gcantu

I am looking to purchase an '07 IS350. This will be my first sport 'Luxury' vehicle purchase and wanted to know if one normally tries to haggle for a lower price or do you simply take the price on the vehicle as 'take it or leave it'? I have had success in the past with other vehicles by walking in with leverage (usually a large down payment) for additional options after a price has been agreed upon, but did not know if the dealer would simply laugh in my face and say something like 'sorry I can sell this to someone else for this price'.
Thanks,
George

acsan

Of course you can still negotiate! Just do your research and figure out a target price you feel is fair and will be comfortable with. As for the add-ons, I'd say do all of that as part of your negotiation. It's not cool asking for those after you've already agreed to a price.

tqlla3k

iTrader: (1)

Dont pay MSRP. Good Luck.

IMO, just go with invoice price and work your way up from there.

TakaM

You can haggle as you would with any other car dealer (non luxury or not).

Here are the few tips that might help:

1. Use E-mail/Internet to your advantage. What I did was sent out E-mails to all the Lexus dealer in Southern California (150 miles radius, 21 of them in all). Written down what I want but noted that I'll be flexible on colors and options in order to purchase from their inventory (don't worry...you'll get what you want).

1A. Only deal with Internet Manager. They are compensated on volume and not necessary profit margin, hence can provide better deal.

2. Never give the offer price first. Let them give the quote first. If they try to haggle or call you or lure you into the dealership, ask them to make you an offer via E-mail.

3. Timing is everything. Typically 3 days before Monthend is the best as you can purchase the car by their monthend. Yearend is even better which you just missed.

4. Once you get all the responses, you should have all the initial quotes but also what inventory all the dealers have. Then take the lowest price quoted, and E-mail back to the dealers with the car you would want with right options and colors and ask them if they can beat the lowest price quoted by another dealer. They will typically match it or they will respond back "no way!".

5. You should then be able to narrow down the dealers to about 3 of them.
You then pick and chose which dealer you want to do business with, go in to see the Internet Manager (see 1A above) just sign papers, make the payment/financing, and you're done.

I just did this for my wife's 07 IS250 manual (MSRP 32,762 Invoice 29,109 Purchase price $28,609 =$500 below invoice, $31,157 OTD in CA).

Good Luck!

projectdna

iTrader: (56)

^^^ for the most part true.

personally i can't recommend the internet route, but YMMV...

gcantu

Thanks for all the quick responses. I'll try the internet/e-mail route and see what I can get. I think it would be easier for me do try it this way since I won't have to be driving from dealer to dealer. I can do it all from the comfort of my home/office.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

try to buy near the end of the month, they will crack a better deal for you in order for them to get some last minute sales. Probably start emailing around 1.5-2 weeks or so before the end of the month. Maybe by the time you are ready it will be a couple days before the end. I bought my car Aug 30th, got 3500 off immediately without haggling on my car

gcantu

Interesting about the end of month discounts. Do any of you know what type of discounts are offered for employees of Toyota/Lexus? My sister was hired by Toyota and states that she may be able to get some family discounts on the Lexus Line as well. I don't know too much about that but if it's true then I am going to try and get a fully loaded one soon.

jasonviper

You should have said that earlier because now you dont have to haggle you get the car at invoice.^

where are you located in texas? I am also shopping for a IS 250 let me know if you get a good deal maybe you could tell them to pass it along to jason also.

gcantu

I'm in SA. I am looking into the IS 350 fully equipped with LP + 18in wheels (hopefully the G-spider allow wheels)/ML/NAV and I really haven't decided on a color.

jasonviper

Wow I'm in SA also your the first one I have heard of also being from here.
North Park does not really like to haggle but lucky for you because you get it at invoice.Let us know what kind of deal they offer you. I'm trying to get one a few hundred dollars over invoice but if I could get one at invoice I would jump on that deal quick.

TakaM

Only reason I suggest internet route is it avoid all the sales talk and as you mentioned, negotiating from comfort of your home at your own time. You don't have to spend too much time. You basically have bit more control as it's easier to turn off the computer than driving to the dealership, negotiate, and walk out.

Also, timing wise I still recommend 3 to 4 days prior to monthend instead of 1.5 weeks to 2 weeks since lot of the quote are only good for 72 hours.

Of the 21 dealers I've sent quote request on, 17 of them responded within 24 hours. Other 2 responded within 48 hours and the remaining 2 just didn't quote but wanted to "talk" .

The only downside to going through the internet is that you may not get the "full Lexus kiss your butt attention" at the dealership. My internet manager was very professional and apologetic at time but when my wife and I went in to the dealership, he was handling 5 customers at the same time due to Month end/year end gotta closeout that day deal. When things settled, he made sure I was happy with my purchase but you do lose out on full attention. I personally prefer lower price, hence the internet route.

Keep us posted how it goes.

projectdna

iTrader: (56)

that's odd; i got a better price by showing up in person. doing the internet/email thing just netted me the obligatory "1k off MSRP" BS. then again, i was looking for the is350 + sports + nav + ML, which was rare in socal to begin w/...

definitely do your homework before you actually show up @ the dealership. g/l and keep us posted.

TakaM

Projectdna.

Care to share the details of your transaction for other fellow CL members?

The Chad

My experience has been to use the internet to get a "rough" quote about how flexible the dealership is. Have several compete against each other, and once you find one that you're comfortable with the salesperson and feel they are reasonably flexible with the price, then visit the dealership so they know you are serious.

When you visit the dealership the first time, have all your homework complete. I tend to want options and combinations that aren't readily available in stock (most dealerships around here carry very little inventory), so there isn't as much pressure by the dealership for you to make a deal that day, but shows you are interested in the car. This is a good time to negotiate price because any dealer can get you the car you want, and if they seem willing to negotiate and then don't give you crap about having to locate the car, you're probably dealing with a good individual and you'll feel more comfortable with the transaction.

I also tend to make sure that I'm not in the dealership when I make the final decision to buy. If you like the offer that's being presented to you, make sure you show them you are interested, but need to "think it over" or "talk to the wife" etc... etc... and then sleep on it. Maybe send your final offer to another dealership to see if they can match it. Then call your dealer and do your deposit via credit card over the phone. That way you have some recourse if they order the wrong car or make a fuss about the refundability (I'm sure that's not a word) of the deposit.

I did this when I purchased my S2000 (and will probably try to do most of this) when I purchase the IS. There was no pressure initially and the first offer was good but not great. After going to the dealership and showing that I was indeed interested, he then doubled his offer off the sticker. $20 in gas saved me $750 in the purchase price of the car. Everything else was done over the phone so there was no pressure at all, and you don't have the draw of actually being in the showroom looking at all the shiny things.

In the end, with very little haggling I got a good price and enjoyed the experience. I suppose I could've gotten even more off in the long run, but I felt comfortable with the entire process and didn't feel like I was in "battle". Finding a good salesman who will take care of you long-term is golden, IMO.