norcon6

Given the shortage of 06's, what could I expect to pay for an '05 GS300 today?

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

tsredalert,

I don't know if it's true that Toyota/Lexus is a paying client of Edmunds. All I know is the price on Edmunds and the price on the invoice never matches. On CarsDirect it usually matches right to the exact dollar amount, otherwise it comes close within a few hundred dollars. But I am glad you agree with me on the idea that all the internet sites are meant to be a guideline.
Next time, please tell any of your friends to ask for me so that I may take good care of them!
David Gee? No, I don't know him. Which manager is he friends with?

tsredalert

Hi Elizabeth,

I don't necessarily know the arrangements between Lexus and Edmunds but I do know for a fact that Lexus "critiques" a lot of their data. My friend came down this weekend and is now leasing a new '06 Lexus GS300. It's actually his mom's car. They were happy w/everything.

Rockville

Edmunds can give the invoice pricing for the base and option codes but it doesn't necessarily match the packages in your area. To the average buyer all combinations are possible on Edmunds but they may not find such a car on the dealer lot. The TMV is not supplied by Lexus and who knows how they come up with that. There are line items on a dealer invoice that are regional in nature so they are not included on Edmunds. There is no way to appraise a car without an experienced look at the car. The service that KBB.com and Edmund's give is an computer program guess and that is all because there isn't any entity willing to pay the amount specified. We wish it was that easy.....I usually recommend that folk's go to Carmax in our area inorder to have a competitive appraisal. Most appraisers use a Black Book in our area that is published weekly and gives the actual auction values from the previous auction.

doug_999

Wow - interesting thread. Let me see, some guy points out that Lexus makes a lot of money off every car - more than most car makers and everyone bashes him. Then someone prints an article that says LEXUS MAKES MORE GROSS PROFIT than any other mass market luxury vehicle - basically proving the first guys point, and you guys continue to bash him? I don't get it. But I do know that.....

1. There was approx $8K in gross profit between the dealer cost of my loaded 2003 GS430 and the sticker. There was approx $4.5K in gross profit between the dealer cost of the 2003 A6 4.2 and the sticker.
2. GS400s were going for sticker (at least here in IL) as recently as 2000. I find it very hard to believe that sales people were not making money on them back then.
3. V8 versions of the 5-series, GS, M45, etc are much harder to come by than the 6 Cyl versions. The fact is that the market for these cars is small - and thus production will always be small.
4. Per Consumer Reports (and a nice article in Business Week), Audi has the best reliability of any German automaker.

Now to go out on a limb here...
1. I think the GS is priced too high and if there is a large profit margin (as I suspect), I bet you will see discounts before the end of the year.
2. Early reviews from both Autoweek and C&D are lukewarm at best. If the GS does poorly in a comparison test, I will raise my bet on #1 and discounts on these cars will be guaranteed. The fact is that the market is fierce right now with the new RL, M45, STS, and A6. Plus the 5-series is getting updated 6 cyl engines. With this many choices, Lexus will not be getting sticker for too long. We just saw this with the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. Toyota was getting near sticker until the new Odyssey came out - now both cars are being discounted.

Going to be an interesting year.

Incendiary

Nah, you're right. The GS is no MINI Cooper. Nor does Lexus want it to be. They want some nice volume sales, and MSRP will fall within a few months. If dealers are already giving $500 off or whatever, even if it's to previous customers only, I bet by mid-June you'll be able to get at least $1000 off with no dickering. This is not to bash the car or the company, but cars in this level do not stay at MSRP for long.

Yeah, don't really understand the bashing either. People here get riled up pretty easily. If it were true that Lexus dealers were making 20% profit on each sale, I'd say that's fantastic for the dealers. Nothing to be up in arms about...

YL06GS

If in business, pay retail get retail.

Gojirra99

What you(& probably Doug) didn't get is that most CL members here that responded to this thread think it's fantastic that Lexus dealers makes a lot of money & be so successful & be able to reinvest their fortunes to build nice facilities & give good services . It is somebody else that are up in arms about the large profit margins that Lexus dealers are getting from the manufacturer. You had it exactly the opposite . . .

GSX4

Doug,

I agreed with you, very intereting thread. You actually answered your question #2 with your #3. As stated by many previous threads, the production on the GS4 will always be low. It sound like GS4 is the only car that will allow a sales person to make a decent commission and alot of commission are around $75, mention by Elizabeth at Longo. It also seem that each dealership receive will only a few GS4 each month. With 10 to 30 sales people on each dealership, it would mean that 10% of the sales crew will get to makes money by selling the GS4. But how many GS4 can each sales person sell annually or have the opportunity to sell?

We all agreed that Lexus takes care of their customer. They set new standards which we appreciate which changes the car/consumer industry. The reason I used car/consumer is because Lexus is actually the first company that cares for the consumers life long ownership experience. They constantly make sure my every visit is pleasant and that they met my expectation. They changed the industry by providing loaner cars and continuing improvement of their facilities. Let's not forget that Lexus is the first luxury automaker to reinvest their profits back into the Hybrid car that better our environment. That is a big step!

Well, sometime having a great ownership experience is much more than a few thousand of dollars you saved. Knowing the automaker which make money off you will reinvest back to you is pretty comforting to me. Ever wonder why Ritz Carlton is getting bigger and bigger with higher prices? And the smaller hotels/motels are slowly going away? One simple fact, they know how to tread their customer and that's what counts! I want to be treaded right so I can work harder and concentrate on my families career instead of the problem(s) with my car. I see value with the quality work from Lexus and definitely with their service. With that, I'm a lifelong Lexus diehard. Hope everyone here see things a little more toward the happy side. Cheers!

GSX4

looknow12

I received a $500 discount (off 58,234) on the GS430 and 22k trade on a '03 IS300 with low mileage.

doug_999

I would argue that Toyota was the first to do this (I realize I'm spitting hairs) - I know from past experiences Toyota is always interested in seeing that the customer is taken care of - specifically when their cars have an issue that they believe is their fault.

One case in point, my wife's 91 Celica's air conditioning failed with 113,000 miles. They fixed it free. Cause they had a defect that they knew about and had a recall on it that was not fixed to their satisfaction. Most any car maker would say "113K? You fix it yourself" - not Toyota. Very impressive. They do understand the value of a life time customer IMHO.

Rockville

I hope nobody is bashing poor Marc. Since this is a Lexus forum there will always be a bias in favor of Lexus. Overall I'd say it's a lot more objective than say the Mercedes forum which is all about status and prestige it seems. I hardly ever can discuss these subjects with patrons unless we are in the throes of negotiation and that is too late. Thank you again Marc for this excellent thread. It is what makes Club Lexus such an outstanding resource. I'm keeping the Champagne on ice, Marc.

Incendiary

Actually, as bad as mbworld can be about MB4life, German only, etc., I think many members on CL have demonstrated an equal, if not surpassing, bias for Lexota and a refusal to consider anything else as in the same league. Not a bash, just calling it as I see it, as I spend a lot of time on both sites.

doug_999

Agreed - there are those on this board who have blinding bias. My favorite quote from one of them was "an Infiniti is a Nissan, an Acura is a Honda, but a Lexus is a Lexus!". Nice

BUT, this is a Lexus forum - so I'd rather have them here then causing trouble on other sites.

Incendiary

Haha, that's funny. Yeah, I've actually seen some on other boards "causing trouble," but whatever. But about your quotation, that's soon to become true, I suppose. Unless Infiniti the brand is going to be sold in Japan as well, but I can't remember if those were just rumors or idle speculation or what. I wonder if that means the ES will be less-Camryish in the future, or if Toyota will just take a page out of the Ford/GM book.