MattStarr

This one wasn't bought by the dealership, it belongs to Kent Stevinson himself, he has just decided to use the showroom floor of his dealership as a garage. I spoke to the sales manager when I went to look at it yesterday and he told me the Kent had made the final payment on it that day. I've met Kent Stevinson a couple times and hes actually a huge Toyota enthusiast. I've never seen his entire car collection but I do know that he owns an mkiv Supra tt 6spd and 2 imported 2.5 GT Soarers.

07grIS350

Thanks Matt for clearing this up.

gengar

This AGAIN? There are around 100 LFAs already delivered, we've seen maybe 3 dealer owners, and that's "the majority of owners".

In any case, this is the wrong thread for your rants. We already got you your own for that.

gengar

Wow, two 2.5GT Soarers? That's awesome. In the US, those are rarer than the LFA.

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

Hey Matt,

The Spolier is there.. It's just neatly tucked away in the Down position..

Now if you mean "Winglets" above the tailights?? I agree, this one was ordered with out that option..

Personally, I like the Winglets..


Joe Z

rominl

iTrader: (4)

just off the top of my head from the very incomplete list, i think more than 3. one here in ca, i believe one in seattle, one in ny, one in netherland (if i remember right), and this one in denver.

looking at what we have on the list (probably not complete), 17 known cars in the US, and 4 by dealerships.

on the other hand, i know there were zero cars in may. but june is almost over, haven't really seen a lot of new lfa popping up here. anyone?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

same here, i like the winglets

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

^^ Looks like one showed up in China too...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmLqkDGIv8k


I gave up on the list a while back...


Joe Z

07grIS350

3 or 30, it does not matter as long as they bought the car like others. The dealer owners are probably more of car people than the average person because they are in the car business and filthy rich.

MattStarr

Yep, and one of them is black on black and the other is a white on tan but its a hard top, I could be wrong but from what I've heard, the white hard top 2.5 gt he has is either the only one left in the world or the only one in the world period.

Don't tell me that, you have no idea how excited I got when I realized that the lfa I found wasn't on the list. In clublexus land that's like striking gold.

Ya, right after I posted that I started looking through the threads in the lfa section and saw that they were retractable, I wasnt aware that they did that. I didn't even notice the winglets either until you said something.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

are we going to drop this? if so i am not going to waste my time anymore.

to me it matters. on the book of course it's ok coz' they are sold. but just like lexus, i want the car to be driven on the road rather than just roped off in the showroom. that doesn't do that much good to spread the brand in general. if they are really car people, then they should want to drive the car more than anyone, rather than seeing the car sitting in the showroom

07grIS350

Agree, but what's the difference in displaying the cars in showrooms or park them in the garages while not being used? Also, I believe the majority of the population still does not realize the LFA is available in real life, so having them in the showrooms is not a bad way to advertise the car.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i think we are on the same page. it's not much difference than keeping them in the garage. and that's my point. having the car on the road will spread the brand / car much more efficiently. having the car at dealership, unless someone (without knowing the car) actually intends to go to that particular dealership, otherwise it's "invisible"

so to me, i rather have those owners simply just drive the car back and forth to work, or anywhere else for that matter. especially if they are true car guys

TommyJames

Some of you are missing the point entirely. When anyone starts to make a shrine out of the car and doesn't drive it, it seriously harms those that do. Ask anyone who owns an Enzo or a Scuderia, or an SV, or just about any other exotic I can think of. It creates a giant disincentive to put miles on the cars that are out on the roads. This has been proven over and over again in the exotic market. There is nothing more harmful to those who plan to drive their cars to then have to compete on the used market with those who don't. I also think a car has far more customer visibility with potential customers if the car is seen participating in actual exotic events rather than a showroom somewhere.

Rominl is right- so far the ration of dealer owners in making my own inquiries is very high- even admitted by some within the brand. It's great if they are enthusiasts out putting miles and owning the cars like everyone else, but seeing them with dealer plates, or not plates makes me suspicious.

07grIS350

The key thing here is 'when the car is not being used'. How do we know whether they drive the LFAs or not? I am sure Lexus did not expect many LFAs are used daily drivers. It also depends on where you work/live. It might not be a good idea to be seen driving this car so often.
I would not call LFA in the Lexus showroom invisible, given the traffic there is generally very high if you included the service customers. As you could see on some threads here, once the words are out, more people showed up just to see the car.