I probably did that precisely because nothing was false. And funny enough, the quote you bolded lends credence to celebrity allocations rather than enthusiast allocations.


Japanese buyer, different Lexus subsidiary, different selection system. From his reports it was entirely random by dealership.

 

True, but it also mentions:

This is just one thread discussing this. If we were to go through all of the discussion over the past couple of years there are multiple posts and discussions regarding the selection process and the supposed exclusivity.

Again, I'm not hating on the car. I love it and am happy that gengar will be getting his soon. His insight and info has been amazing.

But to now all of a sudden backpedal on how Lexus marketed/distributed this car is

 

... which means exactly what ?

 

Turns out Miss Hilton's LFA is actually white -- from her Twitter account:

Mystery solved.

 

All I can say about this thread...

 

Thanks.

So it could be one of the white LFAs flipside shot pictures of when they just made it at the dock.

 

haha, cool be. but then again i will just have to shake my head even harder

gengar, i think in the end you are the one who's feeling uncomfortable and make things sounds more dramatic than they really are here in this thread. seriously if this thread has so much garbage by all means ignore.

no one question your allocation or "eligibility" mostly because no one really knows you, simple as that. i mean, unless you are another paris hilton with her kind of lifestyle and track record, and that people know about it, then hell yeah i am sure some will be talking. but i don't think you are there yet, at least i hope not.

so now we are trying to enter the stage where all the "rejections" are false / faked? wow, now i don't know where i should start. i guess there must be a lot of people who applied and simply had no money for the car (seems like that's the only reason to be rejected). and the people that s20000tois350 mentioned? i guess either he's lying, or the GM is lying.

we can all step back and look at this again. sure, if any of you want, throw away the enthusiast allocation (let's just forget about all the interviews and information we have read on the forums the past year). lexus established a system to SELECT the owners. that part is loud and clear. so they obviously had some criteria. but on the other hand, we have gengar here calling lexus and tell them nothing except what lexus he has owned.

true, lexus probably can't find out what kind of auto enthusiast he may or may not be. but at the same time, lexus will have zero idea about whether he's just in this to flip the car or just keep it in the garage. the EXACT SAME theory applies both ways. and it doesn't seem to be too hard to make it a story that oh damn i will be driving the car every day.

to me, what lies in front of me is pretty simple that either lexus selection process doesn't really exist (and maybe just a hype to try get more people to buy) or they have some very interesting criteria in selecting owners (and gengar will strongly disagree). lexus is not stupid enough to make something for no purpose, but of course, we will never hear any official statement or press release on that one

 

what? man, so flipside909 didn't have the right information?

 

very well could be the case.

but what this also means is, lexus actually helped in the shooting of the show by lending out the yellow lfa?

dave, trust me, we all know how you feel. most of us here would really love to see you in one!

might be a stupid question, but really, how about buying one here?

 

Was this your hand before the self-inflicted puncture wound Dave?

Must be frustrating to read this crap. Wish you would have got yours man.

 

As I have said, I think it's quite likely ...

As for the "car enthusiast" buyer criteria, I doubt that they could find enough of them with the financial resources to get the car even if that's what they aim, and as you have mentioned before, selling all 170+ LFA's at that price to ANYONE is hard enough, since the market for ANY CAR at that price range is not that big to begin with, especially in today's economy.

So you can't expect them to sell just to so called "enthusiasts", they have to sell them to a mixture of different kind of buyers who can and want to get this car.

No, I personally don't want to see Paris in the LFA, but not mainly because she is no real car enthusiast, but because of her negative image as perceived by many people, but she will help the car get more attention, especially with the show. And I do agree that people will not stop buying Bentleys and mercedes just because Paris Hilton owns them, so it will not have real negative impact on Lexus/LFA either.

 

Of course it's uncomfortable when people start making attributions that have no basis in fact or logic. It's simply amazing to me that people talk about the "mystique" or just simply care so much about a special selection process when 1) the car isn't even sold out anyway and 2) we've reported time and time our experience with the selection process, and it doesn't at all reflect the hype and "mystique" that people have managed to dream up.

When people distort the facts and their own thoughts so much, blaming Lexus for the hype is just absurd. How could it not make me feel uncomfortable especially when I actually know and have been reporting the facts?


Ah, but here's the problem: There is no "all the rejections". The only person I know of who has claimed he was rejected was some celeb who went on some radio show to whine about it. I've never seen any other person claim to be rejected. Not one! On the other hand, we've got 3 allocations just on this board, out of ~180ish units between the US and Canada.

Who knows what reasons the GM would have had to make the statement that many were rejected. As I recall it, the GM also gave a lot of information at that time that was incorrect. I certainly wasn't insinuating another member here is a liar. I've reported a lot of information passed on to me by Lexus reps that was incorrect as well.

Yep, it's brutal. I'd love to think there's still a chance Lexus might shift allocations down the road.

 

I really think the simplest explanation is the most logical. I truly believe that Lexus received a lot of initial inquiries about the LFA and far more than anything else they ever announced. They wrongly assumed there would be a high conversion rate to actual buyers, and far more than they would produce. Their own egos got the best of them and they created this "lifestyle criteria" that was posted everywhere that was laughable about the selection process. A discrimination lawyer would have a field day if it were true, but in Lexus defense, they may not have known how else to make it work. Then realty sets in when they start to go through the list as suddenly discover that the stereotype doesn't apply, that simply because you're wealthy and were on the list of "inquiries" doesn't mean you feel compelled to shell out $400k+ on a car (some of you forget sales tax). Oh, lets not forget the daft lease requirement. Moving on- They get through the list and suddenly, "oh-oh" reality; the conversion rate is a fraction of what they thought. Any other exotic brand would have told them the conversion rate is like 1 in 5,000.

Lexus, still trying to maintain enthusiasm sends out letters telling people they are lucky to be on the list of selected buyers when the truth is it's the other way around. Anyone who really wants the car can get one. Just plunk down the deposit, who knows how much that really is, and they hope you can pay the balance when it arrives. Some will walk even then. Some decide that it's better to dump $50k and walk than be stuck with something they decide they can't afford.

You all keep forgetting one very important point. This car will have been on the market for a year now this March 1. That's when they were officially notifying buyers, remember? That's a whole year to sell out their allocation and as of this past issue of Auto Week, there has been no correction regarding 60 cars still for sale (happens every two weeks). EVERY manufacturer and I do mean EVERY always exaggerates demand for their product, so why would Lexus be any different when they already have a credibility problem from prior statements? I take the 60 cars with a grain of salt. I don't believe the number remaining is just 20 either because they have two years to sell those 20 so why worry? They are not at all acting like a company with just 20 to go. If the car is that great, two more years to sell 20 cars shouldn't be any big deal, unless the actual number still available is more like 100, then everything starts to make more sense to me. Still, it's irrelevant because the bottom line is that there are still unsold cars and anyone can buy one and they have made this very clear to me personally.

Lexus gains nothing by doing a segment with the LFA and Paris Hilton unless they are ignorant enough to think that just because she has one, others will want one. This isn't a pair of shoes. I can't think of a celebrity who could possibly be more harmful to the image of the brand. Do you seriously see some guy with $400k in his pocket thinking, "Well Paris has one, so I guess it's cool..." Seriously???

I'm going to drive the LFA in about ten days and form my own opinion about the car. Normally exotics are sold through actual opinion leaders; guys who already have exotics AND bought an LFA who then tell their buddies what they bought and why they like the car. That's how the majority of $400k exotics are sold. This is why you see no print Lamborghini ads and no TV spots anywhere. High end exotics are sold overwhelmingly sold through opinion leaders and all the most successful exotic dealers know this.

I went to the new Continental unveiling here in the Seattle area. There were about 100 people there and just about every one knew at least three other people in the room. That's typical and they all influence each other's decisions about cars. If even one current exotic owner says he's getting an LFA it causes their exotic owning buddies to take notice.

This whole entire marketing program is the strangest ever. Look at how much it's been debated on this forum. Show me any other forum where there is this much debate about the reality of sales with anything.

We all just want the truth about the LFA and where it really stands. There is no shame at all if they only sold 20 so far because the market overall for $400k exotics is TINY to begin with, especially in this economy. The LP700 is not flying out the door by any stretch and the local dealer has two arriving in June for $405k WITH options. There is no big line, no letters stating that I'm lucky to get one, no hype, no Paris Hilton, nothing even close. I've see it, it's a hell of a car, but so what, so is the LFA, so are many others, and the market is soft. This has been debated to death here, and it could all be cleared up if they came clean.

What is reassuring is that Toyota now lists the LFA in the monthly sales reports that that will be the truth. That number will be cross referenced against photos and I don't believe even one car will hit the streets without photos somewhere. If all 4,000 Murcielagos are accounted for in photos worldwide, it's nothing to track down each and every LFA in the US.

Still, I don't believe Paris Hilton is actually getting one however someone thinks it makes great TV somewhere. I can't see Paris sitting on the crapper reading car magazines. It's not like they run LFA ads in Cosmo so where would she learn about the car? I think it will be the photo shoot, she holds it and they transfer it to someone who wants a car once "owned" by Paris Hilton. I'm sure that one fan exists. Sort of like Lamborghini and Nicholas Cage.

Again- the simple is the likely truth. NOTHING stops Lexus from issuing a press release telling the world where sales really stand. The problem is they could be liable if they lie about it and some poor dude buys one thinking it's about to sell out only to find out that demand is soft. To me what Lexus is NOT saying publicly directly from the factory that tells me that things are not what they seem. NOTHING stops them from putting out a press release stating that there are only 20 cars remaining so if you're thinking about one you better dive on it right now. Right? Why wouldn't you? If you have 100 to go? Well, you just keep doing exactly what they are doing, act like a duck, remain calm above the surface, while paddling like hell underneath with events, showings, drives, public appearances, and uh, hopefully someone who matters far more than Paris Hilton.

She did look at me and smile once while I was out at dinner. She was thinking I was admiring her. I was thinking, why couldn't it be Charlize Tharon?

 

Not sure why some one would think because Paris owning an LFA would mean she would crash it, she does have an SLR which is just like the LFA

 

A whole lot of assumptions with very little facts to back your arguments. Also a lot of rehashing of old arguments that have been thoroughly discussed already.

Time will prove everything.