Over a decade at Lexus

Buy the factory Extended Service Contract if the price is within 10% or so of the aftermarket guys, that's my opinion. Why do I say this? These aftermarket companies do on occasion go out of business leaving you with NOTHING but a dent in your wallet. As to the post stating that if the car is of proper quality, you don't need it.......No so!!! Think about this. If a car is 99.9% perfect and it has 15,000 parts on it, that leaves 15 parts that can break....do you know which 15 that might be? I don't. If you have a MODERATE repair on a car this complex, it could easily cost you $2,000.00. The days of do it yourself are long since over due to the complexity of these vehicles. Think of these plans as nothing more than insurance. You insure your home, your car, your health. All of which you hope you NEVER have to use but aren't you glad you have them if you ever DO have to use them? Here's another thing to think about too.....the average person spends $1500.00 to $2000.00 per year on car insurance to insure the "outside" of the car. Doesn't $2000.00 to ensure everything else for FIVE, SIX or SEVEN years seem pretty cheap by comparison? Good luck and whatever you do......drive safe!!

Good discussion guys!! This issue is sooooooo complex as to almost be impossible to explain here accurately. To start with, the manufacturer of a product can set and MSRP but can not issue a decree stating that you have to sell for that. That's illegal and the Federal Government would have an anti-trust suit against you so fast it would make your head spin!! "How does Saturn do it?" you ask. Well, I'm actually quite qualified to answer that question as prior to my involvement with Lexus, I was a General Sales Manager for two different Saturn Retailers. The short answer is they don't sell all the cars at sticker price nor are they forced to by the manufacturer. The "Retailers" have simply agreed that they will sell the cars for MSRP, no more, EVER and that they understand they CAN sell for less if they want to. That's what keeps the Feds out of it. The fact that they can sell for less if they want to. In the beginning there was a ton of controversy surrounding this issue with Saturn and the Feds did investigate and found no collusion existed because the stores could sell for less if they wanted to, the manufacturer did not FORCE them to sell for MSRP or penalize them if they didn't. The key to making it work was that the Retailers just kind of all decided to stick to it for the most part. There were some places in the country where they didn't and still don't but it's kept pretty quiet and those Retailers are less than popular at gatherings of Saturn folk!! Another good example is Apple Inc. Have you ever seen an Imac or Ipod on sale ANYWHERE, even WalMart? Nope, and you won't either. Aside from having a committed dealer group, you need to have a manufacturer who agrees and understands that they have to be much better at keeping supplies just slightly less than demand. Apple gets that, Saturn gets that, Toyota/Lexus DON'T for the most part. As to dealers not wanting it because they can't compete for the business....I disagree. I would love to compete against other makes and my fellow Lexus stores based on SERVICE, not on price. If fixed pricing were to EVER happen, we would all have to shift our focus from price to building value in our product and ourselves and we could no longer use the crutch of low price to make up for lack of knowledge or lack of expertise as we do now. The side benefit to this would be that the customers would see a marked improvement in the level of service they would get as we would all have to up our game substantially. I think that covers most of it......heck I've been typing so long now with interruptions, I forgot all the points I wanted to make!!! :-)

That is very true...the "deal at any cost" mentality is pretty hard to combat. I see my guys work with people for weeks, taking them on 6 or 7 test drives, answering ALL of their questions, giving them all the information they need to make a well informed purchasing decision and then.........the customer calls them a few days later and says they got the car for a couple hundred less somewhere else with ZERO consideration for the fact that my Sales Consultant spent the better part of 8 hours helping them. I guess it's just a sad commentary on how our society has DEVOLVED in terms of respect and value for people's time and efforts. Very sad! :-(

You are absolutely correct, I am a dealer and don't hide that fact one bit. My purpose for being on this forum is simply to provide an opposite point of view on some of these matters. I see things from a different perspective quite obviously and I thought it might be interesting to the people in this forum to get a glimpse into the dealer's perspective. I'm all for somebody getting a fair deal. I have no problem with that at all. When all the negotiating is done, both parties should walk away from the table happy knowing that a FAIR deal was struck. The customer should feel like they got a fair price and the dealer should get a fair profit to enable him/her to deliver Lexus levels of service in the future. The problem I have with all these at or near invoice deals is as follows: When we sell a product at or near cost, it leaves little to nothing to pay our Sales Consultants. When Sales Consultants are unable to earn a living, they seek employment elsewhere in other industries or worse yet, with our competitors. It's getting very difficult to attract and retain PROFESSIONAL Sales Consultants, the kind that you the customers enjoy doing business with, the kind that deliver the Lexus levels of service you've come to expect. At some point, we have to start cutting services to trim cost and this is all a very slippery slope. Just look at what's happened in the computer industry. All the discount pricing on computers has reduced margins to a point where the manufacturers have gone offshore with their support to save money. Do you know ANYBODY who is happy with the support they get from an operator in Bangladesh? It's an extreme example I know but a relevant one none the less. One thing is for sure though, we as Lexus dealers will continue to strive to provide industry leading service to our customer base! Take care and happy motoring. B)

I guess I could say "good job" on your wonderful pricing on the ES350s that you have purchased but there's more to think about than price. It's worth mentioning that every time somebody buys a car at or near dealer invoice and then runs around shouting it from the rooftops, you simply DEVALUE everybody else's one year old car something terrible. Not to mention the fact that you accelerate the depreciation of your VERY OWN car!!!!! When you score a super duper deal like that, I'd suggest you quitely pat yourself on the back for your luck and superior negotiating skills and keep quiet about it to preserve your car's value and the prestige of the brand you presumably like. If this king of pricing goes on for too long, there will be NOTHING prestigious about owning a Lexus!! Take care and enjoy your ES350s....it's a wonderful car!!!

I would look it over pretty carefully from now on or at least until you've brought it in a few times and got it back free of damage. It's always best to point these things out BEFORE you leave the store!!!! Better yet, make the service advisor do a walkaround with you BEFORE you leave it with them and write it down and initial it. That way, later on, there is no question about who did it. Good luck and enjoy your RX350!!