When did the price increase occur?

I noticed that there was about a $400 difference in sticker price between cars depending on the build date for the exact same options.

 

Most likely right at the new year. For example, the price of a HS premium with an invoice date of 12/17/2009 is $40,801. The same vehicle with an invoice date of 2/24/2010 is $41,251

 

That may be due to the addition of the Enform telematics feature on the later models.

 

What is Enform, do you mean the Lexus Link thing, so are you saying that the older ones from the same model year don't have it.

I noticed from what I saw, one car had a build date of 10/09 and the other had a build date of 12/09, same exact PIO and options. The later has a sticker that is $400 or so higher.

 

The answer to this is to buy the cheaper model

But I think Enform was on the HS since the launch?

 

haha.. I do agree, get the cheaper model. BUT in this case I think I would get the more expensive one, just because it has a later build date. I hate buying 1st year model cars, they always seem to have more problems, look at the consumer reports guides and you'll notice that whenever the new model is introduced, it take a small hit in quality. Since this is the 1st model year of the HS, I would pick a later build date, under the assumption that the people putting together the car are more used to it and have more knowledge. This is just my opinion but what's another $400 when you are spending 40K

 

There may have been a small price increase, but it should more than be made up for by the dramatic decrease in average price paid since the Toyota/Lexus recall issues hit last January.

I had been lusting for an HS pretty much since they came out, but couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger on a nearly $50K vehicle. After the recalls, I watched the prices actually paid in my area (on Edmonds.com) drop by more than $7K. In April, I was able to negotiate the car I wanted - Smoky Granite, tech pkg, LED lights - for less than $42K with 1.9% financing for 60 months, so I made my move!