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This Ordering Process Is Not Customer Friendly!

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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 02:59 PM
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Default This Ordering Process Is Not Customer Friendly!

I decided last January when the LS460 was announced that I would buy one. If the options and packages and prices were announced at that time, I could have ordered in an instant. Now, almost 9 months later, the options/packages/prices are STILL not announced. However we know what the initial deliveries will be (options, but not prices). And they are nowhere near what I would like to order. I still could order the options I want NOW if Lexus would let me order. They won't.

So now it will be DEEP into October before I can order the options/packages I want, and it will be January--AT THE EARLIEST--until I get the car. Meanwhile people who take what Lexus has chosen FOR them will have their cars for at least THREE months!

Does this make sense?

I am used to having prices and options and packages available to me. I figure out what I want and order it, agreeing on options and negotiating price. Then I get the car at some REASONABLE time in the future. Not with Lexus, not with a new model, not for the LS460.

I tell you, it makes me want to look around.

Am I being unreasonable here? Please let me know your thoughts.
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 03:55 PM
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Yes.
The car just got released, wait a few months and buy the second year model anyways. It'll have less problems anyways.
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 04:02 PM
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So I'll have to wait ANOTHER year? And when will 2008 prices/options/packages be available? Not for 13 months. So I'll be in the same fix a year from now with no car and no resolution in sight.

BAH!
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 05:37 PM
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Have to agree with Ex-Lex. Love their cars, but I don't like the way they choose your packages/options for you. At these prices, you should be able to get what you want; without an unreasonable wait.
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 05:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Ex-Lexic
So I'll have to wait ANOTHER year? And when will 2008 prices/options/packages be available? Not for 13 months.
I don't think the 2008 prices will be that much different from the 2007
I do agree they should be taking special orders by now, & announce the prices too, the car is only a few weeks away from release . . .
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Old Sep 22, 2006 | 01:26 AM
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same here, i don't understand why all the options and price lis ar still not out yet, i think they should come out by now already for people to order. this is not a cheap car, people who can afford it have money already most of the time

and yeah, in terms of msrp prices, 07 and 08 will very likely be the same. discount wise, it depends
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Old Sep 22, 2006 | 08:19 AM
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Default I ordered a LS600H

I have the same problem but ordered the car on condition that I liked the price. I also want every possible option so I do not really need to know the opiton packages

I would suggest that you do the same thing in order to be one of the first to get the car.
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Old Sep 22, 2006 | 08:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Ex-Lexic
So I'll have to wait ANOTHER year? And when will 2008 prices/options/packages be available? Not for 13 months. So I'll be in the same fix a year from now with no car and no resolution in sight.

BAH!
I expecting my 2008 LS600H by March or April.
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Old Sep 22, 2006 | 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Ukraine
I have the same problem but ordered the car on condition that I liked the price. I also want every possible option so I do not really need to know the opiton packages

I would suggest that you do the same thing in order to be one of the first to get the car.
My dealer won't even take an order. If I did force him by submitting a letter stating options, all he would do would be to sit on it until he gets his paperwork and ordering procedures from Lexus. Then, a month from now (who knows when, exactly?), he would submit the order to Lexus. I would be no further ahead than I am now.

He says now he doesn't know options, he doesn't know packages, he doesn't know what option is in a package and what option might be ordered separately, he doesn't know what option goes with SWB/LWB, he doesn't know codes, etc. So he can't accept a apecial order.

I think it is to my advantage to wait until all these things ARE known to the dealership AND the customer, and then go shopping for a discount among dealerships. Then place an order knowing options and packages and having agreed upon a price.
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Old Sep 22, 2006 | 09:42 AM
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they simply dont know exact pricing yet... pricing is usually done before they start selling the car.

I understand you want to buy the car before it starts selling, but it doesnt work that way...

definetly good luck with that discount while special ordering the car :-).
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Old Sep 22, 2006 | 11:10 AM
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Originally Posted by spwolf
I understand you want to buy the car before it starts selling, but it doesnt work that way...:-).
Its not that I want to buy it before it starts selling. Its that I don't want to buy it 3 months AFTER it starts selling.

I bought my first car over 50 years ago, and I have bought plenty between then and now. Why is Lexus different from all the other brands when it comes to ordering what you want? If I want SWB and ML, there is only ONE option configuration I can have between now and January or February? BAH!
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Old Sep 23, 2006 | 10:37 AM
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actually, i know dealerships (at least some) already know pricing
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Old Sep 23, 2006 | 04:18 PM
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Originally Posted by rominl
actually, i know dealerships (at least some) already know pricing
So what is the implication of that: either 1) They ALL know pirces and therefore some are HIDING it from us, or 2) Some dealerships do NOT know prices and some do, and that means Lexus corporate is HIDING prices from their dealerships! Both alternatives are bad!
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Old Sep 23, 2006 | 05:02 PM
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To original poster... Pick out your options on a car that hasn't been released yet? Negotiate a good price (ah, er... its RETAIL MSRP or more), etc. Sounds like your upset because you can't have everything BEFORE the car is released. Wake up! You've apparently been dreaming if you thought you could do that in the first place. This is a high-end, limited avialbility commodity. If you want it, your gonna have to pay (ast least early on). In addition, the mfg helps keep their cost reasonable by NOT taking your orders upfront. They produce a set number of cars with set options at a set time. All very planned out. They aren't about to let your simple little order screw up their production at this stage of the roll out. If that's what you want, go order a ferrari and wait the 3 years it takes or go to Benz and pay their premium, etc. You have options. Vote with your feet or with your wallet.

Last edited by bunka; Sep 23, 2006 at 05:05 PM.
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Old Sep 23, 2006 | 07:13 PM
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Originally Posted by bunka
They produce a set number of cars with set options at a set time. All very planned out. They aren't about to let your simple little order screw up their production
When a manufacturer starts to think that a little thing like CUSTOMERS start to screw up THEIR ordered world, well their have their priorities screwed up. I ordered a BMW, and I got EXACTLY what I ordered...not only that, but I could follow my order online through pre-production, production, where it was at any point, travel to the US, travel to the dealership, right to 2 days before delivery to me. Sounds customer FRIENDLY, doesn't it?! Sounds like Lexus is a little BEHIND state of the art here, doesn't it? Hey, if you are going to enter the big leagues ya gotta have the fire power. Lexus isn't there yet.

Poo-pooing "my little order?" A customer's little order is what it is ALL ABOUT, dude. Put that down and you are putting down the backbone of business. I AM awake; it is Lexus that should wake up and be aware of state of the art.
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