Island

Greetings fellas. I just purchased my car yesterday after only 4 hours at the dealership. My previous car buying experience took a grueling 13 hours. Basically, 45k MSRP on a white, parchment leather lux, Nav, rear spoiler, and some safety add-ons. I did my homework and knew I would have to deal with my sales guy, his boss, and possibly the pit boss, but I stood my ground. I had my KBB and Edmund's numbers. I started at 38K and of course the battle began. I knew I had the upper hand though as my credit score is well over 800. Back and fourth we went.All said and done though, I finally got pretty much what I had wanted. I know the dealer still made a little profit, but I am happy. I ended with a 2500k down payment. They gave me a 1500K rebate and I got the 0.9%/60 month finance. All said and done after finance charges at 60 months, my car will have cost a little over 45k and that is with TTT. I live in Cali, so I think I did pretty well. The 2017's are supposed to be out on their lot by mid September anyway, so I assume they are trying to deplete their current 2016 stock. Anyway, that's my little car buying story. Hope it helps any potential ES 350 buyers =)

BTW-This car is for my wife and she loves it, so it's a win win for me!

imrankh24

Post some pics of the beauty

pizzafan

Congrats! I feel like the ES is a great buy and interior looks fantastic for a car that can be had well-loaded for under 40k

Island

Thanks-I will post some pics soon

Island

I appreciate the feedback. I have seen some final prices less then 40k(38K-39k) with premium packages. I have not seen any under 40K with the luxury package, especially in California. I'm not going to quibble over 1-2k, and at the end of the day, I'm only paying $650 a month and will have paid less then 950$ in finance charges. That of course is if I decide to go the full 60 months and not pay the car off early.

bc6152

Your story is a great example of why one needs to do research before dealing. Having the numbers in hand is a very good tool and one, unfortunately, that many do not utilize. In any case it seems that you did pretty good and we welcome you to Club Lexus. You'll probably have some questions so come back frequently and make some new friends.

GOOD LUCK with the new wheels...

gmanusmc

Congrats on your new ES and welcome to the forum - she's gonna love it!

What was the selling price before TTL? That's the bottom line info that helps folks the most.

Who was the dealer? I'm currently ES shopping.

Also - were you aware of the $3500 incentive?

Thanks, Bill G

Island

Thanks for the reply. To be honest, I did know about the 0.9% offer but really didn't know about the other incentives. Of course, when we were at the negotiating table and after I started at $38k, it just went back and fourth with the Lexus dealer coming back with counter offer after offer and APR % changes like 4 times before I agreed. I know they are trained to talk fast and keep the customer flustered so a quick deal can be made, so I might have made a minor mistake here and there. At one point, he dropped the price to a little over 39K, because he gave me a APR incentive of 3K rather then 1500, but he increased the APR to 3.6% for 60 months.

Basically, my finance charges at the end would have cost more then the incentive, so I declined. I never heard him say anything about "customer cash" with the current sales event. To help answer your question, MSRP on my vehicle was $44998. I put $2500 down and they gave me a $1500 rebate. I financed $40,230 and that is with TTL rolled in. I wonder if I call my sales guy and ask him why I was not offered the "Customer cash" as it is part of the Lexus event if there is something he can do? If not, oh well....that's buying cars I guess, and like I said, my wife loves her new car!

SW17LS

They gave you the rebate, they just didn't tell you as it increased their profit margin.

This is is why I never negotiate in person. Only over email at home.

In in any event, it's a good deal. Enjoy the car!

Island

Well, when I look at my itemization breakdown in my contract, I see the APR rebate of 1500$ No other cash/incentive, other then my $2500 down payment. But I agree with you. I think I did OK for living in California. I still will contact my sales rep I bought the car from and inquire about the cash incentive.

UKEE

You received the special financing rate and the rebate of $1,500. The $3,500 is for using cash or some other financing than the special rate. Can't combine both.

SW17LS

They gave you $1,500 of it and the rest of it came off their cost as a factory to dealer incentive. That's how they got around disclosing it to you.

In the end though, not worth stressing over.

Island

Yeah, you guys are right. I did OK with the purchase. Now though as I have time to look back at it in retrospect and I can look at my paperwork....I can tell that the Dealership also do their homework and know already what negotiations to take and what numbers to counter with as they are masters at this game. I do remember the incentive numbers thrown at me as being $1000 vs $3000. Never $1500 or $3500. When I agreed to the price and sat down with the finance officer, whose Job is to up-sale warranty service and extra upgrades. He gave me the horror story incentive on how all Lexus vehicles have Lo-jack built in and how they are worth the price for piece of mind.

He also said insurance companies offer huge discounts for it. When I declined, he told me as a courtesy he would up my incentive by $500 to offset the cost for the Lo-jack and I would basically get it for free. Needless to say, I would have rather had that $500 go towards the final price and have the Lo-jack disabled. Also, my insurance rep tells me that California and State Farm could care less about Lo-Jack and it would not impact my insurance rate one bit.....But I digress....Oh ya..My wife still loves her new car =)

SW17LS

Didn't see this. This is entirely probable...

UKEE

Congrats Island....now let's see the photos!!!