Faraaz23

Hey guys, after being completely ignored by the Milwaukee dealer, my sis is going to come down to Chicago to look for a car (new IS250 awd or used 06 GS300 AWD). Anyone know what dealers to go to or stay away from? I've heard several bad things about Orland. Are either McGraths a safe bet? Thanks in advance!

buggs384

U are correct about Orland.
I had a decent deal with McGrath. No complaints, once I started the " Are u guys gonna let $1000.00 stand between me and this car" routine then I got somewhere.. At the time I had the salesman and sales manager in front on me. Just prior the sales guy said that there was not even another hundred dollars to go down. So we met at 500.00. Not any different than buying any car i guess. They remained professional throught the whole process.

DIrEctQL

I went car shopping with a buddy of mine few weeks ago. I think the whole experience is getting worse than what it used to be.

We got into an argument with Arlington Heights Nissan Manager and then the owner of Schaumburg Nissan yelled at us.

Perhaps we should do some kind of dealership survey for local dealerships on www.chicagolexusclub.org.

Chris

koolaidman

if shes going to be in chicago...talk to gale thomson at mcgrath or if go to the nw subs...go to woodfield...

PetesLS400

Another vote for Woodfield. Between the 2 Lexus vehicles my wife and I have received nothing but excellent service from them.

Zetroc

I have purchased vehicles from McGrath (Westmont) and Lexus of Naperville. McGrath was more open to negotiate price, but I still take my car to Naperville for service (not an issue for you). Both dealerships were a pleasure to work with.

e-man

McGrath is always nice to deal with. Bredemann in Glenview would be closer for you if you're coming from WI. I had a very bad experience with Highland Park Lexus, and I know a few other people who have had the same bad experience, so if you go there, just watch yourself.

Lastly, as for Orland, a new GM took over about 6 months ago, and I have nothing but great things to say about him. My family and I have personally bought 7 Lexus cars from him, and referred at least that many other people to him who have bought cars. I don't know anything else about the dealership, but I do know that if he's running it, they should be doing a lot of things right.

e

tcho82

iTrader: (1)

Didn't have the greatest experience at Highland Park either. Just got my IS350 from Bredemann. No complaints here. Everything went very smoothly.

e-man

In all fairness, my experience at HP was with the used car guys, not the new car guys, and sometimes that makes a huge difference. Basically, I was interested in a pre-owned GS430. I went there to see it, test drove it, and wanted to buy it. For the life of me, I couldn't get anyone to return my phone calls. Everytime I called, I was sent to someone's voice mail, left a message, and I couldn't get a call back (or, when I did get a call back, it was 2 minutes before the salesperson was leaving to go home). Anyway, after about a week of this nonsense, I had a friend call to express an interest in the same car. My friend told the salesperson (who happened to be my salesperson) that he was between the car at HP and another car at Arlington Lexus (which was almost exactly the same as the car I was looking at in terms of year, miles, color, etc.). The salesperson told my friend, and I'll quote, "Please let me know if you decide on the car from Arlington, because we've got another guy looking at the car here, and we've been holding him off for about a week to increase his interest in the car. If you buy the car at Arlington, that will make our car more rare and we'll be able to sell the car for more."

When I heard this, I sent a nice letter to the GM to let him know about the sleazy tactic. He called me right away, and wanted to know who was involved. I didn't want to give names, so I just left it at that, but I'll never go back there.

Faraaz23

Thank you for all the replies. I'll definitely check out McGraths, Bredemann, Woodfield, Naperville, and probably Orland too for the hell of it.

She's decided to lease a IS250AWD. To anyone who's been to a dealer lately, are there enough of them sitting on the lots as to where you think they'll negotiate well?

Also, any tips on leasing? I've never negotiated a lease before. Is it true that with Lexus, you can put down a security deposit and you'll get the whole thing back at the end? Thanks a lot everyone.

-Faraaz

Zetroc

Faraazz23 - I strongly recommend you check one of the established auto sites with reference links for leasing information (Edmunds is a good start). Individual opinions vary greatly, but you need to familiarize yourself with the basics, terms and major differences between leasing and buying. Good luck.

PetesLS400

Also, you might want to check out www.swapalease.com

Some great deals sometimes if you find someone that really needs to get out of a lease.

Lupin5

Bredemann

Faraaz23

Thanks for all the help.

I called both McGrath Westmont and Bredemann... both were great dealers to work with. I just closed the deal with Bredemann... Abid Hussein knocked off almost $3700 off the MSRP immediately without me having to negotiate. She's getting a Smokey Granite/Black IS250AWD, MSRP $39,173 or something like that... 0 down, $3584 in the Multiple Security Deposit (fully refundable at end of lease term), 48 months 12k for $448. This has been the most painless buying experience EVER. They gave me their best price up front and everything was done over the phone.

Props to Heather at McGrath-Westmont as well, she knocked off $3000 off the selling price without me having to haggle at all, but their money factor was higher.

Oh and a side note, her local dealer up in Milwaukee... Lexus North Shore... DO NOT ever waste your time there. Their sales tactics, BS and eye-gouging prices remind me of a chevy dealer.

URDONE

Your going to get mix reactions here. I know some people had bad experiences with Highland Park, but I had a great experience with them. I went to damn near every Lexus dealer in the area, and Highland Park treated me the best. Being a young 24 yr old guy, I got ignored alot, and believe it or not I showed up to Highland Park at 8:30pm, 30 minutes before closing time and they pulled out my GS from the showroom floor and let me take it out for a test drive. I didn't call ahead of time or anything. So my vote goes for Highland Park. My buddy bought his from Bredemann, and they got good people over there too. My .02 cents