Question about long-distance buying
12-08-13, 09:22 PM
#1
Driver
Thread Starter
Question about long-distance buying
Hey guys.... thanks for all the informative posts here...a very helpful board.....
I plan to buy next year, so I've been studying up on both the 460 and the buying process. Here's my question:
If you give a friendly Lexus salesman all the details of the car you want, does he or she have any incentive to search nationwide to find the car and get it to you?
In my case, I have found only three examples of the car I want (2010-12 460 LWB, satin cashmere), and they are anywhere from 1,600 to 2,300 miles from Southern California. Maybe there will be more, or a closer one, when I'm ready, but who knows.
I've read about how to handle long-distance buying, but I am still a little leery, and I wondered if there is any way to pull a Lexus salesman into the process, or is their only interest in selling something off the lot?
Or, maybe I'm overly worried about the pitfalls of cross-country buying.
Please feel free to school me.
Thanks in advance.
I plan to buy next year, so I've been studying up on both the 460 and the buying process. Here's my question:
If you give a friendly Lexus salesman all the details of the car you want, does he or she have any incentive to search nationwide to find the car and get it to you?
In my case, I have found only three examples of the car I want (2010-12 460 LWB, satin cashmere), and they are anywhere from 1,600 to 2,300 miles from Southern California. Maybe there will be more, or a closer one, when I'm ready, but who knows.
I've read about how to handle long-distance buying, but I am still a little leery, and I wondered if there is any way to pull a Lexus salesman into the process, or is their only interest in selling something off the lot?
Or, maybe I'm overly worried about the pitfalls of cross-country buying.
Please feel free to school me.
Thanks in advance.
12-09-13, 09:27 AM
#2
Long distance buying
Buying one miles from home is no different from buying in your area, except the distance travelled and the fact if you do not care for the one when you see it in person, you are out your time and travel expense. A risk, but sometimes necessary if you are specific on what you want.
12-09-13, 09:41 AM
#3
Buying one miles from home is no different from buying in your area, except the distance travelled and the fact if you do not care for the one when you see it in person, you are out your time and travel expense. A risk, but sometimes necessary if you are specific on what you want.
Just put out a note that you're interested in a vehicle in that area and if a local would check it out for you, then buy them a lunch later.
;-">
12-09-13, 12:42 PM
#4
You might get the salesman to be a bit more responsive when you get closer to the time when you're actually going to purchase.. I know in my experience, I didn't hear from the salesman until a week or two from the month I told them I was looking to buy. Then I started getting the calls on how he was looking around for the car that I wanted. I guess they figure out who's more of a priority for them at the time and concentrate their efforts on that. In any case, work with a few salespeople and hopefully you'll find one that will stay engaged with your efforts. Just my $.02. Thanks.
12-10-13, 04:28 PM
#5
When I was buying my LS I wanted the Pre-Collision option. The dealer was only willing to look about a couple hundred miles away. I think their concern was transport costs were too expensive beyond that distance.
When I bought my Ferrari, a member on the Ferrari forum offered to go look at the car for me (I'm near Boston and the car was near Cleveland), and he also recommended a Ferrari expert mechanic to do a PPI. I can't tell you how helpful it was for that guy to do that for me. He wanted nothing for his trouble, only for me to pay it forward. If anyone asks me to take a look at a car in the greater Boston area, I'll do it in a heartbeat.
When I bought my Ferrari, a member on the Ferrari forum offered to go look at the car for me (I'm near Boston and the car was near Cleveland), and he also recommended a Ferrari expert mechanic to do a PPI. I can't tell you how helpful it was for that guy to do that for me. He wanted nothing for his trouble, only for me to pay it forward. If anyone asks me to take a look at a car in the greater Boston area, I'll do it in a heartbeat.
12-10-13, 07:50 PM
#6
Moderator
Took me almost 30 days of negotiations via email and I went a few states away to get mine at a ridiculous low price. Agreed on a price and then had them knock of anothet $500 to cover air fare and fuel costs to drive it back home. I wouldn't mind doing that again on my next car purchase
12-11-13, 08:33 AM
#7
Hey guys.... thanks for all the informative posts here...a very helpful board.....
I plan to buy next year, so I've been studying up on both the 460 and the buying process. Here's my question:
If you give a friendly Lexus salesman all the details of the car you want, does he or she have any incentive to search nationwide to find the car and get it to you?
In my case, I have found only three examples of the car I want (2010-12 460 LWB, satin cashmere), and they are anywhere from 1,600 to 2,300 miles from Southern California. Maybe there will be more, or a closer one, when I'm ready, but who knows.
I've read about how to handle long-distance buying, but I am still a little leery, and I wondered if there is any way to pull a Lexus salesman into the process, or is their only interest in selling something off the lot?
Or, maybe I'm overly worried about the pitfalls of cross-country buying.
Please feel free to school me.
Thanks in advance.
I plan to buy next year, so I've been studying up on both the 460 and the buying process. Here's my question:
If you give a friendly Lexus salesman all the details of the car you want, does he or she have any incentive to search nationwide to find the car and get it to you?
In my case, I have found only three examples of the car I want (2010-12 460 LWB, satin cashmere), and they are anywhere from 1,600 to 2,300 miles from Southern California. Maybe there will be more, or a closer one, when I'm ready, but who knows.
I've read about how to handle long-distance buying, but I am still a little leery, and I wondered if there is any way to pull a Lexus salesman into the process, or is their only interest in selling something off the lot?
Or, maybe I'm overly worried about the pitfalls of cross-country buying.
Please feel free to school me.
Thanks in advance.
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12-11-13, 08:03 PM
#8
I live in Kansas City and bought my 09 SWB AWD in Cleveland. It was the only place that had the exterior/interior color AND AWD I really wanted. Plus, they were much cheaper than a similarly optioned car in KC. Saved about $8K by going to Cleveland. Just one Lexus dealer here in KC. Lexus prices are crazy high in KC.
Negotiated with the Cleveland dealer via email and phone. Then wrote into the contract that I could get out of deal with nothing more than a "I don't like it" after seeing it, inspecting it and driving it. Even made sure I could get my measly deposit back without a reason. Had the dealer drive it to an independent inspection shop for me as well before I signed off. Got the results and then waited a month until I had to fly for work. Made my return flight from a Dallas meeting to Cleveland instead of KC and drove it home. Easy $$$$
The independent inspection shop did miss a bad air shock however.
Negotiated with the Cleveland dealer via email and phone. Then wrote into the contract that I could get out of deal with nothing more than a "I don't like it" after seeing it, inspecting it and driving it. Even made sure I could get my measly deposit back without a reason. Had the dealer drive it to an independent inspection shop for me as well before I signed off. Got the results and then waited a month until I had to fly for work. Made my return flight from a Dallas meeting to Cleveland instead of KC and drove it home. Easy $$$$
The independent inspection shop did miss a bad air shock however.
12-11-13, 09:28 PM
#10
Sure, what do you want to know? I didn't have a trade, so the negotiations were fairly easy. After months and months of looking, I knew what the market price was for my desired LS and tried to get below it. If I didn't, I passed. I looked really hard from the 15 to 30th of each month to hopefully catch a salesman/GM that needed to make quota. And that is exactly what happened. For my sale, they overnighted the contract so it would be signed on the 30th.
Mind you, my search was for a used LS with the features I wanted (AWD and under factory warranty being the biggest challenges). So I had to hunt and hunt. Took me almost 3 months to find the car I really wanted at a price and mileage I felt was fair. I had a few local Lexus sales folks looking for CPO cars for me every now and then. But in the end, I found it online myself and called the dealer directly.
Kissed several frogs along the way as I hunted and called. I really wanted to find an AWD LS in Minneapolis since I drive and fly there a ton (plus lots of AWD LS's there). But no dice on price there. They love ther AWD in MSP and will pay for them. I also hunted hard in St Louis and Chicago via web sites and phone calls to dealers. Those cities are close to KC and have more than one dealer.
A few tips: Make sure you ask the salesman if they have experience in long distance sales...not just internet sales. You can't just drive over after work and see it. If they do have experience, the process will be much more efficient.
I talked to numerous sales folks that weren't used to dealing with someone out of town. So it was painful a few times. Like when I asked for additional pictures or wanted one sales guy to drive it to an inspection at a Lexus dealer for me. He was like, "What? Seriously? We don't do that. At least I don't think so". Some non-Lexus inspection folks will come to the dealer. So that helps.
The place I bought mine from had sales folks that are used to dealing with out of town buyers. I bought my used LS from a Mercedes dealer. Their sales folks sold car all over the U.S. so they understood the nuances.
I also avoided used car only folks and wholesalers. After a few months of searching online and calling wholesalers, I could sniff out blatant lies about the quality of the car and the price pretty quickly. I am sure there are good wholesalers, but I passed on a few LS's because they sounded too good to be true price/mileage wise.
I made it somewhat a game to find the best price and car I wanted. My wife did not understand it at all. She was like, "Would you buy a car already. This is getting old."
Mind you, my search was for a used LS with the features I wanted (AWD and under factory warranty being the biggest challenges). So I had to hunt and hunt. Took me almost 3 months to find the car I really wanted at a price and mileage I felt was fair. I had a few local Lexus sales folks looking for CPO cars for me every now and then. But in the end, I found it online myself and called the dealer directly.
Kissed several frogs along the way as I hunted and called. I really wanted to find an AWD LS in Minneapolis since I drive and fly there a ton (plus lots of AWD LS's there). But no dice on price there. They love ther AWD in MSP and will pay for them. I also hunted hard in St Louis and Chicago via web sites and phone calls to dealers. Those cities are close to KC and have more than one dealer.
A few tips: Make sure you ask the salesman if they have experience in long distance sales...not just internet sales. You can't just drive over after work and see it. If they do have experience, the process will be much more efficient.
I talked to numerous sales folks that weren't used to dealing with someone out of town. So it was painful a few times. Like when I asked for additional pictures or wanted one sales guy to drive it to an inspection at a Lexus dealer for me. He was like, "What? Seriously? We don't do that. At least I don't think so". Some non-Lexus inspection folks will come to the dealer. So that helps.
The place I bought mine from had sales folks that are used to dealing with out of town buyers. I bought my used LS from a Mercedes dealer. Their sales folks sold car all over the U.S. so they understood the nuances.
I also avoided used car only folks and wholesalers. After a few months of searching online and calling wholesalers, I could sniff out blatant lies about the quality of the car and the price pretty quickly. I am sure there are good wholesalers, but I passed on a few LS's because they sounded too good to be true price/mileage wise.
I made it somewhat a game to find the best price and car I wanted. My wife did not understand it at all. She was like, "Would you buy a car already. This is getting old."
Last edited by thegov3; 12-11-13 at 09:32 PM.
12-12-13, 03:59 PM
#11
Driver
Thread Starter
Gov.....great report... thanks a ton.... will put yr advice to work in a few months when i start the search...i'll have cash (cashier's check), no trade-in....i got some good advice from Tee on using a private inspection service....i'll redraft the purchase agreement in my favor to the extent possible, and be ready to walk at the slightest hint of a problem....i'll look for cars with easy air access from SoCal....perhaps Dallas/Houston areas... i hear good things about the Sewell dealers...also, i want to be an 8-year Lexus extended warranty from an outside provider, so if the car is CPO, i'll see if they'll drop the CPO and cut the price by $1,500 or so. Anyway, should be fun... and i understand your wife's comment... mine is already tired of my car dreaming.... thanks again...
12-13-13, 12:06 PM
#12
Took me almost 30 days of negotiations via email and I went a few states away to get mine at a ridiculous low price. Agreed on a price and then had them knock of anothet $500 to cover air fare and fuel costs to drive it back home. I wouldn't mind doing that again on my next car purchase
12-13-13, 12:11 PM
#13
Sure, what do you want to know? I didn't have a trade, so the negotiations were fairly easy. After months and months of looking, I knew what the market price was for my desired LS and tried to get below it. If I didn't, I passed. I looked really hard from the 15 to 30th of each month to hopefully catch a salesman/GM that needed to make quota. And that is exactly what happened. For my sale, they overnighted the contract so it would be signed on the 30th.
Mind you, my search was for a used LS with the features I wanted (AWD and under factory warranty being the biggest challenges). So I had to hunt and hunt. Took me almost 3 months to find the car I really wanted at a price and mileage I felt was fair. I had a few local Lexus sales folks looking for CPO cars for me every now and then. But in the end, I found it online myself and called the dealer directly.
Kissed several frogs along the way as I hunted and called. I really wanted to find an AWD LS in Minneapolis since I drive and fly there a ton (plus lots of AWD LS's there). But no dice on price there. They love ther AWD in MSP and will pay for them. I also hunted hard in St Louis and Chicago via web sites and phone calls to dealers. Those cities are close to KC and have more than one dealer.
A few tips: Make sure you ask the salesman if they have experience in long distance sales...not just internet sales. You can't just drive over after work and see it. If they do have experience, the process will be much more efficient.
I talked to numerous sales folks that weren't used to dealing with someone out of town. So it was painful a few times. Like when I asked for additional pictures or wanted one sales guy to drive it to an inspection at a Lexus dealer for me. He was like, "What? Seriously? We don't do that. At least I don't think so". Some non-Lexus inspection folks will come to the dealer. So that helps.
The place I bought mine from had sales folks that are used to dealing with out of town buyers. I bought my used LS from a Mercedes dealer. Their sales folks sold car all over the U.S. so they understood the nuances.
I also avoided used car only folks and wholesalers. After a few months of searching online and calling wholesalers, I could sniff out blatant lies about the quality of the car and the price pretty quickly. I am sure there are good wholesalers, but I passed on a few LS's because they sounded too good to be true price/mileage wise.
I made it somewhat a game to find the best price and car I wanted. My wife did not understand it at all. She was like, "Would you buy a car already. This is getting old."
Mind you, my search was for a used LS with the features I wanted (AWD and under factory warranty being the biggest challenges). So I had to hunt and hunt. Took me almost 3 months to find the car I really wanted at a price and mileage I felt was fair. I had a few local Lexus sales folks looking for CPO cars for me every now and then. But in the end, I found it online myself and called the dealer directly.
Kissed several frogs along the way as I hunted and called. I really wanted to find an AWD LS in Minneapolis since I drive and fly there a ton (plus lots of AWD LS's there). But no dice on price there. They love ther AWD in MSP and will pay for them. I also hunted hard in St Louis and Chicago via web sites and phone calls to dealers. Those cities are close to KC and have more than one dealer.
A few tips: Make sure you ask the salesman if they have experience in long distance sales...not just internet sales. You can't just drive over after work and see it. If they do have experience, the process will be much more efficient.
I talked to numerous sales folks that weren't used to dealing with someone out of town. So it was painful a few times. Like when I asked for additional pictures or wanted one sales guy to drive it to an inspection at a Lexus dealer for me. He was like, "What? Seriously? We don't do that. At least I don't think so". Some non-Lexus inspection folks will come to the dealer. So that helps.
The place I bought mine from had sales folks that are used to dealing with out of town buyers. I bought my used LS from a Mercedes dealer. Their sales folks sold car all over the U.S. so they understood the nuances.
I also avoided used car only folks and wholesalers. After a few months of searching online and calling wholesalers, I could sniff out blatant lies about the quality of the car and the price pretty quickly. I am sure there are good wholesalers, but I passed on a few LS's because they sounded too good to be true price/mileage wise.
I made it somewhat a game to find the best price and car I wanted. My wife did not understand it at all. She was like, "Would you buy a car already. This is getting old."
12-13-13, 12:13 PM
#14
Gov.....great report... thanks a ton.... will put yr advice to work in a few months when i start the search...i'll have cash (cashier's check), no trade-in....i got some good advice from Tee on using a private inspection service....i'll redraft the purchase agreement in my favor to the extent possible, and be ready to walk at the slightest hint of a problem....i'll look for cars with easy air access from SoCal....perhaps Dallas/Houston areas... i hear good things about the Sewell dealers...also, i want to be an 8-year Lexus extended warranty from an outside provider, so if the car is CPO, i'll see if they'll drop the CPO and cut the price by $1,500 or so. Anyway, should be fun... and i understand your wife's comment... mine is already tired of my car dreaming.... thanks again...
12-13-13, 01:34 PM
#15
Moderator
how far away is too far?
- For me, I would ship if over 1K miles away or more just because of the time.
can I really negotiate my price over the phone/email sight unseen?
- SURE YOU CAN!! most dealers are going to add plenty of pad in their pricing, especially on used. On the two LS's I have purchased since 2010 (2007 460 SWB in 2010 and 2008 600hL in 2012), I was able to save a combined $12K or so after comparing and negotiating. As suggested before, getting an independent inspection service to go to the car and look at it is money well spent if you are serious about getting it. Use services like Autocheck.com and Carfax.com and compare that with the inspection to see if there are any holes in the life history of the car. Log onto lexus.com and go to the my lexus link and plug in the VIN of the car and see the basic service history. Call the servicing dealerships like I did. They gave me all the scoop on my car. I almost bought a white 600 in Kansas at a Toyota Dealership. The salesperson at the Lexus dealer nearby told me that car had been wrecked significantly to where the wiring in the doors was all screwed up, but that didn't show on any report. That is why it was at the toyota dealer because they would not sell it. I'm sure someone got a fantastic deal on it and more than likely not having any long term issue..but who knows.
If you are going to spend $30K+ on a car, then a $400 plane ticket to go check it out may not be a bad investment..you can easily negotiate that out of your price and then some, trust me. They have a bottom line. Just use truecar.com and see what the average person is paying and then shoot way lower than that. All they can say is no, but be ready to walk away and not get attached to the car because that is when they get you. I almost walked away from mine and made it seem like I didn't like the car as much as online. Little scratches, issues with leather seats (normal wear but I hyped it) and the salesguy knocked off another $750 or so because I was calling the cab company to pick us up lol....it's all a game, just play and win. But remember, the dealer will usually make money of you, but as long as you are paying less than most, you are doing just fine. Good luck