pelucidor

When I bought her the vacuum cleaner (a Kirby about 7 years ago before Dyson came out here) she asked me why I had got her a present that I would end up using exclusively - ouch. We just ordered the rubber Lexus floor mats and a WeatherTech cargo mat from lexus-parts.com (nice discount!) - need them before ski season starts.

You have owned some very nice cars - I really like the Supra and Legend (the Lexii are not bad either ). Back in England I owned may European cars (Peugeot 205 GTi, BMW 320i, 1st gen Audi A4, Saab 900i, etc all used vehicles) - in those days people in Europe looked down upon Japanese cars. I experienced my first Japanese car whilst living in Singapore (Honda Prelude 2.0i-16 with 4WS) - wonderful vehicle even thought it was 7 years old and had to be scrapped at 10 years. Since moving to the USA I have had an Integra GS (with 104k miles on it when I bought it), IS300 (my first ever new car), Mazda RX-8 (most fun vehicle I have owned) and Infiniti G35 whilst my wife has owned a Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd (better than some might expect), RX300, MDX and now GX470. Going forward I will probably stick with Lexus and maybe BMW sedans (once they get over their current design directions).

pelucidor

Thanks for the kind words. My wife is still ecstatic after a week, and the baby is even happier. The dogs don't get to ride in it for a while - we are keeping the MDX for another month (insurance overlaps 30 days) for their trips to the vet and the parks etc.

I was all set to get the subtle little bumper plugs to replace the front license plate and spoke to Eric there about color matching. However unfortunately my wife wants more 'bling' and has gone for a mini-front plate in black with Lexus written all over it (lexus-parts.com again). Oh well... BTW the SC430 is my wife's dream car, especially in the Amethyst color.

pelucidor

Thanks - I hope to get to drive the GX again in a few weeks time. The one time I have driven it (on it's first trip home) what really put a smile on my face was the spectaular sound system. I am a bit of an audiophile for home music systems and the awful BOSE stuff in my G35 and MDX is only good for talk radio and books on tape - nice to enjoy listening to music CDs in a car again.

I also wonder why Lexus doesn't make more Sport package GXs. In NJ and PA you cannot even build a GX so equipped on the Lexus website - I used zip-code 90210 to see all the build options and pricing. A lot of people looking at the IS350 are complaining about regional limitations for options (e.g. no Mark Levinson ANYWHERE except the mid-west, no Sport package in CA etc). My wife drives like an old woman so will never benefit from the KDSS, but as we recently moved near some spectacular twisty and hilly roads near the Delaware River I am hoping to get my money's worth out of the trick suspension over the years (when no one else is in the car). My dream car in this area would be a Honda S2000 or a next-gen RX-7 (the mythical FE model, preferably convertible, if Mazda ever releases it).

lexguynj

GS3Tek - we were in the same boat, I waited to pull the trigger on an 05 due to the additional HP update for that model year, but took delivery in January 05 too (wow time goes by fast). You can't even build a sports package GX in my zip code, let along try to find one to test drive. I didn't think the 4-5 month special order wait was worth it, so like you I opted for the fully loaded 2005 GX470 without the Sports Package and I too have little regrets, since it still drives so beautifully.

lexguynj

I have custom ordered my BMWs and once they are put into allocation by the dealer (usually is allocated and scheduled for production 1-2 weeks after your place the order or sooner). The vehicle is made in a matter of days and then transported to the German docks to be scheduled to ship via ocean. This take only a couple of more days. I tracked my Ocean shipment and it took 2 weeks to get to Newark, NJ and delivered in another couple of days to the dearler (also in NJ), so all in all, the delivery time was around 4-5 weeks. However there could be other factors like you get a later production build, since the car is so hot, so that may tack on another couple of weeks, but 4-5 months (16-20 weeks) to wait for Lexus GX470 with Sports Package is unreasonable.

kormaster

I agree..... Ive custom ordered my 04 E46 m3 and it took about 7 weeks.... I dont understand why Lexus does not let you custom order the car.... same money.... same demand.. they make a big deal out of it... geez... I wanted the Sports pkg but it was impossible to find one without the RSES so i settled one without it... i kinda wish i did have KDSS for the fun factor...

stl2chi

all....

Not sure if time for ordering has changed.... But I ordered my 05 in Dec 04... We took delivery at Easter. (end of March)....
We were told that the factory gathers all special orders for processing once a month.

Our dealer kept us updated on the progress...
Processed in Jan
Built in Feb.
Landed in US in early March..
Two weeks for preping and shipping to midwest..

Well worth the wait for us... I HAD to have the KDDS, she refused to have the black wood trim of the sports..

Just my $.02

lexguynj

I too would have been willing to pay more for the Sports Package if it were more readily available at that time. The KDSS would have been fun. Maybe next time.

lexguynj

3-4 months is still long, but not too bad, it is worth the wait if you can wait and have time. I hope by now you can at least find 1 sports package version on a dealer's lot? Probably still not.

loflin

Notes on getting what you want, not what they have...

Depending on your Dealer and your relationship with them (and your Sales guy's "rank") they can do a lot more.

I wanted a Sport Edition, in a certain color, with certain options (RSES, Nav, etc.) and I wanted it before Xmas '04, for the same "bow on the top" story for my wife. Also I wanted a certain price (below MSRP). Not that is should matter, but I'm a previous/current Lex customer.

Anyway, they did a nationwide search, found what I wanted coming into a California dealer (I'm in Texas) and worked it out. Remember this was one month after start of production for the '05.

Took them probably 3 days to do (but probably only about 1 hour of computer and phone work).

Point is no matter what "dumb" decisions the Regional Sales Managers make trying to decide what configurations to order, they all land in a couple of ports in the US. They just have to find it and work an exchange.

Moral: some Dealers are interested in satisfying the customer (so make sure in no uncertain terms what you want) other Dealers will gamble on you taking what they offer, because they are too lazy to put in a couple of hours for their 3 - 7% of $55K.

lexguynj

This goes to show where there is a will, there is a way. I am still curious though to see what is the current wait time for a Sports Package now that it's been out for a while. Either way it was the first year the Sports Package was offerred, so it shouldn't have been so hard to obtain. I wonder if getting KDSS before all of this was as tough.

pelucidor

I custom ordered my Mazda RX-8 (actually pre-ordered a year before production started) and as soon as a VIN was allocated to me I could track the building and shipping etc of the vehicle. Took 3 months from start of build to arriving at my dealership.

I also custom ordered my Infiniti G35 - I wanted a 6MT Sedan (rare) with every single option and accessory (extremely rare) in Diamond Graphite (new color for 2004). The dealer I was working with at Grubbs Infiniti in Dallas was superb - the salesman first did a search of inventory in every dealership across the country, then all cars currently in transit on boats, then all cars scheduled to be built in Japan (allocated VINs). He could not find a match for me so we custom ordered - again it took 3 months from placing order to car arriving at dealership. He then shipped the car to me on a trailer in Houston for free - we did the whole deal on the phone and via fax...

Capirato

www.BumperPlugs.com

~ Cap

LexFather

What a great story!!

darrellk

You will love your new GX for years to come. That being said, my wife would shoot me(with my own gun) if I made a sale of that magnitude by my self.. We went through 2 months of research before we finally got our 06 GX470. We are both retired and what made the deal possiable, my wife pays half the loan note each month!! Again congratulations.
Regards
Darrell