Accompanied a friend as he bought an A8 a couple of weeks back and, while the dealership was nice, the purchase experience was "not premium". I got a chuckle when I read this

http://jalopnik.com/what-its-like-to...ded-1793482866

My Lexus dealership (Park Place in Dallas) has a single "sales executive" manage your entire process from assessment to F&I, called me only once (after a few weeks) just making sure I had all questions answered. Not to the level of an Astin or Bentley, but a far cry from even a Cadillac purchase.

Anyway, curious as to your experiences when you purchased your luxury car, how it compared?

 

I've purchased three cars from Lexus of Seattle and all three have been fantastic experiences. When we bought the RX it was getting late so they ordered us dinner. When I bought my IS it was all arranged before hand so it only took me 30 minutes to go in, sign papers, and drive off. When I bought the GS they were so kind and gave me a nice gift of coffee beans and a nice bottle of wine.

I had had a good experience with Toyota when I bought the Highlander, but Lexus was definitely a better experience.

 

We were a LOT more interested in the price, and what we got for our money in a car, than a fancy cup of coffee, or bottle of wine. That said, we were treated very well by both Dealerships we worked with. We actually bought through a broker. Neither dealership was willing to sell at the price we paid. The broker did a great job for us. However the broker's contact at the dealer the car actually came from, went well out of his way to assist us. In short, they were great. I'm not usually a new car buyer, so I don't know how they compared to other dealers. Seemed like the dealerships were all pretty good. Exception was the Audi dealer. Also when I walked into the Mercedes dealer, ( I was on my motorcycle) the receptionist really looked down on me. But the sales people were fairly helpful. Ford dealer was exceptionally nice, and helpful. however the Broker really pulled out the stops to make sure we got what fitted our needs, not what he had to sell. Even offered his own private car for a test drive of one that had 160k on It to compare. Also arranged an extensive test drive, that included "mud" on the tires.

 

just depends what you ask for and the price you settle on imo. in my area we have a mb, audi, porsche complex that is really tough on new models but reasonable on leftovers. lexus dealer just wants volume so I was in/out in under 2 hrs with a test drive and paperwork. no pressure, just what you want to pay, this is counter, and then asking for extras...Im sure people do better, but it was ez pz no stress. in that time I did better than costco or similar guaranteed pricing by $1500.

 

My lease was all agreed upon online. A few days of exchanging emails, but once we struck a deal, it was easy. Drove in, inspected the car, signed, paid, and out in about two hours total. The following introduction to the service department was a very friendly experience too.

 

How do you feel about Lexus of Bellevue?

 

I haven't ever dealt with them, as Lexus of Seattle is much closer to home. One of my coworkers had a bad experience at Bellevue, but I've heard others with good experiences. Bellevue is a much more impressive facility.

Lexus of Seattle has treated me well and been very fair on pricing with pretty easy negotiations so I just stick with them.

 

I have to say that my experience with my Lexus dealership has been nothing special. The purchasing experience was nothing special and the service experience, while courteous, has not been friendly. The ultra-modern dealership building and the customer experience has left me rather cold. I am seriously considering going back to Toyota when my lease expires in a year.

If I stay, it will likely be because my wife likes a luxury brand (i.e. Lexus) in the driveway. I do not feel that the price premium over a Toyota has bought me anything.

 

No purchase experiences from Lexus dealerships yet, but I did get a chance to float between Longo Toyota and Lexus on the same day. You can tell that Toyota is just a scrambling, chaotic, no-bars-hold battleground for salesmen and customers. However, it's just much quieter and calmer over at the Lexus lot. Same plaza, but completely different atmosphere and vibe for sure.

Good article. I never shopped at an exotic dealership before, so that was an interesting read. It's almost like shopping at an high-end retail store like the ones by Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

 

several terrible and 1 great lexus sales experiences, but WONDERFUL service experiences alway.
my last few car 'transactions' i've been polite but gone in with the attitude - no matter how nice they're only there to screw me, so i have to be as on the ball as possible. 3 recent transactions at non-lexus dealers were all fine overall.

 

I have bought or leased 6 new cars from the same Lexus dealership since 2001. During this time, I've only dealt with 2 salespeople. The first guy retired, so maybe I paid too much for the car. Always very courteous and knowledgeable about the product. They are almost a "no-haggle" dealership. They don't start at list price and I don't start at $10,000 below invoice, so the negotiations are pretty quick. They find ways to make the deal work. Once I had some damage on a lease return ($900 estimate) and the dealership took the car in trade to save me the money. I'm sure their body shop charged them a lot less than my quote, but it was still money in my pocket. While my car is in for service, I ofter wander into the showroom to see what's new. Everyone is very helpful even though they know I'm not in the market for a while. This is a class act!

Before I leased my RX350 this time I drove an XT5 and a MKX. The Cadillac dealer is owned by the same guy as the Lexus dealer and they were great. The Lincoln dealer was typical mass market dealer with a greeter, sales associate, sales manager, and general manager that I had to deal with to get a real price. Although I liked the MKX better than the RX, I finally got tired of the run-around and left the Lincoln dealership. They called me a week later with an offer I would probably have taken while I was in the showroom, but by then I was driving my new RX.
Steve

 

I don't mind going back to a mainstream brand but mainstream brands don't really sell compact sport sedans.

My Lexus dealer has been good but not as good as my Infiniti dealer. Oh well.

 

This describes Longo very accurately. But then I got to thinking, perhaps this is all dictated by the customer. Maybe those going in to buy a $20k Corolla S are more high strung, more financially unstable, less "behaved", and therefor require the energy and response of like salespeople. If one looks around at the potential customers at these dealerships, a difference can be seen. Thoughts?

 

I am not shopping for a compact sport sedan; I am looking to replace my ES Hybrid. The next-gen Camry Hybrid looks like it will be a better car. I may even go back to my old Toyota dealer that treated me very well.

 

I have a friend that used to work there, although he may not be the best example since he was lazy, but here is my thinking:

The salesmen are cut-throat and trolling all day when there are no customers. On top of that, there is a quota to meet and you get flat-rate per car sold, so getting the best deal is not the biggest motivator; volume is.With that being said, you get customers that want cars but usually don't have sufficient income or credit score to qualify for loans. Imagine the struggle between a sales, who's trying to close out deals as fast as he/she can, and a customer, who's trying to get a car under the most unrealistic conditions (credit history and wanting 0 down with 0.99% APR, which often leads to a dragged-out negotiation).

So it's always a constant struggle at Longo Toyota, at least that's why I think that.