Richmond Dealer Experience

[rx_wanna]

Hello Friends,

I have been looking at a lot of cars in the past few months and am very eager to buy a 05 or 06 RX330 with low mileage.I would like to share my experience with the Lexus dealer in town. There is only one dealer in the city of Richmond,VA.

I had heard a lot about the whole Lexus experience but found it wanting.

The sales man was an elderly gentleman who did not volunteer much information. The first thing he asked me was if I wanted a preowned or..... He let the question hang. After I told him the make model I was looking at, he asked me if I knew my budget and if I knew how much these cars cost. I let that ride, trying to concentrate on the car itself. I drove a car which according to me was overpriced, much higher than the published retail book values. The carfax showed it had been all over the country in a short time and also was auctioned. That was a bit surprising as Lexus says certified cars are generally from the surrounding area.

I asked the sales rep for an Inspection report or inspection sheet ( for the 161 point). He acted surprised and asked me if I meant the carfax. He said he had never heard of any inspection report as such but he would find out. After the test drive - once again - he was very reluctant to let me go on the highway and kept asking me if I was sure i would buy that day.

After the test drive I asked him again for the inspection sheet/service records. He said the service department had that and it was closed but then began to question me as to why I needed it. He asked me what difference it made what work had been done on the car and what i hoped to achieve by looking at service records.He spent 2-3 minutes trying to convince me against it.

He then asked me, again, how much i wanted to spend. When i mentioned that the car was higher than book values, he said they did not believe in them. He said KBB was the most inaccurate. Book values meant nothing to a Lexus. When I mentioned that I was looking at a number that was definitely lower than blue book retail or TMV, he told me to think again. They would not reduce the price much, and if was hoping for a discount, this was not the place for me.

What I fail to understand is, is this some kind of reverse scare tactic, or was he just being rude by pointing out every time how he did Not want my business?

If I am the one shelling out the 30k+, I certainly do not need this kind of condescending attitude from a salesman.

The only choice I have now, is either goto a dealer in neighboring cities which can be tedious, buy from a non lexus dealer - which means i cannot get a CPO, or go away from lexus altogether. IT is definitely highly suspicious when someone wants to hide service records from you.

Are there any folks here from Richmond and have you had any similar experiences? Are there any alternate dealerships someone can suggest?

Please let me know..

Thanks..

[SW03ES]

Sounds to me like he's an old time Dale Carnegie style salesman, the kind that is irrelevant in the current sales climate. I'd talk with a different salesman.

In my experience Lexus dealers prices are way high on their CPO cars, no idea how willing they generally are to deal since I've never bought a CPO car...or a used car in general.

Its probably worth it for you to drive up to DC, we have 5 dealers within 50 miles from each other, and dealers with big Pre-owned departments. Pokanka in Chantilly, VA, Lexus of Annapolis, and Lexus of Rockville have big pre-owned centers with lots of inventory. Rockville even has a pre-owned showroom. I think Pohanka and Annapolis do too. You've also got Lexus of Alexandria and Lexus of Silver Spring, but their pre-owned departments aren't as large. Go to Baltimore and you've got two more dealers, Lexus of Towson and Len Stoler Lexus in Owings Mills.

[ClayShooter]

Don't know about the sales side, but Flow Lexus in Greensboro NC has been absolutely 5 star to me in the service dept. I bought my ES350 on the internet from a small Jag/Land Rover dealer in Fresno CA and drove it back, but I had a wheel bearing issue and Flow took care of it well, gave me a loaner RX 330 etc., even though I didn't buy from them. It was a warranty repair, so I don't know what the dealer 'made' on the transaction, but I paid nothing. They offered to let me take the loaner home (about 200 miles round trip). I was almost expecting chocolates on the seat when I went back to pick up my car, I was so impressed. For what it's worth, see my previous posts regarding Flow. If I have need to buy another Lexus, they'll definitely get my biz.

Good Luck,

Ben