Bobby Rahal opens state-of-the-art Lexus dealership in Lancaster County

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Bobby Rahal Lexus of Lancaster County, which opened in mid-January along Route 272 near Brownstown, is the county’s first Lexus dealership.

General manager Mark VanHoy described nearly 60,000-square-foot dealership at 4251 Oregon Pike in West Earl Township as a “state-of-the-art” dealership. The sleek, glass-fronted building includes a showroom sales area, enclosed vehicle delivery area, drive-in service area with stations for service advisors, service and parts areas and two lounge areas for those waiting for their vehicles to be serviced. Both waiting areas offer comfortable seating and a fireplace as well as free Wi-Fi access and complimentary coffee and tea. One of the waiting areas has been designated as a “quiet room”.

VanHoy said the building is designed so that all the rainwater that hits the roof is collected in large storage tanks in the building. It’s filtered and then used in the onsite carwash. After use in the carwash, the water is recycled.

“Every car that comes in for service gets a complimentary car wash. We also wash our loaner cars and vehicles before a customer takes delivery,” he said.

The Rahal Automotive Group has been in business with Lexus for 28-years and has two other Lexus dealerships–Bobby Rahal Lexus of Mechanicsburg, in Cumberland County; and Bobby Rahal Lexus of Lewistown, in Mifflin County.

“Lexus’ growth model is to grow from existing dealerships,” he explained, “About 25% of the Mechanicsburg dealership’s customers are based in Lancaster County. All of the management staff at the Lancaster dealership came from our Mechanicsburg dealership.”

“We searched for years for real estate around Lancaster County,” VanHoy said, “The majority of the auto dealerships are outside of Lancaster on the Manheim Pike. We did look there, but didn’t find a lot large enough for our needs.”

The West Earl Township site was vacant. It had been targeted by Home Depot for a big box store, but news reports indicated that those plans were dropped in 2008.

“The site is a great location for us. We have visibility, and access, from Route 222 {Route 222’s Brownstown interchange is nearby}. It’s right between Lancaster and the Reading area; there’s no Lexus dealership in the Wyomissing/Reading area. We have service clients at Willow Valley Communities, and it’s an easy drive for them,” VanHoy said.

The Lancaster area had a pool of employees to draw from for staffing the dealership. “We started our search for team members at the end of September-beginning of October. We had a lot of good quality people apply for positions—especially service technicians,” he said.

Bobby Rahal Lexus of Lancaster County employs 35 fulltime and 15 part-time team members. Bobby Rahal Automotive Group was launched in 1989 with former champion racecar driver Bobby Rahal at the helm. The organization has auto dealerships in central and western Pennsylvania.