Langdell

Does anyone out there have any information on how trades between Lexus dealerships work? And advice on the best way to get a dealer to pursue such a trade? (AsianGirl007, are you out there?)

Here's the situation: I have placed a special order for an IS350 with my preferred color/option combo with my local dealer. The order was placed 2 weeks ago, and I was told to expect a 3-4 month wait. Meanwhile, through some independent inquiries, I have found a dealer in another city who is expecting a close-enough IS350 to arrive in the next 2-3 weeks.

I called up my local salesman and mentioned that I had another dealer telling me that they had a car that suited me coming in soon (though I did not know the specific 2-3 week timeframe when I called). He said nothing could be done to hurry the process of getting my special order and that all the IS350's they have coming in are already sold, so the only way I could get one faster from them is if, by some chance, someone rejects an order for one similar to what I want. He also said that dealers just weren't trading the IS350's at all because they are in such demand. I believe that the cars are in demand; I'm not sure I believe that this means the dealers will never do trades.

My dilemma is this: On the one hand, waiting is driving me nuts, and I am strongly inclined to just give my business to the first dealer who can come through with what I want. On the other hand, I would be much more comfortable buying my car from the local dealer (only one in town) that I will depend on for years to come for service and support. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with them. Since they are the only game in town for Lexus-authorized service, no competitive forces prevent them from holding a grudge. Plus it's just a lot more convenient--and a much more fun, relaxed experience--for me to take delivery from the dealer that is right down the road from my office. (And to chew them out if anything is less than perfect with the car.)

The ideal solution would be for my local dealer to do a trade with the out-of-town dealer for the incoming IS350. I want to call my salesman back and push him to pursue this option. But I have no real idea how these things work or if there's any truth to his line about how no one is trading the IS350's. If anyone has info. or advice on this, please help!

JSK97VMI

The dealer I got mine from was in WV and he traded for the one that I wanted which was available in NH. Once he located it, they had it shipped on a flatbed truck within a week. The dealer told me that they would just have to give one of their future allocations to the dealership in NH. All of this was done with no extra costs. I believe as long as the two dealerships are in the same region, they can swap.

vp911

I am sure they paid for transporting the car from the other dealer but did not pass on the cost to you. But, yes, basically the dealer which has the car has to be willing to take another car or a future allocation. This is how the Acura dealer here explained it to me - and I would assume it works the same with all dealers.

jlin101

the trade works like this: since each dealership is allocated a certain number of cars each year, no one is going to give up a hot-selling model without an incentive. Dealer A gives Dealer B a vehicle in exchange for another. My dealer in Tulsa got my IS350 from the dealer in Chicago, in return for a IS250 AWD(which is presumably more desirable in the snowy Illinois). If both dealerships are in the same region and the vehicles have not arrived at the dealerships, they can trade at the port level (have the car delivered directly from port); otherwise, someone will have to pay for the trucking cost (gets passed to the buyer eventually). As far as your concern about getting service for a car bought elsewhere, don't worry about it. The service dept doens't really car where the vehicle was purchased--they get paid for the service either way. Unless problems occur shortly after purchase, people don't talk to the salesman about car problems anyway--just take it to the service manager.

Bichon

At my dealer, only customers that bought their cars at the dealership get Lexus loaner cars. Those that didn't get directed to an Enterprise car rental agent that sets up on site. I overheard a customer arguing with a service advisor about this last time I had my car in, so obviously it is enforced. If getting a Lexus loaner is important to you, check with your local dealer on their policies.

Tony1

Why don't you just get your deposit back from that dealer and take a trip
to the other one and buy it directly from them?... If you dont want to drive
the car back a long distance, just have it flat beded...

Langdell

Thanks to all for your input! If anyone's interested, here is how things have played out. I called my local salesman to see if he could work out a trade. He said no-can-do.

Meanwhile, I had called and spoken with the local service manager, who assured me that his department treated all customers equally and that my salesman was not being truthful when he suggested that I would not get perks like free loaner cars and car washes if I did not buy from them. So, I called up the out-of-town dealer and put down a deposit with them to reserve the car they are supposed to have coming in by the middle of February.

Ultimately, this is a business transaction, and whoever can get me the car I want first gets my business. And the dishonesty about the service department makes it easier for me to decide to walk away. (Though I will keep my special order in place until I have my new car in hand.) I will likely have to forfeit the deposit on the special order, but it will save me more money to get the car faster because I'm currently driving a rental car.

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

Langdell, it's possible for dealers to reserve incoming cars in the computer system which would state it as presold so they won't get 10 pesky phone calls from other dealers wanting to trade. This is common among "hot" models. However, if your salesman didn't even bat an eyelash to say, no trade is possible, that tells me he didn't even TRY contacting other dealer and that bothers me. Even if the car doesn't show up in inventory most dealers will blindly call other dealers they have a good trade relationship with to ask. Doesn't hurt to ask right?
I would have asked the sales manager to check on the trade and provided him the info and I would've asked for another salesperson. In any case, you did the right thing in the end by checking with service department about loaner cars. And it's true most service departments don't care where you bought your car, they are just a happy to have your business. Service, parts, and sales all operate seperately.

May I suggest you get a confirmation from new dealership (in case you haven't yet).

Get the vin #!

This will confirm that car is yours and you're not on another long unknown blind waiting list as I have seen some other members on.

Good job and post some pis when your get the car.

Langdell

When I talked to my local service manager, he did say something that sounded something like this. I think the way he was explaining it is that I could still get a Lexus loaner car but the local buyers would have preference, and I would have to take a non-Lexus rental car if none were available. Which is fine with me. When my car's in the shop, all I need is basic transportation. In fact, I prefer not to get accustomed to a car that might be nicer than my own.

Langdell

Thanks for the info. and advice, AsianGirl! Yes, it also bothered me that my local salesman did not even really try hard at all to do the trade. He did not call the out-of-town dealership--even though I told him the specific one in question--and went only by what was showing up on the computer inventory. And supposedly he brought the sales manager into this process (I don't know if that's true or not, but he told me he did).

Anyway, I just decided that if he wasn't going to try any harder than that to keep my business, I will take it elsewhere. If nothing else, it will give me a good long-distance drive home to break the new car in.