Anyone ordering a 2002 manual?

That's nuts. I've got a SportCross on order with a $500 refundable deposit. Since the manual should sell much easier than the SportCross (in case you decide you don't want it), there's no excuse for them not to offer the same kind of deal for a manual pre-order.

Originally posted by ckolsen:
Anyone tried this yet? The local dealer wants a $2500 non-refundable deposit (for special order), which they'll get when hell freezes over. I'm curious how much discount you can get.

Click to expand...

I'm not ordering but I'm def. anxiously waiting!

Originally posted by JT:
Same here!

Click to expand...

Right on bro, thanks for reminding me to update my sig too. You better not be in upstate NY anywhere, I want minimal competition! I'm making it a collective birthday + xmas gift, gotta do it between Aug. and Dec.

[ April 24, 2001: Message edited by: webguyIS ]

i will be relatively soon, but only if we can agree on a price beforehand, i am not going to pay more than a $1000 over invoice, so if i have to wait until december, than i will do that instead, i guess only time will tell, any thoughts?

Originally posted by JT:
I hope to get mine for a b-day/xmas gift too! Although, it looks like I'll be waiting until November

Fortunately (or is unfortunately), I live in Southern California. I'll leave the east coast competition to you, but I'll be stuck with the west coast competition

It will be great when we can change our sig's to "owners of a 2002...!"

Click to expand...

(in Butthead-like voice)
That will be the greatest day, of my life.

Seriously, I will probably drop off the board for a solid week or two so I can just drive and drive and drive... ah what a great thought!

IS300GTE, I have that same mentality but I'm lucky because there really isn't a lot of IS300 purchasing going on around these parts and I'm pretty confident I'll be able to talk them down. Should be a decent sale for both of us!

Originally posted by Michael:
Wow, Just 1,000 over invoice seems pretty optimistic. But I hope it's a deal many of us can get as soon as December. I have a feeling dealers will try to be as tough as they were last July-December when the 01's came out. Hopefully not!

Click to expand...

I'm thinking they'll be a bit more relaxed, since this is NOT supposed to be a high-volume seller. 1500 from august to december isn't too much, so I imagine dealerships will jump at the chance to sell 'em. At least that's what I hope. =)

The current great prices for IS300s is party cause of the incentive right? ($2000?). There will be none of 2002 models, so discounts might be $2000 instead of $4000.

Keep in mind that a pre-order is different than a special order. If you want a car built with options different from the standard build schedule you must special order your vehicle from Japan. In order for a dealer to special order a vehicle it is customary to require a non-refundable deposit because that car is built for that customer, not the way the dealer specified.

Most dealers do not want to special order vehicles because it can take as much as six months for a car to be built. If you want your car quickly and at the best price you should always order out of stock

If its a car built like all the rest a refundable deposit to hold your place in line is the norm. Usually the best way to get a new vehicle.

I have heard that the 2002 manuals are all going to be built with every option. I am not sure if that's with Nav or without.

-Derek

Originally posted by Derekb:
Keep in mind that a pre-order is different than a special order. If you want a car built with options different from the standard build schedule you must special order your vehicle from Japan. In order for a dealer to special order a vehicle it is customary to require a non-refundable deposit because that car is built for that customer, not the way the dealer specified.

Most dealers do not want to special order vehicles because it can take as much as six months for a car to be built. If you want your car quickly and at the best price you should always order out of stock

If its a car built like all the rest a refundable deposit to hold your place in line is the norm. Usually the best way to get a new vehicle.

I have heard that the 2002 manuals are all going to be built with every option. I am not sure if that's with Nav or without.

-Derek

Click to expand...

That's a good point. I am on the list to get info from my dealer as soon as they get it so I will definitely put that in as one of my questions. I know that basically all IS' that came to my dealer here were fully loaded (maybe 5% had cloth seats, etc.)

Originally posted by Derekb:
I have heard that the 2002 manuals are all going to be built with every option. I am not sure if that's with Nav or without.

-Derek

Click to expand...

The salesman I talked to told me the same thing, which is a bummer since I really wanted a cloth interior and no sunroof. I'm not sure if I would want to spend the money on the nav system either.

After finding this out, I decided to put a deposit down on a WRX. Here in St. Louis they are still in short supply and I haven't driven one yet. If I don't like the way it drives, I'll probably be looking into an IS300 manual if I can get cloth.

Jeff

That may be true at first, but after a couple months, when sales slow again, it will change. It's probably best not to get one of the first few hundred cars, you'll pay too much.
I tried another dealer, and they said they think it's illegal to not refund a deposit. But they confirmed the 5-6 month wait for a factory order. I might order one in Sept. for March delivery, should be cheaper by then.

Originally posted by Jeff Taylor:
The salesman I talked to told me the same thing, which is a bummer since I really wanted a cloth interior and no sunroof. I'm not sure if I would want to spend the money on the nav system either.

After finding this out, I decided to put a deposit down on a WRX. Here in St. Louis they are still in short supply and I haven't driven one yet. If I don't like the way it drives, I'll probably be looking into an IS300 manual if I can get cloth.

Jeff

Click to expand...

[ April 25, 2001: Message edited by: ckolsen ]

...I'm looking foward to the '02 IS3, but I don't want the navigation option. Since it seems like they will be fully optioned, does anyone know if they will come with full leather? I really wanted the leather/escaine combo on a '02.

I don't buy the full-optioned manuals story, it makes no sense from a Lexus sales perspective (it'll limit sales), and it rings of salesman tactics.
The local dealer has about 30-40 IS300s SITTING on the lot. Lexus cannot afford to play games, or they'll just have more cars they can't sell.

Originally posted by Syndicate:
...I'm looking foward to the '02 IS3, but I don't want the navigation option. Since it seems like they will be fully optioned, does anyone know if they will come with full leather? I really wanted the leather/escaine combo on a '02.

Click to expand...

I don't buy the full-optioned manuals story, it makes no sense from a Lexus sales perspective (it'll limit sales), and it rings of salesman tactics.
The local dealer has about 30-40 IS300s SITTING on the lot. Lexus cannot afford to play games, or they'll just have more cars they can't sell.

Originally posted by Syndicate:
...I'm looking foward to the '02 IS3, but I don't want the navigation option. Since it seems like they will be fully optioned, does anyone know if they will come with full leather? I really wanted the leather/escaine combo on a '02.

Click to expand...

Does it make sense that they'er selling the new manual with a Nav. system and 18" rims? I mean isn't the manual version suppose to be sportier? So we could probably do without the Nav. system and the power robbing 18" rims!

Originally posted by LexusIS886:
Does it make sense that they'er selling the new manual with a Nav. system and 18" rims? I mean isn't the manual version suppose to be sportier? So we could probably do without the Nav. system and the power robbing 18" rims!

Click to expand...

I doubt the 18's will be significantly heavier than the 17's, although they will def. be heavier to some degree. Honestly they can't be as power robbing as a set of 17's on a Civic, so I'm not really worried about that. Besides, man, they're sexy as all get up! How could you refuse!

I plan on having:

18" rollers (suspension upgrade is standard right?)
Full leather
Solar Yellow

I wanna know what kinda tires they're gonna throw on the 18's.