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Worst Websites Ever!

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# Summary Automotive professionals vent about poorly designed websites, with particular frustration directed at Lexus's OEM-mandated dealer website platform, which features cartoon vehicle images, prevents inventory display, and forces constant redirects instead of letting customers view local inventory. The thread reveals that Lexus's restrictions stem from a dealer council decision to level the playing field between large and small dealerships, but this policy backfires by making their sites inferior to competitors like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. The key insight is that one-size-fits-all OEM website mandates ultimately harm the customer experience and dealer competitiveness.

I've found Lexus dealer sites to be frustrating. Keep getting redirected to something put together by the OEM folks and I just want to see some new cars (at your store). Is that too much to ask for?

Chris, When it comes to eCommerce, they are the laughing stock of the Luxury manufactures. You know that BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Infiniti have to think that is a joke. Who has cartoon pictures of their vehicles on their website? From what I have heard, this is all dictated by the Dealer Council. I picture those meetings as something like group counselling at the asylum.
 
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I've found Lexus dealer sites to be frustrating. Keep getting redirected to something put together by the OEM folks and I just want to see some new cars (at your store). Is that too much to ask for?

When I was still in the store, Lexus mandated the removal of inventory from websites. The small stores were complaining that the big stores had an unfair advantage, so Lexus nixed inventory from all sites.
 
When I was still in the store, Lexus mandated the removal of inventory from websites. The small stores were complaining that the big stores had an unfair advantage, so Lexus nixed inventory from all sites.
Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Infiniti have stores in smaller markets. They were going to put the dealership's cars plus the cars from dealerships that they trade with (trading partners) but that hasn't happened.
 

✨ AI Highlights

# Summary Automotive professionals vent about poorly designed websites, with particular frustration directed at Lexus's OEM-mandated dealer website platform, which features cartoon vehicle images, prevents inventory display, and forces constant redirects instead of letting customers view local inventory. The thread reveals that Lexus's restrictions stem from a dealer council decision to level the playing field between large and small dealerships, but this policy backfires by making their sites inferior to competitors like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. The key insight is that one-size-fits-all OEM website mandates ultimately harm the customer experience and dealer competitiveness.

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