chubbymike

I personally had bad experiences w/ stevens creek. When I first went back in nov. 2005 to test drive the new IS, the sales man was nice. but he wasn't very knowledgeable. And I wasn't ready to buy back then. Then 3 weeks later, I went back and decided to place a deposit with another guy and I waited a few months, sent him e-mails and he never really followed up on me. i would write him an e-mail with a few questions and all i get back is an answer that's one sentence long. NOT Good. But since I heard that they are the largest dealer around and may have more cars, I decided to try the internet sales manager and gave them another chance. I told her that I was not happy with the previous services and she said she will do all she can to make me happy. She made a lot of promises like oh, i can definitely give you $1800 off (we were working on a 2 car deal) and extended warranty at cost, etc. And I felt that she was all talk and no substance. Just made a lot of empty promises.
Then I called several other dealers and Nick Hart from Serramonte called me a few times. I wanted an IS 350 w/ sports pkg and I wanted to test drive it! but many dealers basically laughed at me for wanting to even test drive one since "every car that comes in is presold". But Serramonte had one and Nick offered me a chance to drive it. And I have to say, he is very nice, professional, courteous. He had a test drive route planned out and it allowed me to see how the car drives in different road conditions, from potholes, bumps, highway, to windy, and straight aways. And he was VERY knowledgeable. The only thing is price. They weren't willing to negotiate (that's what they say), but when the car I ordered came in and I showed him what other dealerships were offering me, they matched it! (I ended up getting $2200 off MSRP for IS 350 w/ sports pkg, navi, ML, rear spoiler, pref. acc. pkg)
When I went to pick up my car a few days later (they had to install the spoiler), Nick spent another 30 min. to go over every function in the car with me. And he was very well versed and seemed very experienced.
I wanted a sales man who knows his stuff and not pushy. He was honest and friendly. He still e-mails me and send me tips even after he sold me my car. So I would recommend you try him out. I live in Palo Alto, but I was happy that I went to serramonte.

sorry for the long story :P

madness

I do all my service work at Steven's Creek and warranty issues there. I tried to buy there but I wasn't really happy with that part of the service. So I went a different route. Their service however is top notch. They always treat me well and I always get my way with little to no fuss. So far they have replaced the chrome **** on my car, fixed the creeking from my moon roof and done some repair work due to my car getting broken in. They were even willing to deal with my insruance company even though its something they don't normally do. They also changed my stock battery (I didn't even ask they did this on their own while fixing the vandilism work) even though my sound system was clearly draining it (too bad cause around that time I bought a yellow top optima). They have even done courtesy touch ups to my hood due to rock chips. I must say I can't complain about the service department. I would defintely recommend them.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

ALL PLEASE READ THIS

This THREAD can be a bit convoluted depending what you read into peoples comments.

I want to make an attempt here to put things in the right perspective when you post and read other peoples comments.

1) Sales and service are two completely separate entities of the business. Treat them and judge them separately. Just because one side may be good/bad, that doesn't mean the other side is the same In your comments, please make it clear whether you are commenting on sales or service, not just call out the dealership by name and nothing more.

Lexus of Stevens Creek is a good Example. They have the sales and service in two completely different locations in San Jose and the managers of each location run their business pretty much independently of each other.

2) Sales is such a tough animal to manage. Your experience is based on YOUR sales person. The ability for a dealership to control good and bad sales people is a never ending challenge.

With a revolving door of sales staff, holding the reputation of the entire dealership based on one bad apple can be mis-leading. A good dealership will correct their mistakes or get rid of the problem employee. They may become a wonderful experience after that point.

3) My recommendation is to judge the service side of the business on it's own merits and not factor in comments about the sales organization.

With regards to sales, I would recommend naming an individual sales person good or bad as a key way to seek a dealership.

You know overall Lexus sales is growing and none of these dealerships are going to be in business if they were truly bad to the bone.

I know many have already responded in the manner that I have recommended.

I just want to make sure everyone uses their best judgement in reading the reviews of others.

richbutler

I just purchased 2 days ago from Stevens Creek. The Internet Sales Manager (Ron Coury) was awesome. He was really low pressure and offered me a great price on a new ES350. I purchased my loaded Ultra with Nav/Levinson for about $1700 over invoice when everyone else offered about $4000 over invoice.

artie00

How did you get this price on a car, especially loaded, that just came out a few weeks ago?

richbutler

When I was working with Ron, his focus was on finding me the best car for what I wanted. He was patient and encouraged me to check out the competition. By the time price came into the discussion, Ron just gave me the best price he could. I'm pretty sure I bought this car for below actual market price (at this time). However, I think that by treating Ron with respect and showing loyalty (I reassured him that I was going to purchase a car from him), it was easier for Ron to get me the best price possible. I also did not nickel and dime him down to this price.

I do think that as time passes, there will be more inventory such that dealers will be more commonly selling for $1000-1500 over invoice.

I also think that the supply of cars, competition among dealers, and demand from consumers will dictate the sale price.

I wanted to mention a positive experience from using Ron and Stevens Creek. The price was great but the service on the sales side was even better! By the way, I am positive that Ron lost money on my sale. I know Ron spent more time educating me about the Lexus line and how the es350 operates than his modest commission would justify.

Just my 2 cents,
Rich

imaputz

iTrader: (2)

es350... OTD (taxes and all) for me would have been ~33k.

artie00

Yeah I realize the supply and demand will dictate the price but the ES350 just came out a few weeks ago and to get $1700 above invoice at this time is quite remarkable. Anyways very good deal and congrats on your car.

gshb

i dealt with ron coury before, but someone else at fremont beat his price. he was very nice, however. this was for the IS350 back in Dec. 2005.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

We could use a name. Any idea who? How much did he beat the price by?

richbutler

Ron Coury beat the Fremont internet guy's price for my es350.

typeshblue

my next lexus will probably be at stevens creek, maybe the new LS460, bay area are more aggressive on their pricing than sacramento, charges way too much when i was trying to get the gs430