Iceman

You will notice no more BMW...

For those who have been following the soap opera saga of my quest for a Lexus, I now present the final installment:

We got the BMW inspected by the "independent" lease return guy. He openly admitted it was the cleanest three year-old car he had ever seen, yet still docked me $400 for new front tires because, depending on where he measured the tread, they were RIGHT AT the standard for replacement. I would really have expected the guy to cut me a teeny, tiny amount of slack based on the condition of the car, but taking the strictest interpretation of the rules he was correct, so I'm not going to fight it.

We drove the 2 1/2 hours to the Lexus place and they had our L-Tuned silver GS430 sitting right in the middle of the showroom, a nice "sold" sign on the dash, and people drooling all over it. I seriously don't know why they've had trouble selling L-Tuned cars. Maybe people like to look but not pay extra, I don't know. The only problem was that they had not installed the black pearl emblems; apparently they forgot so they owe us those at the one-month checkup. Oh, and there was a small scratch on the passenger side where the rear door meets the side skirt which they touched up--it doesn't look perfect but I accepted it.

We got into the paperwork marathon and got to the all-important sales contract--the point of no return. They hadn't mentioned anything about paying off our BMW lease yet, so I told him that before we signed I wanted to make sure that was in order. The finance manager had not heard anything about it! So he goes and gets the GM who hadn't heard anything about it! I'm starting to get steamed because as you may recall from my earlier updates, there were a couple of "misunderstandings" with my salesman earlier in the process too. Anyway, the salesman is off on vacation but I have the written offer he signed (which turned out to have some ambiguous wording), so they call him on his cell phone and he claims the deal was that they would pay off the BMW, but roll those payments into the financing of our new Lexus! This wasa a bold-faced lie, a complete change from the deal we had made that got us to agree on the car in the first place. I was HOT!

The general manager was extremely apologetic about the "misunderstanding" but said that because of the tight profit margin, blah, blah that there was no way they could absorb the $2200 on the BMW. He also refused to believe the salesman lied to us, because he said he was their number one guy and all that. At this point my wife is almost in tears--that Lexus looked so good but it seemed like we would be driving home in the BMW after all. I told the GM that he could either honor the deal as it was originally made with me or there was no deal at all. It put him in a tough spot because he didn't approve the original deal and this was not what he had planned on, and yet he didn't want to get "stuck" with an L-Tuned GS.

He went away for a bit and came back and asked to split the difference with us "as an act of good faith". No deal. He went for a bit and asked us to pay one of the BMW payments "to give him something to work with". No deal. I was clear and firm--I wanted the original deal and wasn't going to let them change it, misunderstanding or no. My wife wanted to give in, but to her credit she kept quiet and let me be the bad guy. It worked, because the GM came in a final time, said let's do it, and complained a bit about how he was only making a few hundred dollars profit on the car but it was the right thing to do, Lexus couldn't have us go away dissatisfied, things like that. I give him a lot of credit--he didn't legally have to honor that deal and in the end he did what I consider the right thing.

So it was a very stressful car-buying process. The finance manager apologized profusely, saying that this is NOT the way Lexus generally does business. He seemed genuine, as did the general manager. From their perspective, it really was a misunderstanding, one that they made right for the customer. I still think the salesman lied to me, though, and I hope they will deal with him when he gets back from vacation.

The end result is that we are LOVING our new car! I will post many pictures after I do my first detail on it this weekend. The 18" L-Tuned wheels look asbolutely amazing on the silver car, I love the grille and how it subtlely sets it apart from other GS's, the exhaust system sounds positively awesome--I am so happy! Thanks to everyone here for all the help, support, and advice over the past few months. You've made another convert from the evil of BMW--there's no looking back now!

futuregs

awesome, and congrats, we all know you'll love your new GS.

///MDex

Isn't it funny how they ALL say that, no matter what the deal is?

Congrats!!!!! And large kudos to you for keeping your cool through the process.

LexFather

Damnit Iceman, that story almost made ME shed a tear .

Welcome to the ClubLexus family OFFICIALLY, I am gonna have a drink tonight for my good bud, THE ICEMAN!!!!!

I can't wait for pics. Sorry to hear about all your trouble but it seems like it may well be worth it.

BadBtsz4u

Woq they dont call you Iceman for nothing, those were some very COOL negotiating skills.

Congrats and lets see some pics.

Iceman

Right now I'm probably too close to the situation to be objective, but I didn't even see it as cool negotiating skills. I just stood on principle--we had made a deal and I wasn't going to let them change it at the last second. I have started to feel a bit guilty, like maybe I was too rude to the GM when I put my foot down, but my wife says I was polite yet firm the whole time, so there's no need to feel bad. I guess if I was really raking the dealership over the coals they wouldn't have gone for it, so I should take some consolation in that.

Thanks for tipping a drink in my direction, 1SickLex. Because you also visit the Acura TL board, you were the first ClubLexus member I ever met. My opnion of you has changed quite a bit from those first few encounters! And you're not the only one who needed a drink--the first thing the GM said after approving the deal was that he needed a beer! And my wife and I split a nice bottle of cabernet at dinner after all was complete...

LexFather

I was thinking some grey goose and cranberry juice actually!

Yeah, we used to argue ALL THE TIME (now only sometimes ) but it's cool to disagree, not cool to direspect and we never followed the latter.

Again congrats on the fine choice, u probably have one of the rare fully L-tuned GSs out there. Most of us have bits and pieces from here and there.

I took some pics of my buds teal 3.0 CL with rims and other cosmetic stuff. I'll also post for you.

CAN'T wait for pics!!!!!

FCobra94

Congrats! What an awesome car!

I was just curious as to why you didn't just get some $50 Pep Boy special's for the front wheels

Now that I think of it...they are probably all **** about the OEM specs and what not...

Yeah man! Where are the pics and the future mod list!?

Good Luck!

blue wax

well.... congrats Iceman.....

good thinking ......... after all

you're a happy man now

LOL

Iceman

I actually considered this, because I did have the option to "fix" any discrepancies the inpspector found. But that would have meant waiting to turn in the BMW, and I know this is laziness at its worst, but we didn't feel like waiting any longer to get the Lexus. We just chose to suck up the $400, and after a full day now with the GS and seeing my wife's huge smile every time she thinks about the car, I think it was the right call.

Iceman

You even demonstrate class and sophistication in your choice of beverages, my friend! Cheers!

Iceman

Oh, and sorry for all the posts in a row but I forgot to mention that the BMW place we turned the car into was the nicest looking car dealership I'd ever seen. BMW of Concord--it's immense and gorgeous! They obivously cater to the silicon valley ultra-rich; they had two Z8's in the showroom and I counted six new M3's without looking too hard.

The part that cracked me up, though, was when I looked at the sticker on one of those M3's. They are tacking on a $20K "market adjustment". Maybe THAT'S why they have so many lying around...

Manaray

Congrats Iceman!

Maybe that BMW hasn't noticed that Silicon Valley isn't exactly doing to well lately...

I hate the fact that BMW dealerships overcharge...it's kinda nice that Lexus doesn't allow dealers to do that...

whitels

I have to say that the Lexus dealer displayed a high level of professionalism and integrity when they chose to absorb the $2200. At least here in the Los Angeles area. anytime a dealer says that they will "pay" for the difference in your trade, it goes without saying that it will be tacked on to your new deal.

Welcome to the world of being treated right! I have some experiences with the Lexus dealers that have exceeded my expectations. There were also mediocre ones but when brought up to their attention, they corrected them and came out positively ahead

Congrats Iceman and wife. Sure glad to hear that you're liking the GS so far.

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Nice job ICEMAN. It's nice to see that a customer who went away with deal really got a good deal. Many people think they got a deal but ended up getting stick in the end somewhere, like finance charge, cap costs...
Damn your're across the world. But cheers to another happy member! It's also nice to have a wife who loves the car almost more than you. Happy Wife+Happy Car=Happy Marriage!