TommyJames

I ran a software company.

TommyJames

One HUGE difference when Ferrari sold the Enzos. - At the time it was the fastest car around. It was truly ahead of everything and the qualifier was how many previous Ferraris were purchased and they were immediately bid up so I don't think it was the exact same model.

In this case, Lexus has never shared the criteria so if there was a fight over cars, seems like they could be open to litigation. With Ferrari, it was simply the numbers. With Lexus it sounds like it's a value judgment as none of the collectors have been called. I have no doubt they will sell a few LFAs in the LA area. Japanese pride alone will sell a few. The numbers are not that impressive given the price of the car so I doubt it will attract the performance-minded. It doesn't have brand cache in the exotic community so it won't attract that customer either. It's not the best value for the money so Lexus doesn't have that advantage either. I just don't believe they are "spoken for" or it would be reflected in other markets and word would be on the street that exotic owners are making room for their LFAs by selling something else right now. I'm telling you that with all I do in the exotic community, I am not hearing one word from Lamborghini, Ferrari or other exotic owners that they are even considering the LFA. If I begin to hear something different I'll be sure to post it as I've got no axe to grind with Lexus. It's just that this looks entirely like smoke and mirrors to me. I've asked around Seattle and nobody I know has received a call from anyone and we've got a lot of true exotics up here. Of the 24 or so LP670- SVs in the US, five are in the Seattle area. There are three Enzos here, probably ten Scuds and five or six Murcielagos. I have the only LP640 Roadster in the state, surprisingly. We have F50s, F40s, we have some of the rarest cars in the world and some truly huge collections yet nobody I know has received contact from anyone at Lexus. Yes, I did hear they were using a different sales model. This is what got me wondering about the truth in the first place. I've yet to hear any magazines call it a great deal and even TopGear said the same thing. Even the end of the Jay's Garage segment raises the question indirectly. It will be interesting to watch and I look forward to reading the posts from actual buyers.

TommyJames

Here is another data point. For those of you interested, take a look at the other exotic forums. The one thing you will notice on all of them is the discussion taking place with actual buyers making purchase decisions, such as color, options, advice, insurance, etc., then do a search of all blogs comparing the discussion regarding the LFA and it's quiet, like it almost doesn't exist. The LFA wasn't even on my radar until the Huffington Post printed that story that Lexus was selecting the buyers. I'd heard that before and thought it was a joke. So then I thought, wow, if there is such strong demand I should see it in the blogs, including which dealers to contact, and all the other arguments buyers have when there is a frenzy but I see nothing anywhere. The link given to me earlier is about a buyer in Japan, where I would expect it to do better than most. But US??? Wow it's quiet.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

So you keep mentioning none of your friends got a call from Lexus. AFAIK, no one got a call from Lexus. You needed to call them. If you didn't, you're not even in line. My local dealership told me they returned three deposits they'd been holding after the sales model was announced and no dealer was getting any allotment of cars.

I think the SALES model is a lot more like the Enzo. The surrounding circumstances are obviously NOT, but the approach is not new or unique as it mimics Ferrari's model when they sold the Enzo. Owner qualification required, selection required, and lease only. I really doubt Ferrari called anyone about buying an Enzo as I'm pretty confident they had no problem finding willing buyers. Sounds to me like Lexus is ignoring the "community" because they've already found buyers for such a small production run. It wouldn't be the first time they've ignored convention.

-J-P-L-

That will do it.

Dave600hL

Japans 165 units are all spoken for, there are 6 people in line at my dealer alone and I am told that average 3-5 people at each dealer Japan wide are in line to get one. At present time Lexus Japan is going to decide who gets one by conducting a draw for all those who have put their names down (the cutoff deadline is past so no more names can be added , or so I am told). So why would they bother having a draw if there were less people on the list than cars?

I would imagine with the US market being much bigger than the Japanese and certainly has more exotics sold every year would have no problem filling these orders.

But I can't get past your research technique of asking friends, as a reliable source for judging how popular the LFA is? Even if they are all exotics owners. I know 2 people who have never owned an exotic that are in line for the LFA.

syzygy

Your circle of friends not hearing about the LF-A, not talking about it, not caring about it means...just that.

Your circle of car buying millionaire friends not giving a passing glance to the LF-A means sqadoosh in the realm of statistics. It's not.. a representative sample. Read up on basic statistics to understand why your amateurish implied "my circle of friends doesn't care, therefore there isn't interest in this car" reasoning is hogwash.

The exact same reasoning applies to your "well I don't hear about it on car forums!!"

Again, exotic car forums on the internet is not a representative sample, literally by definition.


Every post you've made so far is something along the lines of "hey guys i'm rich! i have such and such exotics and therefore i have the potential to drop $400k on this car and it's not even on my radar. my car friends also don't care about about it...etc. etc."

By the way just fyi, this sort of name dropping (I have lamborghinis, bentleys, etc. etc.) is unclassy and unsophisticated to the highest degree. At the end of the day it's not relevant to any of your points...it's literally extra unneeded information.

Noboody cares that "tommyjames of clublexus is wealthy enough to have lamborghinis, bentleys, etc. in his garage". Seriously, nobody cares, so you might want to ease up on the name dropping.

There are plenty of wealthy individuals here who don't name drop like that or brag about their financial status.

You don't have to listen to that part if you don't want to, i'm just letting you know it's unclassy/unsophisticated.

syzygy

You could have easily come in here and stated your "I don't think there is interest in the LF-A" point without the name dropping, that's the bottom line.

Owning a lamborghini doesn't give you any more or less credibility, because like I explained before, the "my circle of friends who have these cars don't care therefore there is no interest" reasoning (implied, I know, you didn't say this outright but you clearly implied it throughout) is incorrect.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Guys knock off the personal commentary and keep this discussion on the vehicles, not the people posting in this thread.

carLX, please exist this thread.

MR_F1

Did I miss something, or did Lexus not state that you will be able to opt to buy the car after 2 years?

It's to prevent flipping, and I really don't see what the big deal is.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

They did say exactly that. Anyone who bothered to call knows this. Anyone who bothered to call also knows there are more people wanting the car than there are cars since there is no guarantee at this point in time you'll get a car even if you're on the list. Lexus isn't calling exotic owners because they don't need to. The cars are all spoken for with room for people changing their minds. I really don't understand why this is so hard to believe.

TommyJames

It's hard to believe because it's not on the radar of the car circle of people that often buys these cars. As an example, if you go to the Ferrari blogs, you will see in the case of the 458, pages and pages of discussions about the actual buying of that car. The same thing happened when Lamborghini introduced the SV. That same discussion doesn't exist in the same way regarding the LFA and that's got my curiosity up. There isn't anyone to call just yet with hard data or I'd do that. I'm trying to get at what is and isn't real about the customer interest in the LFA. All exotic brands have noise around the introduction of new cars and they have to get through it and see who actually writes a check. Some on here are taking this personally. I have serious reason to doubt the numbers, I'm on this forum to get other opinions about the car and if some guy with personal issues wants to take shots at me for asking, be my guest. I mention the cars I have because A, I like cars, and B, I like doing my homework and didn't want to come off as a poser with an axe to grind either. No matter what I'd say, someone would have as issue, so I don't let it bother me. I'm still searching for accurate info.

As for the Japan market, I can see it doing better than other places because the brand has national pride and it's very new. They didn't market cars under the Lexus name until fairly recently, I think 2005 or 2006? This gives Lexus a chance to still massage the brand without an intrenched view as we have in the US. I was in Tokyo a lot and it was weird to see LS430s with a Toyota badge. Anyhow, I'm mostly focused on how it's truly doing in the US. I did send off some e-mails to contacts in other parts of the world for their opinion. I'll let you know what they say. Again, it's nothing against Lexus, I'd just like to know the truth because what I'm hearing isn't meshing with my sources and if my sources are proven wrong, so what.

MR_F1

Well 458 money isn't exactly LFA money, now is it?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i think this lies exactly what lexus is trying to battle and get through into the exotic / supercar group. it's not easy at all and this is kind of what i expected.

i think it's relatively safe to say that here in cali it's the heaven of cars, including exotics. i was at the exotic car meet where lexus displayed the lfa. i noticed that a lot of exotic owners they had no knowledge of the car at all, didn't believe it's a lexus, no idea about its spec, etc... (and i was not surprised)

at the same time, there were still significant number of people who knew about the car, glad that lexus is trying to enter this market, and expressed their interest in owning the car (some asked details about how to order, some said they have been talking to dealerships, etc...)

it's a steep climb, but definitely something lexus has to face. i personally have no doubt lexus will sell (or has sold) all lfa. i kinda of see it the same as audi r8 in some way

TommyJames

Interesting. I agree that in exotic circles, they know little about it. Most in that group, first look basic performance numbers versus cost. Once they saw those or heard about it, the car was immediately dismissed as overpriced. $375k to go 0-60 in 3.6? A 560 Gallardo or F430 will do that. What fascinates me is that Lexus has claimed to found an entirely new car niche where there are 160 buyers in the US willing to plunk down $375k (even the price is debated because on TopGear they clearly said 375,000 pounds, which would put it at over $500k) and not draw buyers from the existing exotic market without displacing any cars. And all of this by identifying buyers themselves that they choose from?

How do they choose a buyer without relying on numerical data and not get sued? I'd think they would run into all kinds of problems otherwise. What if a minority didn't get chosen? Wouldn't they have a lawsuit? What if they didn't pick enough women? I'm ready to leave this one alone and watch it unfold. I remain a skeptic.

I'd love for one of the US buyers to step forward and write about the order process. I'd also love to see someone put together an actual registry of these cars, given there are so few. I'll post if I learn anything concrete.

Meanwhile I still do like my Lexus. The only problem was I blew out the audio system once. Other than that, it's never had any unscheduled problem. My SC430 on the other hand was a complete nightmare.