Ex-Lexic

I have bought 3 Lexus' from this dealer in the recent past. I want to special order a 2009 RX400h, which has (in addition to many other options) dynamic laser cruise control and Mark Levinson 11 speaker sound. My salesman tells me that it is very unlikely that I will ever get delivery on that special order because of a long history of screwups by the merchandizing department in the Atlanta Zone Office of special orders. He tells me that they get about 3 RX's a month, and they sell what they get in. Zone Office does all the ordering, and my dealer has zero influence in making sure a special order gets filled. The salesman tells me that special orders go unfilled for 6 months at a time until the customer either leaves in frustration or accepts what the dealer has in inventory.

To me, in this day and age, this is unbelievable and astonishing! I have ordered 3 BMW's in recent years too. Soon after I placed my order my BMW salesman gave me an order number confirming all options I ordered. I could track the progress of my order from pre production to production to shipping to delivery. And Lexus can't even fill a special order? What is going on?

I asked my salesman for the name and telephone number of a person in the Atlanta zone office I could discuss this with. I want to hear from him/her that Lexus is incapable of filling orders. I will then decide what to do about the order. Maybe order an X5.

Any other advice?

jacksonian

I'm not surprised to hear that. Seems like Lexus just operates differently. It was virtually impossible to find a GX470 with the KDSS, it wasn't even mentioned as an option on the website. I guess the final answer is that their vehicles are so popular that they don't have to do special orders.

jrobe

I sure wouldn't be "extremely frustrated" and willing to buy a different brand car because I couldn't get the lasar cruise system or the Mark Levinson system. There are numerous internet reports of frustration with the lasar cruise and the ML system can easily be outdone with some modest aftermarket audio upgrades. It is hard to imagine that these 2 options would be deal-breakers.

I also wouldn't exclude the option of trying several other dealers.

Ex-Lexic

No, those items aren't deal breakers; I was venting. However, I am hesitant to go to other dealers because 1) they are far away, 2) I wouldn't believe them anyway, 3) my local dealer wouldn't offer a loaner while maintenance is being done if I didn't buy the vehicle from them. They got me by the ****s. The thing is they don't CARE; they will sell their units anyway. I had the same trouble when ordering the 2007 LS460. I did manage to get a special order submitted, but when a car became available and my salesman told me mine would be MONTHS away, I took the one they had. Didn't like the color, and the options were wrong. But thats the way they operate.

Did I mention they don't CARE?

(Still venting. LOL)

jacksonian

I feel ya, but I'm not even sure it's that they don't CARE. It's simply business for them. They get allotments of cars and there's no business incentive for them to hassle with special orders other than to please you. And even then, it sounds like they have little to no control over the special order process and it really is months before you'll get your order. Of course, they'd rather make a sale now than have to pray that you don't get fed up with waiting.

My suggestion would be to ask them to see if any other dealer has a vehicle anywhere close to the options you're looking for and ask them to trade for it. Still not much in it for them, but probably your best shot at getting close to what you want.

mindmachin

I dont know what to tell you except that I live in Ohio.

I special ordered my 08 400h in December of last year exactly the way I wanted it including the Mark Levinson sound system. The dealer took my order and a 10% deposit, My car arrived just as ordered on Feb 20th this year not quite a full 3 months. The dealer told me it would take 3 months give or take a week or two.

After I placed my order, about 1 week later the dealer sent me a computer print out of my order showing all the options I ask for including the color choice, ML, Premium Plus, wood trim, heated seats, Navigation, ect.

When the car came in he called me and said the factory added the premium accessory package consisting of a carpet trunk mat, rubber floor mats, wheel locks and cargo net the total of which was another $350 plus a $100 increase in base and , but he said we will give you the extras at no extra cost since I did not order it and he would eat the $100 base increase.

He also said that the RX 400h is indeed hard to get as they get only 4 a month, but he did not hesitate to accept any special orders.

I dont know why your dealer is acting this way, but I have heard that in New York and NJ area that the wait on special orders is supposedly 6 months or so. What I dont get is why special orders are handled differently around the country.

jjbodean

skip the salesperson and speak with the sales manager. it can be done very easily. hurry because the deadline for special orders is the 15th of this month for june production, which would put the vehicle to you in july/august range.

802.11b

I live in Vancouver have a dealer about 15 minute drive away from me. I got about the same treatment as you did. But there was also tree dealers about 45 minutes away from me and I ended up buying from them this weekend. There were two high volume dealers which had at least four fully loaded 400h in stock. The dealer I bought from said they do custom orders and that it would only take 3 to 4 weeks for me to get a car if I got that route. I ordered a Classc Silver Metalic 400h with Ultra Premium Package. I'm going to pick it up this Saterday. What's more impressive is that whe my car needs servicing, they will deliver a car for me to use right to my door and drive my car to get serviced. Once, they will clean the car and bring it back to me.

jjbodean

just to clarify - just reread your original post and wanted to add that it wouldnt be possible for a few more months to special order a 2009 RX400h, but the order placed now would be for a 2008 model.

SLegacy99

Would it be? Because, my mom got hers in February of last year and they were trying to get rid of the '07s for the incoming '08s. So I could see ordering an '09 right now, but having to wait a little while for it.



If you truly are unhappy, I've found that calling Lexus customer service is the best way to get anything resolved with them. More than once, someone in my family has called to complain about a problem with a vehicle or dealer and Lexus of America has always been very accomodating and does their best to keep us happy.

I can tell you that the RX400h is worth the wait. I love driving that thing and Im the kind of guy who really only enjoys sporty manual transmission coupes and sedans. There is just nothing like the torquey electric motors and the roar of the engine coupled to the CVT. Regarding our BMW expirience we have actually been rather unhappy so we decided to skip the X3 and X5 and get another RX.

jjbodean

yes, it would be. the 2009 RX350 is out right now but the 400h will remain the 2008 model until probably september

Ex-Lexic

Well last Friday (4/11) I took my wife to drive the RX 400h, and we decided to take one off the lot instead of waiting for Oct/Nov delivery. Picked it up Saturday. The options that were important to me (dynamic cruise and ML sound) were not so important to her, so we took a 2008 off the lot.

We like it so much that I am trying to figure out how to get a hybrid for myself without sacrificing power and too much comfort vs. the 2007 LS 460 I have now. Maybe a GS 450h. Just starting to research this.

Thank you all for your inputs and suggestions!