2003LC

I made as stop by the local Lexus dealer today in hopes of taking a GX home for a test drive. I called ahead and let the Sale Rep know I was coming and that I planned to take the vehicle home to show the family prior to ordering a new GX. When I got there, the sales rep had me fill out a form for liability and then went to get the car. She came back about 10 minutes later and said I could not take the car without her riding along, as it had something to do with there new policy. As you could imagine, I was very offended by this and left promptly. I followed up with an email to Lexus customer service and the dealership. Has this happened to anyone else at a Lexus dealer? I have owned quite a few luxury vehicles and have never had this happened. Below is the letter I sent to dealer and customer service:

This excerpt from an email to Lexus of Chester Springs says it all:

,

I am offended by the fact Lexus of Chester Springs will not allow me to test drive the GX470 without a sales rep in attendance. An automotive company that wants my business has never treated me that way. I find it hard to believe that your new policy has to do with a new insurance company as I know you loan cars out to individuals and therefore have the same liability as allowing an unaccompanied test drive. I am so offended that I will not do business with your dealership and most likely will not make the switch from a BMW owner to a Lexus owner.

Sincerely,

brickauto

That's unfortunate to hear, I would attribute your bad experience as the short-sightedness of the dealer.
You should have brought the sales rep to meet your family too!

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

lol that would have been funny, but that is strange, we have never had that happen and when we asked, they gave us the car without hesitation, but that agian, they said it was a new policy, so maybe things have changed at all the dealerships, or maybe your's just had a bad experience with giving car's out to people to test drive

K-Bud

whats your driving record look like and what is your background look like. not accusing u of anything but maybe they saw something they did not like.

go to another dealer and give them your business.

good luck

2003LC

Perfect credit, plenty of income and a near perfect driving record (a recent ticket from rolling through a stop sign around Christmas). On top of that I had advised them I was going to pay cash for the car. Confusing to me...

LexFather

Don't take much offense, I believe a lot of new dealers have to have an employee in the car for test drives per their insurance companies. Sometimes vehicles are stolen or as someone stated, an incident happened where policies changed.

Maybe if they had a GX loaner for you to take home, then you would be okay to take it home?

Have you bought from this dealer before? It is very important to have relationships with dealers, they scratch your back if you scratch theirs.

2003LC

Thanks. I have never owned a Lexus, therefore, no relationship. Up until recently, I have been a diehard BMW owner. We purchased a used Landcruiser for my wife and found I really like the Toyota build quality. This eventually led me to begin looking at the Lexus brand. I talked to another dealer in the area, they were not willing to come off the GX MSRP price very much and the rep put me off with his bourgeoisie attitude. It is funny, when I go to the BMW dealer I am treated like a king, when I go to a Lexus dealer I am treated like a second-class citizen. I have a buddy who owns a Lexus and he believes their service and customer relationship management is the best in the business. He also owns a BMW and ranks Lexus way above them.

Ay-nako

iTrader: (25)

There just had to have been something that caught there attention, i work at a lexus dealership and we litteraly strive for customer satis. , but if you felt like that they will come back and help you out in some way that just must be a bad dealership?

Bob GX

The Lexus dealer near me seems to have 3 categories of cars:

1) Loaner - you already own a Lexus that is in for service and it's going to take awhile (that is, you are not waiting). Limited number of these and you have to arrange in advance (and usually not the same model as my GX). They also have a shuttle that will take you to work or pick you up, if you don't need the car all day

2) Demo - if you are in a buying mode, they let you take these by yourself for an extended time during the week (not typically overnight). On the weekend they will let you take it home for a day or two to really try it out, as they are available. They let these run up to 8,000 miles or so and then sell at a discounted price.

3) New test drive - these are new cars that you can take out for a short drive (that is, not too many miles on a 'new' car that would discourage someone else from buying it, if you decide not to). Sometimes the sales person goes along - usually seems like they just want to answer questions and work on the sale, but I suppose it could also be they are in a 'watch dog' mode.

Maybe they didn't have the right category available for you? I suppose dealerships have different policies, too.

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

That sounds strange to me!

An extended test drive without the salesperson is called a BCA or borrowed car agreement. You simply fill out a form and sign it with a time stamp. The dealer makes a copy of your driver's license and insurance card. The car you "borrow" has a demo plate on it. Dealers don't do this for every person who walks in the door, but will definately do it for qualified buyers.

I would definately go to the next Lexus dealer. Good luck.

dalarainc

This actually happened to me as well when i was looking for my SC, Lexus NA response was "we encourage our dealers to offer extrended Test drives but it is extrictly up to the dealer to grant it" later i found that the reason why this happened was becouse the dealer is also a toyota dealership and the salesperson that i was delaling with was a toyota sales person trying to take the sale away from the Lexus Sales personnel, long story short i left did not do bussiness with said dealership and found a pristine CPO car from South Bay lexus where i received top notch service.

GatorGreg

No offense but IMO you need to grow a skin. Unless you're a member of a "protected class" and you feel they are discriminating against you on that basis why would you give a hoot? As an auto enthusiast I take a lot of new cars for test drives and I'm always pleasantly surprised when they give me the keys and tell me to go have fun with it by myself (amazingly my local Porsche dealer has this policy ). However, more often then not new car dealerships don't make this offer to me but nor do I ask, and if I did I wouldn't blame them and whine about it on the internet. Heck, I don't even let Mrs. GG borrow my car since a nasty incident in the '90s

2003LC

"and if I did I wouldn't blame them and whine about it on the internet"



Wouldn't classify it as a whine. Was just trying to get opinions on if this is a normal procedure for a Lexus dealership. Venting maybe!

Lexmex

I took a test drive of an RX350 over the holidays in the U.S., and I had someone ride along with me. However, I remember testing a Mercedes C230 Coupe a few years back and I was shocked when the guy merely took my driver's license information and then said I was free to test drive it on my own.

In Mexico I have test driven more vehicles than I can count (many European or other models not sold north of the border) and only a few times I had an issue with the sales rep being in the car (they have to be due to theft being the main reason), one such incidence occurred when I test drove and a Volvo XC90 SUV and was told that if I took any more high speed turns or "out of the ordinary" maneuvers the test drive was over, but I said if this vehicle doesn't do what I WANT IT TO, you will not see so much as a centavo of my hard earned cash. I was test driving it with a neighbor of mine who wanted an SUV for the first time and want to test drive all there was.

He promptly cursed out the sales manager when we got back and spit on their floor.

2003LC

Thanks for all the feedback. Not the end of the world. I have some time before I need to replace my 330xi, so I will keep searching. I really like what the GX470 has to offer, so I may take the time to approach another dealer.