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      06-28-2012, 03:30 PM   #1
Nalod
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Lexus clowning

http://assets.cobaltnitra.com/teams/...f087_240x0.png

Called on this lease speacial and asked about particulars about it. They don't have any program cars right now (ad ran today).

I asked about how the "new car every 12 mos" works and he said "we don't know whats gonna happen in 12 mos but we have lots of folks who trade in after a year and have a payment similar to what they had!"

I really thought that was ignorant and asked him to look into that and ask his manager if I bought in the ad in 12 months would it carry any weight or would the terms of the contract negate any of it.

Which I think is the case but I asked him "why would you piss off customers in 12 months with such a claim"?

He "Dunno".

I know these guys work hard for a living and I hate bashing car salesman as they are usually good guys but I just with they would think.

Perhaps "Sir, I get the jest of what your saying but we mean no disrespect or to mislead you.......Personally I would not run the ad this way but if we could for a moment pretend that line does not exist and perhaps address your interest in a 24 month lease for 24 mos, no money down, no security deposit and its only 23 payments as we don't have one for the first month......Is that attractive on its own?"

I would have respected that.

I did inquire that im just fishing for information and not in the market but the terms would quite attractive and would consider it but I would have to have a Manual Transmission car.

"Whoa, I haven't seen one of those at lexus!"

Proper response: "They are rare indeed, and I would make every effort to get you one. As I said, we are out of program cars but have some others we could get you. Maybe one would be available......."

I asked him to look at the 12 month new car thing and confer with his manager and confirm his answer and if a manual car can be had at that price and if he could call me back in side of 2 hours. He said yes.

4 hours ago.
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      06-28-2012, 04:19 PM   #2
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Wow. Horrible customer service.
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      06-28-2012, 04:22 PM   #3
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lmao what a bad advertisement
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      06-28-2012, 04:22 PM   #4
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Initiating any new car purchase over the phone is really setting yourself up for failure. Do you have any idea how many calls per day a new car Merc/BMW/Lexus/Audi dealer gets in a day asking about numbers for this lease or that cash deal, availability of some strange color or option combination or how long it takes to order a car? This idea of saving so much time and energy shopping for a car by just whipping out your cell phone is not original. Millions of people have thought of it already and unless you have an established relationship with a sales professional, you're going to get the cold shoulder 99% of the time. 20 people on the phone asking questions isn't worth one on the lot with a trade and a checkbook. Don't take it personally, it's just business.
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      06-29-2012, 06:52 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CombatNinja View Post
Initiating any new car purchase over the phone is really setting yourself up for failure. Do you have any idea how many calls per day a new car Merc/BMW/Lexus/Audi dealer gets in a day asking about numbers for this lease or that cash deal, availability of some strange color or option combination or how long it takes to order a car? This idea of saving so much time and energy shopping for a car by just whipping out your cell phone is not original. Millions of people have thought of it already and unless you have an established relationship with a sales professional, you're going to get the cold shoulder 99% of the time. 20 people on the phone asking questions isn't worth one on the lot with a trade and a checkbook. Don't take it personally, it's just business.
Good point. But most leases when advertised do put miles allowed, MSRP, amount capitalized, and thus you also know the car and package.

In respect to their time I state this is a fact finding call and what I wish to understand about the ad. Im calling about the ad, not shopping for a car at that moment.

I usually give these folk every benefit of the doubt.

The manager did call me back eventually and was very good. I explained my situation and was being far from the typical "dick" that Im sure they have to deal with. I was not negotiating but before I spend any time in a dealership I would want an appointment and a car to test drive that represents the offer they have.

They do not have such a car. They have a few"F-sport" IS250's in auto that they could likely do "for under $400 per month". This dealership does not post its inventory on line. I explained I would only be interested in a manual transmission to which he said they have not seen one in two years! "Why do you still drive a manual? Less than 1% of cars made are this way?" I explained it was more like 5% but that is still a vast minority I agree. I have 4 cars (got two kids driving) and three are Manual. He then replied "F-sport has transmission shifting paddles like a race car!" Only then was I about to go into full BMW/MT snob mode but I refrained. I just said "it must be the shift of power I get from the clutch going from one leg into the other.......but its my preference and has been for years. I got the colors he had on the lot and said I would call today.

Financially it might make sense for me but I don't think I'd be happy with a auto on a IS250. The 0-60 is almost 2 seconds slower than my "underpowered" 328i. Im sure the next variant they will have the 4banger turbo and it should most certainly keep up.

Might sound crazy, but my chestnut brown leather with poplar wood in a space gray is like old school now (no NAV screen) and I just like it this way. The IS250 is a nice enough looking car. The real key here is keeping the car long term and I am inclined to do so.

Last edited by Nalod; 06-29-2012 at 07:05 AM..
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      06-29-2012, 10:47 AM   #6
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At least the sales manager called you back. That is more follow-up than I think you'd get from the vast majority of dealers in this situation. Granted, their ad is a bit cheesy and is clearly a total dealer come-on but in some cities dealers have to run strange ads to continue to generate business. This is doubly true on aging models that are due for replacement soon. I think the new F30 BMW and refreshed Merc C class are killing the rest of the cars in that segment right now. Dealers will do just about anything to bait people into the showroom where they can switch them to something that is somewhat different than what is in the ad. And by "different" I mean "more expensive".

On another note, don't even think about an auto IS250. I have spent time in one and it makes my 328 seem like a rocket ship. I'm not one who thinks every car needs 300bhp but the car is just painfully slow. Minivans and SUVs will blow you away at the lights.
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      06-29-2012, 11:34 AM   #7
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Be warned. The clutch in the IS250 is that of a truck! It is really pretty crappy.
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      06-29-2012, 11:44 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CombatNinja View Post
Initiating any new car purchase over the phone is really setting yourself up for failure. Do you have any idea how many calls per day a new car Merc/BMW/Lexus/Audi dealer gets in a day asking about numbers for this lease or that cash deal, availability of some strange color or option combination or how long it takes to order a car? This idea of saving so much time and energy shopping for a car by just whipping out your cell phone is not original. Millions of people have thought of it already and unless you have an established relationship with a sales professional, you're going to get the cold shoulder 99% of the time. 20 people on the phone asking questions isn't worth one on the lot with a trade and a checkbook. Don't take it personally, it's just business.
i have no idea what you do for a living so dont take this the wrong way, but if you dont know what you are talking about then maybe you shouldnt say anything at all

any current auto dealer most likely gets 50%+ of there sales through internet and phone leads, that is why its such a growing market and companies like auto trader etc are so lucrative

the ads are usually showing the very base model available (usually only 1 on the lot) and are meant to get people in the door inquiring and hopefully you have something on the lot that they are interested in

I used to sell cars and i agree that some of your responses are what we all wish car salesman would say, but the honest truth is that they live week to week with commissions based upon the cars that they deliver, cars that are special ordered are better off being dealt with in person and not over the phone.. My priority was to pay my bills and sell what we had on the lot, we also got bonuses etc for not having to source cars from other dealerships or having to wait for them to come in (this is known as a spot sale)

as much as I would love to think that all dealerships were like the one I worked at where everyone was fairly honest, its just not the truth. The auto dealers are out to make a quick buck and most will do it any way that can thats within there rights

if your looking for leases I definetly recommend finding a car that you want, finding a dealership that has that car on the lot and buying it within the last week of the month. contact the internet department (who work on comission but not based upon the gross profit) and have them get you the best deal that they can

Brian
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      06-29-2012, 11:54 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CombatNinja View Post
Initiating any new car purchase over the phone is really setting yourself up for failure. Do you have any idea how many calls per day a new car Merc/BMW/Lexus/Audi dealer gets in a day asking about numbers for this lease or that cash deal, availability of some strange color or option combination or how long it takes to order a car? This idea of saving so much time and energy shopping for a car by just whipping out your cell phone is not original. Millions of people have thought of it already and unless you have an established relationship with a sales professional, you're going to get the cold shoulder 99% of the time. 20 people on the phone asking questions isn't worth one on the lot with a trade and a checkbook. Don't take it personally, it's just business.
I know exactly what you mean. Talking to someone face to face will give you a better chance to close than talking to someone over the phone. However, a lot of people interested in buying a car will call in and find out all the details before driving over to the dealership. Here is some food for thought:

http://bigthink.com/ideas/41819
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      06-29-2012, 12:10 PM   #10
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That just sucks, that's not how you treat customers.. maybe he should look for work in another line of business, federal emplyment programs maybe.
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      06-29-2012, 01:37 PM   #11
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I have bought cars sight unseen over the phone and have made some amazing deals over the years.

My last purchase was a "left over" 2010 A4 avant that the dealer had on special. I understood what happend and the dealer had to buy the car from audi as they had it listed with a 4k discount. Audi gave them $4000 to help them sell it. Thats $4k off a $44msrp. Great deal right? almost 10%

I called the dealer the second to last day of the year to inquire about the car. I asked to speak to the manager. I aplogized to him but explained I was looking for quick resolution to this purchase and since I was 300 miles away I was not able to come into the dealership and perhaps he could help. So I had permission to negotiate with him right away. I told him the car I was interested in and asked if there were any issues with it. There were none. Explained I had a very strickt budget of $36,000 and was looking to make a very agressive offer to which he had every right to say "no" but if he was so motivated I could have him money wired in a matter of hours. That price included all fees and transportation (flat bed). All inclusive of $36k. (a4 avant premium plus).

My wife had her sights set on a Highlander Limited and that was the price we had on one. I really thought the dealer would not go for an $8000 discount inclusive of fees and transport. He did.

My problem was I now had to sell my wife on this car as it was smaller than what she was thinking!

She was fine and loves this car.

This was a rare occurance but I was prepared in my numbers, ability to move asap with no trade in and was polite.

I was totally prepared for him to say "no" and walk away. Really, I did not have to have this car. I explained this to him so there would not be any counter offers or time lapse. He could look at my offer, run the numbers and say yes or no. About the only thing I motivated him into was that I was very clear I really did no think he could do this but I so had to inquire and how he was not offended by my "fishing expedition". It kind of challanged him a bit.

He handed the deal over to a salesmen who I think was happy to have the year end sale added to his total and everyone was just great!

The car came in perfect conditions on flat bed at 10pm one evening and made a racket unloading it with the neighbors a bit annoyed with me. It was kind of funny.

Rock star treatment with a 18% discount off msrp!

Darkar beige with tinted windows and we very happy it. Avants are rare and we get lots of compliments.

I have paid MSRP for cars I had to have so Im not saying I am some master at "Beating" the dealerships.

My father was an auto salesmen and manager for many years and I heard many stories of customers being total dickheads thinking men don't have to make a living or provide any value if they work for a dealership.

My point is if you able to get with a true pro and work with them understanding the laws of supply and demand with some models and when leverage is in your favor, or against you then you can get a good deal if your working with information and willing to put in some work. The idea is the salesman/manager has to feel they made a good deal also. IN my case timing was important and I understood what they really had in the car. They did not lose money and the value to them was to move the car as they get future allocations based on models they sell. The salesman perhaps was very close to getting a title, bonus or other volume incentive so the manager was able to throw him a bone.

Im calling Lexus back today and won't be taking a test drive. I won't play a power trip on them or make them feel bad. Why? Kharma can be a bitch and it comes around.
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