Sewell Lexus
Be Very Careful When/if Leasing A Car From Dallas, TX Worst lease agreement ever written

To: Sewell Lexus Dallas/Jerry Griffin General Manager 2/16/09
From: Robert Brewer (Braumiller Schulz & Co. LLP)
Re: (2) company lease agreements on a Lexus RX 400h & RX 350
At the time of this writing, I have given Sewell Lexus the opportunity to make amends with the lease agreements in question, and they have refused.
These are the two most ridiculous lease agreements I have ever seen.
I told them that they have lost (2) customers, and they said they didn't care. (Carl Sewell wrote a book on customer retention... That's funny)
When I reviewed the contract on the Lexus 400h lease I could see that it was doomed from the start as obviously nothing had been done initially to reduce the cap cost and get the monthly payment down to what could be considered "reasonable.". The monthly payment on the RX 400h was $914.00/mo.!!! The RX 350 was $775.00/mo.!!! (No negotiation whatsoever was represented, even though the dealership listed the vehicle as a demo within the contract itself since it had mileage on it). It puzzles me greatly that there was absolutely no reduction in the original MSRP, and a gross cap cost of $54,311 was therefore used, even though the dealership is very aware that they are starting with an average profit margin of between 11%-12% on these vehicles, not including the 3% hold back that may have still been available, or even additional incentives from the manufacturer at the time.
It is common knowledge that it is an extremely rare occurrence that the total MSRP is used to negotiate a lease or purchase of a vehicle, even on a supposedly rare hybrid. It is also common knowledge that the residual on these vehicles is very good, yet in the 400h contract, 20K miles was allotted per year, (this is crazy!!!) subsequently bringing that to below average in the contract. (Not to mention the fact that the contract was written knowing full well that the vehicle's 50,000 mile warranty would expire far sooner than the 48 month, 80,000 mile term on the 400h and the 60,000 mile 48 month term on the RX 350) Who with any business ethics writes a deal like this???
You never write a lease agreement beyond the term of the vehicle warranty!!! That's insane with the cost of repairs.
In addition to that mess, leasing is suppose to be presented as the better option for a lower monthly payment vs. Buying! This was certainly not the case here with the absolute opposite result of $914/month and $775/month lease payments. These lease arrangements look even less legitimate given the fact that the dealership is currently advertising a 2008 Lexus 400h with an MSRP of only $42,000 on their website.
Sewell is obviously focused only on the $, and Carl Sewell's mantra of "customer first" has gone out the window.
When asked about the warranty situation... Griffin merely said "those Lexus RX's, they don't really ever break down". I had to laugh, because anything that happens between 50,000 miles and 80,000 miles on the RX 400h, could be in the thousands to repair. He has no clue what could happen. The gap insurance also wasn't written into the contract either... He just swears that it is there. Who does business like this???

Company: Sewell Lexus
Country: USA
State: Texas
City: Dallas
Address: 6421 Lemmon Ave
Phone: 2143528100

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