We just purchased a 2017 RX 350 for my wife and were pleased with the deal. The sales process was pretty low key and professional, until we hit the finance office. From that point on, I could've sworn I was at a (fill in the blank) economy car dealership.

The finance manager was a fast talking salesman selling packages with highly inflated prices. The minute I said "no thanks" he would drop the price. All of the classic sales tactics that no one likes. It was the last thing we did at the dealership, and left a bad taste in our mouths.

I filled out out a positive survey and mentioned the salesman and sales manager by name. They were great. I know that the salesman can be hurt by a bad survey, even if the bad experience was out of their personal control.

The GM sent an Email stating that "if you are less than satisfied with any facet of the experience, please do not hesitate to contact me directly."

Would you contact the GM, or is this business as usual, even at a Lexus dealer?

 

Yes , call 'em , get something extra from them if he offers ,beside , they are wanting to pacifying you .
I do complain a lot , embarrass my wife , but , she is amazed with what I get for free or discounted. Last year , I got 2 motel room stays for free , and this was at 2 different motels .
I get free food , or discounted meals at restaurants
Once you learn to complain and get free stuff , it's hard to stop , not that I ever tried to stop or will try , I will probably just polish my complaining in the hopes of getting more free stuff

 

It's their job to sell you useless stuff and as high as they can.
I walked in to the office expecting that and walked out with unhurt feelings.
The salesperson would have done the exact same thing if you'd said NO to his offer for the car.


wow

 

i posted a 4-star review on yelp once on my purchase.. mentioned the minus 1-star was for the finance guy..

GM responded and offered a free full detail if I called/emailed him about the issue.
Salesman actually called me within 30 minutes of posting to talk about it.

Done. Free detail.

 

Is that a good "wow" or bad ? lol

 

Standard practice at just about every dealer. I walk in and before they can begin the pitch, make it clear I'm not interested in any extended warranties, tire and wheel packages or any other nonsense the are trying to push. My daughter recently purchased a new Q5 and I of course went with her to make sure she didn't get taken on any of these scams. I have to say the Audi dealer was much worse than the Lexus experience I had. They were relentless, price dropped three times on some of the offers before they finally realized they had no chance.

 

The issue what I had was the uneducated sales people.
The guy I first talked didn't know much about the RX's features.
Told me you must touch the emblem with wrist to open the rear power gate, it's not really a "touch-less", F-Sport and Executive have the same suspension, didn't know how the remote starter work. If I had bought it from him, he would have gotten 1 star out of 5. (heavy Chinese accent)
He said the 2018 will be here in December.
The other sales person at the same dealership told me April. (Heavy Eastern European accent)

I didn't buy the car at that dealership.
Mercedes seems to have better sales people. I've talked to 4-5 Merc reps, and they all knew about the product and they have far more variety of cars.

 

you are the type of person that likes free stuff right?
well I own several businesses including some restaurants and you are the person that we least like to see. Why do you think you're entitled to free stuff? I understand that if you're not happy with service or a meal at a restaurant and the establishment would make everything possible to make it good for you but to just complain so you can get free stuff is the lowest form of human behaviour in my book.

have a great day,

 

hint: it's not good.

 

are you that poor that you have to embarrass yourself and your wife to try and get free stuff all the time......
or just an

 

The local Lexus dealer (where I have bought/leased 7 cars) has the same practice with their finance guy. I always start the conversation with him by telling him I'm not buying anything he is selling and there is no high pressure. Apparently he is required by the GM to make the offers. It is not an issue for me and only takes about 5 minutes extra time.

 

Thanks Mike. This helps to know that Audi (at least in your case) was no better.

The GM has to approve of offering the products, or else they wouldn't be part of the sales process. It helps their store's profitability.

I'm not looking for freebies, so I won't bother telling the GM that this cheapens the Lexus brand.

 

RC350fan - your thread title asks if pressure in finance office is normal, and the answer i'd say is it's very common at least. most recent time i was involved in a car purchase (not mine), the finance guy began the pitches and i said not interested and he just smiled and said well i have to go through this stuff, but he wasn't obnoxious or anything... took about 10 minutes.

 

Although this IS standard practice, it is mostly Dealership practices, and you don't have to sit through it if you don't want to. Just state up front that you are not interested in buying additional stuff.
The bit that I don't like are the "nickel and dime" things like Documentation Fees, Surcharges and stuff - when I make my offer, I state in writing that there will be no other fees or surcharges added.
Instead of mentioning it to the GM (meaning that these are Dealer business practices, and nothing might be done about it), why not mention it to Lexus USA? I think Lexus should be aware of the various Dealership practices.

Complaining to get free stuff is just plain wrong, for those who do it!!! The two times I have have complained, I have turned down the free offers and have asked for a written explanation of what they are going to do about it, even if its nothing. Also, I have taken those responses and passed it onto the Manufacturer.

 

It's normal stuff. It's like going to the DMV... no one really enjoys it.