I should start a series: Suspicious Things I've Heard from Lexus Dealers.

Here's the latest:

Just got off phone with the corp. sales mgr at a large NY dealer. Elite of Lexus and everything -- this place is supposed to be good (I've heard). He tells me he can't "special order" my IS 350, he can only "preference" it, because the configuration I want already exists somewhere in the country. Just FYI, here's what I want:

Nav
ML
Luxury
Spoiler

He says all he can do is preference it, and hope it comes in (from another dealer, or maybe hope they start sending this configuration to him, I don't know). He said he's been a mgr. for 7 years. I challenged him on it, and he stuck to his story: you can't special order a car that exists somewhere, you can only preference it.

This isn't right, is it?? It would conflict with what I've been told by at least 5 other Lexus dealers.

 

Start telling (the dealership) instead of asking is my new motto. If it's worth it, I even show them how to do it, part numbers, forms, phone numbers...whatever it takes.

 

If somone has been working for a dealership for quite some time, and is half again (or double!) my age, I have a hard time telling them what to do or that they're wrong. Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I don't want to come off as some young-punk know-it-all kid telling them what to do. Since I wanna be taken seriously and treated with respect, I figure doing the same to them is the best way. When I reach the point in life where I look older than about 25, maybe then I'll start "throwing my weight around."

 

So If I order an ML-equipped car in MD or NJ, what will they do? Does the East Coast share a port with the Mid-West?

 

"Preference" means the car is already on it's way over so you'll get it soon, in about 2 or 3 weeks usually. "Special order" means they have to build from scratch, about 3-4 months. This is good news for you, I don't see a problem. Although why are you calling New York when you could get a car locally?

 

the guy is wrong, you can special order ANYTHING you want. You can special order a base model if you want

go to another dealership

 

Hehe, sorry. Yeah I know what you mean. Tho I didn't mean "tell them what to do" I should have said "suggest to them that this is how they can go about doing something for you." Instead of saying "can I...." and waiting for the "Naw, we can't do that." where it's gonna take a whole lot of discussion to reverse it, I would say "here's what I'd like you to do. Go into the system, let's build this car, you can place the order on Form A and I GUARANTEE Japan will build it but we gotta use these codes, these are the packages, and it's gonna take 4 months. I was at EastWest Lexus last week....but I'd rather do it here at NorthSouth...so I can give you this credit card for $500 now but it's gonna have to be refundable....write up the order, I'll sign it, just note that it is refundable and my phone number is....you CALL ME"

Or something like that.

 

He wasn't getting a ML-equiped car in his allocation any time soon, certainly not in 2-3. He said he'd have to "preference" it, and we'd wait 2 or 3 months, and then hopefully Lexus would start sending his region ML-equipped cars, in then my name would be high on the waiting list for one. I think this is just plain wrong -- I wanna special order the car, and I can still do that regardless of the fact that I could go somewhere in the country right now (sup' rpwsrw ) and buy it off a dealer's lot.

I'm leaning towards special ordering through one of a couple dealers in NJ that are willing to give me a good deal ($2200 over invoice). Local dealers aren't willing to go that low -- best I could do was about $3K over. I think I can take care of placing the order via phone/fax, and just drive up there when it comes in. Both are salesmen that come highly recommended by people on this board and my.is.

 

Right, I pretty much agree with all of that. The problem is, there IS at least one question I need to ask them: what can you sell me this car for? And the response to that question has been FILLED with all sorts of things I could have told them were not the case: ("they're decreasing production", "you can't special order that", "we get charged a fee for special ordering", etc.).

 

How do you do that? Can someone write a list of instructions for dealers who claim they "don't know"?

 

Okay, thanks for details. Now, that I know you are in the special order catagory, you should ask yourself if the $800 savings will really be that amount. Add in flight cost, gas costs, time lost from work, is it really worth it? Also, I don't know how it works in other states, but California has very strict laws against driving a car off the lot to a neighboring state. We had to truck the car, wheels werent allowed to touch the ground. We had to order a manufacturer's certificate of origin from factory to send to customer so they could register in the home state which took 3 weeks, it was a big headache. And a good trucking company with a closed carrier could cost you at least the money difference in the two dealers. I've found from previous experience that reputable and timely trucking companies were far and few in between.
Since you will be special ordering, is there a reason why you won't order from a local in-state dealer?

 

Um, I'm gonna order via phone/fax (hopefully!) and just drive up there to pickup the car. I bring a friend, and he drives my old car back. (or I trade it in, or we take his 350Z up there, etc.) So spending one Sat. (~8 hour round trip) to save $800? That's reasonable I think. I'll have to check if there's any laws forbidding that though -- thanks for mentioning it!

As for local dealers... I've got a whole nother thread about what happened to me at one local VA dealer (that generally has great reviews on here too! go figure). And the other No. Va dealer I haven't really heard good things about; in fact, I've heard bad things. Don't know if they'd match the $2200 or not; last time we talked, I felt they were kinda pushy. I guess I could go through them, or get another salesperson at the other VA dealer, but why? I'd rather give my business to someone who's treated me well and been honest and helpful. If I have to drive to NJ (or MD) to do it, I will.

 

We have a few dealers and ex-dealers on here who might be willing to help out with the instructions. That's what we're all here for to help each other, I came here knowing zero about Lexus, and have since learned from many folks here.

It's hard to continue to say they "don't know" when you have it down, if they do you don't want to deal with them anyway.

 

Okay, I was just curious. If you don't mind the drive then I'm sure you will be alright. Just make sure you check out the out of state laws. Me, I'm lazy so I'd either get another more knowledgable salesperson or ask a sales manager and try to bargain more. In 3-4 months, the price for the IS will be even lower than it is now so who knows where each dealer will be at with pricing? The difference may very well be no difference at all. Just a thought. Good luck with your order and let us know how it goes.

 

Exactly. If I get a really good price now, then that's probably going to be run-of-the-mill for what people are paying in 3-4 mos. when my car comes in. If however I place a special order now and agree to pay MSRP, then the dealer can sell it to me for that when it comes in. I don't want to pay that? Fine, they'll flip a loaded 350 w/ML in a week or less, meanwhile I'm stuck with another 4 month wait to get the car I want at a decent price! (unless Lexus has started shipping MLs in my regional allocation by then.)

Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how it turns out!!