LexusIS350

I was at Longo Lexus in Southern California and the special order of my new IS350 will take 4-6 months. Needless to say, I didn't place an order with them.

GreyHound

iTrader: (1)

Well, back here in ole' Virginia we have to drive to Winston Salem North Carolina to the nearest Lexus. Drove a IS350 on Wednesday at a open house debut night for the IS350. We told the Mercedes dealer on Thursday that we were not interested in the C-class C-350 anymore. Then on Friday called them to say were were driving down to look at the IS350 again, listen to our CD's in the car and just sit in it a while. So after about 3 hours we ordered 'Johnny Cash ' ($500 down), its all they wanted.

Supposedly (as we were told) that gets us moved to the head of the line of ordered IS350's. (probably BS) Then in approx 3 to 4 months 'Johnny Cash' is supposed to be at the Lexus shop in Winston getting a spoiler. I told them to put the shop manuals in the back seat too. The looked at me funny when I said I wanted shop manuals. The sealed transmission thing almost stopped me from buying. Crazy not having a dipstick. I'll tell you one thing, that Transmission-fluid will be changed way before 80k, that's for sure!!

You boys over there in Tenn. may want to drive to Winston Salem, NC, they had 10 IS350's and a like number of IS 250's. But they were the hottest things on the lot , most had sold stickers by the time we left Saturday. You couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a GS. I drove one with the V8, very smooth !! The GS in Black helped us decide on the IS350 in Black .

I will be calling them tomorrow to see if they got it ordered today. All this talk about packages and ordering, problems has me scared now. Our sales "Consultant" was helpful and was more than happy to take or order. We needed to not take delivery until after the 1st of the year to avoid property taxes here in the 'Peoples Republic of Virginia'. Then I won't have to pay until 2007. 3 to 4 months is fine then. Can't drive the IS here in the snow anyhow, yes it snowed here today !
Good information up here, I'll watch these guys at the dealer like a hawk then.

kensteele

What's the difference between $500 and $4,000 deposit? It should be all the same to the dealership since 1) they get all your money in the end and 2) if for some reason you don't buy the car, they have to give you your money back. If it's the interest, they make out on the interest a few dollars and you lose a few dollars by letting them have such a large sum of money but honestly I can't see how a few more thousand dollars would modify their behavior as an incentive to do any thing more than they can for you. If I could get my car to materialize tomorrow by paying for it in full today, I would. But if I gave them $45k right now, I'm still not going to get my car any sooner. Sad, but true.

And for me, if I have to special order, 2 months is not different than 4 months. I think I might have a better shot at getting a discount after 4 months than 2 months. I'd rather pickup a new car in March than in January, I can't imagine why I would need a new car in my possession during Dec, Jan, and Feb if I can't get it in Nov.

Either way, I think I'm going to have to go the special order route so this thread is of interest to me. Thanks for all the info.

vwong

My dealer told me 4 months as well.

I was hoping to have the car before Christmas. It looks like I won't have it till end of February.

mikekao

This is ridiculous, my dealership can't even get me a straight answer. My salesman told me 2 months, another one told me more like 4 months... I call them up a 3rd time, and now they are 'not sure'.... I'm real close to canceling the order

TimboIS

The last answer sounds about right. I don't think any dealer can say with any certainty at this point. Not even Lexus corp.

LexBlazer

Talked to my dealer today in Portland, OR and he said thier special order was pretty much reserving what was in allocation or coming in. Should I talk to the district manager? Does anyone know if I can special order a standard IS250 in my colors with no other packages or options? He told me that all IS will come in with at least the Premium Pkg in RWD.

TimboIS

Best to just go to another dealer. You should be able to place a special oder with the exact option packages and colors you want (provided they are valid combinations). I doubt you'd find or even order a car without at least one package (at the very least Premium Package, I doubt you could get a veicle less equped than that).

MR LEX

If you have to wait until next year for the '06 BTO models then you might as well wait and get an 07! Perhaps they will have ALL the options available by then

Lex

spwolf

although I did hear that MY 2008 is going to be awesome!

TimboIS

And if they don't have all the options available, you've wasted ANOTHER year. Just Order.

knox_sport

This is total crap. The dealer just wants to sell you what he's got on the lot or what's coming in. Here in Knoxville, Tennessee I've yet to see a new IS with the premium package. Every car has been stripped except for 18" wheels.

Just because it comes from a salesman's mouth doesn't mean it's the truth. Quite the contrary, it should make you all the more suspicious if you even have a twinge it's not correct.

You can order the exact car you want. He just doesn't want to fool with it or only wants a quicker sale than ordering would allow. Go elsewhere or talk to his boss! The world has shrunk now that you can deal with dealers across the country via phone and email. Happy hunting!

LexBlazer

Thanks Knox,
I just talked to a fellow Club Lexus member who special order from the same dealership I talked to and they were able to special order one to thier liking. Same dealer, two different stories. Tells you you can't trust anyone. I may have to talk to the guy or just look somewhere else.

MR LEX

LOL...I can't wait for the 2010 model myself

Lex

FE9000

I am in SoCal. I have talked to several dealers to see if special order is possible. Here is what I want to get; IS250 6 Speed Manual, Nav + ML + Sports Package, Crystal White with Black Leather. Tustin Lexus - NO ( Flat out told me no as special order came with too much RISK, I was like WHAT DA ), Cerritos Lexus - NO, Lexus of MV - Don't know (I was told they will call me back after confirmation NO CALLS BACK), Lexus of Westminster - Don't know (I was told they will call me back after confirmation NO CALLS BACK), Longo Lexus - YES, car should get here in 8 - 12 weeks in Jan. I placed my order with Longo last week. Now after reading the postings, I will check with Longo tomorrow to make sure. Is this what you guys running into also? Any feedback would be great! Thanks AC.