[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.

 

[ckolsen]

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.

 

[ckolsen]

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

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

 

[ckolsen]

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.

 

[ckolsen]

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.

 

[ckolsen]

Ira Lexus in Peabody - Rt. 114 off Rt. 128. They have rows and rows of IS300s.

Originally posted by IS300envy:
Hey ckolsen, I see you are form MA. Who is your local dealer? I have been trying to get an IS for a few weeks and this finance thing is killing me. I went to Watertown and Norwood so far, WAtertown had more IS's by far. I am hoping a dealer with more cars on the lot will be more willing to deal

 

[ckolsen]

That's true, didn't think of that, thanks. My concern is more the non-refundable part though. But I'll go to a dealer out of state, screw Ira Lexus.

Originally posted by Hunt NXS:
ckolsen, If you give them a deposit on your credit card, they cannot charge you till you take possession. My sales guy told me if they did, they could have the crap sued out of them. You cannot charge someone for a product that they do not have.

 

[ckolsen]

Actually, the dealership has a cloth stripped IS300 on the lot right now, so it's not impossible. I've seen cloth IS300s every time I've been there. In my experience, a car dealership will get you ANYTHING if you put up a fight. They just tell you they can't get it.

Originally posted by Jeff Taylor:
I hope you are right. If I decide the WRX is not what I want, then I need to get cloth. It would be nice to have the IS300 as an option.

Unfortunately, I could see Lexus doing this. I tried to buy a Nissan Maxima a few years back and if I wanted the 5sp, I had to get the leather, sunroof, etc. You would think they would want to have a lower cost model for the more performance oriented driver, but I guess not.

I looked at Maximas this time around, but found that the only way to get variable intermittent wipers was to order a package that includes a sunroof and a bunch of other junk I don't want. Crazy, no? I have never owned a car that didn't have variable intermittent wipers including my '84 (yep, almost 2 decades old) Toyota Celica GT.

Jeff

[ April 26, 2001: Message edited by: Jeff Taylor ]