OrionLex

Hello! First of all, just wanted to say a big "thanks!" to all the members of this forum - I've been learning lots from all of you over the past few months as I've contemplated getting my first Lexus, and I'm grateful for all the knowledge that you've shared in your posts... =)

So today, I dropped by a Lexus dealership to put down a deposit ($500) on a new car, and ended up ordering a new 2015 model IS 350 AWD! I'm a little confused as to how this was possible though, since they don't even have the build sheets for 2015 yet - in fact, they weren't even aware of the new changes for the new model year, but said they were going to put my order through anyway once I confirm my order tomorrow (I have to make a final decision about the color, more below). How likely is this to actually work?

In addition, he let me order the car with all the options I wanted, without knowing if they're even possible or not. Here's what I asked for:

IS350 AWD - Atomic Silver w/ Rioja Red
- (FJ) F Sport package
- (VN) Mark Levinson with Navigation
- (BD) Blind spot monitor
- (PA) Park assist
- (PS) Radar cruise w/ pre-collision system
- (LK?) Lane departure alert

- body side moldings
- door edge guards
- all weather mats
- accessory package (trunk mat, cargo net, wheel locks) w/ rear bumper applique


A few things I'm concerned about...
- will "lane departure alert" even be possible for an F-Sport model? (it was not for 2014)
- I think "park assist" and "radar cruise/pre-collision" were available options for F-Sport in 2014, but was "blind spot monitor"?
- are "body side moldings" compatible with "door edge guards"? (the Lexus build website doesn't allow it, but the dealer said there's no reason why you can't have both!)
- I mentioned that the RES+ would be standard in 2015 and he didn't think that was the case, so he specifically ordered remote start - was this necessary?


I know these links have been posted elsewhere in the forum, but here's where my 2015 information comes from (so far):
http://pressroom.lexus.com/releases/...ws+release.htm
http://toyotanewsroom.com/releases/2...duct+specs.htm

...unfortunately, the information contained within is not detailed enough to determine what is or is not compatible with which packages (also, has anyone noticed that the new Lexus website is far more difficult to navigate than the old design? The feature compatibility chart for all the models is gone as well, unfortunately). As far as I can tell, these features are still not available with F-Sport IS models in the U.S. market (please correct me if I'm wrong!):

- fog lamps
- power tilt / telescoping steering wheel
- outside rear-view mirror functions (electrochromatic, memory, reverse tilt-down)
- two-position memory - driver's seat, mirrors, steering column
- rain-sensing wipers
- leather-trimmed interior
- automatic high beam (? not sure about this one - it's mentioned in the press release, but nowhere in the product info pdf file; it used to be part of the luxury/technology package, which no longer exists)

- "power rear sunshade" option is gone for 2015?
- "all-weather package" also no longer seems to exist (since heated steering wheel is in both luxury and F-Sport packages), so what happened to windshield wiper-deicer, high-intensity heater, headlamp washers, and water-repellent front-door glass?


Finally, the most important question - color! I walked in there today intending to order a Silver Lining Metallic / Rioja Red model; however, I walked out having ordered an Atomic Silver / Rioja Red car instead - they had an Atomic Silver (2014 non-F sport) sitting in the dealership and it started to grow on me the more I looked at it (plus they were advocating Atomic Silver hardcore for some reason - made me wonder if they had some secret deal with that paint color's manufacturer! Funny thing is they had no idea that it was actually going to be a newly available color for F-Sport in 2015...). I'm starting to think that the slightly darker silver might look better with the red interior - any input on Silver Lining Metallic vs. Atomic Silver??

Anyway, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated (as you can tell, I've been researching this car for awhile now!) - and has anyone else been able to order a 2015 model yet?

Thanks for any help in advance! =)

jmevox

Did you negotiate a price? Not sure how they can sell a car having little to no information about it.

tea

i live in socal, and i don't see too many SLM driving around. It's mostly white and black here. Next most popular color choices around here are the Nebula Grey and Atomic Silver. Red, blue, and silver are less popular, around here at least

theoryguy3

I don't think you can get an F-Sport stateside in Atomic Silver, just SLM with black interior from what I see on Cars.com. If you want Rioja interior, your choices will be Black or White. Lane departure warning is only for the Luxury versions.

moose66

You'll find out. Even after your dealer 'places your order', that order still has to be accepted by Lexus corp. If you have requested something which can't be done for some reason or another, your order will be rejected.

NYKnick101

According to the website you cannot get an F-sport in atomic silver and all those options you listed are not compatible with what you listed. Unless they make it carte blanche for 2015 that allows you to get anything with anything. Sounds like they were just taking your money for a guarenteed sale

What does your paper work say when you put down the deposit?

nytefury

http://toyotanewsroom.com/releases/2...duct+specs.htm

According to the release spec for the 2015, the color Atomic Silver is newly added to the line up on Fsport vehicles. Unless i mis-read somewhere...

stevieb54

I just bought a 14 IS 250 F Sport and really wanted the seat memory, but of course its only available with the luxury package, and 3 dealers told me they either never seen an IS with this, or they have seen 1 out of the last 40 cars that came in.
They said I could order one butt it would be almost 6 months before it would come off the boat. They did say that the Lexus website really sucks because it will let you build a car with everything, but in reality its not available.

OrionLex

Hey - thanks for the replies so far! Here are responses to some of the things brought up:


The way I understand it is, no final price was negotiated since I was only placing an order, not actually purchasing the car yet. My deposit is mainly to demonstrate commitment, but is actually fully refundable. When I asked about pricing, I was told that since my car is a custom build, it'll pretty much be sold for invoice price - however, they don't even know the pricing themselves yet! In fact, he actually showed me one of their build charts for the production month of July (which showed that this dealership will be getting 171 IS250 AWD's and 74 IS350 AWD's - all 2015 Model Year builds), and under the MSRP column it lists "TBA" for all models. He even said that he wasn't worried if I end up backing out of the deal for any reason, 'cuz he'd still be able to sell my car anyway. Maybe someone with more experience in this area can chime in on how the custom build order process actually works...?


The production build chart he showed me actually corroborates your statement here quite nicely - here's what this dealership will be getting from the July builds (for F-Sports and non-F Sports combined):
- IS250AWD - obsidian (23%), atomic silver (21%), nebula pearl gray (13%), starfire pearl (13%), ultra white (10%), silver lining (10%), matador red mica (5%), deep sea mica (5%)
- IS350AWD - obsidian (24%), atomic silver (24%), ultra white (20%), nebula pearl gray (14%), starfire pearl (9%), silver lining (7%), matador red mica (1%), deep sea mica (0%)

...but I guess I'm less concerned with what's "popular" than which silver (SLM vs. Atomic) looks better on the car, especially with the Rioja Red interior. In fact, it looks like if I go with my original choice of SLM I'd actually have a rarer car, since only 7% of the IS350's are built for this dealer in that color by default (and only 1 car with RR interior! the other 4 are with black interiors). Although, since Atomic Silver is a new color for F-Sports this year, those will be relatively rare compared to all F-Sports out there already (out of the 18 Atomic Silver IS350's they'll be getting, 13 will be F-Sport including 6 with red interior and 7 with black interior). Any comments from any Atomic Silver owners out there on how well that color stands up to dust, dirt, or scratches? Those are the main reasons I usually end up with silver cars...


What you guys are saying is true for 2014 model cars, but changes for 2015 were announced about a week and a half ago and Atomic Silver will now be available for F-Sports (see page 4 on this product spec sheet: http://toyotanewsroom.com/releases/2...duct+specs.htm). Similarly, "lane departure alert" was only available with the "luxury & technology" package in 2014, but I'm not sure that package exists anymore in 2015 (I only see the regular "luxury package" - see page 9 on that spec sheet). Under the factory options, it lists "Lane Departure Warning with Smart Beam" but unfortunately it does not specify whether it's compatible with F-Sport package or not this year, so I'm hoping it is. Mark Levinson/navigation and "blind spot monitor" were definitely compatible with F-Sport in 2014, and I believe "park assist" and "radar cruise w/ pre-collision" were as well, though I'm not as sure (and the new website is horribly unhelpful for these specifics!). Since the F-Sport package is improved for the U.S. market this year (ventilated seats and heated steering wheel - finally!), I'm hoping the flexibility with options is improved as well - maybe somebody on here might have a better idea...?

The idea of being able to order anything carte blanche would be terrific, especially if a customer is already going through the hassle of ordering a special build and waiting 3-4 months for it to arrive - I can understand if certain options aren't compatible for actual engineering reasons, but this has not been proven to be the case for Lexus, as other markets around the world are able to obtain IS builds which are better equipped. For example, why does the U.S. market still not allow fog lights on F-Sport, when it clearly exists in other countries?? And ventilated seats and heated steering wheel were already available on F-Sport cars in other countries LAST year. I've noticed that many others are upset that F-Sport in the U.S. still can't come with memory or leather seats (though I personally don't care as much about these). As several have speculated, these artificial limitations are likely on purpose so that "improvements" can be gradually made from year to year, so that we always have something to look forward to... >

The "paperwork" I received is actually quite sparse because, incredulously, the one day I actually get a chance to go to the dealership is the day that they lost power for most of the building (so most of their computers weren't working, but a photocopier was?!?). It's basically just a photocopy of the order sheet with my basic info written on there, with codes for my desired car (01J7-30, which apparently means Atomic Silver-Rioja Red), the two-letter codes for the main packages and options I want (see my original post above), and a few other options handwritten in (body side moldings, door edge guards, all weather mats, accessory package w/ rear bumper applique). I realize that I'm an easy sale, but that's fine since I obviously really want this car! I just wish I understood this ordering process a little better since everything seems so haphazard and feels so uncertain to me so far...


Sounds like you have experience with this ordering process - so how long after an order is submitted does it take for them to get back with an order rejected or accepted confirmation? Is it fairly immediate or do I have to wait for awhile? Because the whole point of me ordering a car this early is to start the clock on the 90-day wait process, so I'd rather not waste a lot of time going back and forth on order submission attempts.

Thanks again to everybody for all your help - this is my first custom build car purchase, so I apologize if I'm asking any obviously stupid questions!

moose66

No, fortunately I do not have experience with a rejected order. My IS order was basic compared to yours! But I do know orders are not submitted from the dealers to corp for allocation until the 20th of each month. So I think you may have to wait at least that long to find out if your car is something they can produce. Maybe someone else will pick this up who does have a rejection story and provide more info. Good luck!

OrionLex

If your order was basic, do you mind if I ask why it needed to be a special build then? Also, thanks for that piece of info about orders being submitted on the 20th of every month - I'll have to make sure my details are complete by then (mainly have to decide color still => Atomic Silver vs. Silver Lining Metallic!!)...

OrionLex

I changed my mind about body side moldings - I saw some pictures with them on and they look terrible, totally ruin the sleek look of the car, so I'll be removing those from my build.

I found out that "blind spot monitor" is definitely compatible with F-Sport, but "lane departure alert" remains to be seen (it was not compatible in 2014, don't know about 2015 yet). Can anybody confirm if they have an IS F-Sport that also has "park assist" and/or "radar cruise w/ pre-collision"?

moose66

It really isn't, or wasn't a special order. To the dealer it was. Because it was not a vehicle in their possession, or part of their allocation. I was not interested in anything they had on hand, or anything they had coming in. Unless you are willing to give up on what you really want on your car, I would guess most people had to order the car.

What made my car hard to find was the gray interior and the rear window shade.

OrionLex

Actually, I've been wondering - how useful do you find the power rear sunshade? Can you see through it while driving? Do you think it's necessary if I'm considering tinting my windows anyway?

Need4Speed

hmm I don't know how a dealership could allow a order if they don't know all the details about the car