Car9

My experience was not any different from buying a non-luxury car - Toyota or Honda. I don't know what I expected, but buying a $50,000 car is a lot for me. I could have just been at a dealership buying a $25,000 car.

The actual buying process wasn't stressful and went the same way as my last two vehicles I purchased from Toyota and Honda.

The salesman went over the features showing how the navigation, etc. worked, but not everything. H told me to give him a call to set up a time to get with a specialist after I'd driven the car for a while. I did call and left a message and he didn't call me back.

Over a week later, he emails me without acknowledging my phone call telling me to call or email him back if I wanted to set a time to answer any questions. It's been two full days since I answered his email.

I'm beginning to regret that I made my purchase at this particular dealership.

Last year I did look at Audi and that dealership had a garage specifically for delivering new vehicles to customers so you are out of the hot or cold weather. They even put a large bow on top so you can have a picture taken with your new car. They go over everything and they also have technology clinics that you can rsvp for the free hands-on clinic. The salesman showed me around the dealership and told me all about their customer benefits.

Where I bought my Lexus, I didn't feel special like I did at Audi. I would have bought an Audi, but they didn't have the package I wanted because their MY2019 only came out in December. I was ready to buy and didn't want to wait for several more months to see if they would have a car that I wanted.

I love my car, but not sure I love the dealership.

irishbrahm

I've bought 10+ Lexus vehicles from Lexus dealerships over the past decade; including several new vehicles (LX570, several ES350s), two CPOs ('16 GS, '11 LS460), and non-CPO used (LS430, etc). I've bought from local dealerships as well as the big ones in Atlanta (Nalley-Smyrna, Nalley-Roswell, Hennessy, Butler South Atlanta).

Of all these purchases, the only full-blown, elaborate delivery with the red bow, etc., occurred in Dec. 2018 when I bought the '19 ES from Butler South Atlanta. The technology specialist and my salesperson did a complete 45 min. delivery of the car. They even took pictures for me to share with friends and family.

The Nalley deliveries have all been unremarkable. My purchases were never delivered in the dedicated delivery area but just in a regular parking space. No tech spec; just a rushed salesperson. No bows, etc. Basically the deliveries consisted of setting up my phone. Hennessy was about the same.

New vehicle purchases at my two local dealerships were okay but nothing to write home about. Again, no red bow, tech spec, or delivery in the dedicated delivery area.

mikemu30

I personally don't need a ceremony to take delivery of a car whether it's a Lexus or any other brand. We've purchased two Lexus vehicles from our local dealer and they've done a decent job - tech specialist spent plenty of time reviewing the features etc. Do we really need a bow on the car??

bc6152

Red bow and photos not necessary, just some time with an IT specialist to explain the features on the car. I was happy that the car was outside in the sunlight when delivered so that I could look for any scratches or other damage. I would rate my Lexus experience a 5 for 5 and wrote a letter to the GM saying so...

ccuttner

I agree. Our experience was probably even a little worse in Atlanta.

We love Toyota-Inc. Hybrids and had a 2007 and a 2012, reflecting their first releases of new designs. Our Toyota dealer put aside his first 2018 Avalon Hybrid for us, but he then literally wouldn't sell it to us because the 'Scout' Nav sucked so bad. (he was right).

In "moving up" to our first Lexus, I expected magic -- opulent dealership, yada-yada.... we had to wait for a month while a 2019 ES-400h UL was diverted en-route already on a ship to the Atlanta dealer (after a deposit). The 'searcher' described the ES300h UL as a "unicorn" -- there are very few in the US (how to verify that??)

No negotiations allowed (or December incentives) until the car arrived mid-January (a week ago)... got the "oooh, here's your car, 10-miles on it, nobody touched it..." -- and THEN it started.... mandatory window tint, mandatory upholstery protection, extended warranty from only third-parties .... I was waiting for the discussion of undercoating and VIN-etching.... I felt like I was buying from a creepy-used-car dealer.

Sucked it up... only got $1,500 off MSRP but got the dream car (well, almost a dream, third-choice color; LED headlights and ML sound... which were not on the wish list)...

I'll post some initial thoughts later...

AnthonyMJ

My prior car, I bought from Lexus of Clearwater, before all the Lexus dealers were purchased by Autonation. Although I was buying certified pre-owned, I was treated like a celebrity. By contrast, this latest purchase from Lexus of Tampa Bay was unimpressive. Definitely not concierge or the white glove service you'd expect at a high-end auto dealer. All-in-all, I could have had the same experience at one of those buy-here/pay-here dealerships out on Florida Avenue. I actually knew more about the 2019 ES features than the salesman. Took 4+ hrs although I knew exactly what I wanted, didn't need a test drive, and was paying all cash. By then I was so tired, I didn't even want to talk with the IT specialist and told then that I'd just figure it out myself. Even then, I had to come back the next day for 3 hrs to get the window tint applied. Their wait area had a super coffeemaker, but the chairs were worn and ratty. There were just a few outlets. They did have a "business center" with three workstations, but no USB charging stations. That room was positively stinky. The chairs were so worn and dirty that I didn't want to stay in there any longer than I had to. I sent an email to the customer service manager about the condition of the waiting area and got no response; crickets. Definitely won't be taking my car there for service. If you haven't guessed by now, I was pretty disappointed. I can't help but wonder if part of the reason is a switch from local ownership to the mega-corporate Autonation. There were 35 chairs in that waiting room. A $4,500 investment would have made all the difference. I suspect they paid more than that for all the elaborate Christmas trees and decorations that they had in the showroom. On a positive note, I appreciated the great discount and the no-haggle pricing.
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Thanks for starting this thread and giving me the opportunity to vent. I have held off on responding to their survey until cooling down about the experience. When I purchased before (pre-owned, mind you) the salesman called the next day to find out if I was still happy about the purchase and if I had noticed anything that they should take another look at. This time, all I got was an email asking me to send referrals to this salesman. The luxury experience definitely was down several notches from what I expected.

irishbrahm

It's very true that the Lexus salespersons are very concerned about getting all 10s on the survey. Anything less than perfect is a negative for them . . . .

Out of the 4 brand new Lexus vehicles that I purchased I only met the IT specialist once (Dec. 2018). Three of the four were purchased during December to Remember.

When I spent $90k on the LX570 you'd think that'd call for an extra-special delivery (they might sell one a month). Nope. It was okay (and the salesperson was delightful), but nothing special.

Car9

I'm not looking forward to taking my car in for the first maintenance. I hope it doesn't suck. My previous vehicle was a toyota and the dealership I went to for oil changes and maintenance gave me a free loaner car a couple of times. They always were polite and friendly. I could have just bought a corolla.

Car9

That's sad. I have heard that dealerships get extra money from manufacturer for excellent customer service.

bc6152

If you felt like you were buying from a "creepy used car dealer" why didn't you walk away? Mandatory tinting, extended warranty, upholstery protection, ALL UNNECESSARY and high profit items. I would have told the dealer to shove it and walked away to someone else. And $1500.00 off list? I just bought an UL for almost $4k off list... Give us the name of the dealer so we all know to avoid going there... What a poor experience from a Lexus dealer no less.

calgold06

I bought mine from Park Place in Plano. They do have covered area to deliver the vehicle and red bow is available, if you want to take a picture. When I called the tech guy for an issue with programming Homelink to my garage door opener, he came to the house couple of hours later and fixed the issue. It was complimentary.

My salesman was no different any other car salesmen I had come across buying other cars....bit pushy but polite.

mikemu30

Total scam.

irishbrahm

jfz219

Wandl

Unfortunately, while Lexus is just a brand, a lot of their dealership experiences vary.

I can speak for Sewell Lexus and Park Place (both in the Dallas area). Both dealerships are competitive but low pressure...I'd say Sewell has slightly the better prices - am told many out of state buyers buy from Sewell however Park Place is the largest Lexus dealership group in TX.

Both hire "experience specialists" and not car salesmen - in the most recent Park Place experience you work with the salesperson throughout the entire deal (i.e. no finance manager) - everything is done in a tablet, painless, not pushy. In fact my salesperson only "pushed" 2 things - interior leather protection and 1 other thing (total $700 maybe) and admitted because Lexus was so reliable a VSA would be worth considering but I have 50,000 miles to consider it.

Great car and great buying experiene.