Hello everyone. I have learned so much by reading your posts and look forward to officially joining the club soon. We are in the process of ordering an IS250 with manual transmission in matador red and cashmere. I wish that you could order the cashmere seats with the black carpet like in the gray cars, but I was told you can't. Oh well. We are also getting the Bi-xenon High-Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps and Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS) with Additional Options package so we'll have a spoiler, 18 inch alloy wheels with summer tires and the preferred accessory package.

We have a question for the dealer that we're waiting for the answer to. We would like to add navigation without the total package. We don't want wood and all the other things. We prefer the regular dash. Did any of you add the navi as an option by itself? We are hoping that they'll do it for invoice price (2,168), since they're already getting a fair profit on the car. How much did you all pay for your navi?

Thanks for your help!

 

If you're ordering it, why can't you order the options exactly as you want them? Navi is offered as a separate option, as is wood. My 250 had both of them listed on the sticker as separate options. As far as price, I negotiate based on the total MSRP and total invoice, not option by option. What you may find is that some dealers are willing to deal more from their current inventory and may not want to cut you much discount on a car that has to be ordered from Japan.

 

Thanks for your advice. I thought so to, but I wanted to make sure.

We put down $1000 and were waiting to hear from them about the interior colors. When I called, my salesperson said that the navi had to come in a package. I told her that I didn't think it had to with a special order. After all, they're building it for us, aren't they? She said it would be about $3000. I told her no it wasn't. Invoice is $2,168 and MSRP is $2550. She said that she would have the manager get back to me. I'm waiting for his call.

I sat down and crunched numbers and figured out that if I paid them invoice for the navi, and if you add in the $605 that they get from Lexus for selling the vehicle, they will make an 8% profit on the car. Consumer Reports says that 5-8% over invoice is an acceptable profit margin for a vehicle. If I don't count the $605, they are still making a 6% profit. I think that my offer is fair. Thoughts?

 

if youre already special ordering the car...might as well get the sport with nav and ML. you will get the regular dash with sport plus all the other lux features.

other than that most of the time you will need premium to get nav which comes with wood and the vented seats.

 

I just read your response, and I'm getting confused by how different all the wording is. The package I got is the first listed under Build Your Own Lexus. It has no title there, just starts with the HID lights.

I just talked to the manager, and we went over the options that we would be getting. He said that the package I want is the Premium Package. He said it would be 18” wheels, HID lights, rear lip spoiler, and the Preferred package that includes the trunk mat, cargo net and Wheel locks. He said that I could add the navi to it.

So after reading your post, I looked in the book and sure enough, what you said is the Premium Package is listed as having bird's eye mpale, perforated leather-trimmed interior and Heated and ventilated front seats. I'm waiting for an e-mail from him listed the options, and then I'm going to OK it.

Why do they make all of this so confusing? A package should be a package and the Build Your Own Lexus should agree with what they have in the book and at the dealership.

He also said that we would get a 2007 and it would be here in July or August. From the 2008 question post, he must be using one of his 2007 allocations. What cracks me up about all of this is they kept on telling us how rare the M/T's were and that they couldn't find one anywhere. They had a used 2006 with 11,000 miles that they were asking 31,500 for. I can't believe that an M/T would be allocated unless it's listed as a reg 250 RWD and they can just change it to a M/T. I asked if I could wait for it to be a 2008 and he said that my color might not be available and that the price would change. We decided to go for it now and get a 2007. If it turns out to be a 2008, it will be an added bonus. He said that we would get it in July or August. For those who want to know, the 2008 would have come at the end of September.

 

The "Build Your IS" feature only gives the options that are normally allocated in your region (which is why you have to enter a Zip code). But if you are special ordering you can specify whatever you want. In that case you should be looking at the "Features and Pricing" tab which shows all the options available. That is why the "Build Your IS" is not lining up with what is 'in the book' at your dealership. But your dealer should be aware of this, but it sounds like he isn't familar with the web site.