I called my salesman today to get a status update. He said they haven't received the temporary VIN yet, but once they do, they will be able to track the progress. I asked him if they got the number before it goes into production or after, but he really didn't give me a straight answer. I'm guessing he doesn't know for sure. I'm obviously nowhere close to getting it. I ordered end of Jan., but I think it was after the 20th, so my order is probably only 2 weeks old in the Lexus system if it didn't go in until Feb. 20th.

 

Is this a special order? If so better sit back and wait. Going to be atleast 3 months and more like 4 months. End of jan is only a lil over a month.

 

Mark your calender for 3 months from the date you placed the order, then forget about it until then. After 3 months start calling your salesperson. The vin# shows up with all other ones, after the car leaves Japan. Total wait time is 3 - 4 months.
You can start planning any mods until then to keep yourself occuppied.

 

lol, what they are saying is they don't even have the car on allocation...they don't track a car, they just look at a model no on a piece of paper. It takes bout 3 seconds to check. They get allocation 2 times a month. If your car doesn't show up, wait til the next one, and so on. Once your car shows up, it's bout 3 to 4 weeks til it hits the ground.

 

This is only correct if its not special ordered and they are just requesting(waiting for) a car to be sent. If its a special order (which it sounds like) then AsianGirl is right. Just grab a beer and dont bother the dealer for a few months cuz they aint going to know anything. They will only know after the car is built and is getting on the boat to come over. Then it will show up and they can see when it will get here. Which is around 3-4 weeks. Any time before that its not even built yet , so it dont exsist yet and they cant track it. And they dont give out VIN numbers for a car before its even built as far as i know.

 

what does it mean when the dealer tells you that the car has been allocated? That is what my salesman said to me. I placed an order for one on Jan 17

 

Allocated means your car's coming on the next shipment, usually 2-4 weeks. Allocations are every 2 weeks, sometimes if the demand is too great you have to wait for the next shipment. But it's been about 6 weeks for you. If you ordered Jan 17th, something's wrong. I'd recommend calling your salesperson to see what's up.

 

AsianGirl007, thanks for the help. I last spoke with my salesman on Feb. 27th and that is when he told me that the car was "allocated." Sorry for the mix-up. He said he was shooting for a mid-march delivery. Does that sound about right? But he also said something about that it could still be in Japan or on a boat, but he doesn't know where. Is he just giving me the run around? Should I have a VIN number or something yet?

Thanks a bunch!

 

Mid march is next week! I'd call him tomorrow, he should definately have the vin# by now.
And you're welcome.

 

A allocation list comes around every 2 weeks to the dealers and this is the list that shows all the car that they will be getting on the next boat load of cars comming over from japan. Usally they have just left the japan when they get their lists. On the list it will give the VIN numbers of the vechiles alond with everything they are equipt with. The list should also give a port arival date. Which is when the boat hits a US port and car then gets unloaded and checked, and some port installed items get added to the car then they go out by truck to the dealer. Takes around 3-10 days from port to the dealer.

So if your car has been found on a allocation list you should be able to get a in port date, which you then can guess at a ready to pick up date and know a VIN number. Probley around 3-4 weeks from when its on the list until you can pick it up.

 

I knew that special orders take 3-4 months, I just wanted to know if the "temporary" VIN came early in the order process or late. From the sounds of things, when I get the number, that essentially means the car out of production and in shipment. That's the answer I was looking for. Hopefully, if they have stepped up production, maybe it will knock a month off the standard wait time.

 

I ordered my base ISawd on Jan 2nd. No special build other than NAV. Dealer doesn't think it will be in until April. Thats over 3 months for a base model.

 

call me dumb...but whats the advantage of having your VIN before the car comes? far as I know there's no site you can track the VIN like you can a UPS package. just don't see the point in bugging the dealer if it won't speed up the process.

 

I agree theres no reason to have a VIN. I would probley leave the dealer alone once i knew the order was actually placed. I would hate to order and forget about it for months then find out the dealer or someone droped the ball and no order was placed. That would mean you would have to start all over again at that time. So i guess i wouldnt mind buggin them until you found out for sure order went threw and things are started. Then might as well back off until the last month to check in and see a delivery date. Then check in a few days before that.

 

Maybe bugging was the wrong word. Sorry hehe. Fortunately one exactly like I wanted was already "allocated" to my region so my wait won't be that long. Last thurs the dealer said it would be 2-3 weeks. Hopefully that's right.