It's certainly not true, as that experience depends soley on each individual dealer. That assumption stems from the idea that if you want a specific car, you're more willing to settle for whatever terms they offer...which is not the always the case. As the middle-men, they need your business, not the other way around.

There actually isn't really anything all too special about it. They just specify what they want, and it will take the spot that otherwise would've been allocated to any of the other cars sitting on the lot costing them money. Some dealers would rather not take the risk of having a specific car not being sold to a customer who backed out, while other higher volume dealers can be more willing. A specified order for a customer doesn't cost them any more or less, so you can just as well get a deal.

Yes, you most certainly do. The bigger issue is finding the right dealer, and sales manager willing to entertain your offer-- competion is key when trying to get that price down, and if you as the consumer don't like the deal...you have all the power to not do business with them. I special ordered my vehicle, and got near $3.7k off back in early 06', with the options below (pre-collision being rare as-is in this region, it would've been more of a gamble for them). Some dealers weren't even willing to go below $500, others were.

 

youre right, i double checked my vehicle supply screen on dealer daily and a vehicle is built 2 months after the month in which it is ordered. november orders are due by just after mid-month, though, so a vehicle ordered at the end or november after the cutoff is still considered a december order and wont be built until february.

 

I got a call this morning. my car is scheduled to be in NY on Nov 24. So I should receive it by 12/3/06

I ordered the car on 8/29.

I am a little(actually a lot) Pissed off about that Taste of Lexus coupon though. Basically I missed out because I moved, and had to change my email address. Called Lexus Customer service to see what they could do. I was assuered it would get handled. So I DIDNT go to the even in New York.

Come in on monday morning and I Have a voice mail. They denied my request on Friday, and called my office, despite my specific instructions to call my cell phone.

So now, I dont get the coupon and I missed out on the NYC event. I called back to get it escalated. Its so friggin dumb. They take 3 days to call back. This is why I missed the NY event.

 

Makes sense... good to know that there is a cutoff as well... Thanks for all the info!

 

Congrats!!! Man, that's fast!!! Barely 3 months wait!!!

Is this the first call you got from the dealer? Was your car an October or a November production?

 

tqlla3k: Why is your car going to NY? I thought all incoming cars arrived in Baltimore.

 

Hmmm, I dont have an answer for most of your questions. This was my first call back though. She said it appeared on her delivery list today.

 

I special ordered my car. It took the dealer all of five minutes, plus another five minutes to tell me my car arrived. I got there, haggled, and bought the car. It was no more complicated than buying any other car.

The dealer tried to give me the line of bull about special orders "costing more". I got $3k off of my car after explaining that: a) I understand that special orders cost the dealer LESS, because they do not take up space on the lot and there is no carrying cost; and b) It's just a car, I have two others at home, and I'm more than willing to walk and take my deposit with me if the numbers don't work.

I can't for the life of me imagine why a dealer would prefer having someone look around the lot and change their minds 10 times before settling on which car to discuss price on, when they can just press a few buttons and order the exact car a customer wants. This isn't a pair of pants...it's a $44k machine. If a salesman is too inconvenienced to have to place an order and call me when the car arrives, then I'm not inclined to give them my business.

Just my $.02.

 

Back when I was a kid (in the 60's) it was very common to special order a vehicle. And back then the options available were far more numerous than today. You usually had the choice of three or four engines, three trim levels, tire choice, even if you wanted cigarette lighter. And it was no big deal, you just sat down with the salesman and went over the option list and he'd tick off what you wanted. And this was long before computers took over the process. It should be dead easy to custom order any car today. The option list on a car like the IS is miniscule compared to the past, yet the most efficient manufacturer on the planet claims it's 'too difficult'. Nonsense.