noku

Hi Guys, I'm in urgent need of help. Shopping for a car and have narrowed down to these two:

'11 Camry Hybrid (brand new) with leather seats, alloy rims, 6CD changer, and fog lamps. Manufacturer's list is $30,010 and negotiated for $28,000 plus tax and docs.

'10 HS250h dealer's demo, 6,200 miles. Leather, 6CD changer, Nav w/ backup camera, alloy rims, dealer will throw in backup sensors. Manufacturer's list $42,077 negotiated for $31,732 plus tax and docs.

This constitutes a $3,732 price difference. For the life of me I can't make up my mind. I'm beginning to have one BIG headache. I like the Camry's ride and extra room (my 18 yr old likes this) and the fact you can fold the rear seats down (although only a small opening to the trunk). But the interior design of the HS250h is a lot more sophisticated (my wife likes this car). The Lexus looks to have a better paint job and larger rims. Plus that cute little gear **** and cool game controller looking thingy for the nav.

Please respond and choose one. Your reason(s) would be most appreciated.

spwolf

Get the Lexus of course... you got huge discount and better car.

They get same mileage.

redhawk243

I'd go with the HS....not only is it a "Lexus" compared to the Toyota.....the Camrys are a dime a dozen...I'd prefer to have a car not everyone has.

Titanjose

I was in the same boat as you last month when car shopping. Decided on the HS over the camry and haven't regretted it one bit. More comfortable and quieter ride, nicer leather interior and 10-way adjustable seats with memory setting, more advanced technology...its just a much better car overall that definitely justifies the price difference.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

HS > Camry Hybrid.

The HS handles better. It shares an Avensis platform, not the Camry.

It is built much better than the Camry with better materials (less plastic, more dynamic ecofriendly textiles and biosynthetic materials).

Japan vs. U.S. made.

The technology of the HS surpasses the Camry. More options; better sound system and Nav system.

More rear passenger room, IIRC.

More trunk space for the HS.

Better discount/savings.

spwolf

disastrous HS sales in US have one big advantage - Lexus owners can get pretty darn decent car with huge discount :-)

noku

I didn't expect everything would be so one sided. Thanks for all your help.

One other question. Because there was no manufacturer's window sticker, is there a way to know if the car is a Premium model or base?

acheparev

If it has a Navigation, it's a Premium.

I don't understand the Backup Sensors option the dealer is giving you. I thought the Backup Sensors are for the base model in lieu of the Backup Camera and is replaced by the Backup Camera in the Premium Model.

noku

Just came home w/ the HS. Thanks for all of your help, I pulled the trigger and now am the proud owner of my second Lexus (have a '02 RX300). The dealership was very nice and the process was smooth and easy.

From what I was told, this dealer never have had any of the premium models and that this car was their most costly w/ the included options. The only problem was that my current cell phone is unable to connect to the nav via bluetooth. He asked if my phone (Motorola Z-3) was over 3 years old and that this could be the problem. Not a biggie for me since I have a Superant 3 already.

My wife insisted on the backup sensors during the negotiation process and they agreed. I need to go back in a few days to get it installed. She told them that she can't drive w/o it. LOL, don't ever go behind my car if she's driving!!!!!

I even got a better deal than what I previously posted and promised not to tell a soul what I paid. They told me that I got the best deal ever on a HS demo. But who knows, I could be getting a snow job. I'll give them a week to sell of the rest (I think they have 2 more) then I'm gonna be the biggest blabbermouth west of the Mississippi. Will post here next week.

Funny thing though, there was no '11 models to bee seen. I think they were under some sort of Lexus policy to sell all the '10's first before they could even show the new ones.

Thanks again for all the good advice I've gotten. I really am appreciative for the "spot on" input.

Magellan55

good show! Welcome to the club :-)

My brother just traded his 2009 Camry SE for a 2008 Acura RL - he just hated how downscale the Camry felt after owning RL's for a decade before that. He thought he was getting a deal getting the cheaper car that looked better on paper (faster 0-60, better mpg, more back seat room, etc) but hated driving it, and feeling like he was just one of a million on the road.

I think you would have felt the same way if you own a Lexus and then buy a Toyota - tough going backwards like that.

Was just in to my dealer for service and asked about '11's - he said he hasn't seen them yet, and the HS in general is now in short supply. I guess no more $4000 rebates...

noku

Thanks for the welcome. Jus' love it here at CL.

I know what you mean about going backwards. I had a '00 ES300 Platinum Edition a few years ago and really loved that car. The ride was incredible, especially after getting rid of the oem tires. I don't go driving like a bat outta hell so it was really meant for my kind of driving. My son has a '98 Camry XLE V-6, leather,etc. and it's more comfortable than the new Camry Hybrid. The leather and the interior quality and aesthetics seems to be a notch above today's Camry too.

I believe all of this is because of the weakening dollar and higher costs of labor here in the US. Ten years ago the Camry XLE is virtually the same price as a new one today. I know technological advancements could account for some of this but there must have been some downgrade in the quality of materials. The american dollar has depreciated so much in the past few years its getting ridiculous and technology cannot make up the difference so fast.

.....falling off my soapbox............sorry for the rant.

An update w/ my cell phone...........I believe the cell phone battery was too weak to make a solid connection w/ the nav. It connected twice but failed to reconnected after turning the car back on. The phones battery was really low so I'm recharging it now and will try again later.

JayGoldste

Lexus Canada has reduced the cash credit on the 2010 HS250h from $5,500 (when I got my car) to $3,000. I'm guessing that means that the inventory of 2010s has been reduced.

There were three HS250hs on my dealers lot last Sunday; all were 2010s.

noku

I just decided to buy a car last week, so unaware of any rebates around here. There weren't any new '10 HS's either only the demo's which were actually used as courtesy vehicles. Happy to hear that some of you had huge discounts on new ones. So were the dealers able to give additional price cuts on top of this?

I've bought two other Lexus's in the past (ES & RX) and was able to get only about $1500 off their sticker price. Since we have only 1 Lexus and Toyota (Suzuki too I think) dealer here it's pretty hard to get a good deal. Come to think of it, all of the luxury brands have only 1 dealer. This sucks, since any negotiation leverage you may have for a particular car is almost nonexistent. Bought a new Benz once and got only $500 off.

In fact the last time I went to an Acura dealership all of their cars had what you call additional dealer markup tacked on to the manufacturer's sticker price. LOL, I couldn't even get a car for list price.

If you guys ever move to Hawaii it may be wiser to get a car and ship it over if you can get a good deal on one.

Trexus

Contratulations on getting the HS 250h. I would have chosen the same over the Camry hybrid.

I recently purchased a Lexus hybrid as well and couldn't be happier. Happy driving...

I noticed you live in Hawaii. I used to work for Matson. Matson ships cars back and forth to Hawaii all the time.

noku

Hi, mahalo for the aloha.

My brother in law shipped his car last year to California but I can't seem to remember what the exact charge was. Thinking about $2000, do you know what the going rate is? I know different vehicles had different rates but his was a regular sedan size (about the size of a ES350).