I just made a topic the other dayabout how badly I was treated at a dealership. So thanks to some of you I went to edmunds, filled out the sheet with the car I want and three dealers have contacted me so far. One even sent me a postcard. And some of you went even further and told me the sales person you worked with so maybe I could be taking care of and maybe a piece or two of the price tage. SO I thank all of you for the help.

Second questions is, for all who special ordered as I will be doing, did you have to put a deposit down that was non-refundable? If you did how much was it and di the dealer put it towards your purchase? I e-mailed my douche bag first salesmen and he never e-mailed me back.

And secondly, a few of you said that if I do not special order and take what is on the lot I can get a better deal. This sounds great but I want that obsidian pearl which equates to blue for me. So maybe this will be special order I do not know. I mean if they have one on the lot and can do something for me on the price because I really do not want their packages we will have a deal.

Thanks guys

 

First question - Yes I only had to put a $500 deposit. I got my IS from Lexus of Austin (great experience). When you purchase the car you can tell them to add it to the down payment. If you want the deposit back it might take a few weeks and it will be mailed to you.

Second question - You will always get deals on what they have on the lot. I've heard that people here not getting too much off the sticker because it was a special order. I got some off the special order but I would have gotten a better deal if I took one that was in inventory. I didn't want the wood interior and I wanted the sport package. It just bepends on your skills when buying a car. Walk out if you must and call other dealers.

My dealer info is Lexus of Austin 512-343-3400 or 800-905-3987
The sales guy was Dean Royal.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

Here in Calif. I put down a grand as a deposit. Yes it was refundable but I just put it toward the purchase price of the car when it arrived. Took 89 days.

As for the special order and getting a "deal"..........I look at it this way....the best "deal" for me was to get exactly what I wanted. If it cost me a little bit more I said "Oh well" cause I got MY car. To me that was the real "deal".

 

where's dr. phil? he did one of the first SO's that i read about on here.... search his posts.

 

i dont see what the difference is between a car on the lot or needing to be special ordered. a dealer interested in making a sale should do all they can to get what you want, even if that means waiting a while to sell it to you. the dealer i delt with offered me the same price for a car on the lot, a car that needed to be traded for, or a car needing to be special ordered.

 

You're refering to Black Sapphire Pearl not Obsidian.

OBSIDIAN TRUE BLACK


BLACK SAPPHIRE PEARL DARK BLUE

 

You can still get a good deal when special ordering. I know that I, and others, have paid way below MSRP on our special orders.

 

I special ordered mine. Took about 4 1/2 months. Worth every second. I put a $1,000 down which was 100% refundable. Got $3,500 off MSRP which isn't bad considering I got one of the first 2007's in Florida.The dealer will tell you that they can't discount the car if you special order but this is not true. Special order cars are not floored (inventoried) so they can actually sell them for less because there's no flooring expenses involved. It cost a lot of money to inventory cars. When the dealer can get them in and out (as in special order) they make a lot more money. Salesman just don't like waiting 4+ months for their commission so they lie about it.

 

Special ordered mine as well back in early December - got a call from the dealer yesterday as the car is now in the country, so about 2 more weeks to go. I was able to lock-in the "December to Remember" lease rate, and it was a great rate.

I got the car exactly how I wanted; which is well worth the wait if you can.

 

I just ordered last week and I put $2000 down. and its coming in July.

 

As far as the purchase and discount are concerned, my experiences were pretty much identical. Save for the fact that mine was an 06', which reinforces the point that even when new, you can get excellent deals when special ordering. The difference is definatley going to be in the dealer though, and how willing they are to work with you.

 

so how do i go about getting a good buy then? because all i want is a base model with some HID's and thats it. i mean i am coming from a rsx so the luxury that is already in the car is enough for me. i just love the look of the car more then i think i have ever really liked any other car. besides the is-f.

so how did all of you get these prices? and you guys make alot of sense. because everything this guy was telling me seemed like a *****. non-refundable deposit. did not tell me where it would go to. long wait time for special orders, which was fine with me, and i am sure he was not going to help me on the price. i guess once they pull credit he will know i am not f*ing with him anymore

 

since all you want is a base model i think the dealers are less willing to deal with you because there is a lack of money they can make off of you. though it can be done i think you'd probably have to find a dealer thats willing or just get them to locate a 350 that is close to base.

 

Well and accurately said. This should be required reading for all those who have questions about pricing re "special orders".

 

1. Do some research.
a). Go to www.edmunds.com and look at the IS. You can select the options you want. Edmunds will provide you with invoice and MSRP for the car and each option, as well as the destination charge. Also on Edmunds you can find out about fees like the holdback. For Lexus it is 2%. Basically, for every car that a dealership sells, Lexus pays the dealership 2% of the MSRP. So even if they sell it at invoice, they will make that money.
b). Go to www.carbuyingtips.com and read through the information. It will tell you how dealerships work and how to negotiate a price. It will also tell you about the various fees -- some bogus, some valid, such as advertising fees, floor inventory pay backs from the manufacturer, etc.

2. Get your numbers together. You should have handy the invoice price, MSRP, destination charge, hold back, floor inventory pay back, and advertising fees. Figure that you will have to pay the destination charge and reasonable advertising fees -- the dealership has to pay those, so they are going to pass those off to you. Hold back and the floor inventory is money THEY get FROM Lexus.

3. Talk to dealerships.
a). You can E-mail every one of the dealerships in a range that you are willing to travel to buy a car. Tell them exactly what you want (make it clear that you will order it to get exactly what you want), the numbers you have, and ask them what kind of offer they are willing to make. See who comes back with the best one. Then depending on what they send, try to negotiate even lower.
b). Physically go to the dealerships and talk to a salesman (though I prefer the sales manager). I prefer option "a" -- saves my time.


If you order the car, you'll most likely have to put a deposit down. I put $1000 down. Regardless of what they tell you, it is refundable. They can't keep your money. They just don't want clowns coming in ordering cars that they can't sell, so they want some money up front.

Good luck and, more importantly, have fun.