BrianMT

I am totally new to Lexus and thinking of buying one this week. It seems like ti should be easy to figure out but i can’t seem to find it. What exactly is the luxury package vs the standard? Thanks in advance.

lesz

Nominally, the Luxury ES for 2019 adds leather seats, wood trim, and ambient lighting to the features of the base ES, but virtually all Luxury ES that dealers get are also going to include a number of (expensive) add-on options, including the navigation system, and, possibly other options, such as the pano roof, ML audio system, heads up display, etc. That is why, while the MSRP of a Luxury ES is around $42,400, the typical MSRP of a Luxury ES after adding options is likely to be over $52,000.

You can find a full list of standard features and available options by using the "build" option on the Lexus website.

Also, fyi, the Ultra Luxury ES adds the especially nice semi-aniline leather seating, 14 way adjustable front seats, rear sunshade, and rear door window sunshades to the features of the Luxury ES. An Ultra Luxury ES will typically have an MSRP that is about $1000 to $1500 higher than that of a Luxury ES.

https://www.lexus.com/build-your-lexus/#!/series/ES/

TechNut

Perhaps the best way to answer this is to refer you to the Lexus brochure by going to https://www.lexus.com/documents/broc...d-Brochure.pdf

Down towards the bottom of the brochure they discuss the different models along with the standard options. Keep in mind, they also add on numerous options at the luxury and ultra luxury levels. There are also options such as the panoramic roof that are only available on the top trim, the ultra luxury model.

So basically the ES comes in a base model, a base + premium, a luxury and the ultra luxury. For a sportier look there is also the F-Sport model, and of course the hybrid. As you move up the trim levels, everything included as standard items from the next lower trim is included. As an example, our “ luxury” hybrid model also has additional items such as the heads up display, a special 18” wheel package, panoramic cameras, blind spot monitoring and navigation. These options were added by either the dealer or Lexus when the vehicles are ordered (I really don’t know who specs these added options on cars delivered to the dealer). The terrific triple beam headlights are typically only on f-sport or the ultra luxury models, unless you do a special order.

I hope the brochure and my comments help provide some context. Don’t be afraid to come back and ask if you have any specific questions. Do be sure to test everything carefully during your test drive, and make sure you are comfortable with everything. Good luck with your purchase and I hope you enjoy your new car as much as we do ours!

95bat

The Lexus website says, "The ES Luxury offers elevated style with an interior trimmed in perforated leather, wood accents and inviting ambient lighting."

I'm not sure what else comes standard with the Luxury.. but it's $2650 more so that seems about right to add leather, wood trim, and lightning.

BrianMT

That is all very useful information. Your responses and brochure explained everything well. So if I am not very picky about cars and don’t care about most of these options is it possible to just build one with what I want and have it delivered to the dealership or at I essentially forced to buy one with more options than I actually want? I unfortunately have to drive 2.5 hours to get to the nearest Lexus dealership so I am trying to figure out what I want, go test drive it to make sure it works for me, and then order it.

lesz

The negative to special ordering an ES is that, most often, unadvertised incentives from Lexus to dealers apply only to cars that are in a dealer's inventory, and that is especially true at this point in the model year when Lexus will be increasing those unadvertised incentives to dealers to help them pare down their inventories of 2019 models. Thus, dealers are likely to offer significantly smaller discounts from MSRP on cars that are special ordered than what they would be willing to offer on cars that are already in their inventories. The result could well be that, if you special order a car, you will pay as much or possibly even more for a bare-bones car than what you would pay for a more well-equipped car that is already in a dealer's inventory.

In today's auto market, a good way to get the best pricing available would be to pick out the 5 or 6 dealers that are closest to you and, then, send emails to the internet service departments of those dealers. Tell them the details of the equipment you are looking for and let them know that they are competing for your business with other dealers in the region. Then, use the offers from the dealers that respond as leverage to bargain with the other dealers. Even if you have no interest in traveling any further to a dealer than you have to, the offers from the more distant dealers should help you to get a better price from the dealers that are closest to you.

TechNut

I agree with Lesz, however we took a little different/simpler approach (perhaps more expensive though). We talked to the salesman at our dealer and described the car we were looking for. He found a car that met our requirements at another dealer. Then we worked with him and the local dealership to negotiate a price, which included all existing incentives. There are obviously multiple ways to locate and negotiate prices for your car, but Lesz’s approach is likely to yield the best price.

The bottom line is that you don’t have to accept a car in the local dealer’s inventory. You do NOT have to accept more options than you want but you are getting very late in the model year so the available selection is dwindling and I doubt more 2019 models will be arriving this late in the year. Not to sound like a salesman, but the sooner you act the more likely you are to locate the model/options/color that you prefer.

DavidZ

Also, it may be too late in the model year to place an order to build a car. At some point they have to shut down the line and tool up for the 2020s