A good friend of mine is looking for a mid-range luxury sedan... I suggested the Lexus GS350 - that's the one I would pick personally if I wanted to buy a reasonably priced luxury sedan and planned to keep it for a long time , because except for a weird front end it looks good, and it's RWD 
anyway, here's what happened:
1. Acura dealer. We both thought they were ugly and didn't even sit in any of them.
2. Lexus dealer. ES350 was not comfortable for him. He liked the GS350. They were really friendly and patient and the sales lady was on top of it and knew all the different stuff about the different cars.
3. Mercedes dealer. They literally ignored us. Drove up in my very muddy (but otherwise in good condition, no dents, etc) Ford Escape, parked right in front because that was the only parking spot available... there were few other customers there but not one Mercedes employee approached us. They were too busy chatting with eachother or texting. We wandered around their indoors showroom aimlessly for a bit, decided we didn't appreciate the fact they didn't want to talk to us since we weren't in our 50s wearing suits, plus they are ugly cars, and left.
4. Audi dealer. Same thing. My friend went up to one of the sales guys to ask a question, he clearly didn't want to talk to us, showed us one car, answered the one question, and practically walked away when my friend said he wanted to buy, not lease, because he drives 25k+/ miles/yr.
5. BMW dealer. The guy we talked to wasn't actually in sales, but was able to have a good discussion about the cars. Very helpful. But basically was like "you should buy a CPO one and sell it before you hit 130k miles because that's when they fall apart" - basically, exactly how I thought owning a European car went LOL.
I'm just shocked how unhelpful/snobby the people were at Mercedes and Audi - basically not interested in selling my friend a car because he doesn't look rich. Sucks for them, he could buy any of these cars outright in cash. Also on the list to look at is the Cadillac CTS and Lincoln MKZ but there are no local dealers for either of those.
I've bought various cars at various dealers, mainly independent used car lots and once at the Ford dealer. Always have been treated well despite showing up in beaters or dirty cars, not being particularly nicely dressed, etc, except at the local Chevy dealer. I know where I'm NOT ever going to look at a car again nor would I recommend it to anyone (that Chevy dealer).... sucks because I'm the one people ask about for car stuff in my family/friend circle.
anyway, here's what happened:1. Acura dealer. We both thought they were ugly and didn't even sit in any of them.
2. Lexus dealer. ES350 was not comfortable for him. He liked the GS350. They were really friendly and patient and the sales lady was on top of it and knew all the different stuff about the different cars.
3. Mercedes dealer. They literally ignored us. Drove up in my very muddy (but otherwise in good condition, no dents, etc) Ford Escape, parked right in front because that was the only parking spot available... there were few other customers there but not one Mercedes employee approached us. They were too busy chatting with eachother or texting. We wandered around their indoors showroom aimlessly for a bit, decided we didn't appreciate the fact they didn't want to talk to us since we weren't in our 50s wearing suits, plus they are ugly cars, and left.
4. Audi dealer. Same thing. My friend went up to one of the sales guys to ask a question, he clearly didn't want to talk to us, showed us one car, answered the one question, and practically walked away when my friend said he wanted to buy, not lease, because he drives 25k+/ miles/yr.
5. BMW dealer. The guy we talked to wasn't actually in sales, but was able to have a good discussion about the cars. Very helpful. But basically was like "you should buy a CPO one and sell it before you hit 130k miles because that's when they fall apart" - basically, exactly how I thought owning a European car went LOL.
I'm just shocked how unhelpful/snobby the people were at Mercedes and Audi - basically not interested in selling my friend a car because he doesn't look rich. Sucks for them, he could buy any of these cars outright in cash. Also on the list to look at is the Cadillac CTS and Lincoln MKZ but there are no local dealers for either of those.
I've bought various cars at various dealers, mainly independent used car lots and once at the Ford dealer. Always have been treated well despite showing up in beaters or dirty cars, not being particularly nicely dressed, etc, except at the local Chevy dealer. I know where I'm NOT ever going to look at a car again nor would I recommend it to anyone (that Chevy dealer).... sucks because I'm the one people ask about for car stuff in my family/friend circle.
