[brad]

Okay, if this sucker drives like we think it will then who in here is willing to pay $34K?
Will you wait until you get your price?
Will you buy something else if you can't get your price?
If so, what will it be?
Will any of you wait until GPS and stick come out?

------------------

 

[Kim]

I'll be paying let's see:
$30,500
1,705 LS
495 Destination
-------
$32,700 + tax, registration, license, etc
- trade-in value
- 2,000
-------
I CAN AFFORD THIS!
I don't think I'll be looking at anything else. I have my mind pretty much made up.

 

[tony]

Kim, from the build lists that TEG has been posting, I don't see any cars coming with just LS. ;(

If you're in NJ, I'll assume that's the Eastern Region and you can get LS+SR+HH or LS+SR+HH+LD, but not just LS. At least not in the first batch or without special order...

 

[Fiasco]

90% buy IS fully loaded 46K CAD
5% buy 328i 50K CAD
5% buy 330i 54K CAD

Depending on the test drive and interior as we weren't allowed to sit in the car at the Toronto auto show!

 

[Kim]

Webmaster, I did have it special ordered a few months ago. I'll be purchasing it whenever it comes in. If not July, then I can wait. But I'm not going to pay for options that I don't want.

 

[EricK]

One of my friends Placed an order for an IS300 while my other friend placed an order for the 330i BMW. You will not be getting any discounts at all at the Lexus dealership on the IS300. My friend who placed the order for the 330i (at VOB (Rockville, MD)) is getting the car for $2500 over invoice. He has the deal on paper. It seems that whenever my father bought his BMW's (5 and 7 series) he's gotten them for incredible deals. However when I bought my GS400 I paid the sticker :-( .... Well I guess you have the pay the price if you want the BEST!
Eric

 

[tony]

Kim, good for you! I haven't heard of anyone else who actually has a special order that they are expecting to show up at their dealer.

EricK, was the $2500 over invoice on the 330i still more than the IS at MSRP?

 

[brad]

All due respect, Erik, I will not be paying sticker if I choose to buy the IS. Granted, I have an "in" but rest assured there will be IS's sold under sticker this summer.

 

[Kim]

Brad, I hope you have great negotiating skills, cause you're gonna need it! If you don't want to pay MSRP, someone else will.

 

[brad]

Well, my negotiating skills puts food on the table but I can't necessarily say that's entirely why I won't pay sticker. My father and I send several people each year to a specific Lexus dealership who purchase from them using our names. So, our commission, let's say, are very fair prices on new Lexus purchases.

 

[Kim]

You mean you refer people to a certain dealership, and if they buy a car from them, YOU get like a discount if you buy a new Lexus?

 

[EricK]

Webmaster,
I'm not sure of the answer to your question, but I'm assuming that the 2500 over invoice (as my friend says) is higher than the price of the IS...

And Brad, the dealers will probably not take anything off the sticker considering there will probably be a price increase later on. Also DARCARS (Lexus of Silver Spring) sent me a letter in the summer of 1999 saying that they had a shortage of used GS400's and that they would be willing to take my GS400 back at the sticker price in trade for a new Lexus LS400 (not even exchange). They were going to do that for 20 customers if their 1998 cars had 20,000 miles or less. So, that said... I'm sure they will not discount the IS....
Eric..

 

[brad]

I tell you what, Eric, I'll send you my paperwork if I get this car. How's that? I'm not trying to show you up, it's just that my situation is a reality.

 

[EricK]

Brad I'll tell you what, next time I go to buy a new car I'll bring you, and you can negotiate for me...
Eric..

 

[brad]

Hmmm, I think I just got slammed...oh, well, does the fact that when the GS 300 and 400 debuted selling significantly below MSRP mean anything? I don't know why this car will be any different.

 

[EricK]

I bought my GS400 back in the summer of 1998... With the NAK package, spoiler and the 17inch wheels... It came to $50,800 and after about 2 hours of haggling, I got $500 off of the sticker, that was it. They were having no problem selling GS400's at that particular dealership. It was the next year when my car had 14K miles did they offer the sticker for it in trade for a New LS400 to the first 20 takers... I'm 25 years old and didn't want the LS400....
Eric

 

[onefortheroad]

Sounds to me like brad and his dealer are on first name bases. One of those "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" deals.

As for all of us getting the IS300 for below MSRP, it's unlikely but possible. Probably not the first batch but later shipments. I know dealers with good sales performance get discounts from Toyota/Lexus. Which means they get the cars below dealer invoice and not lose any profit margins even when they sell below MSRP. Picking a dealer with good sales performance will probably be your best bet in getting one at a good price.

 

[TEG]

Yeah - something called "holdback"
where they get a "kickback" for selling
alot. That sort of things tends to make
the big dealers grow even bigger since
once they are on a roll they can start
undercutting their competing dealers.

I wouldn't bother even mentioning this
when negotiating a price - the dealer
is not going to tell you anything about
those kind of incentives.

The last time I bought a car I knew that
there was a customer rebate as well as
a rebate that the dealer receives.
I spent half an hour showing them that
I knew the difference between the two -
they kept saying that I was confused, and
that there was only a customer rebate.
Finally they caved in. I paid well under
their cost (but they got the factory to
dealer rebate and I also got the factory to customer rebate) which probably would not
fly if it were not for the fact that the
car I bought had been sitting on their
lot for 5 months.

Unfortunately I don't think that Lexus dealers
have ever heard of the term "factory rebate."

 

[VBGOD]

Hey Kim, thats BS and you know it. I'm reffering to your comment

"If you don't want to pay MSRP, someone else will."

Thats something a dealer says. Wanna know what I say? If I don't get the car below MSRP, then do somewhere else. Lexus dealers are a dime a dozen, if I don't like a certain deal, then I'm off to a different one. Remember, they are there to sell cars and kiss our rich american asses.

 

[Kim]

VBGOD, excuse you but that's bulls**t if you think someone WON'T. Are you kidding me? Some people don't give a damn about the price, maybe because money is no object. Or maybe they can afford to pay MSRP. Like I said, this car is going to be hot, and if the dealers aren't selling this car under MSRP, if you don't buy it, someone else will. I guarantee it.