Originally Posted by blanshot

Hi there. I’m new to the Lexus community so please bear with me if I’m asking newb/rookie questions.

TLDR is at the bottom.

I currently drive a 2021 Honda Acoord 1.5L Sport Edition and I am having a buyer’s remorse. It does it’s job of getting me to point A to point B but it feels like I’m driving plastic. Granted, it’s built quality inside is solid, no creaks or anything. Back room is roomy.

I’ve been doing extensive research on BMW because that is what I loved as my first luxury sports car. I used to drive a 2009 BMW 335i xDrive Coupe. Did not like the turbo lag though.

I drove a 2019 CPO ES 350 last week and I fell in love. It’s smooth and luxuries (the ventilated seats also got me for my sweaty bottom…) and it seemed solid and upon researching it seems as if Lexus is the best luxury brand in terms of reliability.

I’m at a point where I’m just not into sports cars as much. I want a BMW but I do not have the finance to lease every three years nor I am willing to own one to pay a leg for maintenance and repairs every year.

This is the reason why I’m here.

I want to custom order a Lexus ES 350 UL however when I went to the Lexus dealership at Indianapolis they told me that for the past year and a half Lexus is rejecting all custom or special orders from clients for some reason so I will be unable to order. It sounds to me that me and the dealership are at the mercy of buying whatever is on the way or the lot.

The salesperson wasn’t being a **** either and was professional.

My last car was a 2020 Ford F-150 and I absolutely hated the dealership experience I went through. I just want to custom order my ES 350 to the way I want it.

Has anybody else experience this in the recent pandemic? If not, then how do I force the dealer for a custom order?

Im at that point where I want to buy a high quality reliable car and have it last long. I believe Lexus can do that.

I am also considering test driving a 300h however I haven’t had the chance. Mostly not because I test drive a Honda Accord Hybrid and I hated how it drove but I’ve heard good things about the 300h experience.

Your response is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

TLDR: I want to special order a Lexus ES 350 UL but dealership said no one is able to custom order one from the last year and a half for some reason. Is this true? If not how do I convince the dealership to custom order? Salesperson was professional and he didn’t force me to buy anything else.

Originally Posted by blanshot

Hi there. I’m new to the Lexus community so please bear with me if I’m asking newb/rookie questions.

TLDR is at the bottom.

I currently drive a 2021 Honda Acoord 1.5L Sport Edition and I am having a buyer’s remorse. It does it’s job of getting me to point A to point B but it feels like I’m driving plastic. Granted, it’s built quality inside is solid, no creaks or anything. Back room is roomy.

I’ve been doing extensive research on BMW because that is what I loved as my first luxury sports car. I used to drive a 2009 BMW 335i xDrive Coupe. Did not like the turbo lag though.

I drove a 2019 CPO ES 350 last week and I fell in love. It’s smooth and luxuries (the ventilated seats also got me for my sweaty bottom…) and it seemed solid and upon researching it seems as if Lexus is the best luxury brand in terms of reliability.

I’m at a point where I’m just not into sports cars as much. I want a BMW but I do not have the finance to lease every three years nor I am willing to own one to pay a leg for maintenance and repairs every year.

This is the reason why I’m here.

I want to custom order a Lexus ES 350 UL however when I went to the Lexus dealership at Indianapolis they told me that for the past year and a half Lexus is rejecting all custom or special orders from clients for some reason so I will be unable to order. It sounds to me that me and the dealership are at the mercy of buying whatever is on the way or the lot.

The salesperson wasn’t being a **** either and was professional.

My last car was a 2020 Ford F-150 and I absolutely hated the dealership experience I went through. I just want to custom order my ES 350 to the way I want it.

Has anybody else experience this in the recent pandemic? If not, then how do I force the dealer for a custom order?

Im at that point where I want to buy a high quality reliable car and have it last long. I believe Lexus can do that.

I am also considering test driving a 300h however I haven’t had the chance. Mostly not because I test drive a Honda Accord Hybrid and I hated how it drove but I’ve heard good things about the 300h experience.

Your response is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

TLDR: I want to special order a Lexus ES 350 UL but dealership said no one is able to custom order one from the last year and a half for some reason. Is this true? If not how do I convince the dealership to custom order? Salesperson was professional and he didn’t force me to buy anything else.

Originally Posted by Moorekx

Step one- find a dealership that gets a decent number of monthly allocations
Step two- Find a veteran salesperson that can walk you through the process and answer any questions you have
Step three-Give the salesperson exterior and interior that you want (in my case I was firm on exterior and flexible on interior) Based on their monthly allocations (which is based on previous sales) an UL shoud pop up with in 60 days - if their incoming doesn’t match they can then request a swap from another dealership that received an allocation with one that matches your request. The computer shows whether the allocation has been reserved by the dealer. Also this saves any additional shipping fees as it comes directly to the dealership from KY rather than swapping dealer to dealer. As far as customizing, I believe all UL are being fully loaded with all the options right now as a way of maximizing profit. Note: I never used the term special order things may have changed now that they are implementing the “monogram” buying process. Total time 90-120 days. Hope this helps…Good Luck!

Originally Posted by LexWannabe

It's all good, thanks. But I would offer a friendly word of advice to not set yourself up for disappointment by expecting what maybe can't happen, at least unless you're prepared to do some serious waiting. The story told by 19ES350lux sounds pretty authentic to me.

Originally Posted by TechNut

I would also remind you, these are very unusual times. This is simply a fact for the manufacturer as sedan sales decline and supply shortages continue to plague them. It is also a fact for the dealers who are looking out their showroom windows at empty or nearly empty lots. And of course, those issues translate to to numerous challenges to the consumer. My point is simply that you cannot bank on past practices or production timing carrying forward. These are unprecedented times so anything is possible. Don’t assume anything moving forward from observations of past practices.

Originally Posted by glamglam

Yes, these are crazy times that we live in today. However, Lexus will continue having and building the 2022 ES350 base, premium and the ES350 Luxury and Ultra Luxury models for the 2022 model year until the 2023 model year comes along. The 2022 ES350 models are all currently listed in the official Lexus website and also all listed in the 2022 Lexus brochure. Lexus is building them as we speak here. The ONLY way that these models will not be built is if Lexus discontinues them during the current production year and that's not going to happen. Especially when all Lexus dealers right now are starting to receive streams of the ES350 models into their lots. Things will little by little get back to normal as time keeps going by and there will be more cars built and available.

Originally Posted by glamglam

What do you mean by saying that dealers are implementing the “monogram” buying process? What does that exactly mean?

Originally Posted by Moorekx

It’s the online process of buying a car from your dealership. I think it only applies to what’s in stock and available for sale but I’m not sure.

Originally Posted by grp52

One of my local Lexus dealer's web site has added Monogram for their new vehicle listings. It has listings for both "On Lot" and and those with fine print notices like:

Vehicle may be in transit.
Estimated availability
02/23/22 - 02/28/22

Out of 28 ES 350 model listings only 6 are on the lot; the rest have the "in transit" fine print with varying availability dates.

Originally Posted by blanshot

Could you provide a link to that fine print? I’m curious on my side of dealership’s fine print. Not like it’s going to change anything.

Originally Posted by glamglam

You can STILL special order an Ultra Luxury ES350. It's still the beginning of the year and Lexus will eventually RESTART production of the UL sometime in the next month or two. They've already built some UL's in December and in January that other people have special ordered back in October, November and December. They've just had to wait a few months for their cars to be built. That's all. Lexus will restart building the UL once they reopen the production run for the UL and they will start fulfilling the special orders again for this particular model. I just put down $1,000 early last week and I put in a special order for a 2022 Ultra Luxury ES350 in the particular exterior and interior color and options that I want. My dealer will place my order when Lexus reopens the allocation for the production run for the UL again. It will probably take 2 to 3 months before I get my UL, but the wait isn't that long and it's worth it because I will get exactly what I like in the exact color, exact interior and exact options that I like. Do NOT believe what your dealer says that the UL will not be built that no more UL vehicles will be built anytime soon. He's lying to you. Go ahead and put your special order in and your dealer will place your order in as soon as Lexus reopens the UL production again. Production for the UL will reopen within the next one to 2 months in March or April. Dealers say what they say to you because they want to try to get you to buy a different ES350 other than a UL ES350. I don't go for that. I would rather wait 1 to 2 months and get the exact model UL that I want.

Originally Posted by 19ES350lux

Lexus is not allowing ANY special orders on ANY vehicles nationally. This is to prevent dealers from submitting ‘false’ orders to attain more desirable inventory. This went into effect November (if I’m not mistaken) of last year. May have been a little earlier. There may have been scenarios where some may have slipped through but this is how it is at the current moment.

For example, in my market, the allocation is 9 ES's arriving through mid March. The ES's are mainly all white or black exteriors and range from $42,965 to $48,515 depending on equipment. None of the incoming units are Luxury or Ultra Luxury models.

Due to short sedan sales, changes in manufacturing plans, and COVID shortages, this particular vehicle, the ES 350 Ultra Luxury trim is being produced less and less. In my area it would probably be closer to fall/winter before dealers could get their hands on one based on what I’m hearing (and that’s purely an estimate).

Originally Posted by Moorekx

This just posted this AM at my dealerships website: The following ES 350s are inbound: 5 Base Models, 1 Luxury, 4 Ultra Luxury, 4 F-Sport