It's not just the Elite Lexus dealerships that have great customer services though. When i was shopping for my IS I looked at a few Lexus dealerships and even the non-Elite ones gave me great customer service. None of the salesmen gave me any crappy information (Acura) or blew me off because of my age (BMW, Mercedes). All of them treated me very politely, better than I expected walking into any dealership. The service stands out, elite or not.

 

I bought my car 2 weeks ago from an Elite dealer and I wasn't all that impressed with them.

My first salesperson wasn't a great salesperson. I asked her to quote me out a base 2011 rwd with no nav, and she quoted me out a base AWD with ML.

So then I decided to look at used, found a used model, called her about it, and she told me it was available, then called me back and said it wasn't even though it was still on their website.

My mother called and rattled some cages, because this is the third lexus we've bought from them, and got me assigned to her salesguy from the past 2, and things improved after that.

Some nitpicks-- the car was delivered to me at a location other than the dealership, but they didn't top off the gas tank before delivery, and they charged me a $376 fee for documentation when my state requires all that to be done in person by the owner.

I'm not sure I'd work with them again. I got the sense that I was not being taken seriously due to my age or my gender (I am 23 and female). They skated very close to losing a lexus customer for life, as I'm young, flush, and make a ton of money, so there were new cars in the future.

The experience wasn't bad, but it wasn't the first class service we got from this dealership the last 2 times we'd purchased a car.

 

I take all those elite dealer award stuff with a grain of salt, it all depends on the salesmen you work with. You get a bad one you get a bad experience.

 

^^ yes it is all about the salesperson. But you would think that stricter standards be set on the hiring process.

 

I don't think the elite dealers are very tolerant of bad salesmen though if they hear a negative review on one.

 

they may want to keep it, but the whole concept is a crock of crap and i'll tell you why.

there's 216 dealers in the country i believe, so 87% of dealers are elite. hardly very elite.

 

I want to know who the 29 non-Elite dealers are!

 

I just purchased a CPO 07 RX350 from Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis, MD, which has received multiple "elite of lexus" awards. I communicated with the internet sales manager many times via email. She told me many many lies about the car, from the size of the scratch, to the "wheels being great...". She takes a picture of the "itty bitty" scratch that doesn't show anything, so I'm thinking she is trying to portray a really small scratch.

So, I put a $2,500 deposit down to hold the car, and drive almost 800 miles round trip for the car. The scratch is huge on the bumper, with satellite scratches and was touched up with touch up paint (looks horrible). There were also a few scratches here and there along with rock chips (not mentioned at all). When I arrive, I clearly voice my opinions regarding the damage, and she lied that it would cost them only $130 to fix it.

I totally missed the wheels on the car, which had major curb rash on all of them. The car spent most of the time in service when I was there, to replace headlights that I found having condensation on them. After picking up the car, I noticed the wheels. I then contacted my sales person (Tara) regarding the issue of the wheels, she lied about everything on the phone, and even insulted me about caring about these issues. At first they offered to give me "their discount" to repair the wheels", but later said they would take care of the wheels "if I drive down to their dealership".

I can't drive that long to have the wheels repaired when they should have been taken care of in the first place. She also lied about the CPO checklist which they were supposed to include in my folder. When asked, she said "we don't give that to the customers" (lie).

Lesson learned: Elite of Lexus award or not, take what they say with a grain of salt, as they will lie, be vigilant, and if it's a long distance trip, make sure you have someone possibly check out the car before you go.

As of today, I've contacted lexus customer service regarding these issues. We will see what they say after they call me back.

 

^^^ caveat emptor, 'elite' or not.

 

Bell Lexus won the award a couple of years back and I have to say I am very impressed at how hard they work to make sure that all of those marks on the surveys are exceptional. I am , and have always been , impressed with the quality of service and customer care. There is no perfect dealership but these who receive exceptional marks go above and beyond to make it 100% right. This is why I plan to stick with Lexus for a long long time