pringle

Can anyone speak about their experience custom ordering a GS350?

Did the dealer want a deposit? Did you get a good deal; how much below MSRP? At time of delivery, were there new incentives applied to your deal that didn't exist when you ordered it? How long did it take to receive the car?

Thanks!

puckhead85

Pringle welcome to CL!
I special ordered mine. It's a great way of going and you get the car that you want without the things you don't want. I think I got a good deal. Their was no new incentives applied as I wasn't leasing. The dealer did request a deposit. It took about 4 months but I knew that going into it. I ordered in late January got the car mid May which was fine because I didn't want the car anyway till after the winter was over.

pringle

Thanks Puck!

Yea, it seems like my local dealership has different colors, but all the same options on every car. They come with park assist and blind spot monitor, but no power trunk, remote start, or dynamic cruise control.. Annoying.

Did they tell you at the time it was going to be mid May for your delivery?

Thanks!!

BarrettF77

I special ordered mine as well. Worked it out with the dealer that due to another issues they would order without a deposit. Was ordered in February, hit the ground and arrived early April. I think they were able to change another that was already allotted. When it arrived the dealer wanted to play some games and the deals were not good. Work situation was shaky so I said I'd pass for the time and walked. Ended up with a new job and went back few weeks later and the car was still there. Heavy negotiating and they finally got it where I needed to be.

When you order they have the upper hand. Just be sure you have the option to walk with full refund on the deposit should they not be able to make the numbers work for you. It's the only way to do that I feel. Or try and source one from another dealer and then negotiate.

jtrue28

Have you asked them to search their database for the exact car you want? They can also search what is currently being built or scheduled to be built...

puckhead85

Yes they told me it would take about 3-4 months.

pringle

Did you negotiate on a price when it was ordered? And they reneged on that?


Not yet, I am going in for a test drive next week, and I'll talk to them..

BarrettF77

[QUOTE=pringle;8288539]Did you negotiate on a price when it was ordered? And they reneged on that?


I was told I'd get just above invoice. However, when they ran the numbers, I can assure you it wasn't close to it. I think they were banking on me having just bought one car and needing a second car as my wife and I were sharing a ride, it seemed like I was in a hard place. So when I told them I'm backing out it made them do a double take and I did pull back. When I re-approoached them, the games started again and I asked them if they wanted to sell the car as it was what I wanted or did they want it to continue to sit on the lot. That got them on the same page and I continued to refuse to come down until they got me the numbers where they needed to be. There is no reason why I need to drive to a dealer to work out numbers when in this day and age I can do it by email or smart phone. Some finance offices just like to play games.

5thavenue

My experience (so far).

I'm on my 2nd custom order for a 2014 GS.

I emailed a salesman, and as a starting point, I asked him what my company discount would be.
He stated 3% over dealer cost and gave me a sales price based on the car I drove. I thought that it was a great price and it ended up being like a couple hundred dollars over invoice.
I went to the dealership and test drove a GS for the first time with another salesman since I was told that he was the person I should be dealing with since he normally handles my company's sales.
They ordered the 2014 GS that I wanted as soon as the system allowed them to.
They added on around $350 worth of accessories that I didn't want (trunk mat, wheel locks, etc.) and then also added in $400 for heated rear seats which I didn't want. I had to argue with them to take them off and all the while he kept trying to talk me into getting the stuff. I was told that they took off the stuff that I didn't want. I didn't put down any deposit with this new guy since Lexus hadn't put out all of their new pricing on everything yet for the 2014s. I waited for a little over a month and then he started pressuring me for a $1,000 deposit. I asked him for a full quote with my company's discount and he came back with a number that was around $2,000 higher than the original quote I had received from the other salesman. Additionally, he also added another $400 worth of dealer add-ons that I didn't want (pin stripes, door edge guards, etc.). I told him that I didn't want pinstripes or door guards or any of that stuff. He told me that whether or not I got it put on my car I still had to pay for it!?! I don't understand why you would tell a customer that. I was pretty mad so I went looking for another dealer. Within a few days I had found 2 other dealers that gave me what I thought was a fair price for a 2014 so I went with one of them and had them order the car. I talked to the first dealer on the phone and told him that I didn't like his price nor was I about to pay for a bunch of accessories that I didn't want. His manager quickly called and left a voice mail on my phone and acted as if nothing happened and told me that he was simply letting me know that my car would be arriving shortly and he gave me the VIN# and the arrival date. He sent me the latest invoice for the car which still had the accessories I didn't want on there, but more importantly, it still had the $400 heated rear seats that I told them I didn't want like a month earlier! The salesman had sent me an invoice just a few days earlier that didn't have the heated rear seats on it and now magically in the course of a week it does have the heated seats. It seems to me like they were purposely hiding this fact from me and just hoping that I'd pay the $400 once the car came in since I had waiting this long. This dealership seems just as scammy and low down as any other dealership I've worked with.

So far the 2nd dealership has been fine. They put in my order the exact way that I wanted it and I have a $1,000 deposit with them. It has been almost a month since I last spoke to them so I'll probably email them tonight and ask for an update. I hope your experience is a lot better than mine has been. It hasn't been a very good welcome to the "Lexus life".