After my test drive I asked my saleman whether or not they would be adding a xenon option by itself. His response:

"All the IS' have HID lights. Xenon is just a brand name for HID, like Kleenex is to tissue. You don't want Xenon, you want HID, and they all have it."

me (knowing this car didn't have the lux. or sport package): "Call it what you want, but this car doesn't have HIDs or Xenons. See, it doesn't mention them on the sticker either. Also, if you look at the brochure its clearly listed as part of the lux/sport packages"

him: "If you turn on the lights you'll see they're bright white/blue"

me: "please turn on the lights then"

Needless to say, he soon found out that the car didn't have HIDs.

 

I had the exact same exchange looking at an IS250 and at Volkswagon looking at a Passant. Why can't these sales reps go to their companies' web page and learn the specs. If I can do it, so can they; and that isn't my job!!

 

Yeah I live in MAss and I eventually went to Balise of Lexus in West Springfield. They guys knew alot about the car and when i bought it...went over everything with me. They took me serious and overall the service was great. If anyone live in the area I would say go there, ask for Jim or Ed, sales rep.

 

If you know anything about mobile phones, or are willing to do 1-2 hrs of research on the internet, you will be more knowledgeable than most cell phone company salespeople. Why? They don't care about cell phones - it's just their job! As someone who always does a LOT of research before buying anything, I find that I am almost always better informed than the salespeople, regardless of the product. Try going into Best Buy and buying a stereo. They just read the features for you off the display tag!

Not to defend car salespeople - the vast majority of my experiences with them have been bad too. I'm just saying, a lot of these people probably view their job as just that - a job. Whereas this is an enthusiast community, and we are all very into cars - much more than most salespeople are, I would bet.

 

I agree! Or it could be that they were willing to learn their jobs, but there were too many models to learn. We (or most of us) only have to learn the IS because we were going to buy/lease (or have bought) the IS. But salesmen have to learn ALL (i.e., IS, ES, LS, GS, etc.). That's probably why the serious ones sometime got confused, and the lazy ones got a hard time memorizing all the specs. What I think they should have done is to admit that they weren't sure... and would check on it right away; or just write all the unsures down and get clarification on them later. Rather than making up something thinking that we wouldn't know.

 

diablo1, I agree that to them (i.e. the salespeople), it's only a job and they probably get sick of talking about cell phones or cars or whatever they are selling but isn't it part of your job to know about the products your are selling? I just wish some of them would take a little more pride in their work. I know a ton about cell phones because it's a hobby of mine but not just one model but most of the models from Verizon and several models from the other service providers. I'm amazed when I'm in a cell phone store or an electronics store and cutomers listen to the salespeople and assume that everything they are saying is 100% correct. I think customers sometimes forget that it's the salespeople's job to make a sale and they are going to sell you whatever they have in stock even if it's not the best model which fits your needs.

paeko, I agree that most of us (i.e. ClubLexus members) are enthusiasts so we know a lot of about the model we are interested in purchasing but I don't think it should be that hard for salespeople to learn the specs of 8 Lexus models especially when you spend all your time at work selling those models. But let's assume the salesperson has a terrible memory. It would be easy to keep a cheat sheet for each model handy with the specs, list of standard features and options. Regardless, this information is available in the back of most brochures. Even if it isn't in the brochures, you could create your own chart with all this information. I think it would make you a better salesperson. I'd be impressed if I asked a salesperson a question and he said "Hold on a second, let me check on that" and then he pulls out his cheat sheet to confirm the answer to my question.

 

Westside and Northside are owned by the same company, so as far as services, both will be exactly the same. I heard about Westside being really great too, but I personally chose Northside over Westside because my experience with them over the phone. The guy I talked to at Westside demanded that I give him a deposit before he can give me any information about the IS. The guy at Northside gave me exact dates, answers, and everything I needed to know. Then when I actually made my visit to northside, everyone there were very professional and friendly. I think it's the fact that I'm a girl that most of them didn't take me seriously.

 

Thanks, hv... i appreciate your responses.