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..
