New guy in the thread

3591 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Jeff Taylor, May 5, 2009

jt619

Discussion Starter · May 3, 2009

Hey all, I dont currently own a IS-F, but I am extremely interested in buying one real soon here. I basically joined to learn more about the car, the good and the bad, before making the decision. I have owned a BMW, Mitsu (Never Again), Nissan and Honda, but not a Lexus yet. I was wondering how the dealership in San Diego treats the current Lexus owners because the BMW dealership treated me like crap mostly for the fact that I look younger than I am. Thanks Everyone.

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FBTO

· #2 · May 3, 2009

Can't tell u much about San diego, but my dealer treats me well. They go that extra mile. My sales guy has been to my house twice, once to drop of my summer wheels and then again to pick them up. He saw my son, and then went out on his own time to buy a toy car for him. I know these are small things, but they are not required to do them, but they still do it.

I am happy with my Lexus customer service!

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jt619

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 3, 2009

Sounds great. If your dealer is in Canada, I heard most people are nice there overall anyways. Some of these dealers treat people like crap or like they have no idea how a car works, I just wanted to make sure I was going to get decent service because I have only heard good things about Lexus.

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FBTO

· #4 · May 4, 2009

jt619 said:
Sounds great. If your dealer is in Canada, I heard most people are nice there overall anyways. Some of these dealers treat people like crap or like they have no idea how a car works, I just wanted to make sure I was going to get decent service because I have only heard good things about Lexus.

I always demand service. After all, it is a service industry, and if they can't provide good customer service, there is always someone who will. And in this economy, your choices are vast!

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Barathon

· #5 · May 4, 2009

I am military enlisted and look young as well, normally car dealerships would treat me and people like me as if we were just kids trying to look at some nice cars. But when I bought my F in Colorado I never once felt like I was getting treated that way, they took me seriously from the start and went out of their way to "go the extra mile" after I made the purchase they continued to treat me the same way.

I have purchased a few other cars brand new from various dealerships and have never really been impressed until I bought my Lexus. They made me feel like I was family and never came across as being fake. I am very happy with the Lexus service that I have gotten thus far. Hopefully the service is the same across the board.

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jt619

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 4, 2009

Barathon said:
I am military enlisted and look young as well, normally car dealerships would treat me and people like me as if we were just kids trying to look at some nice cars. But when I bought my F in Colorado I never once felt like I was getting treated that way, they took me seriously from the start and went out of their way to "go the extra mile" after I made the purchase they continued to treat me the same way.

I have purchased a few other cars brand new from various dealerships and have never really been impressed until I bought my Lexus. They made me feel like I was family and never came across as being fake. I am very happy with the Lexus service that I have gotten thus far. Hopefully the service is the same across the board.

I hope it is the same across the board as well. Hopefully someone on here goes to Kearny Mesa Lexus b/c that is closest to me and can tell me about their customer service. That is not the only deciding factor, but does weigh heavily on my purchase. By the way, thanks for protecting our country!

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Jeff Taylor

· #7 · May 4, 2009

I've been in a similar situation as you. I owned both a BMW 525i and Lexus ES300 when I was in my mid 20s and had the same experience. The BMW dealer treated me as if I should just be glad that they were willing to stoop to level to work on my pre-owned 525i. Their hours were terrible, no loaner was provided and everything but a simple oil change took a whole day.

The Lexus dealer was a stark contrast. They practically fell all over themselves to make sure that I was happy. The even replaced the steering rack under the certified warranty even without me noticing any issues.

That being said, my latest experience with my IS-F (same dealer) hasn't been as good. They are still nice and provide loaner cars for everything but oil changes, but they don't seem like they are as together as they once were. When I took my IS-F in for service last time, they forgot to reset my oil change indicator and forgot to switch my tire set selector for my summer tires. Hopefully they were just having a busy day and forgot.

In there defense, when I was having trouble with my VAISTech iPod adapter, they replaced it with a new unit, no questions asked. So overall I'd say the experience is quite good. My Acura dealer really took good care of me, so the contrast between my last car (Acura TL) and my F was less dramatic as it was from BMW to Lexus.

Good luck. Hopefully someone on this site lives in SD and can help you out.

Jeff
08 Smoky Granite Mica IS-F

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Bulls23337

· #8 · May 4, 2009

I think I will chime in since I am local and tell you about the SD dealerships.

I've bought my mom's '08 RX400h from Bob Baker Lexus and they were great. They treated us with respect and never looked down upon us. Even if we rolled in a 2008 Scion xB. They were great with service after the sale as well. The first service went well too and even the warranty issue with a relay we had with the RX was done right. I would definitely recommend them even if they are the smallest Lexus dealership here.

We also shopped at Lexus Carlsbad. They are great as well. They just didn't negotiate as well so that's why we ended up buying the RX from Bob Baker. But I still like them though. I take my F there for service. No problems with them. They're very personable and gave me a loaner every time. And free car washes when it comes in for service. They never looked down on me despite my age. I'm 25 though I look 2-3 years younger. I was at the dealer over the weekend and they had 3 Fs on the lot. Blue, silver, and black. Didn't take a close look at them so I don't know what year they are.

I've never been to KM Lexus. All I've heard is word of mouth and it wasn't great reviews. I've talked to internet sales, but was not impressed.

If you've got any questions, let me know. I'll help you out as best as I can. I love car shopping. One of the few that do haha. All my friends/relatives come to me for this stuff.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I bought my car from a sponsor on this forum because I was looking for an exclusive combo and option spec and he happened to find it.

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Flipside909

· #9 · May 5, 2009

It's all about your approach. Act like a kid, you'll be treated like a kid. Meaning, don't purposely walk into the dealership in rags expecting to be noticed and demand attention just because you walked in. First impressions do count, even when it comes to buying a car.

If you're willing to make the drive up to the LA area, I highly recommend Longo Lexus. But if you're looking for a certain car, give our preferred dealers here on LexusF.com a try. We got some pretty good sources here.

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jbeatty

· #10 · May 5, 2009

I live in San Diego and just switched to the F from a long line of BMWs. I haven't taken my F in for service yet, but we take my wife's RX400h into Kerney Mesa and they've been good. I test drove an F at KM and wanted to buy from them but they only had 09's and I wanted the additional discount I could get with an 08. I ended up buying from South Bay Lexus in Torrance and that deal process was extremely smooth and hassle free. The KM guys weren't unpleasant, they just didn't have the inventory I was looking for.

I look like I'm in my mid-thirties and didn't really have any problems with being treated poorly. I think it is easy to confuse the whole sales process with being treated badly or think that they aren't being respectful. They try to get you to accept their price anchors by making assertions and some of this is a confidence game where they need to act like they know the pricing and you don't. Depending on the sale rep's approach, they can seem condescending, especially the less experienced ones. When a sales rep comes off as condescending, I just realize that they aren't that good of a sales rep.

I've got to agree with flipside, some of it is how you approach them. I made an appointment a few days out to come in and drive the F. I did it on a weekday and wore business casual clothes. KM treated me professionally.

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Jeff Taylor

· #11 · May 5, 2009

Maybe the FChamps can weigh in here, but judging someone by their clothes can be a bit chancy. I've heard from some dealers that they are most wary of the people who are dressed up the most as they seem to be trying too hard.

I was at the Cars and Coffee event (an attempt to replicate the one in Cali here in St. Louis) at the local Bentley/Lamborghini/RR/Maserati/Lotus dealer and most of the people that were test driving during the event were dressed quite casually. The guy who was taking out the $440k Murcielago was dressed in an untucked polo shirt and jeans. It sounded like he was a repeat customer, though.

Jeff
08 Smoky Granite Mica IS-F

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