gimp

I'm shopping for a 2012 RX450h in the SF Bay Area. Any ideas what I should expect to pay relative to invoice? Any dealer recommendations?

Would I find a better deal in Los Angeles?

Thanks!

dnkyle

Do you know that 2013 will be release in May check the topic below before making up your mind.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...13-models.html

bam

Considering that the 2013's will be on the lots in about 2 months, yo've got some purchasing power on your side. Keep in mind that the longer you wait, the more purchasing power you'll have because the dealers will want to get rid of their 2012 inventory to sell the 2013 models. The other side of the coin is that they're not producing the 2012's anymore so what you see on the lots is all you get and the longer you wait, the less inventory you have to choose from so it's a double edge sword.

We recently bought a 2012 at a pretty steep discount and our strategy when buying cars is to simply draft an email and send that email to all of the dealers within your area that you're willing to drive to. Some will come back saying that can't give quotes over the internet or will say you need to come in so they can talk to you face to face and make sure they're getting you the car you want. Don't fall for that bs. That's just them trying to force you into the dealer and start wheelin' and dealin' because then they've got you in the store and have shown you the shiny new toy.

Some will come back and offer a small discount like $500 and see if you bite and maybe one or two will actually give you a rock bottom price because of whatever reason. Maybe they're trying to reach a sale goal or something and you'll benefit. Wait for those dealers to respond and then speak to them and have them give you a quote in writing.

Good luck.

markrivers

my experience in purchasing any vehicle regardless of make or model.
Start with the internet department, i'm pretty sure most dealers have it.
then you meet the person from the "internet department" for your test drive.

Considering it's a Hybrid.. it's hard to get a huge discount.
We're in the same state and we both know how ridiculous gas prices are here.

Dave_S.

Just a data point for you. Last week I bought a new fairly loaded 2012 RX350 AWD that stickered for over $54,400 at $6,190 below MSRP. Lexus is currently offering dealers a $1000 rebate if you are a repeat customer, which I was, so that helped. The RX I bought wasn't a hybrid, but they had several of hybrids on the lot and they know the 2013's are on their way. The dealer told me they expect to see the 2013s on the lot in less than 6 weeks.
I wanted one with the Mark Levinson sound system and they are getting hard to find out here in Colorado, so if you want a 2012 in the color and option choices you desire, I'd start trying to negotiate a good deal now.

UCSB

It is hard to know what incentives Lexus is passing on to dealers to move the remaining 2012's. I feel the best way to purchase is to go to the dealerships (or email internet sales person and follow-up with visit to them at the dealership) and discuss price. I always start with a low price and see how they react (but, the price should be something that is researched and possible). Then I give them a little time (days) to work on the price and see what they can do.

Here are some comments that I made about dealerships here in the Bay Area in a prior thread:

When I purchased my 450h, I was actually shopping for three cars at the time. I was not in any hurry and went to a number of dealerships to look at cars. I purchased my 450h from Pleasanton Lexus for two reasons. First, they had two copies of the vehicle I was interested in sitting in their overflow lot. This meant that I was getting the car I wanted with no miles and time on the sales lot. Second, they matched a price I had gotten from Magnussen's Lexus of Fremont. In hindsight, I would recommend that you contact Mostafa Khweled at Magnussen's. He was a no BS, straight shooter that turned up the best prices on several cars. His business card says he is the Fleet Manager. He seemed to have a real grasp of what was possible and what was not in a deal. He was always cordial and professional when I was negotiating steep discounts. He did not take the process personally. It was possible to get a good deal at Pleasanton (because I did), but I have my doubts about the deal I would have received had I not already had an alternative deal when I was negotiating.

Pleasanton seemed to a have a large number of used & new RX's when I was over there a week ago. This is usually a good sign if you are looking for a deal. Their inventory is online. I did not check their overflow lot which is about one block west of the dealership on the first side street.

I purchased my 450h in September 2010, it had a sticker of $51,957. I paid $45,500. So I got just under $6,500 off of MSRP. Times were pretty desperate for auto sales at the time, all makes were highly discounting (especially luxury cars). A similarly equipped 2012 would have an MSRP of about $54,520.

Good luck with your purchase.

VVRX

Before you do anything, you might want to inquire about your purchase through a car buying service. I personally
received many offers from different dealers before I made my purchase using this method.

JimH2

There appear to be lots of 2012's still on the lots if autotrader.com is any indication of the numbers. I would check there to see if there are any of interest and e-mail or call the internet salesman at the dealer to see what price you could negotiate. In a quick search on autotrader.com, there were 38 within 25 miles, 71 within 100 miles, 115 within 300 miles, and 171 within 500 miles (down to San Diego area). This was for dealers which post on autotrader, and there are obviously more than this number that are available.

UCSB

My local dealer (Pleasanton) has 30 350's and 5 450h's in stock. I bet there are hundreds here in the SF bay area.

JimH2

Believe there are ~ 9 Lexus dealers in the SF bay area (~ 50 mile radius of SF), and ~ 38 dealers in all of California. Using the Pleasanton dealers numbers as an average, there would likely be less than 100 RX450h's left on the bay area lots, but a few hundred of the RX350's for sure.

bam

I believe the RX350 is Lexus' bread and butter so if there is a car where invenotry might be high, it would be the RX350. The RX450h still makes up a small portion of their car sales so you might have a harder time finding a car that fits your specs but like I said, use the email method and send a blast email and see who responds with a decent offer and go from there.

bbmertz

As I just mentioned in another post, the best price I could get by calling three Internet/fleet managers in LA was at invoice for a 2012 AWD RX 450h, although they were willing to go $1000 below invoice on a 350 since there is more inventory of the non-hybrid vehicles. I was hoping to get below invoice on a hybrid since the 2013 will be in stock in about two weeks. Let me know if you have better luck negotiating on the 450h.

Sandi_k

Ditto the rec for Lexus of Pleasanton. I special ordered my 2010 RX350 with sport package, and I still got ~ $3500 off MSRP when I purchased it in 2009.

My salesperson was Darren.