fishnlab

I'm interested in purchasing a new 2017 ES 350, and plan to take advantage of the $3500 Lexus Cash for November.
I believe the configuration I would like is the base + premium package + ventilated seats + 18" wheels. I suppose the luxury package would be fine as well; just don't have much interest in the parking assist, and I believe it must be included with this package.
Either way, I am in Texas, and would appreciate any insight into what sort of discounting on top of the Lexus Cash I should expect from dealers in the area. If anyone has actual numbers from a recent transaction, I would appreciate the information.
Thanks all!

sonatine

I bought a 2018 ES350 just this weekend and heavily considered a 2017 model for several months. The 18" only comes with luxury package; 17" comes with premium package or lower.

I'm in CA but pricing I received for 2017s were 13% off MSRP + the Lexus Cash. Overall that's about 20% discount otd. I only bought a 2018 because the best colors for 2017 were sold out.

lesz

Almost exactly a year ago, I was in the same position that you were in this year. I got pricing for a leftover 2016 UL ES and a similarly-equipped 2017 ES. I found that, including the $3000 Lexus rebate, I could have bought a 2016 for about 20% off from MSRP. Pricing that I was getting for the 2017 was about $3000 higher. I figured that, for the next 3-4 years, the re-sale or trade-in value of the 2017 will be about $3000-4000 higher than that for a 2016, and I ultimately decided to go with the 2017 because I had more vehicle choices and because the 2017 came with an improved Generation 9 navigation system, while the 2016s still had a Generation 8 navigation system.

For the OP, I'll copy and paste below a (slightly edited) post that I made earlier today for someone on the RX board. By using the approach explained below, you should be able easily to find where the bottom of the market is in less than 48 hours.

Find the 8 (or more) Lexus dealers that are the closest to you. Send each of them an identical email. In the email, let them know that you are sending the same email to 8 (or whatever the number is) dealers. Tell them what color, package, options, etc. that you are interested in, and let them know that you are planning to buy within a week or 10 days from the dealer that offers you the best price.

When the dealers respond with offers, take the best offer, let the other dealers know what that offer is, and give them the opportunity to beat that price. If you repeat that process a couple of times, each time, some of the dealers will drop out, but some are likely to better their initial offers. After repeating the same process a couple of times, you should get a good feel for where the bottom of the market is and for what the best offers available are. Even if you really aren't interested in traveling to the more distant of those dealerships, you likely won't have to do so because, by using the offers of those more distant dealers as leverage, you should be able to cause the more nearby dealers to bring their prices to more competitive levels.

A key part of this process is to do as much as can via internet and telephone communication before you visit a dealership. Until you walk into the dealership, you are the one who has more control over the process, but, once you do walk into the dealership, you are giving more control to the sales person.

The December to Remember Lexus sales event has started, and that is when Lexus dealers are getting their biggest unadvertised sales incentives from Lexus.