codex57

Say you special order a car. You're not bound to that car right?

Do you negotiate price when it comes in? Like say there's very little discount now, but by the time the car comes in, dealers are offering a lot more off. Can you negotiate for that better deal?

What if the exact car you want comes in well before your car is ready. Are you obligated to the special ordered car? Or can you get the dealer to trade for that earlier one?

TimboIS

Not obligated to that car. You can cancel at any time.

Yes. You can set a price now if you want, but why would you. Prices rarely go UP

If it's the exact same car, then it's likey YOUR car. And the dealer will sell it to you. Why would they make you wait?

codex57

Cuz it's not the special ordered one that has an order number and everything.

I'm trying to put a special order in, but one of the holdups is that the ultimate decision maker is hesitant cuz she's afraid the exact car she wants might come in before the special order one does and wants to know what would happen in that situation. Fat chance of that happening but I still need to get the other questions answered so she'll give me the ok to put the special order in.

jlin101

salesman already has access to the upcoming shipments and knows what cars are coming in--so it's unlikely another one of the same is coming to this specific dealer, unless they make an effort to trade with another dealer. But in the rare event the same car shows up early, they will sell it to you (dealers are more interested in FINISHED sales than pending deals). Lexus is pretty lax in terms of your obligation to buy the ordered car (customer satisfaction is job 1), esp since they will have little problem selling the IS's (my salesman didn't even ask for a deposit; instead, he called me to tell me "my" car had arrived (not special ordered, but traded with a dealer in another region). Since you already show much interest by special ordering, it's unlikely you will be able to bargain with the dealer for a lower price after the fact. They may be willing to throw in little things like tinting, rubber mats, license frames, etc.

dennis250

This is my thinking as well. The dealer is going to call your bluff because at this point they know you really want the car. Especially after waiting for it! And if you walk out of spite, they'll just turn around and sell it to someone else pretty easily.

kensteele

you are not bound to any car unless you sign your name and you don't sign your name until you drive away with the car. up until then, anything goes. even if you put down a deposit, with lexus you should be able to apply that deposit to any lexus vehicle.

you should know it works both ways, if you are not bound to that car, then the car is not bound to you (meaning if you look the other way, the dealer can sell it to someone else admist your price negotiation).

jlin101

the only way to get a good deal, other than being a Toyota employee, is to get a car that's been sitting on the lot, or wait until supply exceeds demand (I suspect demand may drop after the new G35 is introduced next spring).

codex57

It's really more about getting the car in those specific options/colors than the best price. Worst case scenario is full retail price. For the color combo/options we want, I doubt any dealer would have trouble selling the car we are gonna order.

Still, for the ultimate decision maker's peace of mind, she wants to know in case of some miracle, that particular car came in early, if she could dump the special order and get it.

As of right now, we know it doesn't exist in the Dec/January shipments. But, we don't konw if it'll come in Feb/March. I highly doubt it, but she still wants an out in case it does. Thanks for your responses guys.