I want an IS350 now.

Sadly, they only have one model at the dealership I visited earlier tonight and it’s white… nothing wrong with that, I actually like the color a lot, however it would be *nice* to have one in graphite or something… anyways…

This is my third visit to the Lexus dealership and I’m ready to negotiate a purchase price, he starts off assuming I’m just going to settle and get the white one and tells me some BS stories on how dealerships no longer swap cars and how they are stuck with what they have and blah blah blah…. I then tell the salesman, ummm actually no, I’m not satisfied with the color setup and I’m going to two other dealerships tomorrow to see what they have.

“Well, we could always swap out our white one with something you’re interested in- does this work for you?”

Wow. Suddenly they WILL swap out their stock. I listen to what he has to say and then next he asks about price, I tell him I’m going to do a 36/15 lease and that I want to pay in the mid $600’s. He responds, “well that is with a large deposit… right???” “No.” I respond, “I have no plans on putting down any cash” Him, “Well… I don’t think this is going to happen, but let me go check…”

He returns with $685. Wrong. “Wait… $680? How does that work? I build this EXACT IS on your site and came out with $666 per month. Him, “Oh, um, we’ll do that then, we certainly cannot go against that…” Great, now I now I’m being ****ed with.

I explain to the rep that I want the car but that I’m not willing to give them a down payment until I know what they could potentially get via a swap, OR until I see what two other local dealerships have to offer. He stammers and agrees… damn, I have to wait another 24 hours to figure this out.

 

Have you tried negotiating the price of the car first (knowing exactly xxxxxx price will give you xxx monthly payment at x% rate). The dealer game can be so lame sometimes...hope you find someone you can trust!

 

they **** me off all the time too b/c they swear you dont know what you are talking about

 

I agree with you. Car salespeople annoy the crap out of me because most of them in my experiences try to take advantage of you and assume you don't know too much even with all the information available on the internet. They always try to sell you what they have in stock. They'll even tell you that the combination of options that you want isn't available just to sell you what they have in stock or what they have coming in even when you know that combination is available. God forbid they even suggest that you special order it. I honestly wish I could leave them out of the picture.

I remember one experience back in 2003 with my ex when she was shopping for a Toyota 4-runner, I knew more about leasing finances than the salesman. It made him so nervous when I told him that the monthly lease payment that they calculated wasn't even close to matching mine. I walked right into the financing dept because I was getting tired of the back and forth between him and the financing dept since he couldn't explain to me why their monthly lease payment amount was coming out so much more than I expected. It turned out that they were residualizing any of the option packages. The residual value was based on the base price without options.

 

When I first went to this dealership and worked with this guy my g/f's sister went with me (she is interested in an SC) and her father came too...

The second time we went back the salesman asked where her father was and stated, "I really enjoyed speaking with him, he seams like a really good man."

WTF?!?! The man speaks *MAYBE* three words in English! Ummm yeah... a great conversationalist! LOL...

Salesmen and their lies.

When the 350Z FIRST came out a few years ago I went to test drive one, I'm out with the salesmonkey and he is telling me to be careful on the corner up ahead because just the other week he was test driving the 350Z with a couple and the husband took the corner to fast and the salesmonkey and his wife were flying around... Me, "...wow... crazy, just the other week? This same car?" "Yeah, it was crazy, these cars corner so well, it just caught us off guard!" Me, "That's amazing... so, which one of you sat in the trunk, because one look behind us says that these cars HAVE NO BACK SEAT!"

This next one is great too...

I'm at another stealership (Nissan) checking out a 350Z and I explain to the woman, "I like the car a lot, however, the new RX-8 isn't out yet and I would hate myself if I bought this car without properly testing the RX-8 once it's released..."

She responds, "Oh, you don't want an RX-8 anyways, they are DANGEROUS! Living in New England makes those cars completely impractical because they're RWD."

Me, "WHAT? The 350Z is RWD too!" Her, "No.... ummm... no it's not." Me, "Go talk to your sales manager or read the brochure, regardless thanks for the 'RWD is bad speech' I think you're right... I'm going to go look at Subaru’s and Audis. BYE!"

 

Yes, salesmen are so annoying, especially when they don't know what they are selling. I asked this salesman about IS with Navi, he tells me they don't make it...I was heartbroken..for 2 days until I found out other dealerships have sold a couple of those already.

Then I asked if the car he's trying to sell me has the "premium package," he tells me "Yes, it comes with premium package..sunroof, powerlock, power windows." I said, "I know those are standard, I'm talking about the "PREMIUM PACKAGE"..the one with heated and ventilated seats. He saids, "No heated and ventilated seats, it comes with premium package only". I wanted to tell him how much of an IDIOT he is.

Lastly, I told him I wanted crystal white with black interior only. He said they don't make it in black interior, only cashmere. He tried to convince me that I DON'T WANT black because it's too hot in houston! I just went to another dealership whos salespeople really care about selling me what I want.

 

I know the feeling. Here in Omaha they just created a training job at the Lexus dealer so they can better educate their sales staff on their products and on the competition.

I just test drove a used S4 at the Audi dealer with a friend who kept asking me questions about the car which I answered. The sales person said I knew more about the car than he did. He knew nothing other than what was written on a piece of paper. That's the trouble. But I think its always been that way for some dealerships. With the Internet WE the consumer seem to know more about the products we are looking at than those selling them. You would think it would be the other way around.

 

What dealer was this? I'm in houston, too.

 

great stories !!!! Keep 'em coming

 

I totally agree. Today's market consists of educated consumers, and any type of sales market out there should recognize this trend. At least the sales guy you talked to admitted that you knew more than he did, which is commendable. What I do wish they would do is give us (the consumers) part of their sales commission for doing our research, because after all, we really don't need them to tell us information that we already know.

 

This was Clear Lake. Sterling McCall were jerks too. The sales guy I talked to at Westside refused to talk to me until I went there to put down a deposit. I think you told me about Rodrick, I called, left a message, and never called me back either. I called Northside, they're the only one who really took me seriously. So that's where my deposit is.

 

Thanks, i haven't been to any of them yet.
I heard westside sales was nothing to talk about but their service was outstanding. Supposedly they treat you like a king, pick up & drop off your car for service and leave you with a loaner, etc... Not all the dealers do this.
Do you know if northside is similiar?

 

Agreed. I wish more salesmonkeys were honest, the Lexus guys have it easy too, they are selling a GOOD RELIABLE product, at least be educated on it.

 

wait, did you calculate same interest rate at the site as what dealer gave you? You have to be an smarter buyer than that. First know your final price, then let them calculate payment based on interest rates they can offer you.

When you go on the web, you just use their generic interest rate or you put in one yourself, but thats not actually based on your credit rating, which is what dealer calculates it with.

Customers expect too much, they are quick to anger, they think they know everything and that everything they saw on the internet is true, so yes, we sometimes hate you too :-)

 

Don't worry guy, I took that into account. I ended up purchasing an IS and I got off a decent bit more than what both their site, and what the salesmonkey offered.

At the time that he (the salesman) made his offer he hadn't even evaluated my credit, he said he just assumed it was tier one.

I actually ended up going to a different dealer because I couldn't stand those ppl any longer.