afakhori

So I went to Lexus of Hawaii (http://servcolexushonolulu.com/) to test drive the 3IS and loved it, I went with the intention of trading in my 4runner and my wife's 07 RX for a 3IS and a new RX. During the test drive the sales associate told us that if we lease them and get then get PCS'd (military move) overseas or back to the mainland we would have to buy out the lease or purchase it outright, we couldn't take the cars with us.

He said they will only use Bank of Hawaii and not LFS.

Is this legit? My sister used to work for a car dealer and told me that some banks give them better kickbacks so they push those banks on people instead of LFS or the like for other dealers. Am I getting jerked around? I would think that if I'm ready to give this guy two sales as fast as he can draw up the papers that he'd wanna work with me.

Thoughts?

toyotatom

Over the years of buying many cars it seems the dealers always used an outside bank for the financing, so there must be something going on there between the dealers and banks. The last car I bought was a 2011 Hyundai Sonata and I had to request using Hyundai Finance because there rates were lower then the banks at that time with the deals they were offering.
I guess because the dealers are independently owned, they can use who they want for financing.
I don't understand why if you leased the cars they become land locked and can't be taken off the island. I'm sure someone here knows the answer.

afakhori

Thanks for the input!

I reached out to the bank he stated the dealer used and they told me specifically that there was no issue with either taking the car off Island, or if we were to get orders outside the US (CONUS or Alaska) to terminate the lease per the SCRA.

With that said, I still really want the 3IS, but if this dealer is gonna super **** me around and not play ball, I'm not sure what I can do short of signing a lease on the mainland and then shipping it over

Jeff Lange

iTrader: (1)

Toyota/Lexus in Hawaii is actually a different company/distributor from Lexus USA, similar to Lexus USA / Lexus Canada.

I don't think there would be a way to buy a Lexus in Hawaii and use Lexus USA's financial services.



Toyota Japan builds the cars and sells them to various distributors, which then sell them to various dealers, which then sell them to the customer. Things like warranty are handled by the distributor. In Hawaii that would be Servco, not Lexus USA. I would look very carefully into bringing a car from the mainland over. Servco will likely have no obligation to perform any warranty work on a vehicle they did not supply, since the responsibility would actually be Lexus USA's, not Servco's. You may have to pay for warranty work up front and get Lexus USA to reimburse you for it. I'm not sure what their relationship is, or if it's as amicable as between Lexus Canada/Lexus USA, where they cooperate completely.

Essentially what I'm saying, is that for all intents and purposes Hawaii is a different country than the USA when it comes to buying a Lexus.

Jeff

toyotatom

Interesting how Lexus does that over there. I think he was asking about leasing over there in Hawaii and coming back to the states if he had to, he might have the same warranty issues just reversed of what you mentioned.

afakhori

Wow, thats super informative and disheartening at the same time. I had no idea they were completely separate entities.

I did speak to the bank they use and they told me if we get orders to leave HI and move back to the mainland US or overseas somewhere else that we can just turn in the car with written notice, so I'm still going to try to get one. The only bummer is that I've got to deal with Servco Lexus, and since they have a monopoly on the market, doesn't seem keen to give a deal or work with us.

Any advice to get a decent lease on a 3IS here?

All I want is a Nebula Gray IS350, I'd like Flaxen interior, but I'm pretty flexible. Barebones is fine, though they seem to all be F-sports.

This would be my first lease, so I'm still trying to figure out what would be a good MF, residual, etc.

From what I've heard, I want a high residual, low MF and low initial cost with no money down. Thoughts?

toyotatom

Seems like most are getting MFs around .00085 or in that area. Residual is based on years and miles you are leasing. Its supposed to be a fixed number set by Lexus, a three year lease should be around 65, 66 %. A 27 month lease is somewhere around 72, 73 % depending on miles on the lease. Most do 27 or 36 month leases. The payments are pretty close so its what you prefer to do on the length of the lease. Good luck shopping. You will love the car

afakhori

Just got off the phone with the GM and he told me that the sales associate while correct about being separate from Lexus NA, was incorrect with how he treated us. GM assured us he would make it right and we're going in on Sunday to possibly lease an IS350 and new RX350. We'll see what kind of $$$ we can work out. Hopefully with pricing we can keep both payments down around $400.

Anymore advice on cost and pricing would totally be welcomed. Thanks for everything so far!

toyotatom

Hope it all works out for you