k67p67

Sorry if this has been covered. I searched "HID" and got over 500 hits. I'm ready to buy an IS350 but am not interested in any of the package offerings except the HID. It seems you can't get HID without a navigation package in CA. I asked the sales mgr. if I could purchase OEM HID and pay the dealership to install and he said no. Has anyone done this? I'm not interested in retrofitting. Thanks.

jlin101

the short answer is no--the oem HID units are more than just headlight assembly; they include load sensors on the suspension and steering rack for the auto-leveling and adaptive lighting features. Even if it's technically possible, the cost would be prohibitive. You have to choose between buying Luxury or Sports package, or go with retrofit kits (which only give you HID lighting without bixenon, autoleveling or adaptive lighting). The OEM HID is worth every penny.

IS0LD0UT

iTrader: (1)

spend the $$ on HID, you wont regret it.

Cypren

You can look at purchasing the car in another state, too -- in Central region, it's possible to get the Luxury package (including the HID and adaptive front lighting system) without purchasing the nav package. It's still far more expensive than just installing your own aftermarket HID lights, though, since the Luxury package includes the memory system and other such perks.

IMHO, both the luxury and nav packages are worth every penny, but if I had to choose, I'd take the nav over almost everything else. I've never used such a well-integrated onboard computer system.

Cypren

I'm probably mixing up the regions, then. I looked all over the country when I was buying my IS350, and I know that at least one of the regions I looked at had a luxury package without nav as a standard shipping configuration to dealerships in the region. (This of course does not mean they're easy to come by -- luxury package is supposedly available in California, but is extremely rare -- but that it is a "standard" configuration.)

jlin101

NAV does not include HID.

k67p67

Thanks for the replies. In CA, you can't get HID w/o a package including Nav. and not w/o spending at least $7K on that pkg. I've tried looking in other regions to see if Lexus packages the Sport or Luxury packages without a bunch of unwanted "additional options". Haven't found a region yet. Even if I were able to purchase the car out of state, would there be an issue with CA emissions?

jlin101

then my advice is to wait until this initial frenzy is over--I am sure you can get exactly what you want in a few months.

Cypren

I just went back and looked again, and I can't find any packages that include the HIDs without the nav, either. I think I must have been hallucinating when I made my earlier comment, and for that, I sincerely apologize.

If you haven't test driven an IS with the nav system, I'd highly recommend you do so before setting your mind against it, by the way. The whole integrated electronics package is really one of the shining bright points of the car that set it above the 3-series, and in the long run, more than worth the extra cash up front, I think.

Regarding California emissions -- you don't need to worry about that. All 2006 IS models significantly exceed California emissions requirements in all of their US configurations, and are legal to import into the state no matter where you made the purchase. (It is not a so-called "49 state vehicle", which is legal for sale everywhere BUT California.) You will need to deal with some extra paperwork (or find an out-of-state dealer who will do the paperwork for you) to account for California taxes and licensing fees if you go that route, however.

No matter where you buy, you will pay at *least* the same tax/license fees as you would if you bought the car in California, unless you wait 1 year from the purchase date before bringing it into the state. You'll pay sales tax to the state where you bought the car, then have to pay California's "use tax" -- 7.75%, the same as sales tax -- but receive a credit for whatever amount you paid to the other state. So as long as you purchase in a state with less than or equal to a 7.75% sales tax rate, you wind up paying the same amount. If it's more -- and there aren't many of those -- then you'll wind up paying the other state's higher tax rate, but not be liable for anything but registration and title fees in California. The CA DMV has more details on purchasing a car out of state.