thew60

New to the forum. I have a 2005 ES330. I put a deposit on a shiny new 2013 ES350 at a Long Island dealership.They told me the car is "inbound" with no details but it would be there end of this week. Today I find out they are doing a swap with a Lexus dealer in Springfield Mass. That is a bit over 150 miles away. I told my saleswoman that I thought that 150+ miles was a lot to driver a brand new car for a swap. Particularly one costing $45K. I asked her if it is possible to flatbed it here. She would "let me know". She assured me this is normal and they swap some LS's a lot further than that.

Personally I am very uncomfortable with this. I am wondering how common this actually is. I know swapping between dealers is common. Ok 20, 30, 40 miles. not 150.

What are you thoughts and am I overreacting?

LexBob2

IMO it's strictly a personal call as to whether or not you are comfortable with it. Personally the 150 miles wouldn't bother me, but I can see not everyone would feel this way and if you don't like it try to work something out with the dealer they might try to accommodate you.

After you've had the car a while the 150 miles won't mean too much especially when you have several hundred to a few thousand miles on it. Good luck with your decision..

amphipri0n

Agree with the previous post that it really is up to you. Thinking about it in terms of time-- 150 miles-- that's about an hour and a half on the freeway. That's about how long someone will be spending with your new baby. Does that make it more or less acceptable?

Other options:
* If the dealer won't pay outright for the flatbed, but you insist, offer to split the cost and see if they'll go for it?
* Ask for a swap with a dealer that is closer to you, you may end up waiting longer, but if you're willing to...
* Get up to Springfield, MA and offer to drive the car to the dealer yourself. (it's like BMW's excellent European delivery program, but not )

Arty101

I'm in the other camp. I'm paying for a new car, I'd expect a new car with under 10 miles. I think they should flatbed it too. Anything more, it's really not brand new is it? It's also a matter of honesty or being a bit mis-leading, IMHO.

I'd negotiate a better price, extras (or both), or walk if you're not comfortable or satisfied with the deal.

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

I agree with Arty, my fathers car was a dealer swap but they had the car taken on a flatbed. I would def want that taken on a flatbed, imagine the road chips and everything hitting the car before you even receive it.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Plus some car jockey who probably won't be gentle on the car.

bc6152

I'm with Art. I would want a car with 10-15 miles - total - on it. I would wonder why they can't get a car closer to L.I. I also agree that they either misled you or outright lied about the "incoming" car.
If it was incoming from the port it would be on a car carrier with NO miles. Remember that this is the dealer you'll be connected to after delivery. I'd pass on it...

Xpcgamer

WTF! Tell them you went to them cause they are your local dealer. If you wanted your car exact and did not mind the extra miles on it you would have driven to another-further dealer yourself and got it. That car should be on a flatbed. If it came off a boat it would be on a truck from the dock to that dealer. Thats a bunch of bull. Sorry 150 miles on a car is not new. More like a Demo car.

fibromd

I tried to find a car with radar cruise locally. I had a dealer (Lexus in Lexington, KY) tell me they had a car coming in on the ship. My local dealer said there was no record of one coming. When I pushed the Lexington dealer on it, they said the car was in Colorado and they wanted to charge me $3600 dollars to drive it from there to Lexington. After my purchase, I can say Lexus dealers are just like any car dealers, they'll do anything to sell a car and don't care about the car.

oneor11

Plus, we all pay that ridiculous, overpriced destination charge. So in return for that I would expect the car to have 5-15 miles on it max. It's part of the magic of having a new car. Don't let them take that away from you. And I agree about the car jockey thing. If it were me driving it over, I would probably be revving it and accelerating fast and all of that other stuff.

CurryPot

Lexus of Seattle flatbed my ES300h from Portland to Seattle at no cost. They traded a car so I could get the color combo I wanted. I think my dealership seems to be better than most?

boe

I'll admit, I would pass on the car if they don't flatbed it or I'd expect $2,000 off since they are selling you a relatively new, used car. I bought my first new Honda in Chicopee Mass after going to tons of dealers in CT. I got the car for less in MA AND it only had 4 miles on it (2 of which were me test driving it!). After having bought used cars before that, that 4 miles really made a big difference to me (can't explain why).

You could have probably gotten a better price and picked up the car in MA without anyone flooring your car during the break in period. I realize most people don't worry about the first 1000 mile break in period any more but I still consider it important.

thew60

I want to thank ALL for your replies. You have provided me some excellent points to make to the dealer. Flatbed or get me another one closer to the dealer. I don't think they're shipping any more 2013 so I cannot "order" one ill let you know my outcome.

coach1

I drove about the same distance to pick-up the car myself, dropped off the trade, drove the new one home. The dealership pulled it out of the warehouse, peeled the protective rap off and prep'd it for me. It had the required 10 miles for fluid checks.

Doing it the way I did, I was able to inspect it before taking delivery and drive it home the way I chose to put the first 150 miles on the clock. It was also a good way to get familiar with the car.

LexBob2

Good luck to you. Just a thought. If the dealer agrees to the flatbed route, you might want to check and see how many miles the car has on it already. Maybe the other dealership had it driven to them. You never know.