pj9011

I put a deposit down for a black on black 250 AWD w/ NAV, ML, Parking Assist, and Headlight Washers. I got it for 2.1k off MSRP. Do you think this is a good price? I've just been reading about the possibility of production ramping up so I'm not sure if I should wait or go ahead and get it.

integlikew

I say thats very good price. But you in for a long 4 month wait atleast.
I payed around 1.5 k under. I did find 3k under but would have to wait 4months so i said forget it.

pj9011

Thanks for the reply! Actually there was actually one on the lot. So it looks like i'll driving off w/ it tomorrow Anyone on the east coast have similar experiences?

integlikew

Glad to know. I would take it if i were you. I thought parking assit and headlamp washers were only special orders. This also has to be a luxury or sports package right? From what i have read you can only have headlight washers if you have HID's and adaptive front lighting. These only come in the luxury or sports package as far as i know.

pj9011

yup you're right. It comes w/ the luxury package as well. For some reason there was one available. On the east coast, apparently, any IS w/ an ML is a special order is well. I drove it today and it only had 15 miles on it and it arrived just a few days ago. I guess I got lucky. Thanks for the replies.

OneOfOne

thats about what I got off my 350. its taken over a month to find even my second choice exterior color with the cashmere interior. they said there are NO white/cashmere 350s coming in.

integlikew

This is BS. Its only true if you listen to the dealers. They will tell you anything to lock you in. Did you special order this vechile? Sounds like you got one and didnt special order it. Proves that wrong already. But the true is any IS is hard to get right now. They are selling like hot cakes.
Just ask around what is hard to get and everyone will tell you somthign different. The hardest ones to get are black on black, sport and luxury packages, navigations, smokey granite and whites, and now you say ML. The truth is they are not limiting the ML around you they are all limited and it makes you look harder. And the dealer will sell anyone they got by telling you this one is really limited. Its a special order no other dealers have one around here. And its probley true but only beacuse they are all selling so quick. Ask how many bought their car without the dealer even having it in stock yet or seeing the excat car before the bought it. Almost everyone here including myself have prepaid or preorderd before the car is even in the US. Dont let the dealers BS you.

Langdell

My car came with PA and headlamp washers in the dealer's regular allocation. I originally placed a special order without those two features but later found this IS350 coming in to another dealer earlier. PA and HW were not a big deal to me one way or the other, so I happily took this car that met all my requirements.

I will say, though, that the headlamp washers are about worthless as far as I can tell. I have tried them out just for the heck of it, and they mostly just spray fluid over the hood. Maybe they're useful for keeping headlights somewhat functional if you never wash your car and don't care about streaks on the hood. PA, however, has been a nice feature to have.

P.S. My car also came with ML, which I had been told by 2 different dealers was only by special order.

charlesmsn

ease up on the dealer-bashing. every dealer has it's preferences and have tried to get different types of options/trims for their dealership but were unlucky. so to that specific dealer, they may say that it is hard to get xyz. certainly some disreputable salespeople will say anything to close a deal, but sometimes this is out of ignorance than guile.

this may have been someone else's special order that was not picked up. maybe they got conned into a TL or A4? and sometimes people don't want what was special ordered because of the pricepoint.

there are IS's still on the lot. last time I stopped by at my local dealer, they had a few TPs, one MGM(!) and a couple of MRMs. one of the MRMs was sold as were the TPs.

Rockville

There are four regions. Each region decides by committee what options to package in their territory. This is why if you Build your own Lexus on Lexus.com it will first ask what zipcode you are in. What may be a common car in one region could be a special order in another. Dealers are not supposed to Special Order cars for stock but some do anyway as a means of getting popular options. Mark Levinson is definitely a special order here in the Eastern region. We have delivered only a few which were ordered back in November. Some dealers may have had the foresight to place special orders for Mark Levinson back then even though that practice is frowned upon by Lexus. It may confuse the customer but there isn't any conspiracy really. Pricing can change from one week to the next depending on stock availability and monthly cycle. Some colors ( like Black ) are hotter than others and can sell for more. Some dealers get 400 cars a month ( all models) and some get 100. The larger dealers will have both a selection advantage and the need to sell them at a faster pace. The IS sells out regularly so timing could be everthing. To find a Black/Cashmere IS250 AWD on the lot with LUX, NAV, and ML is quite a feat. I have been looking for a Black/Black for over a month with the same equip. minus the ML. It may take another month to be allocated. Lastly you cannot special order a car that is normal packaging in your region as Lexus believes that it will show eventually. This can take more than the 4 months that a special order requires to begin with! One other Caveat...Beware of BS posts.

Rock

Langdell

Hmm, that may be what my dealer did. When I told my saleslady that other dealers had told me ML was a special order, she made some remark about how they just happened to have requested two cars with it months ago. Lexus may frown, but I applaud. This was the one dealer in Texas who could get me the exact car I wanted without a ridiculous, quarter-of-a-year wait. I find it a little disturbing if Lexus really frowns on customers getting what they want when they want it.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

Southern region is putting premium packages on all allocations of IS, great, so much for no wood trim, thats what Sterling McCall told me at least

charlesmsn

confirmed. my contacts at the dealers say the same about the southern region.
(since it's more popular to sit on cool leather in the summer rather than frying your rear)

Rock, is this applicable everywhere?

DirtySouth

I was at my dealer this past weekend and I mentioned how alot of people on the east & west coasts are getting better deals than the midwest. One of the salesman said that this is because most of the IS's on the west coast and south dont come with things like heated seats and AWD. I thought this was BS for two reasons. #1 With or without these options doesn't change the fact that people are getting discounts off MSRP. #2 I'm pretty darn sure that every IS comes with heated seats. Has anyone seen one without?

integlikew

Premium, sports and luxury packages all have them. You would have to get a base vechile to not have it. Now im sure someone has a base vechile.

Here in cali i seen AWD and 250's. It was 350s that were harder to find then 250's. All the cars i roadtested had heated seats. And i got the luxurxy packages so mine has heated seats. I would say that 90% of people have heated seats if not more.