jasone36

Friends,

I am a long-time Lexus owner, now looking to negotiate a lease my first ES.

I see that the advertised "base" ES350 runs for $38,900 according to the Lexus website.

I am wondering, what is actually included in a "base" ES in 2016/2017?

Is it even possible to get a "base" ES?

Every Lexus dealer I call in the NY area is trying hard to upsell me into a "premium" model... and I just need a basic daily driver at absolute minimum cost

Any insight on the base ES would be very much appreciated.

I hope to join this forum soon

Thank you.

Brent1944

ck Edmunds or kelly Blue Book... or Lexus site.. It should show standard equipment

jollick

From the Lexus web site:
2017 ES350 standard equipment
SMARTACCESS*
DRIVE MODE SELECT
POWER MOONROOF
LEXUS DISPLAY AUDIO WITH COLOR MULTIMEDIA DISPLAY
BACKUP CAMERA*
HD RADIO™* WITH iTunes®* TAGGING
BLUETOOTH® TECHNOLOGY*
USB SMARTPHONE CONNECTIVITY
COLOR LCD MULTI-INFORMATION DISPLAY WITH METER LINK
DUAL-ZONE CLIMATE CONTROL
PERFORATED NULUXE INTERIOR TRIM
POWER FRONT SEATS
10-AIRBAG SYSTEM*
LED DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS (DRL)
VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL*
SUBSCRIPTION-FREE TRAFFIC AND WEATHER*
HD RADIO™* WITH iTunes®* TAGGING
LEXUS ENFORM SAFETY CONNECT*
LEXUS ENFORM SERVICE CONNECT*
LEXUS ENFORM REMOTE*

Brent1944

lol...wonder why it says I Tunes Tagging twice?....and while i do NOT have an I Phone.... what is This?Is Are there things one can do on this car with an I phone that you cant do with an android?

lesz

While it is theoretically possible to get a true "base" ES as described in Jollick's post, I would suspect that you would have a difficult time actually finding one with no optional packages or other options at all. When I've walked through the lots at Lexus dealers, about the most basic ES vehicles that I've seen still had a MSRP in the range of $42,000, which means that they have at least a few options.

I'm also not sure that I accept the wisdom in buying an ES with no options at all. I would suspect that a dealer would not even have any interest in special ordering such a vehicle for a lease because the dealer would know that, at the end of the lease, the re-sale value of that base ES would be considerably lower than that of a well-equipped or very well-equipped ES. The reason is that buyers in the market for a used ES want optional and luxury features, and many used car buyers would choose a nicely equipped Toyota or Honda over a bare bones ES for the same money.

If I was considering buying or leasing a bare bones ES, I think would likely rather spend the same money to buy or lease more nicely-equipped Avalon or Camry, either of which would retain more value at trade-in or end-of-lease time, as well as having more features to enjoy during the period of the lease or ownership.

Brent1944

True.. They include options that most people want and buy......

bostonsnow

If a song comes up on a radio station that you like, there is an option on the screen that you can click to "tag" and then later can pull that song up on ITunes later and buy it (assuming you have your iPhone bluetooth connected to the car, of course). I have tagged one or two songs but never got around to buying them on itunes later.... Your post just reminded me.

Ratchey

My dealer had several bare bones ES350s under 40K, so they are around.

jasone36

I appreciate all the responses.

Indeed, I did find a few "base" ES350's around, with an MSRP of right around $40,000.

However, the dealers are doing all kinds of shenanigans with the money factor and such on the lease offer... making the monthly lease payments for a base ES350 on the range of $650 with tax... pretty crazy, it seems.

bostonsnow

in theory any configuration can be leased. But how much discount you can get will vary on a number of things.
I now repeatedly buy our cars, have'nt leased since the mid 90s. Part of the reason is fighting over the shenanigans as you mention.
If I were going to lease another lexus rather than buy, I think that what I would do is wait for one of the advertised special leases (such as those that will show up on lexus.com) and go with that deal. THose deals include whatever cash incentive Lexus is providing into the leases, and preferred money factor rates (so usually you need to have good credit to qualify). However, the level of car they promote are mid-range with a fair amount of options, not base (they want these cars to have Nav and some popular options so that they can give you a good residual value). Then, by going for one of these leases, it is reasonably "haggle free"

Brent1944

Lease..... to me...... is a loss anyway u look at at...

gmanusmc

What you describe sounds beyond shenanigans - we leased our lux pkg, $47k msrp, 36/10, $1k at signing, for $425/mo incl tax. Ask for a detailed breakdown of the figures - with good credit, it seems like you should be a good bit below $400 a month on that car.

gmanusmc

Leasing doesn't work for everyone - for some it's business related - for some it's a matter of convenience.

Be that as it may, that's not what the OP is asking.

lesz

I'll bet that you would be offered better lease terms, relatively speaking, on a more nicely-equipped ES than what you are being offered on a bare-bones ES. My guess is that the dealer has minimal interest in doing a lease on the bare-bones ES. They don't want that bare-bones ES back on their lot at the end of the lease because they know that there is much less demand for a bare-bones used ES. Since they know that it is likely that such a vehicle will sit on the lot for an extended period of time and that they will have to discount it heavily or possibly even have to sell it a auction, they are likely factoring that into the offer being made to you for the lease.

On the other hand, they know that there will be, at the end of your lease, much higher demand for a used ES, say, with the luxury package, navigation, and other popular options. Since they would welcome such a vehicle back on their lot at the lease end, they will be more likely to offer better lease terms to you now.

gmanusmc

Your theory sounds logical lesz but from what I understand as it was explained to me, the dealer grounds the lease return for the customer and then has 24 hours to come to terms and "buy" the vehicle from Lexus Finance if they want it - otherwise, it goes to auction. Additionally, the vehicle doesn't necessarily have to be returned to the original leasing dealer - that's what we did this time - turned our 2014 IS350 in at the dealer we leased our ES from which was not the dealer we leased the IS from.