clambros

Check this out .. I get Voice Mail that my car 460L(Obsidian / Cashmere) is here and I'm up to #1 on the list (due to color combo, features, etc). By the time I have called the dealer back (1 hour), the car has been sold to someone else. No good excuse givem, just that they offered it to multiple people, and because I had a trade they werent sure if I would take it ??!! I told them I've been on the list for over a year .. What's up with that ??

I saved the VMS .. should I make an issue out of this ? If so, with whom ??

Ex-Lexic

You should have had a relationship and understanding with your dealer/salesman such that he/she would KNOW what you wanted without even asking. Call him every 3rd day with a question; visit every week or so; remind him of what you want. You are still # 1, but don't let it happen again.

mdw131

Take your business elsewhere, give the commission to someone else?

jjbodean

not a good way to do business, i wouldnt and havent done my customers that way

exBMWowner

My sales rep called me today to check in. He told me that a lease on an LS460L with an $86K MSRP would run me $1900/month. I thought he must have meant for two of them when he gave me that number, but he was serious.

He said every LS they have sold has gone out at MSRP, plus dealer upgraded wheels and a Lojack recover system to boost their profit margin because they can sell every one they get, so why not make extra money on them. I guess this is Lexus's way of not appearing to mark up the cars above MSRP, but in reality this is just what they are doing, since they can charge anything they want on after market products.

He also said he had a white 460L fully loaded in inventory with nobody committed to it. I asked him how that was possible when they supposedly had 200 customers lined up to buy a car. He said the 200 customers was only an "interest list", not committed buyers, but he expected someone to buy it before the end of the night. Yeah, right. Whatever.

Unless you could care less what you pay for a car, I would suggest waiting. I think inventory levels are going to build quickly at the dealers, especially if they are playing these games. $1900 per month for a Lexus, give me a break! These sales tactics are going to back fire very quickily with Lexus consumers. I don't care how nice the car is, it's not worth being stupid over.

Pinball

Try this one on for size: Keyes Lexus in Van Nuys was adding some butt-ugly chrome wheels that looked as though they'd been lifted from "Pimp My Ride" for a mere $9,000!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

that's very bad..... i would definitely take my business elsewhere

and when you get your car, drive up to the salesman, ask him out, and tell him that's what he missed.

i can't stand bad sales people like these

DrComputer

Keyes Lexus is one of the worst dealerships for sales in the Los Angeles area. They won't take a deposit or create a waiting list for their cars. After speaking with the General Manager, Ryan, he said "We don't take deposits because it's all about supply and demand. We want to make as much money as we can." I think Howard Keyes should fire him and hire someone who doesn't have a sleazy used-car salesman attitude. That's why I have a deposit for my LS600hL at Lexus of Glendale and Longo Lexus.

Ex-Lexic

Good for you, but isn't this the free market working efficiently? They tell you how they do business and you take your business elsewhere. Everyone is honest, and, apparently, everyone is happy.

Lexmex

I am glad you shared the story.

It pays to look around. Remember nobody is anybody's salesperson buddy, you buy the car and that is it.

SoCalSC4

I wouldn't blame this on Lexus... the dealerships are privately owned, and while Lexus frowns on adding a "market adjustment" to the MSRP, the dealerships can and will add wheels, tint, pinstripe, or whatever they can to maximize profitability. It's the time-old supply and demand thing. It's a bummer, but it can and will happen. If there are more buyers than products, it's a seller's market - just like real estate.

Basically, you have two choices:

1) Suck it up and wait with your current dealership.
2) Go to another dealership and get in the back of their line!

I had a similar thing whan I bought my house. I wanted a specific plan/model with the "city view," but they were all sold out (there were only three like this being built). I had a pretty good relationship with the sales person... when she called one day out of the blue and said "The D model you wanted just fell through, I'm just going through my list, are you still interested?" I told her "yes, I'm on my way right now." I left my office that instant, hauled butt over to the sales office, and wrote a deposit check on the spot!

exBMWowner

I don't plan on waiting in any lines because I don't believe there really is as much demand as the dealers want us to believe. Every dealer I spoke with indicated they could get me a car within 2-4 weeks. When I ask about all of these "deposits" they have on hold, they almost laugh at me, and tell me they will work around them. I don't think these deposits mean anything. One dealer told me they won't take them, and the dealers who do are just taking a customer off the market and then making them wait even longer than the walk in buyers, because they know they "have" the buyers with the deposit, but the walk ins could go elsewhere if they don't get them a car.

This is a really sleazy business. I have gone on record several times earlier this year warning people not to put deposits down, because it will only hurt their ability to get the car they want at the price they want. All it does is hand over all of the leverage to the dealer and allow them to take advantage of the situation by charging MSRP plus.

I will go on record saying that I will have an LS460L in six months or less, it will be purchased for at least a $3,000 discount off MSRP, and will be in the form of a lease payment for substantially less than the $1500 per month figure that I have been quoted so far. You can all razz me if I'm wrong, but I've been around the block a few times with these things, and regardless of how popular this car may be today, everything in life is negotiable.

Ex-Lexic

When you guys put a deposit down, don't you discuss price at all? Don't you ask for a discount off of MSRP? And the salesman says, "No, the demand will be too high in the early months," and you say, "No discount means MSRP, right?" And he either says, "Yes," or he waffles. If he waffles, you say, "No high-profit stupid add-ons, right?" Don't you HAVE these discussions?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Since you're in GA I gotta know, who was the dealer? PM if you don't want to post. Thanks.

To have let you know about the car and then sold it within one hour of you calling them back is totally insulting and disrespectful to you. I would raise holy hell with the sales manager.

clambros

Funny thing .. I am dealing directly with the sales manger. Apparently the sales manager was "trumped" by owner.