snackyx

Looking to get an 07 GS350 AWD. I live in west Michigan, and the Lexus dealer here (I have bought two SC's from them) deals very little--no competition. Any experience with midwest dealers who, indeed, DEAL? Will travel to pick the car up if the price is right!

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

The best thing for you is to try Meade Lexus of Southfield or Lexus of Ann Arbor. Both compete with each other. Lexus of Ann Arbor has quite some competition in the area and with the bigger dealer meade lexus of Southfield. Try either one. Lexus of Southfield has a huge selection of GS350 AWD and they have good deals on them. Forget about Lexus of Lansing, too far for competition with these dealerships. Where did you get your cars from? They all will deliver in West Michigan. I live in Bloomfield Hills and I have families in West Michigan with Lexus cars.

snackyx

Rexus: I've been dealing with Harvey Lexus in Grand Rapids, but their selection is small and the prices don't move much. No competition. Any experience with the Chicago area dealers? Some of the postings I have read on these boards are not encouraging.

Faraaz23

I'd highly recommend calling around Chicago dealers. There's 7 or 8 there so there is a lot of competition. I did not even step foot in one...just called around and got the best price from each. Off the bat dealers were taking $3000 or more off MSRP knowing that I was calling around and would not deal bother calling back one who gave me a very high quote. Call Abed at Bredemann Lexus.

EDIT: The above was for an IS250 AWD... I hear the GS's are on short supply so that may also have something to do with what you're hearing from dealers.

Cut-Throat

Not in MInneapolis. I called Chicago - maybe $3K off sticker. Ended up going to N.J. for a $5K discount.

indihawk

Cut-Throat - Let me know who you bought yours from. I live in Denver and there are only two dealerships here. One about 1.5 hours away in CO Springs. The AWD's are in VERY short supply around here and they are moving about $1500 off MSRP and that is it. If it's a good enough deal, I'll buy one and have it shipped out. NJ is a bit too far away to drive.
Thanks for your help!

Jace7

First of all there are 4 main dealerships and about 6 others.
There are plenty of them that have 350's.

There is Kuni, I bought my GX from them, but will never return. idiots.
There is Stevinson Lakewood, there ok.
There is Stevinson, Frederick, I bought there, and they are awesome. Every single person knows me by my first name and is always polite and helpful.
There are about 4 in Colorado Springs, and there is one in Fort Collins.

Just look around. Don't buy from some place just to save a few hundred dollars. Buy from someone/someplace that is polite, intelligent, respectful, and a nice dealership.
Honestly Frederick is the best I feel. It's brand new, heated drive and nice features. Very classy. Plus the people are more on the friends line, than just a lame car salesperson.
Make your own decision.

Cut-Throat

I contacted Lexus Dealerships in about 10 states including Colorado. All had better deals than Minneapolis. N.J. was the best - I bought mine at Ray Catena Lexus. Flew out - Drove Home.

twister

Go Ray Catena!!! I live 10 minutes away from them They have 2 Lexus dealership here in Jersey, 30 minutes away from each other. No competition, of course. And than, you have to drive for more than an hour (if not two) to get to the next closest Lexus dealership.

indihawk

Thanks for all the tips. I bought my '05 from Stevinson - Lakewood when the Women's US Open was in town. They had tons of vehicles and really wanted to deal. Just seems every place I have called only has one or two on the lot and they won't deal at all. I'll keep checking around. I am patient and will wait for the best option.
Thanks again.

Modeler

What is it about the New York area that leads to low prices at the dealerships? I bought my Acura TL at a dealership in New Jersey three years ago, when local dealerships wouldn't budge from MSRP. I saved over $1,700 by spending $100 and a few hours on a train ride and a drive back to Northern Virginia.

I just bought my GS 450h from a dealership in Long Island, NY - Rallye Lexus - for $300 under invoice, which is about $5K below the best price I can get anywhere in the 50-mile radius from where I live. And it's not like there isn't enough competition here - there are 7 dealerships within 50 miles from my zip code.

Whenever I shop for a new car now, my gaze always turns north - to New Jersey and New York. I wonder if people in New Jersey and New York get great deals there, or if it's only for out-of-staters...

Jace7

Modeler.. .what options did you get on the 450h?

twister

Good question, Modeler. IMHO opinion and based on the experience dealing with RC here in NJ, you will get a MUCH better deal negotiating the price with their internet sales through e-mail rather than in person. When you are willing to travel from out of state, they know you will be calling not just dealerships in 50 mile radius but in 4-5 state radius. When you live locally, they got you by the ***** when you come to their showroom and start price negotiation. Every dealership has two goals, to make max profit from every sale and to increase the number of sales to look good infront of Corporate Lexus (perks of getting better selection in the future or rare options/colors). So they will probably make more profit off the local sales and bump their sales number up with out-of-state, perhaps? I'm also not sure how the whole tax and registration works when you are out of state, and if there are any benefits for that?

In my case, back in July when I bought my ES350, dealership "took" advantage of me where I probably overpaid around $1.5k (based on deals I learned off on East Coast). Than later, after 2 failed trannies and Lexus Corporate buyback, I got into GS350AWD for $500 below invoice because RC wanted to make it right by me. I'm sure if I would walk in from the street without previous ES350 experience, they might of taken me for a ride with a price... BTW, you got a great deal on your GS450h. Was it a special order for you, or did you get one off the lot? That also makes a difference, since with a special order dealership gets to keep every penny of holdback and you get 2% of negotiation margin

Modeler

It's a silver car with black interior that came with Navi, Mark Levinson system, lip spoiler, run-flat tires WITH a spare, and proffered accessories kit. I got the dealer to install XM radio receiver and that was that.

I would've rather it didn't have the run-flats, but at least the spare is there, and I will likely replace the tires with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. The run flats are way too stiff and trigger the darn windshield creak too often.

Modeler

It was in stock and one of two cars the dealer posted on E-bay Motors. It had 500 miles on it, but I later found out that they had another silver one in stock that they're willing to let go for the same price.