KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

I just wanted to pass this on for historical purposes:

In the past we've had some discussion here about whether or not Lexus vehicles were ever possible to custom order in the past. While it is definitely not the case now I had an enlightening conversation with a retired former general manager of a Florida Lexus dealership yesterday. He worked there from the mid-1990's into the late 2000's.

I asked him, based on my recent experience with Toyota's allocation-only system which does not allow any custom ordering of any kind, if anything was different in this regard in the 1990's. To my surprise he confirmed, as others who say they custom ordered their SC's and other models new back in the day that you indeed could custom order a car back then... providing that you did so before the next production phase began.

He said it worked like this before Toyota and Lexus corporate changed everything:

--Lexus informs a dealer that they are getting X number GS300's, X number SC300's, X number SC400's, X number ES sedans, etc. that month... and how would they like them spec'd?

--If a potential buyer did want to custom order their SC300 or SC400, for instance, in a hardtop roof spec in a certain color... as long as they had a deposit and spec list within the official options available for that model year then they could secure that build spec during the build phase that was about to start up at that time.

--For the super rare 1992-1994 1992-1997 cloth interior w/non-leather steering wheel, manual steering column and non-sunroof SC300's he said it was extremely unlikely those were anyone's special order but rather just a handful of super stripped down examples that made it through production to have the cheapest SC offering available in a few places just to say that the car technically did exist at that price point.

--Sometime around 2006 or so, right after production of the 1st generation IS300 sedan and Sportcross wagon ended, Toyota/Lexus revamped their ordering and allocation process and no longer allowed custom ordering at the right time in each model year's production phase. From that point onward it was 100% allocation only to each dealer and your only "custom order" would be just a wish spec list to your salesperson and if that exact spec ever happened to get allocated to that specific dealer (or could be traded from another dealer who didn't want it)... that became the best that anyone could do.

--I believe the sole exception to this after 2006 was the 2012 LFA which did offer custom ordering options to whoever was lucky enough to afford one and be allowed to buy one.

--Lastly I asked him if, in his experience in those days, he and other staff at his and other Lexus dealers had any idea that the 92-00 SC, 93-2005 GS and 01-05 IS had much higher performance engine/driveline options available for the vehicle counterparts in the Japanese market that the U.S. didn't get.

He said that, initially his impression was that most dealer staff simply had no idea that the SC's Soarer sibling had a powerful 2.5L turbo engine, that the GS sedan's Aristo sibling had a top trim level 2JZ-GTE turbo engine available or that the 1st generation IS could be had in Japan (as the Altezza) with a high revving 3S-GE BEAMS and a 6-speed manual.

He said that at some point some of them became aware that the much higher spec'd and optioned Japanese counterparts to these cars existed and offered much more high performance hardware than we got in stock trim in the U.S. but that Lexus USA corporate basically didn't ever talk to them about it or demonstrate any of these not-for-U.S. features to even gauge their interest.

(However I read somewhere many years back on a forum (perhaps this one) from someone that when Lexus was just starting up in the U.S. they might have mentioned or demoed the first model year Soarer JZZ30 with the 1JZ-GTE to the brand new dealer reps to gauge what they thought about it for possible U.S. market introduction. I am not sure if that really happened or not but since we never got that trim level in our SC's we can assume that if it did happen then the SC400 with its 4.0L V8 was what won over interest).


Anyway, I thought this might be interesting to pass on for information value. I've known this fellow for a couple of years now and I assume what he was telling me about the 1990's and early 2000's dealer allocation and custom ordering process is accurate. I welcome clarifications if anyone has some!

I was just really curious about this and had to ask him about it. So apparently before the year 2006 (or thereabouts)... you absolutely could custom order a Lexus how you wanted through your dealer as long as you timed your special order at the beginning of the new model year's production phase. This explains, among other things, why hardtop SC300's and SC400's could still be special ordered right through the last 2000 model year.

I do know that the manual tilt & telescope steering column and cloth seats, despite continuing to be available on the Soarer from 1991-2000 were options only officially available on SC's from 1992-1994. Toyota/Lexus could have easily continued building SC's with those options through the last model year but chose not to make them possible to order after model year 1994.

(I confirmed part number by part number a couple of years back that the manual tilt & telescope steering columns and column covers have the exact same part numbers and physical shapes between the Soarer and SC other than the clock springs and stalk assemblies being different).

Tallyhoe

Very interesting read here...

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

FWIW, there is 1 '97 5spd that I found that had manual tilt, telescope, and cloth seats from factory. While the seats have since been recovered/replaced, you can still see the manual tilt/telescope: https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3qB...7-lexus-sc-300

TXMeatball

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1997-lexus-sc300-4/
I believe the owner of this one also custom ordered. 97 manual slick top.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

That is very interesting! So you COULD custom order a factory manual steering column past 1994! It is extremely unlikely that anyone would have swapped in all the necessary parts to an otherwise stock car. I located all those parts for my SC but it was not easy to.

Interesting that the cloth seats were also still available (though now replaced as you said) but that this car was still optioned with a sunroof instead of a slicktop roof.

So now we at least know that cloth seats and the manual tilt and telescope column could be special ordered from 1992 through at least 1997 model years. It would be interesting if any 1998-2000 SC's ever show up with factory cloth seats and a manual adjust steering column.


I'm familiar with that one as well and this is one of the links that got me interested in asking the former Lexus dealer GM about how custom ordering worked back in the day.

That 1997 factory 5-speed manual has a custom ordered slicktop roof, got the rare black interior in factory leather (I don't believe cloth interiors ever were available in black, only tan, gray and the off-blue-gray... or maybe only Soarers got cloth blue-gray interiors)... but it was still ordered with the motorized/automatic tilt & telescope steering column.

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

Soarers could be had with black cloth interior ('95+) and boy does it look good!



FWIW, the auto tilt/telescope steering wheel was lumped into the leather seating package as it included seat/steering wheel memory, with the sunroof as it's own standalone option. If you peek at the link I posted of the manual tilt/telescope '97 5spd, you'll notice that the memory seat buttons are missing.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

I did not know this! I have never seen a black cloth interior Z30 Soarer for sale anywhere so I assume it must have been a rare option! And I agree that it does look VERY goood!

I see! This makes sense since the memory seat function is also tied to the auto tilt/telescope steering column. Thank you for pointing this out, Thomas!

I'm still excited to have just learned that the manual columns and cloth interiors were actually still available in the U.S. market at least through model year 1997! I had prviously thought they were no longer offered outside of Japan after the 1994 model year.

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

Hey Craig,

From what I can gather after checking every SC model and year, it appears that leather was standard on every model year SC400, and cloth was standard on every model year SC300, with leather being optional - granted nearly all SC300s were ordered with leather.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

That makes sense as Lexus wanted to keep the SC300 and SC400 more differentiated despite both having almost no differences apart from their drivetrains and brakes. I think I read of someone here who has an SC400 with factory leather but with a slicktop and also with a manual tilt/telescope column-- which is a very rare combination. Hopefully I am not mistaken.

Bimmerbill

Good morning Craig,
You are thinking of Barbary, He has a SC400 with a slick top but not sure about the steering column. Also not sure about seats, I know he has installed after market front seats.
Bill

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

Righto, likely for a lower starting MSRP for advertising purposes and create some differentiation between the 300 and 400.

DarkRegent

@KahnBB6 What was it about the conversion that made it too hard to do? I actually have a 1999 and have sourced most/all of the parts to convert to a manual column (I believe). So, I'd be curious to know what stopped you.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

This is a very interesting topic. I always wondered how ordering a custom Lexus went back in the day. Over the past few years I’ve come across a few SC’s, LS400’s, and ES300’s with cloth interiors. I knew they existed but had never seen a 1995+ car with them until seeing a 97 ES300 recently.

Is it possible to get the leather seats redone in cloth while keeping the OEM SC/Soarer look? I have some black front seats that need new leather but would love to go cloth if possible.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

Those seats are stunning. I would love to buy a Soarer like that someday, preferably with a 1JZ.

TXMeatball

Saw a cloth RX300 a couple years ago, hard to even find pictures of one online.