ShooExpert

What have people been able to get off of MSRP for a car that is special ordered? Since those cars are not on the lot there really is very little incentive for dealers to give a price break, but has anyone been able to get anything for an ordered car yet?

imageWIS

My follow up would be, if dealers do not have cars on their lots, and you are forced to special order, can you negotiate, since it is not your fault they do not have any cars on the lot?

Jon.

skingsland

Generally, no. 250s are being discounted. 350s on the lot are rarely being discounted. But special ordered 350s? Not much chance right now. HOWEVER, I think that's changing (or about to change)...

I've been working with a couple dealers in my area to setup a special order, and recently got a call from a third. I told them -- Hey, I'm gonna pay the same price (MSRP) no matter where I order, so why should I order through you when I've already got 2 dealerships to choose from that have been helping me for some time now. So they offered to take about a grand off, if I'd come in and place my order with them.

Someone posted the difference (including dealer holdback) between MSRP and invoice on a nicely loaded IS 350, and I wanna say it was like $5K+ of dealer profit. Chances are, SOMEONE within 500 miles of you wants to sell these badly enough that they'll sacrifice SOME of that ~$5K. The trick is just finding that dealership...

skynite

I ordered my car with the pretense that the price will be negotiated when the car arrives. My salesman put a ? on the price field on the order sheet. I figure by the time it gets in, sometime in February or March, I should be able to get close to invoice. I’m going to negotiate with a mindset that if I don't get my price, I walk. I came to the realization that the car I ordered is definitely not worth $48K out the order. Invoice is almost $6000 cheaper. I might be willing to go $1k over invoice but no more then that. They can cancel or sell my ordered car to anyone else if they don’t want to give it to me. Plus, they can’t touch my deposit because we didn’t agree on a price.

Don’t pay MSRP people, this car will loose 15K in value in the first 1 – 2 years.

imageWIS

It will lose that much? I thought Lexus traditionally has a high resale value.

Jon.

jlin101

good luck--at this time dealers are having trouble getting enough 350's, esp loaded ones like yours, to sell. There are plenty of people with banging down the door with cash in their hand, looking for ML. Unless Lexus suddently produces boat loads of fully optioned IS's and demand drops off suddenly (currently selling at 110% of projected volume), I will be surprised you get anywhere near the invoice. They could care less for your deposit.

lexusboi

Source please?

artie00

Skynite, what dealership in CA did you go to to do this? . I agree with what you're saying. I have no problem waiting for prices to drop. No way am I paying for MSRP.

jlin101

Not wanting to pay MSRP is one thing, not wanting to pay more than $1k over invoice on a $40k luxury car is another. That's 2.5% profit to be split between the dealer, manager and salesman. Even waiters get 15-20% tips nowadays (I'm not suggesting that's what the dealership should make, but 2.5% is a bit low for a brand new, hot-selling model). If you can squeeze that out of the salesman, more power to you.

imageWIS

You know a lot of waiters making $1000 tips?

Jon.

maz

Good. After you were offered a grand off you should have called the other dealerships and told them the same thing. You gotta make them compete for your business.

skingsland

Already done. Just waiting to hear if my friend Bernie can match...

jlin101

I don't eat $40k meals. But if you ate a $1000 meal, and tipped $25, I don't think you would get good service the next time.

imageWIS

I understand where you are going with this, but in reality, a waiter at a restaurant works in worse conditions / for less pay / with worse treatment from customers than car salespeople do. Compared to waiters, car salespeople have it made (for an occupation that is not a professional one, i.e. does not require degree).

Jon.

jlin101

it's true that it's not buyer's fault that the dealer doesn't have the car you want on the lot, but is it really the dealer's fault, and thus entitles the buyer a bigger discount? If you go to WalMart to buy an item and it's out of stock, the most you get is a rain check and an apology, not a discount. In reality, there is more incentive for merchants to give discount for goods already on the shelf and paid for.