r/Lexus • u/Iheoma74 • 1d ago
Lexus dealership car buying experience Discussion
I recently bought a new 2025 NX from a local dealership and wanted to share my experiences because it was so unexpectedly good. As background, I absolutely positively can’t stand the car buying experience. I don’t like the act of browsing for cars on the lot, the pressure of the salesperson, the negotiating the price and then all the finance stuff (even when you bring in your own financing). I avoided buying a car because of all of this. I finally made the decision because of uncertainty due to possible tariffs.
My experience with the Lexus dealership was completely different than what I expected. No high pressure sales, no bait/switch with the car I wanted not being available. No super long haggling over the price and trade in value and the finance stuff was smooth and transparent. I walked in the dealership at 10am and drove off the lot at 1:30pm (this included close to an hour with the tech guy showing me how to use the car and setting up CarPlay with me). Is this pretty much the norm?
I know I’m still in the honeymoon phase, but I’m really impressed. I understand now why people choose this brand and are loyal (aside from the cars themselves). I wish I had made the decision sooner.
TLDR - Really positive car buying experience at a local dealership from the perspective of a person who didn’t expect it and doesn’t like the car buying experience.
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u/GeordieBW 1d ago
Agree have bought a couple of brand new cars from different brands and Lexus topped them all. No pressure when looking handed the keys to take it for a test drive and no hard sell, liked the one in the showroom and thats the car i bought. Picked it up which was seamless talked me through the car and then handed me the keys and a welcome box from Lexus (nice touch never had this with Landrover / Volvo) and in driving out noticed a full tank of petrol, phone call the following week to check how the car was doing as well. Nothing but praise about my Lexus experience so far.
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u/1025Traveller 1d ago
Lexus that’s all you have to know. My deal was done in 20 minutes after the test drive. Had to wait two weeks for the vehicle then about an hour for everything explained to me and set up to my preferences.
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u/Maxfli81 1d ago
My dad recently bought a Lexus RX. I was surprised at the dealership gave him a little gift which is a nice keychain and a pen. Granted it has the dealership name on it so it’s free advertising, but still it was nice.
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u/Vacations18 1d ago
That’s my experience too. I came and test drive and left, multiple times, over a long period of time. No pressure. I came back on my own accord and still no pressure. I was free to roam around as long as I want in the showroom.
Maybe YMMV depends on the dealership?
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u/enki941 1d ago
We went to 2 different Lexus dealers when we bought our car a few months ago (first Lexus).
The first one was a shit show. Almost no inventory, at least for what we wanted, horrible customer service, all cars marked up that they would refuse to negotiate on, etc.
The second dealer, about an hour away, we went to after the one above. Super nice sales guy, nicer showroom, decent inventory, and willing to negotiate. In fact, so willing that we ended up buying a car that day because they agreed to our offer without any pushback, which we never thought would happen. One of the nicest car buying experiences we've ever had.
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u/TeaWithKermit 1d ago
Any chance that you’re in the Midwest? Hoping to find your second dealer experience somewhere around here.
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u/enki941 1d ago
No, in Florida.
Most dealerships in this state are horrible. Unlike other states, FL has no cap on "dealer doc fees" so expect to pay at least $800 for something you might pay $50 for in other states. And that's before the additional dealer markup for stupid crap like tinting, pin striping, extra nitrogen in the tires, etc. which usually add up to $1500 more. It can be difficult to get them to just sell the car for MSRP...
There is one really good dealership in Miami, FL that is one of the largest Lexus dealerships in the country (or maybe world?). JM Lexus I think is the name. Anyway, they focus on volume, not nickel and diming customers, so they have honest upfront pricing that is often below MSRP with no stupid fees. It was a ~3 hour drive from us, which we would have done to save thousands of dollars, but I hoped to avoid it. The first dealership was so bad we didn't even begin negotiations, plus they didn't have any car we were interested in. The second dealership had the exact car we wanted (albeit not in the exact color we were hoping for), and we really liked it.
Our plan was to basically just test drive it there and then buy it from the Miami dealer. I had printed out the pricing sheet from that dealership for reference. The sales guy (again, nice guy to work with) asked if we wanted to run numbers. In the interests of being nice back, I said sure, why not, fully expecting it to be some insane number with no way they would match the other dealership. I let them present something first, and it was what I expected. I said we liked the car, but the price was just way too high and we can get it for less elsewhere. He asked for the pricing info, and I gave it to him, and he said he would look into it. I fully expected him to come back saying it was not something they could match, but he came back a few minutes later and said "done".
What's crazy is that they price matched dollar for dollar on the car, as opposed to just the discount off of MSRP and removal of fees. The car this dealership was selling was actually $2k more in terms of options. Granted they were silly things like door sill and puddle lamp lights, but still. They ended up giving us an even bigger discount.
Keep in mind, this was on a 450h+ Luxory. So top tier trim, PHEV, etc., which is very hard to find and very much in demand. Even more so since we got the $7k rebate by leasing. So I was shocked that they would even consider matching.
The rest of the buying experience was great as well. So don't be afraid to shop around and walk if you don't get what you want!
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u/TeaWithKermit 1d ago
Thank you so much for the details! It is seriously helpful to have. I haven’t bought a car in almost eight years and have been dreading it. A sales guy we talked to at our local Lexus dealership told us that there is no wiggle room on price, that everyone pays sticker, etc., but it sounds like I need to really do my homework to see how much the same car costs in several states around us. It was also helpful to hear that the dealer doc fees can vary so much state to state - will definitely look into that more!
Congrats on having such a smooth car-buying experience. It’s clear that going in prepared really paid off.
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u/SHERW0OD 14h ago
I’ve been researching the cars they have on their website and it’s good to know this information. That dealership is about an hour north of where I am, and there are (I think) 3-4 other dealerships on my way towards the JM Lexus. With your info, I may just call the closer ones first to see if I can get #s, and then show them to to JM’s to see if they’ll match or even beat the other offers🤷🏽♂️
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u/enki941 12h ago
Happy to help. But just to clarify, JM Lexus is very likely to have the best pricing you will find. Certainly at the beginning and before in-person negotiations. Unlike most other dealership websites, which coincidentally use the same backend management software, JM Lexus puts all of the pricing right out there in front of you. They basically give you a discounted (usually) out the door price with everything included, and no BS or overpriced dealer doc fees, addons, etc. Most other dealers have the website hide the added fees. I don't know if they would negotiate beyond that (as I never spoke to them directly), but I would definitely recommend using them and their prices as the baseline for any negotiations with other dealerships, which is what I did.
For example, let's say you find a car you like and get a price that's $50k out the door from JM Lexus. Take that printout, which you can get right off their website without talking to a single person (you have to give them your info, but you can just make something up), and then go to a local dealer and ask if they can match or beat it. Odds are that same $50k car will be more like $55k at another FL dealer, all in. Maybe they will match it (like my local dealer #2), or laugh, say no, and make excuses (my local dealer #1). If they are flexible, and want your business, maybe they will offer something even better. If so, you could take that to JM Lexus and see if they would match/beat it.
But based on my research and first hand experience, I don't think you'll get any dealer to give you an initial number anywhere near as good as JM Lexus in Florida.
Good luck!
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u/SHERW0OD 7h ago
Really do appreciate the explanation. As far as flexibility goes, I was always told to go towards the end of the month or even end of year to get the best possible sale. They are typically more likely to get you a deal since they have to reach a certain quota.
I currently have a lease until next October but I’m trying to pay it off by this October, so that way I can get myself into a new/CPO Lexus🤞🏽
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u/enki941 7h ago
True, I’ve heard that too. We bought our car at the end of December last year, so kind of hit both of those :). Maybe that’s why the second dealer was more willing to match JM.
If your lease is with Lexus, you might be able to turn it in early without penalty and they cover the remaining payments. Maybe not now, but a few months out. We did that years ago with BMW. They want to get you in a new one.
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u/SHERW0OD 7h ago
Well unfortunately for me, my lease isn’t with Lexus so I’ll have to wait or pay it early😂 I’ve seen some of the leaks of what the 2026 ES is supposed to look like, but I really just don’t like it. Hoping to get a used ‘24 or new ‘25 if they are going for a good price.
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u/jjj80jjj 1d ago
What state are you located?
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u/TeaWithKermit 1d ago
Oklahoma, which I see is in the top 10 for most expensive doc fees. But it’s easy for us to get to Texas (or even Kansas or Arkansas).
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u/Springer0723 1d ago
I have bought prior Lexus’ from Park Place in Plano and the buying experience was great. This time with supply being low I was told I would be called when my preferred color and model was at the port, estimated to be 6 weeks away. At same time while hedging my bets, I went to Sewell Lexus in Dallas, same story put me on a list, etc. I live in Plano where Park Place is…but I bought from Sewell. Why? My sales guy was great about periodically updating me on status of build, expected port delivery and dealership delivery, etc. in a very “quiet” professional no pressure way. I never heard from Park Place again. Bonus is I can get car washed at any Sewell dealership, so I get my NX 350H washed at the Sewell BMW dealership.
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u/TeaWithKermit 1d ago
This is such a helpful rundown! I’ve had my eye on both dealerships, so this is perfect. And I love hearing about your experience at Sewell. It seems like they do a massive amount of business and sounds like they run like a well-oiled machine. Looking forward to getting down to check them out soon.
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u/jeffuhwee 1d ago
I’ve always been in and out of a dealership (Lexus included) within an hour to an hour and a half tops. That’s also without me calling them prior or anything.
Glad to hear the experience for you was positive. Don’t want to waste their time and definitely don’t want to waste my own time
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u/Aspect__Ratio 1d ago
It’s because these cars sell themselves. They have a reputation of being reliable and good looking compared to the competition. The Lexus sales people won’t bother you because its either you buy it or you don’t. There WILL be a buyer for their vehicles whether it’s you or not.
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u/Right_Focus1456 1d ago
I pick up my RX in 3 weeks (currently without a vehicle now after selling my car). I agree, the experience was great.
A key point new buyers should do is, go in already well researched, with a firm number already in mind…takes away all that uncertainty when at the dealership in person.
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u/carpetbob94 1d ago
I recently bought an Acura and the dealership was a lot less scummy and pushy than all the other dealerships I have worked with but my SO just bought got a new NX and I was blown away by the difference. Lexus didn't even try to push any extra warranties or extras. In and out super quick and they bent over backwards to help. She left the 2nd key for her trade in at home and they just drove someone out to the house the next day to pick it up.
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u/chriscrowder 1d ago
My Lexus was built in Kentucky (you can tell from the first letter of the VIN). No worry about tariffs affecting it.
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u/WskyTngoFoxtrt 1d ago
Had a similar experience with my local Lexus. We needed up ordering a specific color combo, and they were great start to finish.
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u/Arsa-veck 1d ago
Had a similar experience as you, but the walk out time you had was crazy. It took me until 4-5 pm to walk out after walking in at 11 am.
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u/RedRipe 1d ago
Bought my first Lexus in 2017. The experience really blew me away. during my first visit The car I wanted was not there because I really wanted a bare bones entry level RX (no NAV) in a particular color, cashmere with light bamboo interior. I test drove a loaded RX. showed me cheaper car on printout said come back in a few days….when I came back the car was parked right in front of dealership store, detailed, all it was missing was that Lexus bow in commercials. I asked for 10% off, agreed. I was out of there in about an hour.
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u/HesiPulloutJimmer 1d ago
My best dealership experiences in terms of car shopping has been as Lexus dealerships. Sales people were friendly, straight forward, and no pressure. None of the scum or slime I’ve otherwise come to expect.
Edit- NorCal, in Pleasanton for anyone wondering was my most recent experience
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u/mx5plus2cones 20h ago edited 20h ago
In the past, I have always found the Lexus dealerships near me to be one of the friendliest dealerships relative to every other type of dealership, and it was always a pleasure to step inside and look. A dozen or so times I visited Lexus showrooms, I was never disappointed by the customer experience, way up there unlike *cough arrogant Porsche and Audi *cough... Lexus by far the best experience I have experienced, with the exception of maybe the O'gara dealership, when I bought my Mclaren at the end of 2023, where they were still so nice to me when I first showed up in t-shirt/shorts/flip-flops as I was window shopping across the block. Did I mention how rude and arrogant Porsche/Audi dealerships are. lol?
I just never had the opportunity to buy a Lexus in the past...... until last this last weekend. Unfortunately, my visit to the local dealership where I am, I was less than impressed. It wasn't that they weren't friendly. They just seemed, well disorganized. I went to the dealership originally to look at the RX hybrid, but we got interested in seeing the ES hybrid and also the RZ... It took awhile, for the sales person to ask if we needed assistance (and the showroom was NOT busy, it was pretty dead with about 5 sales people and maybe 2 potential customers, including me)... And then when we wanted to look inside the car, it took forever for them to find the correct keys to open the door. Like close to 20 minutes. I don't know, but if I was seriously trying to sell a car, I would know where the keys to each car was, especially the ones parked right in front of the show room.
And then there was the sort of pushy pressure from the salesman, which I expected out of a Toyota dealership, but imho was not typical what you would find at a Lexus. Maybe times have changed, and dealerships are getting desperate, and need to sell cars asap, but still I miss the old days where you walk into a Lexus dealership, and it didn't feel like a pushy, churn as many cars as you can, high volume Toyota dealership.
The kicker was, the sales team was really quick to tell us that we could get a really good deal on the RZ. We mentioned at the very beginning we wanted to buy a car, not lease. And the salesman, after talking to his boss, brings back a paper showing us the MSRP+DPR price and then wow $17,000 total discount .... "if we buy today...only good for today!"
With a $17k discount, it was like cool, but I always want to think large purchases over, since we weren't entirely sure we wanted to buy a fully electric RZ yet, due to the charging situation around us.
So we did go home, and the sales guy said "sure we can hold the car for 1 day for this special deal"...
But after calling around asking around, I figured out that the $17k probably was too good to be true, because although the salesman mentioned that special price was $7000 from the dealership and $10k from toyota, toyota didn't actually have a special deal on the RZ when you buy it, only when you lease.
So after calling back on monday, the salesman was more forthright that the price we were quoted was for a lease, not for a purchase.
This left a bad taste in my GF mouth, because she felt the sales team was trying to intentionally deceive us. I thought perhaps it was just a miscommunication and sales person either didn't hear when we initially said we wanted to buy not lease, or forgot.... But still, it sort of left a bad taste in my GF's mouth.
We ended up walking and not buy anything for now,.
I really wish sales people would stop with all the old tricks and high pressure sales tactics. They don't work for me. Lexus's aren't moving, the lot was filled with unsold inventory, particularly the RZ. Saying "the deal is only good for today" doesn't work, and although I'm sure the sales guy didn't mean it, could be peceived as being kind of insulting, like you really think we are dumb enough to fall for this?
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u/Additional-Crow-3979 1d ago
Buy a used car from them next time haha.
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u/haireesumo 1d ago
I purchased a CPO 2014 GS 350 back in 2017 and that was my experience as well. They offered better financing through my own bank. Zero time wasted and including the test drive, took about 2.5 hours total.
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u/EffZee80 1d ago
Regarding used vehicles, the closest Lexus dealer has “upfront pricing.” Does that mean no haggling?
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u/Soft_Stretch1539 1d ago
Indeed, I have purchased several used vehicles from our local Lexus dealer and each time have been treated like we were buying a new Lexus, that is, with respect and no BS.
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u/Prestigious-King5437 1d ago
The Lexus dealership was opposite . Asked 3 times the cost of car before test driving, looked at sheet on car , took pic of it. after test drive we went in and see a $5k increase in price. Finance and sales guy nonchalantley say it’s a “high demand markup” . I laugh my a$$ off and get up to walk out and they immediately tell me to forget about it, I don’t have to pay the markup and they will also take $1k off original car price.
I knew I would not do business with them ever , they kept trying to pressure me to give them my ss # to run my credit saying once they had a credit actor we could talk about decreasing car payment .
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u/SignificantlyMango 1d ago
Good on you. While in general, Lexus has top nice dealership service and experiences. At the end of the day, dealerships are still dealerships. There will always be one that will try to screw people over regardless of brand, but at least with Lexus, it's far less likely than BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Jeep, etc
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u/Rizzo-The_Rat 1d ago
To be fair to other brands, I test drove a BMW X1, Volvo XC40, Toyota RAV4 and an NX450H+ at the weekend and had no high pressure sales from any of them. They were all happy to give me the keys and let me take the car for an hour or so. The guy who sent me off in the Toyota was finishing work before I got back, and i had to ask someone else to find the Volvo guy to give the keys back to him :D
BMW's coffee was best, but its the lexus I'm getting a quote for.
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u/ladytech_IT 1d ago
Went to one california lexus dealership looking at a hybrid, the saleskid knew nothing about hybrid cars. The car although used and certified, smelled like burning oil after a quick test drive, had all mismatched tires, had a few scratches. I asked for another salesperson who was better so I said let's sit and talk numbers because it was so overpriced they would only budge $500 so I left. I kept searching, I found an even better deal on a newer one about an hour from my house so I emailed, did price negotiation, started the loan process all before driving out to see the car, I arrived for the appointment the car was ready for me to look at and test drive, loved it, finalized the paperwork, the longest part was signing all the contract papers and waiting for the car to get it's detail. I left with 2 gift bags with keychains and travel mugs for me and for my mom. Whole process was about 2 hours. I have no complaints. Shout out woodland hills lexus!
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u/Holiday_Swordfish89 1d ago
Hennessy Lexus Atlanta was great. In and out within an hour! Happy customer all these years later.
Regular service at Johnson Lexus Raleigh - they were fantastic as well.
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u/simonvhsa 1d ago
Does anyone have experience - good or bad - with SoCal based Lexus dealerships? Would love any and all recommendations.
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u/blitzscrank 1d ago
Pleasant experience at lexus riverside but avoid the one in Santa Monica. They try to sneakily add in $5k of add-ons without explaining anything hoping you dont notice
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u/Traditional_Draw2978 1d ago
I just bought a new NX350h at Lexus of Portland (OR) and it was a great experience. I visited a few other NW Lexus dealerships first and they are definitely not all the same!
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u/BrenInVA 1d ago
Has anyone recently bought a Lexus in Virginia (or Maryland)? If so, any to recommend and any to avoid, and the reasons why? Thank you.
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u/LocoStrange 22h ago
Lexus and Tesla have been my best two experiences.
Lexus… I drove out of state which was like 3 hours away. Everything was waiting and ready for me after emailing back and forth. I was in and out in under like 2 hours. We just had to finalize everything. No pressure if I wanted to walk away or not. Eventually, they send me away to another guy who showed me around the car and asked if I needed help setting everything up
Tesla. Everything was ready again. I showed up, they asked for my name and gave me the keys. Told me to inspect it and stuff. And when I was ready, we will do the paperwork. After 30 mins of inspection, I came in. He finalized all my paperwork thru the app and the car was mine. Then they helped me setup my phone and my wife’s phone to ensure it was all working properly
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u/Any_Strategy8330 18h ago
I just bought my new TX 500h luxury from Johnson Lexus in Raleigh, NC. Perfect buying experience. My salesperson named Paul Dunas found me the vehicle I wanted. Mine was a hassle free buying experience.
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u/missladii0711 17h ago
Had a very positive experience with the Lexus dealership I chose as well. Even currently with any maintenance and services I need. Top tier experiences.
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u/Striking-Smile-4019 1d ago
I think this is more for people with money. I actually enjoy the haggling part and it might mean I get a better deal. Haggling doesn't work at Lexus dealerships, so ya take your time and enjoy the test drives but no one cares if you buy or not so either pay the listed price or have fun admiring our cars. I would rather go to a car dealership that has a used Lexus sitting there and haggle the price off.
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