Sarorn

I was talking to the Sales Manager at my dealership and he told me that in Canada, Lexus is pushing the ES line more than the IS line. There's only 1 IS250 on the lot...and about 15 ES's. He told me that they're scaling back on production of the IS because Lexus wants to sell more ES. I dont know if this is true or not...but I dont know why he would tell me this...after I already bought my IS.

Xanadu350

So guys would you say that is BS too? That's 2 dealerships very far apart from each other saying almost the same thing, that Lexus is scaling back on the IS. Why would they do that, I thought they wanted more sales from BMW 335i buyers. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks everyone for your responses, you've provided some great info on regional allocation. Now I'm wondering if there is any truth to this scaling back on production of the IS from Japan to the US. I'm going to continue calling around.

diablo1

Luxury AND sport packages? Wow, that IS a special car...

gixxrr

Five dealerships here in Orange County, Ca that I talked to today said that the IS350 is in short supply, and that I would need to special order for the one I want and that they are getting one 350 every 2-3 months. Newport Lexus said they have zero on the lot. Waiting for response from Longo before I cave in and special order. I want one now not 6+ weeks!!

Evitzee

Agree with what's been said. There just aren't a lot of fully optioned IS350's around. But Lexus is not going to stop building a product that is $5k more expensive than the base model and forgo the easy additional profit. It also would not make sense because they are going to come out with the even more expense IS-F, and dropping the IS350 would really leave a hole between the IS250 and the IS-F. I think Lexus underestimated the ultimate potential of the more powerful models as a real sports sedan and a rival to the BMW. There is probably a fair amount of bleed over from BMW, MB, Audi and other customers that is also straining supply. But Toyota's capacity is locked in well in advance and they just can't crank up production of a particular model if it becomes popular. This is nothing new, it happens in many products, look at the new video consoles introduced before Xmas; a huge shortage. Tickle me Elmo? Remember Cabbage Patch kids?

You will just have to expand your search and keep looking for what you want. You may have to compromise on a particular option or a particular color because the exact combo you want may never become available. Or you can always go the order route and wait, and wait, and......

When I started researching my Lexus last spring I read all the reviews and I decided what I wanted from the option category, and what colors would be acceptable. I was in no hurry to buy as I was relocating from Canada to Texas so I didn't even visit the dealer until I sent out an internet request to my local dealer in Houston. We made contact and after a few back and forth emails I strolled into the dealer a week after I hit town. I was dumb as I thought it would be easy to get the fully optioned car I was looking for (NAV/ML/XM/Luxury Package) in Matador Red with Cashmere. I don't know if it was dumb luck or karma, but the internet manager said, 'Look, these options just aren't normally seen in this area, BUT we just did a swap for a well optioned IS350 from a dealer in Colorado Springs. It is not exactly what you are looking for but let's go take a look, it's sitting on the showroom floor'.

The car was in Tungsten Pearl (which was my second choice) , so that was one hurdle cleared. But the interior was in black, and it didn’t have wood. Bummer. But as I scanned the window sticker I was surprised to find the following major options:

Sport Package (Not originally on my list, but close enough to the Luxury package, except for the wood)
Navigation Package/Mark Levinson
Ground Effects (Never though about it, but a cool looking package)
Spoiler
XM radio
And the G-Spider wheels and dark tint had been added by the dealer

Except for the interior color it was almost exactly what I wanted. Do I pass because of this? Remember, I had no idea that finding these packages on a car in dealer stock would actually be difficult. After looking at a couple of IS’s with the cashmere interior on the lot I decided that the black interior was a reasonable tradeoff in order to get the Mark Levinson stereo.

Long story short I bought the car that afternoon and am very happy with it. I would not trade the black interior for the cashmere at this point. What the basis of the swap with the CO dealer is I do not know. Perhaps the TX dealer had a car the CO dealer wanted, or the car didn’t suit the CO market.

Moral of the story …… you never know what you may run into. But in the six months I’ve had the car I’ve seen no more Sport Packages, and only an occasional Mark Levinson package.

KEEP LOOKING. Your car is out there.

And shame on that Lexus dealer for lying to you about the current status of the IS350. He just wants to discourage you so maybe you'll buy another Lexus instead.

AM1

iTrader: (6)

so you know longo may have the most Is350's but they suck on pricing. the fleet manager offered me 500 off sticker. Lexus HQ doesn't even know why production is so low on ths IS350. i've already complained twice. Talked to every dealer within a 150 mile radius of where i live. The standard response is " we have a lot of IS250's, but either little or no IS350's". And the delaers will tell you do a special allocation order, which won't do much either, cuz no matter what you request it is still up to lexus to make it and send it to the dealership that made the request. And the special request could take a long time anyways. Oh yeah just about every dealer will not trade for it either. and here's the kicker.....every other comprable car in its class their manufacturers supply them with good amounts.

jjbodean

is has slowed considerably in my area since the availability of the es line has increased. when the es was scarce, we could switch customers to the is more easily. now that there are more es around, customers would rather buy the es than the is. you will always have the certain buyer who wants one or the other, but some are happy to have a lexus sedan in that price point and dont care one way or the other.

Xanadu350

I just entered into build it now on Lexus website for the IS350 and used valid zip codes from Jacksonville, FL down to Miami and from Tampa across to Daytona FL and all Florida dealers are only allocated for Prem Pkg only and No Mark Lev, No Lux's.

So that means I have to make long distance calls to other dealers outside my state to find a Lux/Nav/ML/Rear Spoiler/Park Distance IS350 in Glacier w/ Black. Or wait 4 months or longer to order. The worst part is I have to do all this myself. My local dealer does not want to help, it's basically special order or forget it from them.

Bichon

In the northeast, Mark Levinson has never been available in the standard dealer allocations. Hard to believe that in a region that includes towns with some of the highest per-capita incomes in the country, you've never been able to buy the IS350 with a premium stereo without special ordering and waiting four months.

Evitzee

I think this is one area where Lexus, and most Japanese firms, really fall down. They don't seem to be focused at all on the issue of getting the customer the vehicle the customer WANTS instead of just selling whatever is on the lot. They don't have a history of doing business like that, and since they are selling all they can make I don't see this changing anytime soon. I believe they feel that the special order process is too disruptive to their business model. (Just In Time manufacturing and all that). That may be true if you are buying a Toyota Corolla or Camry, but if you paying Lexus prices you should get the white glove treatment of being able to get the desired color, interior, and options through a special order process in a relatively short time. And as you state, going the special order route is a series of hurdles that YOU are required to jump without any help. That's just not right.

This never makes sense to me. Either the dealers don't think there is a market for the ML premium system, or Lexus is constrained in producing enough systems to fill demand, so they put them into the higher end cars. In any event Lexus' marketing of the name Mark Levinson is exceedingly weak. I was at an auto show last week and most of the top end brands at least put the systems name on the speaker enclosure, and they are touted in the brochures. But except for the small Mark Levinson logo on the face plate you'd never know that you have a premium system in your vehicle. It's another missed opportunity for Lexus.

jjbodean

xanadu - pm me with the specs of what you are looking for and i will do a locate for you on monday and let you know where the closest one is so you can give them a call

Shoyuu

you know i'm going through the same as you. i just put in an order for a IS 250 RWD MT, White/Black with Nav.... "120 days at least"

/sigh

have you tried going through a car broker?

Irishman06

I'm gonna stop you right here, since I seem to be the Toyota Production System police around here (Pimp, help me out man!). THOSE ARE SALESPEOPLE PUSHING WHAT'S ON THE LOT. There are good Lexus dealers, and there are bad Lexus dealers. The bad ones are sleazebags like any other car dealer, except they have the $6000 OEM chrome rims and the $500 lip spoilers, etc., to make it even worse. They'll even tell you they don't have something on the lot, until you start acting like you'll pay sticker price, and then they have 11(!) GS 450h's on their storage lot. Personally, I think Longo is one of them, as are most of the Southern California dealers. The good dealerships will try to find you what you want nearby, and if not, they'll special order it. This is a process that EVERY dealer has access to, but not all are willing to use.

Now, special orders: yes, they take 4 months. Depending on when you order it, the order needs to be processed here in NA, then sent to Japan (say 2-3 weeks). It goes in with every other order the Regional Manager is placing, including the normal stock vehicles for dealers. Then the vehicle gets scheduled at a plant, and gets built (say, another 3 weeks). Then it needs to go from the plant to the port to be shipped (1-2 weeks). We're already at 2 months, and the car hasn't even left Japan. It takes 4 weeks to ship a car here (boat). 3 months. Then, depending on where you live, its got to go across the country here, by rail and truck (anywhere from 2 weeks to a month, unless you happen to live in Long Beach or Seattle, the two major west coast ports. Its about 1 week then). So here we are, approximately 4 months after your order, with your new car.

gixxrr

Just got off the phone with Longo and they are not budging on sticker price and says the car I want (GFM w/LL,VN, black interior), the production stats they say they are only making 1 a month.

Cornellian

^^^Yep! Sums it ALL up!

Also, take into account that the plants that build "IS's" are not JUST building IS's.....they're also building other models. And if you special order a car, don't expect to have it pop-up on the production lines right away! Like Irishman06 said, the paperwork is what takes the longest, not to mention that Lexus has more volume than other brands. That is one reason you'll see other brands do it faster than Toyota/Lexus.

IMO, 4 months is not bad knowing what exactly happens when a customer places an order! Toyota's "Production System" or "TPS" is ONE of the BEST in the world and everyone else is copying/using it. Other brands are just not selling AS MUCH as Toyota/Lexus and that's why you can get 'em in less time.