vipermann1

2 Questions !!!!

Question 1: Is this a good Deal???

Model: 2004 Lexus RX330 FWD (2WD) Navigation/Mark Levinson Package(EY, FT, HH, VN, C1, WL)

MSRP: 45,298.00

Equipment Options included: Rear Seat Entertainment System, 18" AlloyWheels, Two-Level Heated Front Seats, Navigation System/Mark LevinsonPackage (includes Navigation System w/compass, Rear Camera, Mark LevinsonAudio System with 6 Disc CD Changer, Illumination Entry System, Power BackDoor, Power Tilt/Telescoping Steering Wheel with Memory, High IntensityHeadlamps, Leather Trim Interior, Roof Racks, Wood and Leather SteeringWheel & Shift ****, One-Touch Open/Close Moon Roof), Cargo Mat, and WheelLocks

Your Cost: 41,320.00 + 45.00 Doc. + 871.00 Lic. Fee + 5.00 Tire Tax +3,412.61 Sales Tax (@8.25% Tax Rate) = 45,653.61 Total O.T.D.orFinance is available: 45,653.61 Finance Balance (as an example)861.21/mo x 60 months @4.90% APR subject to bank's final approvalI will order the vehicle of your choice (Flint Mica with Black or Light GrayLeather Interior) and advise you the date of arrival as soon as possible.


Question #2: - Anyone know Club Lexus car dealer!

I went to a dealer here in Los Angeles (no names). We tried to get a price worked out on a 2004 RX330. I wanted to trade my 2002 LS430 UL with 30,000 miles.
The dealer gave me a good price on the new purchase. But only offered me $46,000 for my tradein. Can you believe that. This from a dealer that we purchased 2 GS300's , and my LS430. I deserve better treatment than that.

I pointed out to the dealer that he has the same exact color and option car, (same miles) sitting in his used car lot for $58,900. Even if that clown offered me $53,000 I would have done the deal.

Anyone one know good dealers in Los Angeles???

I know there is a guy named "Will" at Longo ...but when I called they told me he is no longer here.

Help me please !!!!
e-mail me directly at: vipermann1@yahoo.com

mooretorque

vipermann1, the answer to the first question is "yes, that is a good deal". In this area the dealer is only coming off about 5% and your deal is almost 9%. Not bad for a vehicle in high demand at this point. Then again, the competition for customers among dealers is absent where I'm located (since we only have one dealer in state). But that sounds pretty good regardless.

Can't answer the second,though.

jcstms

Question 1:
I checked it against my deals that we do here in Texas and it's decent to good. It's about the most we would look at comming off an '04 RX330 even on a trade-in. The deal with the trade in, we have an '03 LS430 w/12K on it and we're listing it for $61,995 - sounds like they might be low-balling it a bit, but I wouldn't expect over $47,500 since it's an '02 w/30K

Question 2:
I'm at a dealership in Texas, but unfortunatly don't know of any in California.

If I can be of any further assistance, let me know - jcstms@verizon.net

o8yb

Question 1: Is this a good Deal???
YES

Question #2: - Anyone know Club Lexus car dealer!
I don't know any good dealer (not just Lexus). If you want some bad ones, I can send you a long list.

I always against trade ins.(Unless you don't care about your hard earned money or you are the luck one have tons of money and live in a rich family)

Trade in is always a joke. Dealer always offer super low for trade in.

Here is my experience with trade ins:
My honda 93 Prelude's fair market values was $17000, trade in offer was $10000, I sold to private party for $15000 two years later (I decided to keep it for another two years)

My 97 Civic's fair market value was $7000, trade in offer was $3000. The car was sold for $6950 next morning after I post my ad in the paper.

My friends' 2002 ford SUV fair market value was 20000, trade in offer is $15000. Sold in private for $19000

If your car's fair market value (not that stupid blue book retail price) is $53000, don't expect you can get anything more than $48000 (or 10% less than KBB trade in value)

Most dealers don't want more car in their lot, unless you willing to trade you car at least $3000 or 20% below market value then they may consider buy it form you. They are in business for selling cars not buying cars

Good luck

jcstms

Just coming from experience, here are a few things to remember with regards to trade-in's:

1. The KBB (Kelly Blue Book) isn't always accurate - it's a guide. I've found that it's a measuring tool to start and things like the condition of the car, if it's been wrecked, repainted, etc. determins the value.

2. The value of the car is whatever the market will bear. For example, if there are a ton of car X's out there, even though the KBB says it's worth, $20,000, the market may only be paying $18,000 for the car since there are so many out there.

3. When trying to determine the approximate value you will recieve froma dealer, go to kbb.com and look at TRADE IN VALUE. After you put in the model year and such, put all the options down and then do the most important thing - check the circle that says FAIR condition. The only way you will get excellent is if you drive it brand new from the showroom floor to the pre-owned appraiser to get it looked at. Good is sometimes an option if you are trading it in at the same dealership that you bought it from and they can pull up all the service records and can see that you did the reccomended maintenance items whenthey were due and had the oil done ever 5,500 miles. No matter how great you think your car is, it's what others think that matters and more important, what a buyer thinks!

4. A dealer is there to make money. I'm not sure most people go into work every day and expect not to get paid. It's a business. When you trade your car in, there are things that need to be done to it such as new tires, brake work, maybe parts to be replaced so it looks the best to a potiential buyer. Maybe there are some paint blends that have to happen to get the rock chips out of the front - every car is different. My point is this, they are taking your car in trade to help you, but to also make some money. If they take your car on trade and let's say give you $15,000 and it's worth $16,500, then when the next buyer comes along and says they want a "good deal" on the car - they expect a dealer to come off a bit, let's say $1,500 - well the dealer just did all that for nothing. It's a simple example, but I hope it gets the point across. They are not trying to rip you off when yo ugo in for a trade, they are just trying to make a buck.

5. The KBB is great, but it's not what writes you a check for your car - it would be nice if it worked that way, but it doesn't. Plus, these dealers go to auctions and are able to see what cars are actually sold for. This is a major determining factor for those olders cars with a lot of miles. Let's face it, if it has high miles on it, it's more than likely going to an auction. If it doesn't, they can look to see what a car like yours has sold for either at their dealership or others close to it.

6. Finally, the big reason to trade-in a vehicle when buying a new one is the tax savings you get from doing so. Another example, If you're looking at a car thats $40,000 and your trade is worth $20,000, you only pay tax on the difference between the two, $20,000. Plus, when you trade it, your done with it - no fielding phone calls and letting people test drive it around the block and treat you like the dealer when the issue of pric comes up!

In some cases, selling your car outright is bettter than trading it in, but not most of the time. If you have a commitment fro the person to buy you trade-in at a set price and it's mor than the dealer will give you plus the tax savings, then great, sell it your self. If not, what's wrong with trading it in?

amgc32

Seems like you only got $3978 off your Rx330. I've talked to two lexus dealership and they were all willing to discount the car between $5000 - $5500.
I am asking $6000 off

On the other hand about your trade in, after I tell you my story you won't feel so bad after all.
I was going to trade in my 2002 Mercedes C32 AMG for the RX330. I paid $64500 with tax. It has 20300 mils on it.
Guess how much the dealership offer me for my car? Big Fat $31500

I couldn't even stand up after I heard the offer. I am sure they were going to mark up $15000 for my car and let the customer bargin down.
I think the best thing for you to do is to try to sell the car yourself.

Charlie

o8yb

jcstms,

For those luck car owners live in states give you trade in credit, good for you. In California, no matter what the trade in value your car is, you get zero dolloar saving in tax.

eg First car is $40000, assume tax is 8% you paid $3200 tax. One year later you trade in your car for $35000 and buy a $35000 car. You still have to pay $2800 tax. Yes its an even trade, but you have to pay the tax.


amgc32,
Where do you live in california? In my area (central CA), Lexus will not knock off more than $2000 on RX330 because many buyers just pay the asking price. Most RX330 will not last more than 3 days in the lot. Again I did not research on the current (means December) market. Maybe things changed. Still in my area there is absolutely no way they will knock off more than $3000 on a RX. There is no other Lexus dealer in 130 miles radius!


Sam

amgc32

All you need to do is go to carsdirect.com. They are knocking out $4000 off if you buy cars from them.
Then, take that discount to the dealer and ask them can you beat that deal. They'll come back and tell you that sure $4000 is not a problem. You just reply you need to do better. I need at least $5000. Trust me, they'll do it. There are so many RX330 sitting on the lot.
I am in Orange County.


Thanks

Charlie

RX300-BV

As amgc32 has stated, simply go to Carsdirect and price the same options You will see their price at about $40,519 which is $800 less then your price. Now I'm not sure who your other dealer is but just FYI: the carsdirect Lexus dealer (or at least one of them) in the LA area is Longo Lexus.

My advice, so long as your other dealer isn't Longo, is to contact Longo's internet sales manager and request your price this way. When my wife and I bought our 2003 RX300 earlier this year, we actually contacted Longo and Carsdirect, not realizing that Carsdirect utilized Longo. Going through Longo's internet division, we actually were given a price a little less then even the Carsdirect price, and that price was lower then any other dealers that we could find at that time.

The best thing though was the whole process. We were quoted the lowest price of all the dealers we had checked out, the dealer placed the car we wanted on hold, had it washed and prepped, and had prepared all the paperwork ahead of time. We then went in the next day for a test drive, no hassle or pressure of any kind, signed our docs, were in and out of financing quickly and were on our way home with our new Lexus. It was definitely the best car buying and shopping experience I have had.

Let us know what you end up doing.

o8yb

Wow things really changed. Back then in July 03, carsdirect showed $43k for my car (MSRP $43.3k) and now is $39.8k. I was able to get mine for $41.5k. I knew I maybe save another $1000 if I went down to LA; however, I was able to knock out $1500 from carsdirect's price I was happy with it and made the purchase.

I don't know if the price drop has anything to do with many RX being made in Canada (means no more importation tax 25%. Can you believe that 25% tax if the car is not made in US/Canada)

I remembered back in 2000 (or is it 2001). MSRP for Acrua 2000TL was $4000 less than MSRP of 1999 TL because TL is no longer made in Japan.

Hope quality is still the same for the RXs

gasjuju

Hello,

We drove down to LA for our 2003 RX300.
Longo had a very good price and most importantly
the sales guy was very professional.
However, we ended up buying at Cerritos because
the price is just a tad better. Very professional sales force there too.

RickC

I have a question. How much do you feel the 2002 LS430 is worth? And how many miles does it have on it. I don't think 46k for a 2 year old car is that bad, when a new 2004 is 59k. That's a 13k hit for two years service. I know it sucks, but try a Ford Expedition. It will loose that much the first year, 20k in 2 years. Also remember the first offer from the dealer is way undercut to pad their pocket.

RickC

amgc32

What you do is go to KBB.com and enter your car's data for TRADE IN. You also need to enter your car's condition as fair. Once you get the price you take another $2000 off, usually that's the price dealer will pay for your car.


Thanks

Mikjr

Try JASON in the Internet Dept at Mission Viejo Lexus in OC. I tried several dealers in LA & OC (including LONGO. MV Lexus gave us the best price!

skang5

I got the same deal from one of my Local Lexus Dealers. Also, i was quoted $39998 for M-B ML350 which MSRP is $45800(navigation and Heated seats) about 3 days ago.
$6000 off the MSRP, plus more cargo room made me hesitate and I still haven't decided which car to choose.
Which one should I go for? any Recommendation????

I currently have a Silver 03' ES300 with updated ECU.^^;;