RobertT

Here's the latest update:

I talked with the general manager this morning after several phone conversations yesterday. Today he told me that 5 silver 17" stock wheels arrived after being overnighted. The wheels need tires and he said he thought all-seasons might be something I wanted. I could basically get what I wanted on the wheels and Pilot Sport All Seasons are the choice I'm selecting. The car is supposed to be finished today and I'm going to pick it up tomorrow. Hopefully, things will work out and I'll be getting the car with the exact tires I would have put on it if I had been at the factory when it was being made.

At this point, I applaud his efforts for trying to make things right.

Bob

woodyaht

That's great, glad everything is working better for you.....

mooretorque

Robert, I'm glad to hear that the GM stepped up on this; it's just absolutely the right thing to do.

Now that you've got the car (fingers crossed here, since you've not picked up the car yet), next thing you need to do is L-Tune the suspension!! That, and a little suspension/chassis bracing................

(I still have difficulties with this alledged nonavailability of 17" alloys. They don't start off their little round lives as chromed, after all.)

doug_999

Agreed - so Robert, if those wheels exist in non-chrome (the new style mind you), please post a picture of your car & new rims when you get them.

Thanks!
Doug

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Huh? Maybe you meant you can only purchase them in chrome? Who told you this by the way, the inexpensive 17" option is still listed on Lexus' web site:

"17-in alloy wheels with 235/45ZR17 tires - $215"

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I expect that's just a line from a sales guy who knows he doesn't make any money on the regular 17's but makes a good profit on the chromes.

doug_999

Anything is possible bit.

But every 2003 GS430 I have seen has the chromes (or the 16 silver). Also two people who special ordered their cars (one being Robert) with 17" non-chrome got theirs with 16" wheels. Hopefully Robert is able to get his in silver - we shall see.

Iceman

Issues like this keep coming up here at CL. A person CANNOT special order a GS with any combination of colors and options they want. Lexus allocates only certain combinations to the west, central, and eastern U.S., and you're stuck with what they offer. This is not very good customer service, but must provide them tremendous manufacturing efficiencies (I can't imagine any other reason for being so inflexible).

I guess it's better than BMW or Benz where you can order whatever you want but every damn thing costs extra. Why they need to charge $1000 for metallic paint on a $125K car is beyond me...

doug_999

Iceman
I was actually told that it is the dealers in the regions who get together and order the cars (i.e. creating the allocation). For instance, here in the Midwest it was almost impossible to get anything except black on black on a 2003 GS430 (they made one silver one in Sept and even the customer service person I spoke with at Lexus couldn't believe it). But I was told that a special order car should come in the exact way you order it - however, expect a 4 to 6 month wait.

mooretorque

Maybe we should be a bit more clear in using the term "special order". My use of the term refers to what amounts to a factory build order; one can't obtain, for instance, an exterior color with a non-standard interior color, but one CAN order (and expect to receive) whatever options Lexus specifies available for the car. And this doesn't affect dealer allocations one way or another. It's an extra car, as far as the dealer is concerned.

At least, this was the way it worked when I ordered both my previous cars, although one was in 92 (93 SC300 5 spd) and the other in late 2000 (01 GS430). Certainly Lexus could change their policy on allowing special orders at all, but I can't believe that they still allow a factory order and then build the car differently.

INHOCJP

Woo hoo, congratulations. Although it's been a rough start, I'm sure you'll enjoy you new GS. Hmm, after all this work to get the 17's, what happens if you get the mod bug and want 18, 19, or 20 inch wheels?

Iceman

As of last summer when I was investigating all this, the ability to "special order" the GS4 was extremely limited, and not what I would call special ordering at all. For instance, in the west region the only exterior colors available were black, white, gold, and silver. EVERY car came with ML/nav, spoiler, floor mats, trunk mat, cargo net, wheel locks, and 17" chrome wheels. No choices, no other possibilities. Take it or leave it. So yes, you could technically special order a black one with gray interior if your dealer didn't have one on the lot and couldn't find another dealer that would swap for it, but with that few possibilities I would think you could just about every exterior/interior color combination without having to wait for it to be built for you.

Even the website still lets you pick any of the colors, but I checked with eight deales and called the Lexus customer service line--out west you can only get black, white, gold, or silver! I notice that the website now has a disclaimer that says that not all colors are available in all regions. And when you try to "build your Lexus" you will notice that certain options are preselected and cannot be removed.

RobertT

Well, I picked up the car on Saturday. The wheels were overnighted from Chicago. They are 7 spoke style in the brochure in the silver finish. And on them were the Pilot Sports A/S's. So far so good! I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

RobertT

In talking to the guys at the dealership, there is a definite level of frustration that dealers have in the lack of information that is available to them regarding cars in the special order process. Maybe it's by design but I'm not sure of the benefits that are realized versus the problems that can result.

Bob