I just paid a deposit to place an order for a 2025 IS500. I'm in Canada. I've read in the Facebook IS500 groups that one can't really order an IS500 and when a salesperson/dealership "places an order" what they're actually doing is that they're waiting on allocations from other dealerships and then try to trade for the spec that you "ordered" so they can bring it in for you. I wonder if this applies to Canada as well as I know the FB groups are US based. My sales guy said that when an order is placed, it goes to Japan, the car is then built then after about a month it is then shipped to Canada, which takes another month to arrive. Any Canadians here that can shed light on this?

 

Hey welcome! There was a bit of a discussion in this thread where some members are going through this process as well on the Canadian side in the GTA area.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...-my-is500.html

To provide some more insight, when the sales person says “order”/“factory order”, it will be more similar to locking in an allocation that is queue for production. They will send your specification (ie. Color combo) to look for a match. I don’t not believe they are able to send in your personal specification and make an additional vehicle. Two months is a little optimistic unless your color combo is already made and no one has tagged that vehicle yet and in process of getting shipped, I put my allocation request in mid Feb 2024 and picked up late May 2024.

 

As a Canadian, i can assure you the process is the same. Your dealer is either misinformed or just not being truthful! Just know the end of line is approaching for the 500 and some dealers have even openly told their customers that no more deposits are being taken given the production is basically done (or they cant guarantee a delivery anymore).

There is an ultimate edition for the end of the 500, and only a limited numbers are allocated to Canada.

I hope you get one as its an amazing car! What color combo are you looking for,and where arw you located? There is an incognito with black interior in Kingston.

It annoys me when dealers cant be truthful/factual with clients!!

 

When I ordered my last Mini Cooper S, I could see the whole process from when the order was placed, as it was being built, when complete, track it as it got on a ship, track the ship all the way from Europe, through the Panama Canal, to the California port, on to another ship and arrival in Hawaii. If your IS 500 order was really a custom order you or your dealer would be able to see that process. Unfortunately in Lexus' case, it's just what others say, they put out a search for your VIN and find it somewhere or see one coming out of the factory just like the one you want. Either way I'm sure you'll get what you want unless shipping is messed up these days due to trade wars. You'll love the car for sure!

 

I put a deposit mid March, Iridium/black. Sales person explained that we are "waiting for allocation from Japan", basically as Set50 said, they are trying to match what will be built to what you asked for.
Its still in "waiting" stage, and that has me quite worried, its now 3 month... but he did say, fair warning could be 3-5 month wait.
Im pretty sure dealers can swap/trade cars, but maybe I'm mis-informed and Lexus isnt doing that.

 

Haha my dad bought a Mini Cooper S in 2003 back when they came out and I remember this exactly since I couldn’t wait for it to come.

 

The dealer in Vancouver where I put deposit on mine, I got to choose the color I wanted which was Ultra White w/ Black and then I guess they submitted to Lexus Canada or Japan and see what is coming or like what everyone else said, Mine was submitted in Oct 2022 and arrived in May 2023, but I didn't pick up that one. The dealer called me to see if I was interested in Grecian Water that got here in Feb 2023 and I got that one instead

 

Thanks for the welcome! Yeah I saw that thread and in reading through it, it seems like a lot of Canadians are being told by Lexus reps that we can "order in" a vehicle. I think your explanation makes sense. Lexus makes the batches and when each dealership "places an order" I think they are all just getting in line to snag the next one in the spec that was "ordered" and then they get allocated. To clarify, I didnt mean to say id get the car 2 months after deposit. The sales rep did say about 3-4 months and he said something about depending on when the allocation happens etc which I didn't quite comprehend at that time but with your explanation it now makes sense.

However he did say one thing that doesn't jive with what you said above. He said that when you place an order, he pictures that the manufacturing guys in Japan are just waiting for these orders to come in and once they receive it, they then build it, which takes a month, then the next shipping date is affected by the allocation schedule, then once the car is on the boat it takes a month to arrive in Vancouver (I'm in Edmonton btw), then gets delivered to the dealership. All in all he said it's about a 3-4 months process.

FWIW, I had test driven 2 IS500s last year from the 2 Lexus dealerships here in Edmonton, and the one IS500 I test drove 2x on different days.. suffice to day I spoke to 3 different reps and they all mentioned that I could order in a brand new IS500. So all in all with the one I'm dealing with atm, that's 4 sales reps from 2 dealerships saying the same thing. 2 of them are more senior reps from each dealership. Maybe it's just the phrasing that they use but lijely in reality, the process is how you described.

 

Yeah I saw your reply in the other thread that was linked above. I actually screenshotted it and emailed my sales rep this morning. He said you're incorrect and to listen to him as he knows how things work internally lol. Maybe he's referring to the process described above where the order placed locks in an allocation that's already being produced or planned for production.

I "ordered" Caviar with Circuit red. The only combo that I would take lol. I'm picky. And I only buy black cars. I test drove a black on black last year and it just doesn't feel the same as the red interior. I'm in Edmonton.

And yes, I'm aware of the Ultimate Edition. Im in the 2 main FB IS500 groups and have been following this car for years, follow a number of IG accounts etc. The color is meh to me tbh. I looked it up as soon as I saw the posts on IG. There's a YT short with an RZ in wind and it's not for me. I also much prefer all red interior to the black/red combo.

And yes, I really hope I get it because I've been waiting to pull the trigger on this for a while and put down the deposit mid May when I had the gut feeling that this year will be the last year of production based on online chatter. The very next day after I put the deposit down the Ultimate Edition was announced! Lol

 

Thanks! I'm sure I will. I test drove a IS350 F Sport 3 a couple years ago and while it was nice, I wondered about the IS500. It wasn't until last year that I got to test drive the IS500. And I was fortunate to test drive it 3x! Lol I do love it! I quickly got to 150kph+ for a couple seconds on the freeway and scared the older sales rep for a second 😆

 

im in the same boat OP. I just placed an order as well and was told the same thing by a few sales reps in the GTA. i really hope they won't stop the regular IS500 production now as I have been a long time lurker as well lol, I think if that happens I'll just go ahead and settle on any color combos and grab one as soon as I can. Hopefully we both get our cars this fall!

 

Haha awesome, I actually just finished reading the other thread and your posts about being able to put a deposit on one. Cheers! Here's to waiting!

 

Yeah, I'll just echo all the other comments as well. I "ordered" mine asking for infrared on black at the end of Jan 2023 and the car arrived in early April. Clearly, this was simply them finding that combo that was already built (or already in production) and just re-distributing it my way. I actually think the car was already on its way to Canada when I placed my order at the end of Jan. My (preferred) dealership also tried to trade with another dealership who had that infrared/black spec, but the other dealership refused to trade it to my dealership. That annoyed me, so I told them, no problem, I'll wait it out at my dealership. I'm not going to buy it from you guys. LOL.

 

I really wish Lexus would accept orders like the Germans do.

 

Well, if your dealer is so confident that Lexus builds cars specifically based on your order, ask them to provide you the tracking of your order. In the end, i don't care what your dealer says, i just want you to get the car you want. There is another guy in Canada wanting the exact same combo as you with a deposit placed before yours. Canada does not get the same amount of volume as the US does but since your dealer told you that you will get yours, that is all that matters as it is a great car!

Look forward to have you join the IS 500 family, you will not regret this car!