In the market for RX450h. 2012 deals?
 

Hi everyone,

I am usually not over here but I am now in the market for a 450h AWD. I've searched and read some of the recent pricing threads. A few are talking about discounts of 5000 on a 2012. Is this on the 350 or is also with the 450h? If not, then what are some of the numbers are you guys seeing for a 450h.

I am also contemplating the 2013s but wanted to see about the 2012s first.

Thanks for any info.

Just go into a dealer and look at both the 350 and 450h. Get them to tell you about the deal on the 350, then make them the same offer on the 450h. When I purchased my 450h (a year and a half ago) I got $6,500 off MSRP on the typical CA heavily optioned 450h configuration. I know it is possible to find a deal ... it is just a matter of timing. Some parts of the 350 deal may not transfer to the 450h; specifically, the owner loyalty $1,000 and the 0.0% and 0.9% financing. But, you should be able to negotiate $5,000 PLUS off.

I didn't take the conversation very far with my Lexus sales guy a few weeks ago when I went in to check the '13. But he said the discounts were pretty deep. Don't know if it was exclusive to the 350 though. He mentioned the '12 inventory is moving very fast. I can tell because their ads are now showing the '13s instead of '12s. Since there are fewer 450hs in general, it might take some leg work to find a '12 at a sweet price. Or wait a while for the prices to drop on the '13. Good luck in your search.

I ordered my 450H in Oct of 2011 and I got it for about 6K under list. They sold a used 2010 with same stuff for more than 2K more than I ordered my 2012 for as they were not willing to wait for the 3 months it was to take to get mine. The used ones go for big bux here.

As Jim says, go to the dealer and get the best deal you can on a 350 and then move it over to a 450. You will be sooooooooo happy you did. I love mine and will never go back.

I've talked to a few but I am not seeing the numbers in the 6k like you. Not even close. I guess I need to talk to a few more. ;)

One additional issue I am having now, though, is that my wife is starting to really like the '13 Fire Agate color. Most of the remaining '12 inventory seems to be the "standard" black, white, silver with a sprinkling of other colors. She seems to be partial to those "brown" colors. (My GS was originally hers.) The discounts I am seeing are not deep enough for her to compromise the color. Black and white are currently off the table.

Remember ... he is talking Canadian $ and the RX is priced differently in Canada. Your best bet is just to go to a few dealers leave your name and start negotiating, you will start to see some discounts if they have cars to move. Suggest a price if you have a target price, that can help to get things going also.

Side note: Beautiful color, but be sure your wife sees it in daylight, shade, and at night. It gets a purplish cast depending on light that some people don't like after-the-fact. My dealer told me 2 stories about people in the past year that bought the color and when they came back at a different time of day to pick it up, decided they didn't like it. No need for buyer's remorse after all your searching and other decision making!

My suggestion is to draft a template email and send the same email to every dealer within an area of where you're willing to drive to and basically let the dealers "bid" for your business without them knowing that they're bidding for your business. You will get many replies of them saying there are no deals for whatever fake excuse such as it's the hottest car on the market or hybrids are low on inventory, etc. You'll also get some that will offer a few thousand off but you may get one or two with the killer deal.

Thsi is how we've approached car buying. It's so much easier because you're not driving around town. You're doing this all over email and when you find that one or two dealer that gives you that crazy deal, then pick up the phone and call them and confirm the price and options.

Considering that the 2013's are out and it's a refresh, you should be expecting some pretty steep diso****s. Don't let them disuade you from expecting a steep discount because they're selling well. If they were selling that well, they wouldn't need ads on tv, paper, golf tounrments, etc. Nody has ever seen an ad for a 458 Italia because there's a 2 year wait list. There's no such thing for a hybrid no matter how rare they are. Remember, that's the easy way out for the dealer to get you to pay full price for a hyrid. Yes they are rare but remember, in the big scheme of things, overall hybrid sales still only make up a few percentages out of overall car sales.

So even though you can see a prius everywhere you go, remember that all hybrids are still more expensive than a reg gas car and for many people, the breakeven point doesn't ad dup to get a hybrid.

LOL. I did not even notice that. You also mentioned $6,500 though. I would think "UCSB" and CA does not translate to Canada. ;) So what do you think is feasible for SoCal? $3k? 4k? 5k? under MSRP.

We've only found time to go look last month when the 13s were just rolling out. We saw this color in the back lot (pre-prep) and she seems to like it. We will have to go back out again to confirm.

What would you consider a steep discount? I know these numbers are different for each individual's expectations. I've run the numbers for the Hybrids too and I do understand the issue of time to break even. In general, we don't swap cars too often. We have a 98 GS300 bought in 97. Our 02 MDX was bought in 01. Our newest car is an 06 bought in 06. With the brand, size, and mileage on the RX (even though I would assume technology will only get better), we can see keeping this long term (again) and should not have a problem reaching the break even point. :)

We too keep our cars for long and we calculated 12 years to break even considering the 0.9% as well. We were getting almost $6500 off msrp for both 2012 350 and 450h so the difference was $8000. For us $8000 is worth lot more than the cost gradually or in 12 years. So we have decided on 350. NOT MEAN TO START ANY WAR. I certainly understand the 450h owners and respect their decision, this is just purely our priorities I am talking.

Also you don't get the 450h just for saving on gas, and there are other intriguing features to get it. But for us money is first priority, so decided to go with 350.

Thanks Cruiter, I know it is $6600 but when we were shopping the difference between the 350 and 450h were, $40,547 for a 350 vs $48,364 in the color combination my wife wanted with almost similar features. Basically we were quoted $6600 off msrp and which led to our calculation and we were so much tired of shopping wanted to put an end to it :)

But what I am saying is that a 450h is a 450h, so if you think it is worth it go for it and would not regret it. For us 350 figures did it and we settlled. Thanks

Whether the 450h can be cost justified or not using each individual's priority structure, it is, just the same, a wonderful vehicle to be enjoyed by those who find it a good balance among many different and worthwhile attributes. I frankly think it represents fantastic value on its own merits and without the need for cost justification compared to its non-electric brother. Enjoy it for what it is in its own right, and save the comparisons to other non-Lexus brands.

SoCal and NCal have a lot of dealers. I have found that if you want a good deal, you need to work with many dealers to understand what is going on at the specific time you are purchasing. A few pieces of info from a number of dealers will start to yield a broader picture. There are things that can be easily seen such as the $5000+ off the 350, $1,000 loyalty cash and 0.0% or 0.9% financing. But, unfortunately what you can not see is what Lexus is extending the dealers to get rid of the inventory.

I think it is important to understand the inventory situation. A good clue here is try and understand just how many 2012 450h are still available. That is where I would start. Cars need to be available for the good deals IMO. Check their lots and overflow lots; ask them if getting a car is going to be a problem. Generally, I feel that Lexus does a good job of inventory management so I don't know the situation today.

If I was shopping today and wanted a 2012, I would try to negotiate something in the $5K - $6K range. If I wanted a 2013, I would just wait a couple of months and try the same range. If you are a risk taker and wait later in the year, I think that there is a better than 50/50 chance that the Republican's in Congress will drive the US economy off a cliff (and probably the rest of the world economy given the situation in Europe and Asia). It is just not clear how the US is going to navigate through some of the challenges between now and the end of the year. If it goes badly, I'm pretty sure at that point you will be able to pick up a 2013 450h for $8K under MSRP.