a car from them. Salespeople will want the sale, but the brass at the dealer won't care as much.

Remember, sales is a loss leader to a dealership. The money is made in the service bay.

That said, I did have an extremely pleasant experience buying our Prius out of town for MSRP when the wait here was 8 months. But, right after that they started charging $5k over MSRP which is extrortion.

[05IS300]

Your in Texas and Sewell didn't have what you wanted?I say take your business elsewhere and call 1-800-25L-EXUS and tell them the whole story and be specific.I am sure you heard the story here in Columbus Oh. where a local highline dealership(Midwestern Auto Group),shipped a $100k BMW 7 series to a kids high school in Jersey where the kid cruised it for a few days before getting caught.He had the dealership believing the money was transfered from his account to theirs and they shipped the car.Extortion or Capitalism?Ever heard of supply and demand.I think it's funny how car dealerships are thieves for making a profit but everyone else is o.k.What's the markup on a Starbucks drink?A bottle of water?Nike shoe?Furniture?I think you'd be surprised.If someone treats me poorly I am going somewhere else.

[Benzoserviceguy]

After the sale, theyll want you to fill out their customer satisfaction survey. They take this seriously since I think Toyota only lets the higher rated dealers to become Lexus franchise dealers. Tell them you'll go in and do it, fill out all 0s or 1s and then write what a pita it was doing business there and the bad expreience you had with the sales rep(be sure to use detailed info as well as the sales rep's name). Then mail it.

Oh yeah, what he's doing is borderline//mnaybe over borderline extortion threaten him about that.

The Customer Satisfaction survey or CSI/CRI is a VERY BIG DEAL at ALL dealerships. Whether it be service or sales.

Lots of dealerships heavily weigh scores and tie the CSI/CRI into a sales/service person's compensation plan. By "dinging" or giving a low score you can potentially "kill" the guy/gal's monthly commission by a signifucant ammount. It could be upwards of 3K or more!!

CRI/CSI is a BIG bonous for these people - all depending upon the store & their individual compensation package.

Once you have the survey/questionairre in hand, AND BEFORE YOU FILL IT OUT, you might just want to call the sales manager/person/individual whom you had such a negative experience with and relay to him/her that in essence, you are holding a significant amount of their paycheck/bonus in your hands and what would they/he/she be willing to do for YOU to give them (salesperson/manager) a 100% score - ALL COMPLETELY/TRULY satisfied.

If they agree to "help you" - you agree to keep your word and score them 100% (eventhough you really had a negative experience)

You just might be surprized at what they will offer you.

Like I tell my kids .. "If you don't ask ... you don't get!"

GOOD LUCK!!