Twenty years in any business is quite the accomplishment these days, but this is especially true in the ultra-competitive and fast-paced world of luxury automotive sales. When brothers Hamid and Sy Salari first began Luxor Auto Group in 1992 Chrysler still owned Lamborghini and customizing your car meant adding a racing stripe on the side. These days any independently owned dealership looking to thrive has to not only be able to sell a client the vehicles of their dreams, but also personalize those cars to mirror the client’s individual personality as well.
As part of Luxor’s celebration, Hamid, Sy, and company are inviting guests to attend festivities scheduled from 7 P.M. to 10 P.M. on April 28th at Luxor’s flagship Scottsdale location. This location boasts a full service luxury automotive dealership with on-site sales, financing, service, and customization facilities to boot. Tickets for the Luxor Twentieth Anniversary Celebration are available through personal invitation or for purchase to the general public through luxor20.tunestub.com with all proceeds benefitting the Angels for Kids Foundation of the Boys and Girls Club Scottsdale and an after-party at the W Hotel in Scottsdale to follow. Guests even have the chance to enter a raffle in order to win the first prize which is a custom made Maserati or the second prize which involves an exotic car rental for a weekend.
“We’re going to transform the whole look of the dealership to South Beach chic,” explains Sy, Luxor CEO. “From Scottsdale Road, you’ll see white drapes hung, elaborate cabanas, a fashion show runway as well as live bands and djs performing.” “It’s going to be an elegant, red-carpet event that’s open to the public,” adds Hamid, Luxor President. “Our main focus is to raise as much money as possible for Angels for Kids, Boys & Girls Club while showing our appreciation to the community for our 20 years in business.”
Two Luxor Locations, One Underlying Philosophy: Complete Client Satisfaction
Those looking to peruse the selection of Luxor vehicles can find the Scottsdale location at 3220 N. Scottsdale Road, just north of Thomas Road, and the Mesa store at 909 W. Main St., east of Alma School Road. Luxor clients can choose any car with the confidence that each must pass a rigorous 85-point inspection In order to qualify for Luxor’s three month/3,000-mile warranty and 10-day vehicle exchange program.
“Generally, our Mesa store sells entry-level luxury cars and sports cars, and our Scottsdale location sells upper-level luxury vehicles and exotic vehicles,” says Sy. If you step onto either Luxor location and see a car that takes your breath away then you’ve usually got Sy’s artistic eye for luxury vehicle customization to thank. Even the denizens of the automotive customization capitol of the world, Los Angeles, have taken note. “We’ve been looking into expanding our custom division in the Los Angeles/Beverly Hills area. There we would only be offering our uniquely customized exotic vehicles.” notes Sy when pressed further to explain the allure of Luxor customized vehicles among Angeleno clientele.
Luxor truly functions as a family-run business from the ground up as Hamid handles the necessary financial aspects of the business, sister Sahar functions as the company’s office manager in charge of accounting, and even Sahar’s husband Farhad works as the general manager of the Luxor Mesa location.
“This is a family-owned company, but we run it very tightly, like a franchise with many departments and weekly managers’ meetings,” Sy explains. “It’s family, yes, but it’s not mom and pop. Our organization is very corporate and structured.”
Valley citizens might recall Luxor’s first incarnation at a corner location in south Scottsdale in 1992 that displayed about nine cars. Rising public demand meant Luxor had to move to the larger two-acre Mesa location in 1997. Luxor’s flagship Scottsdale store was opened in 2004 to meet greater demand.
Upon acquisition of the Luxor Scottsdale location Hamid and Sy demonstrated Luxor’s commitment to the community by expending a great amount of funds to the modernization of the facilities. Although the 3220 North Scottsdale Road building had a long and celebrated spot in Valley history as the home of various dealerships including Linda Brock BMW, Chapman BMW and others, it was in desperate need of revitalization.
An American Success Story
Much like many other uniquely American success stories, this one began with two brothers leaving home to chase the American dream. Hamid was the first to come to America in 1986 and Sy followed about a year later.
“I had a friend here in Mesa, so the area was a natural place for me to begin a life and a business,” says Hamid, who worked hard to receive an engineering degree from Arizona State University in Tempe.
Before Hamid and Sy could entertain any thoughts of selling Ferraris or Bentleys they had a very different clientele. “We had an ice cream truck, you know, one of those independent ones that go from street to street,” Hamid explains. “We started from, how do you say, our boots straps. We’ve worked from nothing — as many as 18 hours a day when we were starting.”
After Hamid was involved in a motorcycle accident he couldn’t deal with the rigors of the ice-cream business anymore and began selling cars instead. Hamid convinced his brother Sy, who at the time was detailing cars, that it was more rewarding to sell cars than wash them. After a bit of cajoling Sy was convinced, the brothers Salari received their business license in 1992, and twenty years later the rest is Luxor history.
“When everything fell apart economically in 2008, we were able to maintain the business and do well because we have a really good repeat customer base,” Hamid states confidently when asked the secret to Luxor’s success. The names of some of Luxor’s repeat customers reads like the subjects of a SportsCenter broadcast and includes athletes Manny Ramirez, Tim Linsecum, Beanie Wells, Ben Patrick and others too numerous to list. But whether you’re a millionaire professional athlete or a regular Joe like the rest of us the one thing that has kept people coming back is the Luxor Experience and focus on client satisfaction.
The professional athletes who return do so not only for Luxor’s exceptional values but also for the unique customization services available and the creative input of Sy Salari himself. “Our specialty is making a car look unique, what nobody else has,” Sy says when asked why professional athletes and other affluent customers continue to return to Luxor year after year. Although Sy is extremely humble when receiving praise, make no mistake about it, he possesses the artistic eye necessary to skirt the line between an elegant automotive statement and a tacky, car cliché.
Under Sy’s skillful direction Luxor provides a variety of services including the installation of exotic wheels, body kits, performance chassis modifications, paint wrapping, powder coating, custom paint jobs, LED lights, audio/video upgrades, custom interiors, and any other services necessary to bring a client’s automotive fantasy to life.
“When you buy a car from us, you don’t have to worry about doing anything else to it anywhere else,” Sy says. “I have a vision for taking a car in and making it custom so that it doesn’t appear gaudy or overdone. When we finish it, it’s one off but it’s proper and elegant. That’s why we have so many famous people coming here because of that reputation.”
“We have worked hard and we have enjoyed the profits of our work,” Hamid adds. “It has not been easy but we didn’t expect easy. We knew the road would be challenging with lots of curves and lots of hours.”
When stepping onto Luxor Auto Group’s property, either for the Luxor Twentieth Anniversary Celebration on April 28th or otherwise, it is obvious that Luxor Auto Group is the embodiment of the American dream for one family and a symbol of excellence, passion, and elegance for others. Here is hoping that the next twenty years see Luxor continuing these traditions, just know that Hamid and Sy wouldn’t have it any other way.
LuXor Auto Group — www.luxorauto.com, 480.994.3331
