I went to the Lexus dealership in Brooklyn, NY on Saturday. I was quoted $715/month all-in with no downpayment and only $900 drive-off costs (first month plus DMV, registration, etc). Paying taxes upfront brought drive-off to around $4k and monthly to low $600s, I forget exactly. This was for a theoretical vehicle with around $43k sticker.

That sounds well and good, but my salesman mentioned that there is NO special lease deal going on right now with the IS. However, he said that in the December to Remember event, I may be able to get payments lowered by up to $100/month. Does anyone have experience with this - and if so, does that sound right? I don't know why he would be dishonest about it, since for him I'm sure it's better if I buy the car sooner, rather than waiting until December... AsianGirl007 mentioned in an earlier thread that payments might only drop by $15-20 per month. In that case I would probably just lease right away... But if it's more like $100/month range, then I will definitely wait!

The IS350 they had in the showroom was gorgeous btw. Granite mica/black, performance package, nav, park assist... Too bad about that huge SOLD sign on the windshield! Whoever bought that car, if you read this board - I'm jealous!

 

I was doing a educated guess on what the December to Remember savings will be based upon my own previous experience. It could be a little more, but I just posted the facts to let everyone do their own assumptions. Predicting future car market is a bit like predicting the stock market.

Personally I think the $100 savings PER MONTH on a lease sounds a bit far fetched. After 3 years that $3,600 in savings, I doubt you can save that much just waiting another month and a half.

A good thing is that the residual is at it's highest right now, higher residual=lower payment. It will never go higher, but will drop in the future.

It's true the lease factor is a standard one right now. I don't know how it works in New York, but in California you pay tax on monthly payment only, not upfront. The $4,000 sounds like a down payment to me. Now if you have $4,000 to drop, then may I suggest doing a Multiple Deposit Lease? Instead of losing that money to a down payment and never seeing it again, it's kept by the Lexus bank, your payment is lowered a bit, but the good news is you get that money back at the end. (Provided you do not go over your miles and the car is in good shape in it's return.) It's even clearly pinted on the lease contract should you go that route.



There's a guy on CL who works at a dealer near you, D-MAN63, contact him, his name's Andy and I'm sure he can help you out.

Good luck.

 

Thanks, that's good advice! I talked to another dealer this morning, and he estimated savings would be more like $15/month, much more like what you had said before. I think the dealer I was talking to before doesn't know what he's talking about. Then again, he's also the one who said the IS350 gets great mileage for an 8-cylinder car! I guess that should have been my first clue that I should bail... lol

 

Here are my lease figures:
Auto=IS350 w/sport package and Nav
MSRP=$42,400
Money Factor=.00235
Residual=60% (62% for a non-nav IS350)
Term of lease=36 months
Miles:15k/year
Payment=$699/month
No deposit, 0 down

 

I was at the same dealership on Saturday. Test drove the IS250 AWD and put a deposit for a Smoky Granite Mica IS250 AWD. There were so many people looking at the IS its not even funny. The test car would leave every 10 minutes. Yea, that SGM that had SOLD on it was sweet, too bad I can't get Performance Package with my AWD. My sales person said that interest rates will be low and they are willing to give year end discounts. My car should be arriving before Thanksgiving so it would be the perfect timing for low interest rates.

 

cbb, did you special order a car, or are they just going to call you when they have some inventory of the IS250? By the way, my salesman was Tom Lam, and he was pretty bad. Aside from telling me the IS350 had 8 cylinders, he also said it "comes with everything" so it "doesn't matter what options I get." He was nice enough, but I probably will end up buying from Lexus of Manhattan or Ray Catena in Westchester County (which is the largest Lexus dealer in the state, according to their phone message).

 

Yea, I don't know who Tom Lam is but my salesman was Huey Ng and this is my second encounter with him. He is a nice guy, reason why I went back to him was because my friend bought an 05 IS300 from him and he got a good deal from him. The car just came out like 2 weeks ago, I wouldn't expect to be paying invoice price for this car. But Bay Ridge Lexus in my opinion has the best customer service. When I went to look at BMW, the sales people do not even acknowledge me so my business with BMW is gone.

 

I am sure that you will get a better deal at the december promotion. I got my wifes rx330 last year at that event and got a GREAT deal and im sure i saved a ton. its a 42k car as well and im paying 3yrs, 12k/yr, $531. These deals that people are posting for the IS350 sound RIDICULOUS to me after getting the deal on the RX. people are paying over 700 per month! On a side note, I actually saw a 350 w/out nav for $38k the other night - and thats what i want! if the lease deals are gonna keep on suckin' right through the holidays, im seriously considering a bimmer. saw a 330i the same night for $42k and i know that they are offering good lease deals on that car. i really hope it doesnt come to that though! Also, on the RX, i put NOTHING down except for drive off and first month - monthly price was with taxes rolled in!

 

Yes you got a good deal on your RX, but keep in mind the body style had been out for almost a year by then. We are talking 2 months for the IS. I think timing is the key here.

 

....but at the same time - paying over $700 per month WITH money down in a lot of cases is quite a large discrepancy. i get the whole "new car - we're not gonna give you a great deal" thing -but COME ON! that is also why im considering making the jump to the GS300 - the things been out for a while and it seems that when im on the lots, there's plenty of good inventory. on a side note, i was shocked to find at least 4 is cars on the Thousand Oaks Lexus lot. they must have gotten quite a few because i know vista lexus got 2 and one was gone the day before they could even sell them. maybe by december inventory will be a little higher and that - coupled with the Dec promo, may yield some fairly decent deals.

 

If you are willing to pay over 700 a month, you might as well finance the car.

 

Can someone run the lease figures for IS 250 RWD with sport package and Nav.

 

Dunno the exact specs you might be able to eek out, but I got an 06 IS 250 Black Pearl, RWD, Nav, Sport, no ML for $500 registration / other + $628 / month, 39 months including tax in Orange County. That was the Sunday after it came out (on Friday).

Don't think I really got a really great deal, but better than I could figure out on Lexus.com, anyway.

Oh yeah, and I discarded my 01 IS 300.

 

So is this event really worth waiting for?.....do they give u great deals?.....and if so will it be harder to find the car u want or they will be gettin more cars than usual for december because of the event?

 

If you're expecting to get a much better discount off the sticker price of the car in December, you probably won't since this car will still be hot since it just came out. However, you can expect better money factors on the leases and interest rates on loans from Lexus Financial Services. The 0.00235 money factor that people were talking about is pretty high and you should see that go down in the December to Remember sales event.