As I can see from prior posts I am not the first to write about Lokey Infiniti (Clearwater, FL) in a not so positive light. This is my accounting of my purchase of a G35c after 50+ hours on the telephone, multiple dealerships, multiple misrepresentations by one dealership, a 13 hour round trip drive out of state, and the helpful customer assistance employees at Infinti Consumer Affars. As a disclaimer my experience may be unique and is not intended to discourage potential buyers from visiting a particular dealership.

As of 6/14/03 I am the owner of a new G35c of which I have been thoroughly impressed. However, the ordeal which I went though in order to obtain this vehicle is perhaps more than many would have had the patience for.

Early in the spring I visited Lokey Infiniti to test drive the new G35 coupe. The first sales associate to greet us was Jim Matthews who seemed very kind, helpful, and extremely knowledgeable about the coupe. We went on a rather short circular test drive of which he drove the first portion. While very impressed I stated that I was still looking at other options and kept in touch with him over the next few months. Having driven the competitors I returned to the dealership for another drive. The second drive was better than the first although we went on the same circular route. Soon thereafter we placed a $500 deposit on a coupe order. In hindsight, no receipt, VIN, or order number was given at the time. Mr. Matthews seemed trustworthy to this point so there was no hesitation with this arrangement.

Time went by and soon it was nearing the estimated time of delivery. The day of expected delivery (6/6/03) Mr Matthews left a message on my cell phone stating that a "disaster" had occurred. According to his message my coupe had fallen off of the transporter while being loaded at the distribution center in a rainstorm. As a result he stated that the coupe was severly damaged and therefore no longer able to be sold. A quick return to Mr Matthews was placed whereby he repeated the same story and said that the car was totalled and that Infiniti has decided to destroy the car. He then said that he did a search at dealerships up and down the eastern US which yielded zero available cars for possible transfer/replacement. The best he could now offer was to wait until the end of August for a replacement to be "hot listed" by Infiniti Corp (with whom he had apparently been in contact) from Japan or to buy one of two coupes on the lot which were not the right colors, did not have the desired options, but were immediately available. At the time a friend suggested that Lokey may have had a customer willing to pay over MSRP for our order and as we did not have a VIN or order # it was sold from under us. Again as we had had nothing but good impressions of Lokey to that point so we ignored this as a possibility.

The nest day we visited Lokey to check out the two in-stock coupes but decided to hold out for the one we originally wanted. Mr Matthews apologized again but now stated that Infiniti was going to dismantle the damaged coupe and use it for parts. Sales Manager Bill Martin then approached us and forwarded his own apology and stated that the original coupe's hood and drivers door had been dented and that Infiniti has decided to repair the damaged vehicle and donate it to a high school shop class. Curious...

Confused with the conflicting stories, unsatisfied with the "end of August" date, we went home and jumped on the internet. Calls to regional dealerships quickly yielded multiple matching coupes both in-state as well as in a 1 state radius. A Volvo sales associate at an Infiniti dealer in Sarasota, FL (~1hr drive) claimed to be expecting a near exact match (willow interior versus graphite) that afternoon from a dealer trade. We immediately put a hold on it with a credit card and made our way down there only to find the car was also lacking the performance tire and wheel package although it had been confirmed over the telephone. To their credit they appeared to be willing to bend over backwards to make things right (add aftermarket chrome wheels, dismantling a G35 sedan on the lot to get the titanium center console) but we decided that we didn't want a new car that had been pieced together at the last minute and drove home, tired and discouraged.

A call to Orlando, FL (1.5 hours away) found an identical coupe to the one we had ordered which had been available at the time of our vehicles apparent demise but had just been sold hours prior to our call that day. This fact made us question how hard Lokey had searched for us if at all. After all this car was listed on Infiniti's own web inventory accessible to anyone.

An Infinti website search of Atlanta, GA area dealers presented 3 additional matching coupes at 2 dealerships. Another call was then placed to Infiniti Consumer Affairs to see if any one of these vehicles could be transferred in light of the situation surrounding the one we had originally ordered. They knew nothing of a vehicle damaged at port but were willing to look into the situation and get back to me in 48 hrs. We made Lokey Infiniti aware of the Atlanta coupes but Mr Matthews soon stated that they were unforutnately already presold (my calls to the same dealerships that day contradicted this fact). He now knew we were seriously looking elsewhere...

The next day Mr. Matthews left an excited cell phone message stating "I have your car" and to call him back right away. A return call revealed that he only had an order number in hand for a car which he stated was to be arriving at another dealership in July and could be diverted to Lokey at our request. I asked for a firm date as well and a VIN number. He gave me the complete VIN and stated that he would have the car by the first week of July.

Another call to Infinti corporate was placed and Rose in Consumer Affairs referenced my case number. She had found no information regarding the apparent vehicle damage situation but stated that transfers of vehicles were at the sole discretion of the independently owned and operated dealerships. She then looked up the VIN number of the vehicle that Mr. Matthews at Lokey had assured me would be in my hands by the first week of July...

According to the latest Infiniti shipping databases the cargo ship carring the vehicle was not even expected into port until the middle of July with customs processing and distribution to the dealer not expected until the middle of August at best. Over 1 month later than Mr. Matthews had stated!! That was the last straw. I thanked Rose profusely for her time (>1 hour) and assistance and cancelled my order at Lokey and told them I would be by to pick up my deposit check.

Later that afternoon I received a call from Rose at Infiniti Corp stating that Lokey Manager Bill Martin had called her and was "wild" and irate stating that she was "not a team player" and insinuating that she had cost him the sale. Although the information that she provided did lead to my seeking to purchase from another dealership she merely provided me with the honest truth and hard facts that allowed me to realize how I was being misled by Lokey. How can Lokey expect to earn a potential customer's trust by providing confliciting stories, misleading expected arrival dates, and then verbally abusing Infiniti Corporate employees for not going along with their misleading stories. "Team" playing surely does not mean "team" misrepresentation and I'm glad to know that Infiniti Consumer Affairs provides customers with nothing but the truth.

On 6/14/03 I made the 6.5 hour each way drive up to GA (Infinti of Gwinnet) to pick up my new Infiniti G35c from sales associate Ron Weintraub. Ron had initially offered to personally drive the car to us and fly back at his expense!!! He was a pleasure to deal with throughout and I highly recommend him to all potential buyers who are in the area.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by motegi on 06/20/03 12:53 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

Sooo, they gave you the ol' "it fell off the truck" story!

well, at least after all that, you got your car. I too had to make the trek to Atlanta (from Jacksonville) to get my car. Unfortunately, the dealer in my city does not allow test drives, of either the sedan or the coupe. I made several attempts to make arrangements for a purchase from them, but it never worked out.

As for misrepresentation (or flat out lies) by a dealer. I'm not suprised. Most dealers could care less about integrity and will lie to you in a second if it means the opportunity for a sale. Don't feel bad, i too was lied to by dealers about cars in my search for a g35.

Bottom line: Atlanta has 5 or 6 dealers and a larger selection, the market is much different in GA than in FL. Apparently, some FL Infiniti dealers are under the impression that they are selling a super hot commodity and doing YOU the favor by selling to you.

congratulations on your new ride.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by redwillow on 06/20/03 03:07 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

I hate dealers like that.... Make sure you post this up in freshalloy too

 

That's unfortunate.. I've bought two G35's from Lokey Infiniti.
Jim Matthews was the salesperson on both.

He is a little on the forgetful side, and wouldn't deal on price on the Coupe at all, but he gave a slight discount on the Sedan and was generally a pleasure to deal with.

I think everyone can have a bad day.

I'm taking my car in for service tomorrow, hopefully they can keep my first impression up with a decent service experience.

03' BO Coupe
Prem / 1/2 Aero (No Wing)

 

I took the coupe in for 8 fixes and here is what I got.

1) Alignment bulletin. (Car pulls to right)
I have to bring it back because they don't have the parts in stock.

2) Window grease streak.
They only did the passenger side.

3) Drivers seat improvement.
They said it only applies to the sedan.

4) Parcel Shelf Rattle.
We don't have parts, bring it back.

5) Brake Light Switch recall.
Done.

6) Updated Heated Heat Harness
?? Done

7) Heated switch on wrong side.
Done. I thought this was 6.

8) I can feel the vibration in the pedlas when the windshield
wiper is active at a stop light.
They forgot to put it on the sheet.

I got a beat 2003 G35 loaner, but it was free.
The service guy was not really paying attention to me,
he seemed very busy during all of this. He said he would
call me and let me know the status of the car sometime during the day. He didn't. I had to call at 4:45 PM and
find out if my car was ready.



03' BO Coupe
Prem / 1/2 Aero (No Wing)