How's that ocean front property in AZ the GM owns? He ain't losin' 400 bucks on the deal.

As for servicing it I'm sure there are a multitude of mechanics out there that can service your car. Many things you can do yourself, such as change the cabin filter, that the dealer charges $100 for. You can get oil changes and such done at a Toyota dealer for far less. I'd imagine the service department would love to have your business no matter where you purchased your car.

 

An ES350 with the navigation package should, according to edmunds, cost:

MSRP: $41,005 Invoice: $36,844 Typical selling price: $37,203

So, including destination charges, expect to pay $37K. Don't start feeling sorry for the salesperson's 10 starving kids until you negotiate the price down to the $35K -$36K range

Any Lexus or Toyota dealer can service your car. The new car sales dept and the service dept of a dealer are separate businesses, as far as the customer is concerned. The service people couldn't care less where you bought the car, & the salespeople don't care whether you come back to the dealer for service.

 

It would be a hoot if you pulled up with a new 2010 Buick Lacrosse and told them all this is what you have driven me to buy.

 

No..that would be a mistake !!! no comparison betw the two vehicles. There is a reason why she has stayed through the whole situation but she obviously feels the 350 is right veh for her. hope it works out in the end and SHE's get your new ES350 .

 

Your right. Would have been better with a Benz product.

 

I don't know. I bet Lexus dealers are loosing more than a few sales to the new LaCrosse. I'm sure if the OP drove up in one they'd get the message.

I prefer my 2010 ES to the LaCrosse though.

 

Not trying to hijack, but has anyone driven a Lacrosse?

 

I looked at it/ sat in it at the Cleveland Auto Show. Nice car, reminds a bit of the ES350 on streroids but in the end, it is still a Buick. Very close but no cigar.

 

Here's the end of the story.

I test drove two Mercedes, but one model was too small and the next size up was too big. After test driving four cars (Mercedes and Infiniti) I felt that the ES350 was the right size, feel and sound for me.

I made this decision on the day Lexus got the no-buy rating on the SUV - so it was pretty much impossible to get anyone's attention at corporate. I was a nothing to them. So I went back to the general manager of the dealer that I was working with; I had established a relationship with him and I didn't think he was going to intentionally screw me. I told him that if I changed the color and the price (to differentiate it from the 'cursed' transaction). I went with the color of the car that I previously had (the dark blue), changed the interior from grey to tan, and they reduced the price by $10.

I ended up with a car that I like very much, prepaid maintenance for the term of the lease and annual detailing for free. The car cost about $4,000 less (on a one payment lease deal) than I paid in 2007 (I overpaid then). If I had gone to another dealer I would have lost the prepaid maintenance and the annual detailing.

(The P.S. to the story is that when I executed the lease there was a $1000 Loyalty Coupon attached to the documents. I told the general manager that my original salesperson said that I couldn't use a Loyalty Coupon on a one pay lease - a competitor had offered it bringing the cost down a few hundred dollars. Did the salesguy lie or was he just mistaken? I will never know. I got no response from the general manager.)

Thanks to everyone who kindly responded to this post.

 

Congrats on the new car (same color combo as my 2007). Most likely the salesman did not know what he was doing. As a salesman myself, there are far too many car salesman that do not know what they are doing and will not ask management a question on a deal. Ego trip or their manager has scold them in the past for not knowing the product or procedures. The GM delegates the sales process to the Sales Manager.

 

Congrats on the car!

 

Hope the new car will be well worth grief you had to endure to get it. Many happy and trouble free miles with your new car.

 

Here's the first post script.

Brought the car in to Lexus of Manhattan for the one year check (3,000 miles - love the car!). Valet spotted a dent on the passenger side above the bumper (car is parked in a NYC garage, practically on top of other cars).

Lexus agent quoted me a price to fix the car based on my description of the dent. He didn't even get up to look at it.

I'm taking it elsewhere. What's with these people?

 

Maybe if it's a paintless dent removal (where they pop out the dent) and it's a fixed rate for that size of dent.

In any case it can't hurt to get another estimate. The dealer will probably be higher than an independent shop.