Lexus of Orange Park

On June 10, 2011 we signed a lease for a new 2011 Lexus RX-350 Vin #2T2ZK1BAXBC060966. The color or the car, its interior and its equipment were very important to us, as it was a replacement for my wife's RX-350 Vin #2T2ZK1BAXBC060966. The color or the car, its interior and its equipment were very important to us, as it was a replacement for my wife's 2010 which had been damaged in a recent collision. I made meticulous efforts to document the car we were ordering, particularly because it was not on the lot but rather "at the port" pending delivery to the dealer in a week or two. I received emails with the vehicle VIN and feature printout, a copy of the lease we had been required to and various other documents, all relating to the specific vehicle. On the afternoon of 6/24/11, we were notified that the car was ready and we should present ourselves at 3:30 that afternoon to take delivery. We arrived and found "our" car prepped and waiting for us under a bank of spotlights. We opened the door and found, to our surprise, that the parchment interior we expected was...gray. I was pretty surprised but a quick look at our correspondence for the car showed that interior color was nowhere expressed as a name, simply a meaningless code (LB00) so I assumed that I had managed not to pin down what this color code really meant when the car was offered to me despite my having sent the dealer a written specification for every feature taken from an auto web site. So we drove home, a bit disappointed. When I got back to my office, I went on line to cross check the color code. Oddly, this information was not easy to retrieve. I could not find it on the Lexus web site (surprise!), nor did a few internet searches help me either. Mostly I turned up forum posts from other owners and buyers confused at what these codes translate to. So I decide to look at the window sticker for our new RX-350 to see what it said about the interior color. Surely, even with Japan's current nuclear crisis, they were not building cars with different color interiors than shown in their computer systems? Oddly, although a zillion features are detailed on the window sticker, I could not find the interior color mentioned anywhere. But I did notice the VIN # and, guess what? Yes, the car we were driving was not the car we purchased, leased and for which we had a new vehicle registration from the state. I immediately telephoned to Terri Greene, a "finance manager" at Lexus of Orange Park and the person who had negotiated the transaction. It was now 5:30 PM and she seemed unable to fully understand what I was telling her (that we were not driving the vehicle we had purchased) and rather casually said that she was leaving for the day and would turn me over to the salesperson who made the delivery, Mr. Eric Quinif. I reached Mr. Quinif and repeated my tale of woe. He too seemed unable to understand the plain English of my summary of the situation. A bit of exasperation and more forcible diction got his attention and he assured me that they would come out and bring me "my" car and take the other one away. He had to "check" into a few things but would call me back "shortly". After an hour or so, "shortly" had, in my opinion expired so I called him back. Instead of, "Yeah, we're getting ready to sort this out," he said, "Didn't Alex call you?" Alex Elsaid was the person ("sales manager") at the dealership with whom I had initially discussed this transaction on 6/811. As we had been unable to come to anything resembling a reasonable price for the vehicle, I had abandoned our negotiations shortly thereafter and had not troubled them further until I got a follow up call from Ms. Greene, offering to "do what it takes" to put the deal right. So I was surprised to hear that I was now back in Mr. Elsaid's hands and, moreover, that I had not been given a return call if he was in charge. I asked for the name of the General Sales Manager and was directed to Mr. Jeffrey Wolfson. Surely he should be able to sort out this simple matter. But reaching him on the phone proved impossible. The receptionist kept telling me he was in the building and putting my calls through to the cubicle (not his) where he was to be found. But calls put through there ended up with Mr. Elsaid. We spoke. After listening to him backing-and-filling, I demanded to know where, in fact, the car I ordered actually was. His answer: "We sold it." And indeed, there had been another white RX-350 in the "delivery room" awaiting another happy family. We even remarked on how our delivery indoctrination had been cut short in a cursory manner presumably to hustle us out of the way of the next delivery. Now we knew why. Throughout my conversation with Mr. Elsaid, he continued to revert to the rhetorical question, "What would be in it for me to do this?" The answer is obvious: the parchment interior is more usual on the white cars and quite probably more desirable. Having had the chance to sell our car to someone who would not accept the gray interior, it was time for a "strategic error" or "last minute surprise." Money was offered to sooth our disappointment, a new car could be located but no one knew where or when specifically. And, of course, who knew what little surprises would crop up at delivery time. I am confident, as is my wife, what every single person with whom we discussed this matter was fully aware of it at the beginning of each conversation. Can I prove it, no. Am I confident of it, yes indeed. This little surprise was prearranged: we would be shown the car. If we balked at the interior a story would be proffered. If that failed, "our" car might have been offered to us...or not. Instead Mr. Elsaid had the nerve to actually say to me, "If you had said something at the time..." as if the fault lay with me and as if cars are like jelly donuts at a Kripsy Kreme store, just donuts in a bin and the dealer reaches in a grabs one to give you with no involvement with pesky VIN #s etc. A fantasy. Happily my story has a happy ending. I had carefully documented my various conversations and interaction s with this outfit in writing. I made demand that they remove the car from my driveway and this was done. One phone call to JM Lexus, in Margate Florida got me a happy salesman in my driveway the very next morning delivering the exact car we wanted at a slightly better price. So here's my take on this outfit: they work in tag teams, intentionally handing you off from one person to another (Elsaid to Greene to Quinif to Elsaid) so it's hard for you, the customer, to keep things straight. Senior management is unavailable to resolve issues in good time (Oh, yes Mr. Wolfson got back to me, when it was all over). A very nice facility and very charming people but you will get the same hustle and jerking around you may have known at dealers selling lower-end vehicles. Avoid. More