Are 460 and 460L sales going as good as Lexus hoped for?

It‘s probably just me but I haven’t seen many on the road.

Big Jimm
So. Fla.

 

LS460 went on sale sometime in October 2006 . Here are the sales numbers for the LS460, possibly combined with a very small number of leftover LS430's in the first couple months, from last November :

Nov. 2006 - 3,613
Dec. 2006 - 3,865
Jan. 2007 - 3,006
Feb. 2007 - 2,423

(from pressroom.toyota.com)

Jan. & Feb. are traditionally slow months for car sales, while November & December are traditionally good months.

I've read their sales goal for the new LS is about 30,000 units for the year, so I'd say they're well on target.

 

Funny thing is that I think that demand for the "L" model has been far greater than they had expected. Here in Atlanta, I have only seen 2-3 SWB models and probably some 20-30 LWB, though only a few of those were Touring models.

 

I've only seen about 3 on the road so far, and I'm living in the condensed area of population where we see Lexus, BMW, mecedes everywhere.

But supposedly it's selling well

 

Welcome back, Big Jimm!!!

I've seen 2 LS 460 Ls in black, 2 in white, 1 in red, and 2 in silver that I can remember...most recently the black one passed by with all the aft window shades up (privacy!).

Based on the sales figures, if you do a calculation...based on their estimates...

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=265981

and the pricing from this article:

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/co...825_page_2.htm

 

I've seen only two so far in my neck of the woods. One was a black LWB and the other was a white SWB. And there's mine. Green SWB.

 

Here in Austin Texas, sales has been good. Austin Texas is like a Lexus town, theres more Lexus on the road than BMWs in my own opinion.

 

I'm seeing a lot more than I expected. I saw 2 swb and 1 460L on my way home from work on Friday.. And it's only about a 5 mile drive. If I'm out and about, I would bet that I probably run across 1 everday. No telling how many are the same exact car... this is in the n. dallas area

 

Average price being paid for the LS460L is 82K? Very interesting.

 

Yup, the $71k figure, like previous Lexus models, is largely advertising. Most cars come with options packages such as NAVI, special features etc. which are popular anyway.

I should add that I do see about 65/35% split of 460/460 Ls so far...

 

I credit JM Lexus with one of the main reasons I “cooled-off” from buying a 460L. JM Lexus, is a south Florida dealer. Even tho I’m in the Palm Beaches, I was impressed with their beautiful dealership and thought it might be “interesting” to be their customer.

But, here’s the jist of what JM’s salesman and sales manager told me:

“They had a HUGE waiting list.” (This occupied about 80% of the conversation.)
“If you don’t give us a deposit NOW you will be waiting several months!”

Plus other such comments. It was clear the salesman and sales manager were looking down their noses at me and that I was wasting their time to discuss anything without a deposit to get on their HUGE waiting list!

I was a cash buyer and had already sold my DTS in anticipation of the 460L purchase. I told the salesman I was ready to buy but wouldn’t give him a deposit to be put on a long, vague list. But, I gave him ALL my information.

I noticed that they were having a big introduction party to show the new model. I inquired about it and asked if I was invited. He said “sure, I’ll call you when we set the exact time.”
To this day, I‘ve never heard from him again! Even tho I had told him I was ready to buy.

So, the more I thought about it, the 90,000 price, with tax, the “huge” waiting list, plus the salesman’s attitude of “doing me a favor to even sell me one” .. it all cooled me out. I decided not to succumb to their arrogance and .. “just wait.” And thought maybe some day they would appreciate my business.

However - in fairness - Immediately after the introduction, three OTHER Lexus dealers called me to say they had cars available and offered to sell me one at a discounted price. But, the whole scene had chilled me by then. I thought, “now I’m going to wait until all the puffery dies down.”

I’m still very interested in a 460L and 08 is coming. But .. I’ve always wondered .. what happened to those HUGE waiting lists they all had?

Big Jimm

 

So, have you been walking since then?

One wonders who lost here.

I also don't like the strong arm tactics but on the other hand I don't have an investment in the dealership. As long as they operate legally, they have a right to determine their own destiny. I have never yet seen a customer come to the financial rescue of a company going bankrupt.

On the other hand, we have the choice to walk out and go somewhere else.

It sounds to me that you weren't really interested in buying a 460L and used this as an excuse.

 

He already got another car.

Actually, I see similar attitude from the large Lexus dealerships here in CA (Longo Lexus). They have so many customers they don't work as hard for the walk-in seller.

That's why we switched to a smaller, more accessible Lexus dealership. The service experience, sales experience was MUCH better. And they treated customers better, and remembered them.

JM Lexus is huge, just like Longo is...I'd advise trying the smaller Lexus dealerships.

 

Regarding actual sales, the LS 460 (swb and L) unit sales for March was 3134 and for the year 8563. That continues to be very strong and keeps the LS sales well ahead of the S, 7 and A8 series competition.

 

Question: How do you know when a car salesman is lying?
Answer: His lips are moving.

Unless a sales droid puts what he's saying in writing on a legally binding document, I assume that it's a lie.

I don't think that I've ever bought a car where the salesman didn't lie about something.