SW17LS

Thought I would bring the gang up to speed on what I'm doing.

So my LS460 is great, I skimped on a couple things when I got it, namely the upgraded leather and to a lesser extent the ML audio (cars with the upgraded leather always come with the ML audio). Going to be over miles on the lease (which I always knew). Not really worried about the mileage as I may very well buy the car out at the end, and I feel confident I can get close to the residual on trade at the end. I figured with the deals out there on the current car before the LS500 comes out, it might be the right time to explore trading my car in on a more highly optioned car and seeing if we can hold the line on the payment with more miles. So I've started exploring whether thats possible.

So what I would want is probably a LWB car (extra room for the kids in carseats) with the ML audio and semi-aniline leather, MSRP is about $89k. Got my first set of numbers, no effort yields $10k off (I know I can do better), my LS460 is $10k under water (understandable with 19 months left on the lease). So the lease deals out there are good, with no negative equity I could lease that LS460L for ~$1000 with $0 down and 15k miles. The $10k negative kills it though. If I can get ~$5k more off of that LS460L, it might make sense. Have feelers out to a few other dealers with cars I like. I could almost certainly do the deal with an LS460 spec'ed like mine and make it work.

Main issue is, most dealers stock 3-10 LS460s on the lot, and of those some dealers have no LS460Ls at all, at the most they have 1 or 2. The numbers I had done were on an atomic silver/black car in Annapolis, theres a nebula/black one in Philadelphia that I'm waiting on also.

If I go south of VA you get into RWD land, and the cars are much better equipped. A Dealer in Charleston, SC has a nebula/black L that has the air suspension and the radar/dynamic cruise for the same MSRP as an AWD L up here. Will reach out to them too. What complicates going too far away is the trade.

Will keep everybody updated, but for those looking for a 2017 there are good leases to be had...MF is really low (.0005) and the residuals are still good (51%), good lease incentives ($5,000) which means the deep discount from MSRP has a big impact on the payment.

roadfrog

Looking forward to reading about your quest!

comotiger

Hi Steve, good luck with your quest! Given your erudite posts on CL, you are the last person to need any advice . Having said that, what happened to switching to a G90? Also, you may find a wider selection of AWD 460Ls if you decide to get a used 2015 or older. You (your kids) will love the extra space!

SW17LS

We'll see if it works out! If not I will happily keep what I have on the original plan.

The G90 I would switch to at the end, I wouldn't trade out of my LS460 to go to the G90, the G90 would be a cost savings thing. If I leased a G90 I would be around what I'm paying now for my LS with the negative equity, and all in all I'd rather just keep what I have and take my chances at the end.

Not interested in used, only one I would buy used is the one I have. Anyways for business reasons the lease is such a valuable write-off it would actually probably cost me more, or just cost me the same to buy used vs leasing new.

The numbers I got on the LS460L in Annapolis had me paying $400 a month more than I am now which makes no sense lol.

SW17LS

Updating...got a little bit better numbers from the dealer in PA, about $100 less a month. Still too much. Waiting on numbers on a car in SC and if its in the same ballpark I'll punt and stick with what I've got lol

The one in SC has been on their lot since January, so its a pretty good candidate for a good deal.

comotiger

Check out this off white fully loaded AWD LWB car with Bamboo. It's already got a big discount off MSRP, and they might do more. The catch is it is in NV

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/699225169/overview/

SW17LS

Yeah NV would be a tough drive back lol. I also prefer nebula, silver or atomic silver for colors. That ones more than I want to spend too, I'm looking at L's MSRP'ing around $89k. If I were going to spend $100k I'd have to look at an S550.

mbarron37

i don't know if this works for brand new luxury cars, but I have always offered $500 over invoice then subtract any rebates applicable.

I have done this for basic cars, like a Subaru Outback and Toyota Camry. Not sure why a Lexus dealer would not do this, especially if the car has been on the lot for 8 months!!!

SW17LS

The deals I've been quoted are below invoice actually...

mbarron37

Below invoice plus rebate on top? If so, seems reasonable. I just go to NADA and build and see what it comes up with invoice vs MSRP. The longer it sits on the lot it would seem that the dealer would be very happy to move the car. What % are they quoting you off of sticker?

SW17LS

The dealer in SC was the worst LOL. Nobody seems all that motivated to sell these things which kind of surprises me, deals I've been quoted aren't as good as what I had on mine in 2015.

Waiting on the breakdown from the PA dealer to see his price. His payment quoted is the lowest (they always try and make it about payment). The SC dealer only came off $4,469 before the rebate on a car with an MSRP of $89,394. Annapolis was $7k off (basically invoice) plus the $4k for a total of $11k off. Lexus has a 2% of base holdback too, so even at Invoice they're making ~ $1,600.

Everybody has offered me $45k for mine sight unseen which I think is fair. I may take mine to Carmax just for grins.

if I can get it within $150 I'll do it, otherwise better to keep mine and roll the dice.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Check out Brock Frady at Flow Lexus in Greensboro, NC. He's given me great deals over the phone in the past (you can check their inventory online at Flow's Greensboro and WInston Salem dealerships). They'll be mostly RWD, though, being here in NC. The sales managers at Johnnson Lexus In Durham (Jeremy Bridges) and Raleigh (Roger Yiu) sometimes will bend over backwards to unload cars that have been on the lot for a while.

I've also heard that NJ and NY dealers are pretty cut-throat with their deals. "Let your fingers do the walking"!

SW17LS

The guy in SC got a little better...$6k off plus the $4k credit, but he's marking up the MF.

I looked at Flow's inventory, didn't see a ton I liked. There is a silver car at Bay Ridge in NY that looks good. Might try that...

The residuals are terrible too, much lower than the residuals I saw posted online. I wonder if the LWB car and the SWB car have different residuals...wouldn't surprise me.

Dave144239

He has a youtube channel where he lists his contact info - I just watched this one today:
I liked it just because he went over the features pretty well. I'm keeping him in mind for when I'm ready to buy. I think I'd prefer RWD for the extra horsepower.

jrmckinley

I'm taking a counter point of view. I will preface my reply by saying I'm a sales person and I know Steve is as well. I don't mean any of this to come across in any way other than to challenge a line of thought. As a sales person, my ultimate goal is to convince you of something so subtly that you feel like it was actually your idea. The reason for this is the world's best sales person is always yourself- you can convince and justify anything to yourself...so you're also your own worst enemy because you make a decision first and justify it through the process. I have a family member who plays devil's advocate for my potential decisions and challenges me and I have come to appreciate the exercise (although I hated it for years). Steve is showing signs of making the decision and justifying it (by searching for a specific deal that hits or gets very close to a target number). So here's the counter point of view.

- Are you really willing to pay $150/month extra for whatever the lease term is ($5,400 for 3 years or $9,000 for 5 years) for 5 more inches of rear leg room, semi-aniline leather and Levinson on a car that is otherwise virtually indistinguishable from what you currently drive?
- If yes, you are also aware that you're somewhat locking yourself in to a body style that is about to be the "prior model." So you're now willing to pay a premium for an old body style?
- You are clearly in a financial position to hold a hefty monthly payment. Why would you not wait 8-10 weeks for the LS500 to come out and see if that is the direction you may want to go? Even if you decide against it, when 500's hit the lots is likely the point when you actually see the 460 numbers truly come down (and you simultaneously reduce the negative equity in your 460 by the relative amount of 1 or 2 payments). So is it smarter to wait and see the 500 so you can get the deal you want on a 460 or spring a little higher for a 500 if you fall in love with it?
- In several of your prior posts in the forum you don't seem overly favorable towards the LWB (no noticeable difference in ride quality, harder to park in a city environment, etc). Why the change of heart that now justifies a slight premium?

No judgement here. Just trying to challenge at a time when it can be hard to be objective and logical.