Extra Cost to Purchase Out of State ES 350
 

Well, I want to buy black sapphire ES 350 with grey interior and wood on the steering wheel. Unfortunately, my dealer does not have one but can get one that is 50 to 75 miles away at another dealership. They want to charge me up to several hundred dollars for them to drive it their dealership. Is this normal?

I have purchased Lexus that had to be acquired from out of state dealerships and there was never any discussion about charging me for the cost. As close as you are they could probably just send a driver but in my case they always had the car trucked in. I believe there may be some issues liablility and tax wise to letting you go pick up the car yourself but they can get it for you. They just want to sell you what they have in inventory which may have some bearing on a future allocation if that is even an issue in today's market.

Good luck.

Dave Mac

In the current new car market, I wouldn't be surprised that if you told them no to the additional charge, they'd drop it. They wouldn't want to loose the sale.

I've never heard of that being done but, things may be different in different areas.

Just tell the dealer that you don't expect to pay a charge for them to get the car. If he doesn't want to do that then tell him you'll just go to another dealer who will. Call his bluff and if he doesn't want to play then walk.

I think that the way I handle this is to target a specific price regardless of where the car is located. Somewhere near invoice. This is also the first time dealer ever told me I had to pay to get the car.

If it's that close, close the deal and pick it up and drive it home yourself.

Lou

Honda...you are right on...just get to the price point you want ( see my post under your other post about Invoice ) and the $'s take care of them selves. If not you always make a trip to other dealer who has veh and work with them on vehicle...sure you can figure out which Lexus dealer it is. Fyi..the 2 lexus dealers here in Houston were not wanting to disc much so I called dallas dealership and negotiated everything over the ph with Sales Mgr and verbal within 30 min phone converstion. I had excellent experience with purchasing process...they took care of me. Dont let emotions get best of you and settle for color you may regret.

50-75 miles? That's nothing - drive there yourself and give the other dealer the business.

Hell - I drove my ES 1100 miles home from TX because I wanted that exact color combo too! (not kidding!)

Have you ever heard of a factory order? There should be no transport charge for a dealer-to-dealer trade. The dealer will pay a driver $9.50/hour to swap the cars. Your total charge would be to something like $25-30 including some gas for the trade. I would highly advise you to stay away from butter soft black paint, so you may want to look elsewhere for another car.

Why would you advise against something he obviously like & wants. Thats why we can make our own daily decisions, choices etc. i purch the black sapphire pearl in March...have one tiny nick on frnt of hood...only one who knows its there is me. The paint hasnt been issue at all..imo color option he is considering is no different than any other color...if you take care of and maintain you will be highly rewarded with very nice looking vehicle.

Quote:
Originally Posted by miniz
Have you ever heard of a factory order? There should be no transport charge for a dealer-to-dealer trade. The dealer will pay a driver $9.50/hour to swap the cars. Your total charge would be to something like $25-30 including some gas for the trade. I would highly advise you to stay away from butter soft black paint, so you may want to look elsewhere for another car.


Agree, to each their own. My friends is 6 months old and looks great ! P.S. What do you use to keep parchment interior clean?

Bought Lexus cleaner & conditioner from dealer. Used it twice very sparily....not really had much need as of yet...really am kind of neat freak so do my best to not let get out of hand. So thats why I preface the dark colors aren't big deal if you like to keep veh in good shape. My prev es330 04 yr model was black, wife's sequioya SUV is black, daughters Honda Civic is black so you get the picture . Anyway I apologize to Miniz if I came on too strong but again different choices are good . More importantly hope Hondadrive had success today.

He may have never owned a Lexus with ultra soft paint before, so if he cares about the way his car looks.....he would be best to avoid black or any dark colors. 99.99% of owners do not maintain their butter soft paint correctly to remove and avoid these imperfections, so unless you that .01% you are best to avoid the color. You may not notice the imperfection, swirls, scratches, halos, ect... but I and a lot of people can see them from 20 feet away and it looks atrocious. Its not just Lexus, Honda/Acura is just as bad. Until they can figure out a way to put the correct amount of clear coat hardener in the paint, I would advise everyone to stay well away.

So I guess that Miniz's advice is to buy a color that I do not like. That makes no sense to me. I would much rather have an imperfect Black Sapphire than a perfect car in a lighter color. As a parent of young kids, I am accustomed to imperfections around the house and on my clothes. I think the following analogy will reinforce my point. Let's take two pair of pants; one in which I love the look and fits great but has a slight imperfection on the back of one of the legs and another pair of pants that look brand new but I really do not like very much. Which would I choose? I would choose the pair of pants with the imperfection without hesitation. My car does not have to be look perfect all the time.

I had a Smokey Granite Mica for nearly 4 years and didn't notice much difference in the paints durability vs. other cars/colors I've owned. It picked up a few chips, but that's going to happen with any car over time.

Being a dark color it was harder to keep clean, but with the proper maintenance and upkeep it held up just fine and looked great at trade-in time.