Southern CA - IS350 Car Shopping Experience(s)
07-01-07, 10:42 AM
#1
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Southern CA - IS350 Car Shopping Experience(s) *South Bay Lexus was the Best!!!
Hey Gang
Some of you may or may not know that I lost my IS300 a couple of months ago..
It was 6yrs & 9months old when it gave its life for mine..
Crashed IS300 < Click on me
So I have been on the hunt for a car and I wasn't sure what to get as far as a Lexus..
Meaning get another used IS300, so I could transfer all my mods onto it or start fresh with a new car.
Obviously it would have to be an IS350.
After looking at a handful of used IS300's I was just not happy with what I was finding.
I began to play around with building a 2007 IS350 that suits me and what I like.
I ended up with:
Smoky Granite Mica w/Black Leather
Sport Package
Mark Levinson & Nav Pkg
Park Assist
Preferred Accessory Pkg
I knew after doing all my homework that this allocation would not be found on any LOT across the US..
That meant Special Order...!!!
So in the past months I was shopping around. Either walking into local dealerships or talking to them on the phone or emails...
When I walked into Lexus of Beverly Hills, I was approached by the next sales guy in rotation...
After formalities, I asked him what IS350's he had in stock..?
He asked me if I was ready to buy today.. I said no.. He said so why do you need to know..?
I was like OK, how about if I want to come back tomorrow or the day after..
After talking some more he even asked why I didn't just buy the GS350, pointing at it.. I said look, if I wanted a GS I would have asked you to show me one...
At this point I just stayed for amusement.. He eventually informed me of what he had in stock and I had him take me to their off premises parking lot.. Where I found the same car as I wanted except it was a Luxury Pkg.. SO I didn't even want to sit in it... I also asked him what the rock bottom price was, and he said look we sell cars for MSRP here, you are lucky if they do $2K off Msrp.. I laughed out loud.. !!
Just for kicks I drove back an IS350 with the HKS Exh system back to the dealership.. Shook his hand and never looked back.
---
Same day I walked into Lexus of Glendale.. Waited approx 10 mins before someone said one word to me... maybe they were really busy.. ?
A Mgr grabbed a sales woman out of a room to help me.. maybe on break?
I used a different approach this time.. Stated what I wanted, stated what I would pay and that was it... out of there in 20 mins total.
She called me back after a half hour and told be that the Sport Pkg was discontinued and I could not special order it..
X-Pkg would be the way to go for me and she could help me with one she had incoming. No thank you
---
During this time I was working with Longo... Over the phone and email..
I was told I could no longer order a Sport Pkg as the factory doesn't make anymore.. I insisted they look into further (since I knew it was still available).. Well after they did, I was told I can Special Order the exact car I wanted, but it would have to be a 2008 and I would PAY no less than the MSRP Sticker.. In other words NO DEAL on special order..
But of course I could have a deal on an IS350 on the lot..
---
Could I be anymore discouraged to Buy a Lexus from any of these Dealerships???
***************************************
Finally - I decided to drive a bit further to South Bay Lexus in Torrance, CA.
This is where I meet Gloria Rincon - Internet Sales Manager.
I had meet her prior while looking for a used IS300 and she said if you decide to go NEW, to let her know.. SO I did..
Over the phone I explained to Gloria what I was looking for and that it would be a Special Order 2007.. She had no problem.. Before she told me I couldn't have it, she made 110% Sure.. Well to no Surprise, Sport Pkg is still available for 2007 & 2008. She had ZERO problems in placing a special order for me...
She worked with me on the numbers and we reached an agreement that left me happy!!!
ALL in ALL Gloria Rincon was great to work with and I would recommend her to anyone looking for a Great Deal and/or looking for a Special Order Lexus..
Gloria Truly made this a Great Lexus Shopping Experience!!
Both her & I agreed that there is NO reason why I should or anyone should be deterred from ordering EXACTLY what they want in their Lexus, if its available!!
If any of you are looking for a Special order & you do contact her, you can mention me as a referral..
You will benefit from it since she is the actual Internet Sales Mgr!!
Gloria even told me that they have a waiting list of LS600H buyers. Not one of them would ever be paying over the Lexus MSRP sticker.. Apparently there is some buzz that some Lexus dealerships are actually marking it up due to its popularity !!!
Hope you enjoyed my story!!
Joe Z
Some of you may or may not know that I lost my IS300 a couple of months ago..
It was 6yrs & 9months old when it gave its life for mine..
Crashed IS300 < Click on me
So I have been on the hunt for a car and I wasn't sure what to get as far as a Lexus..
Meaning get another used IS300, so I could transfer all my mods onto it or start fresh with a new car.
Obviously it would have to be an IS350.
After looking at a handful of used IS300's I was just not happy with what I was finding.
I began to play around with building a 2007 IS350 that suits me and what I like.
I ended up with:
Smoky Granite Mica w/Black Leather
Sport Package
Mark Levinson & Nav Pkg
Park Assist
Preferred Accessory Pkg
I knew after doing all my homework that this allocation would not be found on any LOT across the US..
That meant Special Order...!!!
So in the past months I was shopping around. Either walking into local dealerships or talking to them on the phone or emails...
When I walked into Lexus of Beverly Hills, I was approached by the next sales guy in rotation...
After formalities, I asked him what IS350's he had in stock..?
He asked me if I was ready to buy today.. I said no.. He said so why do you need to know..?
I was like OK, how about if I want to come back tomorrow or the day after..
After talking some more he even asked why I didn't just buy the GS350, pointing at it.. I said look, if I wanted a GS I would have asked you to show me one...
At this point I just stayed for amusement.. He eventually informed me of what he had in stock and I had him take me to their off premises parking lot.. Where I found the same car as I wanted except it was a Luxury Pkg.. SO I didn't even want to sit in it... I also asked him what the rock bottom price was, and he said look we sell cars for MSRP here, you are lucky if they do $2K off Msrp.. I laughed out loud.. !!
Just for kicks I drove back an IS350 with the HKS Exh system back to the dealership.. Shook his hand and never looked back.
---
Same day I walked into Lexus of Glendale.. Waited approx 10 mins before someone said one word to me... maybe they were really busy.. ?
A Mgr grabbed a sales woman out of a room to help me.. maybe on break?
I used a different approach this time.. Stated what I wanted, stated what I would pay and that was it... out of there in 20 mins total.
She called me back after a half hour and told be that the Sport Pkg was discontinued and I could not special order it..
X-Pkg would be the way to go for me and she could help me with one she had incoming. No thank you
---
During this time I was working with Longo... Over the phone and email..
I was told I could no longer order a Sport Pkg as the factory doesn't make anymore.. I insisted they look into further (since I knew it was still available).. Well after they did, I was told I can Special Order the exact car I wanted, but it would have to be a 2008 and I would PAY no less than the MSRP Sticker.. In other words NO DEAL on special order..
But of course I could have a deal on an IS350 on the lot..
---
Could I be anymore discouraged to Buy a Lexus from any of these Dealerships???
***************************************
Finally - I decided to drive a bit further to South Bay Lexus in Torrance, CA.
This is where I meet Gloria Rincon - Internet Sales Manager.
I had meet her prior while looking for a used IS300 and she said if you decide to go NEW, to let her know.. SO I did..
Over the phone I explained to Gloria what I was looking for and that it would be a Special Order 2007.. She had no problem.. Before she told me I couldn't have it, she made 110% Sure.. Well to no Surprise, Sport Pkg is still available for 2007 & 2008. She had ZERO problems in placing a special order for me...
She worked with me on the numbers and we reached an agreement that left me happy!!!
ALL in ALL Gloria Rincon was great to work with and I would recommend her to anyone looking for a Great Deal and/or looking for a Special Order Lexus..
Gloria Truly made this a Great Lexus Shopping Experience!!
Both her & I agreed that there is NO reason why I should or anyone should be deterred from ordering EXACTLY what they want in their Lexus, if its available!!
If any of you are looking for a Special order & you do contact her, you can mention me as a referral..
You will benefit from it since she is the actual Internet Sales Mgr!!
Gloria even told me that they have a waiting list of LS600H buyers. Not one of them would ever be paying over the Lexus MSRP sticker.. Apparently there is some buzz that some Lexus dealerships are actually marking it up due to its popularity !!!
Hope you enjoyed my story!!
Joe Z
Last edited by Joe Z; 07-03-07 at 12:58 PM. Reason: typo
07-01-07, 11:12 AM
#4
I guess if you're not Nicholas Cage or Lindsey Lohan, they don't care about you... The only reason I ever set foot in that place was because they were literally 2 blocks from my apartment last year. I'm very happy to hear you found someone to provide you with the service you deserve elsewhere. Congrats on your purchase Joe, I can't wait to see your new ride! 
Javier
07-01-07, 11:31 AM
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Yeah Lexus dealerships suck. Very few are good as they all try to discourage you from getting what you want. Even if you walk in and tell them exactly what you want and that you'll pay MSRP (I tried this) in full on the spot they still can't seem to get a deal together. They try very hard not to sell you a car, especially one you want, and almost every dealer I've been to they lie right to your face. I wish Lexus would crack down on this sort of behavior. Here are some of the lies I've heard while shopping for my red/sterling grey IS350 w/Nav+ML, PCS, sport pkg:
1. You can't get a red car with grey interior.
2. PCS isn't available in the U.S. only in Europe because of a lawsuit against Toyota.
3. Lexus doesn't make cars with ML unless you special order it.
4. Special orders take 190 days or more (over 6 months).
5. The IS250 is just a "rocketship" and is as fast as the 350.
6. You can't hear the difference between a stock audio system and the ML audio system.
7. You need to put down at least $5,000 for a special order.
There are more but I can't remember. Lieing is plain stupid. The internet is everywhere and everyone knows how to use it and research ahead of time. I wish Lexus would set up some central internet sales point where you can just tell them what you want, they locate it, then you go to your local dealer to finalize the deal. That way you cut out the dealers and their inability to locate cars either because they don't know how to use their search tools or don't want to.
1. You can't get a red car with grey interior.
2. PCS isn't available in the U.S. only in Europe because of a lawsuit against Toyota.
3. Lexus doesn't make cars with ML unless you special order it.
4. Special orders take 190 days or more (over 6 months).
5. The IS250 is just a "rocketship" and is as fast as the 350.
6. You can't hear the difference between a stock audio system and the ML audio system.
7. You need to put down at least $5,000 for a special order.
There are more but I can't remember. Lieing is plain stupid. The internet is everywhere and everyone knows how to use it and research ahead of time. I wish Lexus would set up some central internet sales point where you can just tell them what you want, they locate it, then you go to your local dealer to finalize the deal. That way you cut out the dealers and their inability to locate cars either because they don't know how to use their search tools or don't want to.
Last edited by jdanon; 08-26-07 at 06:48 PM.
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07-01-07, 12:22 PM
#9
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That is awsome, I dont know but for some reason the dealers here in so cal are so full of themselfs in thinking that this car is so untouchable. Its in a high demand but geez....get over yourself allready. Glendale was like that to me to, I delt through the internet which was great, got the deal no one said i would be able to get but everyone blew me off till they saw that check in my sweet little hands, then you would have thought i was the pope!!! Congrats on your new ride, and dont use my joez intake ....get your own....J/K,LOL.....cant wait to see the picks!!!!!
07-01-07, 04:18 PM
#10
Lexus Champion
Good stuff ..... congrats.
Maybe I'm naive, but I thought Lexus did not allow dealers to mark cars up over MSRP under severe penalties of having their allocations cut back, or worse.
Maybe I'm naive, but I thought Lexus did not allow dealers to mark cars up over MSRP under severe penalties of having their allocations cut back, or worse.
07-01-07, 04:41 PM
#11
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They will install $10,000 chrome wheels, $7,000 gold emblems, $600 pinstriping, etc etc.....otherwise known as "dealer install options" and pocket the profit.
07-01-07, 04:51 PM
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You're 100% accurate. When I recently ordered the 08 IS350, an option was to have "factory" chrome wheels from the dealership. They wanted 3k. I laughed.
07-01-07, 04:56 PM
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07-02-07, 08:03 AM
#14
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I went through the same thing at this very dealership 2 years ago, and I'm sorry to hear things haven't changed. I have yet to meet anyone at Jim Falk Lexus in Beverly Hills who isn't a pompous *****, in sales or service. I guess if you're not Nicholas Cage or Lindsey Lohan, they don't care about you... The only reason I ever set foot in that place was because they were literally 2 blocks from my apartment last year. I'm very happy to hear you found someone to provide you with the service you deserve elsewhere. Congrats on your purchase Joe, I can't wait to see your new ride!
Javier
I guess if you're not Nicholas Cage or Lindsey Lohan, they don't care about you... The only reason I ever set foot in that place was because they were literally 2 blocks from my apartment last year. I'm very happy to hear you found someone to provide you with the service you deserve elsewhere. Congrats on your purchase Joe, I can't wait to see your new ride! Javier
I've heard the same problem coming from there over and over again...
Beverly Hills is a place I strongly recommend to stay away from....!!
The wait is going to be hard for me...
Especially, since I've been driving rental car(s) since May...
But I am sure it will be worth the wait when it finally gets here!!!
P.S. - my June 20th allocation got flipped into a 2008
07-03-07, 12:49 PM
#15
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You are better off finding a local chrome wheel supplier and with the Swap it shouldn't cost more than $500-$600 at the most..
I personally used to like Chrome..
But now I'm more into the Graphite Polished Finish. Hopefully, that will be a PIO for the 2008 models...
We will see!!
Joe Z