[CTSurfer]

Hey fellow CT forum members if any of you have read my prior threads then you know and understand the horrible position Newport Lexus has put me in. I'm reaching out on this forum with the request that if any of you know anyone in the Lexus Corporation, or someone that might be able to help me please have that person contact me directly at 760-458-0106. My name is Steven Zupko

Maybe if your reading this, and perhaps your dealer, or employee yourself that could help me please I ask kindly of you to contact me as well.

This is a complete nightmare, and the dealer still has not even attempted to contact me at all today. Just like they weren't going to contact me yesterday and hope I would go away or forget about it this.

I have had to miss work today to research a rental car agency to secure a car for myself while I try to sort out this situation of not having a vehicle. Thank you all so much in advance!!

 

[LexusGuy]

I hate to tell you this, but honestly unless that car your were buying is paid for, it can be sold. Not saying its the "right" thing to do, but legally and per company "rules" they did nothing wrong.

 

[dgstan]

Did you call Lexus corporate? They could probably point you to a dealer that has cars in stock and perhaps grease the skids somewhat.

I was at Tustin Lexus this past weekend and they had at least 2 CTs on the lot. You just want a car at this point, right? Or are you looking for a pound of flesh?

 

[CTSurfer]

LexusGuy I don't understand at all what you said. Or maybe I do. You mean to tell me if there are two people on the other side of the showroom, both want the same car, and the person who writes the check the fastest wins?! I had interest in this car 48 hours prior, and as far as I knew no one else had dibs on it. I did everything the dealer asked of me. I have emails and incoming/outgoing calls logged on my iPhone.

I provided that dealer all the information they needed asap. Maybe but, the difference of 5 minutes then what it would have taken to do the paper work in person, they received the paper work back from me via email asap!

I contacted Lexus Corporate today and filed a complaint. The lady felt horrible for me and said she would do her best to get someone to talk to me in the next 48 hours.

At this point I just want my car. I do want blood but, I need to take care of having wheels right now. I have a baby on the way and need to have a car in case my wife has an emergency and I need to get her to the hospital.

Looks like Hertz is going to be my my new best friend for an unspecified amount of time.

 

[LexusGuy]

]LexusGuy I don't understand at all what you said. Or maybe I do. You mean to tell me if there are two people on the other side of the showroom, both want the same car, and the person who writes the check the fastest wins?![/B] I had interest in this car 48 hours prior, and as far as I knew no one else had dibs on it. I did everything the dealer asked of me. I have emails and incoming/outgoing calls logged on my iPhone.

I provided that dealer all the information they needed asap. Maybe but, the difference of 5 minutes then what it would have taken to do the paper work in person, they received the paper work back from me via email asap!

I contacted Lexus Corporate today and filed a complaint. The lady felt horrible for me and said she would do her best to get someone to talk to me in the next 48 hours.

At this point I just want my car. I do want blood but, I need to take care of having wheels right now. I have a baby on the way and need to have a car in case my wife has an emergency and I need to get her to the hospital.

Looks like Hertz is going to be my my new best friend for an unspecified amount of time.

The short answer: YES.

Again, doesn't make it right, but that is how it works. Not just in the Car Business either.

 

[CTSurfer]

Wow well if thats the way it works I probably will never buy a car from a dealership again. That's just obscene and greed at it's finest. It doesn't take but, a second to tell someone unfortunately someone got here before you did.

Doesn't matter if your buying a car or waiting in line to buy a concert ticket. You NEVER tell a customer it's their's and ask them to jump through the hoops so they can get it then pull the rug out from under them. Plus have them sacrifice their own vehicle in the process ( don't forget this dealer even knew that I was going to sell my car that same day because I was buying their's! )

Stuff like this makes me want to spend the money and hire a lawyer just over principal. I entered into a verbal and the beginnings of a physical written contract and they changed the game mid way. It's not right and that's why people get sued!

 

[LexusGuy]

Like I stated before, I wouldn't do it, but your not the first person to tell me they were treated this way at certain stores.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[gharai]

A lawyer? Was there a contract signed? Was a deposit made? I agree that they treated you like crap and all they had to do was admit that they messed up but they had the legal right to sell the car to someone else.

Was it the right thing for them to do though? No, they messed up big time. Either they were greedy or something fell through the cracks and they're trying to cover their butts. Should they take responsibility for their actions? Sure, they should do their best to look for another car for you and sell that car to you at a very good price.

Legal action on your part? That might be taking things a little too far.

 

[2hunny]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I think if you were in the store it would have been a different story, your sales person would fight to get that sale for you. Being remote and doing things virtually will hurt your chance on getting a new and rare car.

When I purchasing my CT, we test drove the car and liked it, and while I was filling in the paperwork /credit check (not with finance person yet), another couple wanted test drive the car, therefore the other sales rep grabbed the key from our table (kindly explaining the situation, that its not a sales tactic but someone really wanted to test drive the car). The other couple had the full intention to buy the car but my sales man was able to put my offer and paperwork in before the other couple (literally running). The other couple waited at the dealership to see if my finance go through before leaving to swoop in to buy if I change my mind.

With that said, these sales reps want to sell you cars, they will do anything to sell you that car, however if another buyer with money available today wants to buy the car you want, their sales rep will do their best to get it. It's not fair, but it does happens quite often, not just in sales.

FYI, I'm not in sales and I'm not a fan of car salesman.

GL

 

[CTSurfer]

Thanks all for your two cents. Lexusguy thanks for your support as well. I agree what they did was ****ty but I guess what's really eating at me is that this dealership new I was selling my car then and there so I cold get into this CT. I mean talk about low!

I'd feel different about it if I still had my old car and I could just kick a can down the street and say damn it missed out this time and dealt with the dealer later.

However I'm about to spend $700 a month for a rental car that's not even mine ii's a big pill to swallow!

 

[CTSurfer]

Ghari just so you know a deposit was made and paper work was filled out and returned.

 

[Matt_RN]

I would cancel that check ASAP, which I think you said you were doing. I'm sorry you had to go through the kind of BS a Lexus dealership SHOULD NOT be known for! This is something a used car lot or non-luxury brand would do, but not Lexus, especially in this economic time. Newport Lexus will hopefully learn a harsh lesson when customers stop buying from them. What a shame.

 

[bondguy]

I think the salesgirl on the phone was probably a "newer" salesperson and was excited to get a phone in sale...easy sale...not that selling CT's is a difficult job for a brand new model like the CT....she probably didn't know that the car might...not saying it was but might have been pre-sold to someone else. Funny because when I ordered my CT with LED lowbeam lights a couple of weeks ago, my dealer took a $1,000 deposit from me on the phone on Amex...he showed me a sheet showing the options and color choice but the computer couldn't figure the price because the build was different than anything they produce right now...Remote Start, Light Up Door Sills, Nuluxe Caramel, Prem Sound, NAV and cargo protection group...he faxed me a paper showing the option codes and ordered the car...I asked him what happens if I change my mind after waiting so long (around 3 to 3 1/2 months was my estimate...who knows now with the Japan situation) and his reply was I'm not worried as we would just refund your money and have no problem selling it to someone else instead...and, I GAVE A DEPOSIT and the paper with the options built was signed by the general manager of the dealership. I hate waiting and they won't even be able to tell me anything for awhile as they won't know until the car has been built and have a verified VIN # for me. I did hear, prior to the situation in Japan, that what they do on orders is stop the line of production to build out a spec car to order...not sure if that has any truth to it. Like I said before, I know of one coming in nearby exactly the same as what I am looking at except it has NO LED lowbeams, has the plastic hood and front end protection and instead of Nuluxe is black leather which I can buy tomorrow.....if you search around, they are out there. There's even one at a dealer, Koons Lexus in Delaware that has a list price of $40,666 and they aren't discounting it they say...that one has pretty much EVERY available option on it. White with the lighter colored leather.

 

[gharai]

If you put a deposit and signed paperwork for that car then they sold it to someone else I would be pissed and would want them to do something about it.

 

[CTSurfer]

Bondguy you know I was thinking the same thing but, here is another interesting part of this story. Tom the sales guy who was the girls boss called and spoke to me after her. We went over the paper work and built the contract. That same Tom was also the guy who according to his boss was the same salesman who " supposedly " sold this car 3 weeks ago.

Now I don't know about you but I think I would realize " hey wait a minute I'm writing a deal for the same car I already pre-sold 3 weeks ago ". This was another part of this dealers inconsistent story or should I say explanation to what happened.

Second part that didn't check out is that they said they being " Tom,Ashlie,Tony the manager " knew about this immediately after I had emailed my contract and deposit back. Ashlie continued to email me for another almost 4 hours after that point leading me to believe the deal was still on and working.

So you can see the real truth to what happened to me is obviously being obscured by Newport Lexus.

 

[Quentin]

Tell the dealer they need to find you the car you want ASAP. They are going to make money on the car regardless, so they should be willing to get you into a car and really discount it $500 of what you previously agreed on. They aren't giving up much money, but goodwill goes a long way, IMO.

 

[trove]

LIFE'S NOT FAIR!! sorry you had this experience
However maybe this experience will help you and or others.
It is such a great car, you can't not buy.
We are principal people, but know that you can get yourself bent out of shape (harder to take when it happens to you.
We called an hr after we saw car and put down a 1000 deposit on credit card. we didn't ask, but where glad that they had took it off the showroom floor and put it in the ready room with a sold sticker.
Good luck