Hey everybody. I thought that I'd try this in a separate thread in case you've tired of my "waiting for a car" stories.

The dealer told me today that they have opened a "Customer Satisfaction File" on us because they had to move us to a 2008 instead of the 2007 that we ordered. We've going to have to wait a little (I hope a little) longer for our new car. With it, they have offered to have us buy a 2007, and then when our 2008 comes in, we would get our car with no cost to us.

Has anyone ever heard of a "Customer Satisfaction File"?

 

Um, I've never heard of a customer satisfaction file from a dealership? I have heard of them from Lexus corporate customer service though. Don't worry though, it's not as serious as it sounds.

 

Whoa.... They are just going to swap you cars??? That sounds fishy! Id read all that fine print throughly before I signed any of that! I have never heard of such a thing.

 

yea that souns really too good to be true..

 

Of course you should get everything in writing before you take any car home, but as far as a "file" you shouldn't be too concerned.

 

Sounds very fishy. If you buy a new car from them, and then they buy it back from you at the same price in the future, who pays for the depreciation????? The dealer isn't in business to lose thousands of dollars once a new car is driven off the lot just to satisfy a customer. It sounds to me like they want to sell you an IS they have on the lot, and then they figure once you have it you won't want the 2008, which they probably haven't even ordered. Unless this is all spelled out in writing, and my lawyer checked out all the fine print, I'd pass on this deal. Too many chances for them to pull a fast one on you, and you know who is going to be left holding the bag. Buried in the language, I suspect, is something along the lines of 'if we can obtain the vehicle from Lexus', which would give them a loophole to hold you off indefinitely. Please proceed with caution! It sounds 'hinky' to me.

 

Thanks again guys. I'm not worried about the "file", I was just wondering if it really is something that exists! The guy did say that corporate were the ones to say, "Give them an '08" and that he opened the file on us so that we could do the car thing. I just have read and read around these forums and never caught wind of anything with that title. AsianGirl, were have you heard of them from corporate before?

 

I used to work at a dealership. Make sure you get it all in writing and I do mean ALL.

Try to get at least the following: a signed letter from the General Manager of dealership (not the salesperson) saying you are to get '08, copy of the "file" from Lexus corporate customer satisfaction (not the dealer's in-house customer service) saying you are getting '08, a printed "Due Bill" saying you are to get '08 when it comes out upon buying the '07 IS. Are you gettting the idea?

Make sure it's all detailed out too. These things come to immediate mind, if I can think of anything else I'll repost.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

This is why I come here. You're all so helpful. Please keep the advice coming.

I'll pass it on to my husband, and we'll take a trip down to the dealership this weekend.

 

If this is true I can't think of a better deal than that. If it all checks out fine, get the 07 and enjoy while you wait for your 08.

 

Well, we went to the dealership yesterday, and we were told all of the same things that I mentioned in my other posts. Our special order was submitted at the end of May, and because of some circumstance, corporate has said to give us a 2008 at no extra cost. I thought that this would happen, because after reading here, I didn't expect my 2007 to be able to be made before the changeover. It was gamble but it looks like it will work out.

As far as the customer satisfaction survey, I was told that they don't open many of these, in fact they just did 12 in the last year. They said that if we wanted to get a car to drive, we would buy one off the lot, and pay for it like any other...but there would be a second contract signed along with it, saying that when our car came in we would be able to trade it in with no cost to us other than the interest we spent on our loan. The only catch for us was that if we were to have an accident, the car would be accessed for trade in. We decided not to gamble on that right now, and to wait until the Sept. 4 or Sept. 18th allocations come out.

We do not have a trade in, because my we gave our old car to our son. The only problem now is that my son and husband have to "share" the car. It's no big deal for a little while, but sharing a car really can stink. Especially when you have a teenager who is adoring his new found freedom!

More to come.

 

I think you are wise to pass on their offer, too many moving parts and chances for things to go wrong. If you really need a second car it would be cheaper to do a monthly rental from Enterprise or other agency, or even one of the 'Rent a Bomb' places. Monthly rentals aren't all that expensive, and you wouldn't have all the financial exposure by buying one car and then trading it in.

Let us know how this all works out.