We recently ordered and put down a deposit (not much) on a new RX350 in black with nav. This was about a week and a half ago. Since then I've been busy with my car as well as the holidays and such. But now that things have slowed down we are able to focus on the new RX350.

There was not one on their lot so they had to find one elsewhere and we were told it should only be a week or two. Since then they have been *****footing around every time we call to inquire on it's location. Things such as "We need to locate one" and they even went so far as to say the weather was bad in the area of NYC where they found one. Well guess what, my father was in the city and there was no "bad weather". Something fishy is going on here.

I don't get it? Isn't it in their best interest to get us the car ASAP? It's not like we've paid in full for it and we have no choice but to wait. It's almost like they can't figure out how to find one. When we went to Infiniti and looked at the FX35 the salesman said they didn't have one on the lot, but came back 10 minutes later and said he could get one there in 3 days from another dealership. I understand it takes time to find, locate, exchange and ship vehicles from another dealership, I really do and the wait time isn't the issue. What concerns me is the fact they aren't, in my opinion, being straight forward and honest as to why it is taking more time than originally specified and that they are deliberately avoiding the issue and haven't called us once to update us on the status (we've called on every instance).

So it should be clear by now why I can't figure out why they would actively avoid giving us information on it's location unless there was some hidden reason, and all I can think of is Lexus is having some issue's going on with production that they don't want to mention and therefore they're stringing us along. So I figured I'd ask here to see if anyone is aware of a possible cause.

 

There are a few possible explanations:

1) Vehicles on another dealer's lot could be sold by the time your dealer calls to inquire about it

2) The weather really might be bad preventing transport companies from getting to the car (it's not just your immediate area)

3) Black RX350s as you optioned may be hard to come by depending on what specific options you chose

4) Black RX 350s as you optioned may not be in that dealer's immediate allocation.

5) Since black is a popular color, another dealer may not be wanting to give such a car up.

 

I dont know how many Lexus dealers there are in your town but I would take my deposit and go to the next guy. You could drive to Boston and pick the RX up. In this market if you are not getting amazing service take your money and go elsewhere . They should feel fortunate to have a consumer who actually wants the car to the point they will actually order the car.

 

That's a real possibility if my father doesn't get concrete information tomorrow when he speaks with the sales manager.

 

I picked up a red one from herbchambers a few days ago and I saw at least 10 black ones there. You can actually see their inventory online. Don't know if they have specific options you want though.

 

http://www.herbchambers.com/ou/eastw...=0&pageSize=25

 

The reason they are avoiding you is that they cannot find one yet. They can usually look in their invoice and incoming invoices to the dealer within 15 mins. If they cannot find you a car in 15 mins, that mean they have to trade with another dealer. A lot of Boston and New England dealer will not trade with local competition, so they have to go as far as NY or CT. I guess so far, no one is willing to tarde with them yet. Sometimes it has alot to do with what kind of pass relationship your dealer have with other dealer. Your best bet is to gibve them a time limit and if they cant find on, try another dealer. And not go to Herb Chamber, they are the worst dealer for new car sales as far as price.

 

That was the case when I bought the LS430 back in 2004. This time around though, they have the best price (based on my experience), well at least on the RX.

 

Maybe they have finally change their practice. Just for comparison sake, what price did they give you for your new RX. When I was shopping for a SUV 2 months ago, I visited my old Lexus dealer in MA and the salesman I know gave me a price of $1000 above invoice with almost no negotiating.

 

I got around $500 over the invoice (based on the prices I see at edmunds.com). Watertown and IRA didn't give me anything close to that.

 

Your car should be ordered fresh from the factory. Don't settle for less.

 

$500 over invoice is a great price.

 

You usually don't get much discount when ordering...besides, the ordering process at Lexus sucks IMO. You also have to wait at least 3 months for the car too.

 

pvo, just wondering, how many miles were on your RX when Herb Chamber delievery it to you?

 

Only 8 miles.