Originally Posted by RCFun

There are many experiences we have had trying to place orders for Bespoke Builds and dealerships are either unwilling or incompetent to do so.

Now, a simple search on autotrader nationwide, MY 23 and 24, sorted high to low…shows dozens of Bespoke builds for sale new in showrooms.

So, either: 1. All of these are legit orders that people
backed out of (I personally don’t believe this) or 2. Dealerships have been taking Bespoke slots for themselves this whole time, to sell out of inventory, hoping to add a ridiculous Market adjustment.

Originally Posted by asong1

Ok. I am going to chime in again, and contradict my original response above. I just now remembered the discussions I had with the General Manager. So here is the deal with the bespoke editions:
1. No Lexus dealers are allowed to order them unless Lexus USA can validate a real customer ordering the bespoke. Lexus USA will not submit bespoke orders to Japan without a specific customer name / region provided at the time of ordering.

2. Once the order is made, buyer's name is attached thorughout. And, after the delivery is made, Lexus USA then re-validates that the customer has taken delivery + send that validation to Japan.

Originally Posted by asong1

Actually some do(custom orders). You just have to have the right connection and be able to pull some strings. Here is my story: During the laste 2022, I purchased 5 new vehicles from the same dealership mother company (currently own 8, and 1 more inbound (Porsche)). So, I am considered a VIP with the dealership chain. One of the reasons why I was offered the new 718 Spyder RS (Final mid-engined ICE Porsche) at MSRP (People are paying $100K ADMs for these, if they can get one). Anyhoo, here is what I went through to 'order' my custom 2023 GX 460..

When I found out about the up and coming GX 550 and it's likelihood of having a turbo engined in it, I knew I wanted to buy the V8 version since I also missed out on the Land Cruiser Heritage Edition (Final V8). I called everywhere but I could not find the spec I wanted. What I wanted was the GX 460 Luxy trim + Sport Package + Off-Road Package. On top of that, I wanted black exterior with white interior. This spec did exist but were all sold out. And the final production window was closing in fast. And to make matters worse, Lexus USA only ships the vehicles with off-road packages to specific regions only (i.e. Florida, Colorado, Utah, etc..,). I've called many dealerships, and they all said sorry, we don't have one. And for the different colored and optioned ones that was in-bound were all spoken for. One dealer in Utah quoted that there was a list of 150 people waiting in line to get one before the V8 was discontinued.

So.., I called the GM at the Porsche / Audi side, and he called his head company to ask if anythng was possible. The head company responded with "Lexus does not take custom orders", but connected me with the GM of the Lexus branch. This GM went out of his way to contact the sales / marketing dept at Lexus USA and asked for a 'favor'. They told him they would try, but no guarantees. Timing also worked in my favor because the head of the dealer management for Lexus USA was visiting my dealership that very week. A month later, I get a call from the GM, and he told me that Lexus USA marketing reached out to Japan to see if they would build one more vehicle with the exact spec I want, and ship that car to a region which doesn't receive any GX vehicles with the 'off-road' package by default (dealers have to initiate a trade). Lexus sent a note to the marketing manager with note of accepance of the 'custom' order request, and sent the build slot date.

Rest is history. I have my beautiful GX. So by default they do not take custom orders, nor most of the dealers will go thorugh hoops to help you. But in my case they did accept my custom order. And I was able to secure this piece of history. And here she is. Proof that in certain circumstances, they do take cusom orders (isn't she a beauty? Maxed out GX 460 / final V8 SUV). Currently in North Carolina home awaiting my visit.