What kind of feedback is everyone getting from the dealers about availability? I'm working with two dealers in Southern California. Neither have any in stock to sell, but both are indicating they think they can get me the car I want in about a month or so. I suggested to both of them that I just special order the car and know for sure that I will have what I want in 3-4 months, but both seem confident they can get me the car I want much faster than that.

I'm looking for the LWB, Black/cashmere, with all options except the exec seating upgrade (retails for approx $86K). If anyone runs across one, please let me know.

 

If you aren't so picky about color and options, you might have a good chance. But more than likely, they would offer it to somebody on their waiting list. I think Dallas area dealers are getting about 40 a month.

 

That's the exact attitude I've had from some Lexus dealers. When buying an $80K+ car you have every right to expect to get what you want!

 

I'm not in that big of a rush, so I'd rather just custom order it, or wait until they have what I want.

I'm running into another problem though. The lease numbers I'm being quoted are ridiculous, and they can't even commit to them until they have a car to sell. For the $86K LWB model, I was quoted $1540 per month plus tax and title. That would be with no money down, 12,000 miles per year, .20/mile over 12,000, 3 year term, $48,131 residual. My current lease is $1,020 per month for the LS430 UL, and the base price was only about $12K less than this model. Without having inventory, there is no motivation to negotiate a favorable lease rate. Even if I custom order it, the lease numbers they quote now may be higher or lower 3-4 months from now when the car comes in.

I think the only way to get better numbers is to wait until they have inventory and then negotiate for a specific car on the lot. I'm not even talking about negotiating the purchase price, just how much profit they want to make on the lease.

 

You can get exactly what you want for sure if you factory order one. It's the same for the European brands, you can only get one quick if you are not picky & they happen to have a combination in stock or one that is coming that's acceptable to you, otherwise, you factory order one from Germany & wait at least three months, & that's for a E500. I considered a SL500 4 years ago & was told the wait can be up to 2 years . . .

 

I think these lead times are more hype than anything else. Initially there will be a wait due to the backlog of existing LS owners who have been waiting for the new model to come out. However, I don't believe that there are than many people lining up to buy a $70-$90K car such that Lexus will not be able to meet the demand. I saw the same thing when the 2004 LS430 came out with the mid life refresh. The initial demand was strong due to the back log of people waiting for the refreshed model, but within a few months they had plenty of inventory waiting to be sold.

 

Yes, the demand will ease in a few months, but if one is very particular of the color/options combination you want, you may still have to wait a little, since no dealer, Lexus or other European brands, will have at least one each of every possibly combination in stock for a luxury model in this price range (try look at the colors & options & calculate how many do they need to stock). They will only order those that's the most popular for their inventory, there are some combinations that are much less frequently sold.

 

Well said! I know I would be very bitter and angry (with myself!) if I went for a pitch that was tantamount to "take it or leave it," and I was spending in the neighborhood of $80K+! Like that old joke about the two bulls, father and son, overlooking the herd of cows...let's walk down that hill....

Be patient. Lexus is making more than just a limited number of these (very nice) cars. Get the car and the deal you would be happy to live with.

[And by no means am I disparaging those who are taking delivery of their LS460s right now.]

That's my plan.

 

I love having a new car though. I love having the latest and greatest when a brand new model comes out.

My dealer estimated 4-8 weeks for my 460. I ordered it earlier this week

 

My understanding from dealer contact is that there are a bunch on the way so sounds like this is going to be fairly high volume for this kind of a vehicle. Don't know whether that means that it will at some point in the near term get to sub-msrp prices. I expect to buy sooner rather than later and will undoubtedly pay msrp as a result.

 

There's another aspect to this. Being an early adopter means you pay -- typically -- a higher initial price. But, you also derive that much more enjoyment from using the car. My pal, nhey, hangs out with me on a thread for owners of the Sony Qualia 006 (a state-of-the-art rear projection video display). The exact same situation applied there; you could buy early (only from factory Sony Qualia stores) and pay MSRP, or wait a few months to get a discount. I am happy (in both situations) that I bought early, used frequently, and got a LOT of enjoyment out of these fantastic products.

I also think this is a car we can easily keep for 5 years or so as we don't do a lot of mileage each year. Though Lexus will certainly keep improving the car, with all the features, quality, and tech on this puppy it should run like a train and will not feel obsolete anytime soon...

(justify, justify, justify...)

 

Yes, a Qualia 006 70" RPTV, and an LS460L.

WOW, quite a pair!!

 

I understand the reality that dealers won't have every combo, but it's really the ATTITUDE of the sales people at Lexus dealers I've experienced I'm referring to.

They've basically made me feel like I'm wrong or difficult for not being willing to take something off the lot. In the case of my GS400, I wanted a silver with navigation. Didn't seem like that picky a request, but the dealers I talked to before the one I bought from basically had no interest in finding one - one guy even said 'if you want that it will be 3-4 months, and it will be MSRP'. Even if true, he could have been more courteous about it.

I have not found Lexus salespeople in my limited experience to be better than other brands. The guy I did buy my GS400 from (100 miles from where I was living) didn't have it in stock either, but was courteous and willing to make *1* phone call to the area rep and found that one was coming in on a boat in a couple of weeks and he grabbed it for me. How hard was that?

If it's an $80K+ car like the LS I damned well expect the salesperson to be willing to do a bit of work or calling around, but I think many are lazy figuring why bother with this guy, there will be someone else coming in soon who wants the one I've got right here.

 

I think, however, that Toyota's not likely to abandon the Lexus brand as Sony did with Qualia. Look at everyone else who's tried to come out with a luxury line; across the board Lexus is a textbook way on how to do it the right way. They were slow, patient, and deliberate, and were willing to build the brand in an incremental but consistent fashion...

 

hopefully they dont have ridiculous 3-4 month special order waits like on the IS