15951

I see posts like this all the time. Lexus really needs to pay attention and stop making it so difficult to buy their product. If they keep pissing people off, their sales will eventually suffer for it.

By the way, it shouldn't take 6 months for a special order. I received mine in 4 months, which seems to be the average.

There is clearly a demand for these vehicles. They need to start building enough of them so that they can be purchased without hassle.

youresexii

i thought they did use computers...the bmw dealers do
but im positive ive seen 350s around here.

at the end of last year half the inventory of IS models were 350s...but of course there were only about 6 of em left

Koofteh

Not sure why you guys are having such a difficult time... when I bought my car about a month ago, the dealer in Vancouver had just as many 350s on the lot as they did 250 RWDs and AWDs. They seemed to have the 350 in almost all colours too.

Might be a US only problem? Or probably not as much demand for the 350 up here.

jdanon

Yeah I wish I could get a 350 here. Even if I can locate one in the color I want, I'm not sure how I would go about even getting it. At least if it's through a dealer exchange, they would handle the logistics and I would have some recourse if something is not right about the vehicle when it gets to me. Otherwise - well I'm not sure. Originally I wanted a red one with grey interior, luxury+18in. wheel package, Nav+ML, park assist, PCS+dynamic cruise, and rear spoiler. Now after hearing what's been made, I would have to dump the PCS and ML options and take a black interior because the car only comes in red on black and, luckily for me, the luxury+18in. wheel package. I am not really wanting to do special order after being quoted 190 days before I would get it, so I'll just have to take what I can get. If worse comes to worst I would wait for the '08s.

But yeah 15951 - Lexus does make it hard to get their products. I'm not sure they care. They will sell whatever they build no matter what, so even if they **** off a few potential customers it doesn't matter to them. They have good sales and money making service departments. I have seen an Audi special order come back in 3-4 weeks once and that was impressive.

My irritation comes in the fact that the dealerships seem handcuffed in what they can do to help. I've heard "oh there weren't very many 350s made in the eastern region, only 123 red ones total in 2007, or no one buys the 350 because everyone needs the AWD, or we can only look for cars from Maine to Virginia". Every salesman's motive is to try and sell you what's on their lot and try to discourage you from looking elsewhere.

youresexii

wow, i dont know what kind of salesmen you've been dealing with, but our salesman doesn't push us towards buying from what's on their lot...she's always telling us "we'll find you whatever you need"...
my mom even changed her mind 3 times about stuff in the RX and the sales person located and swapped 3 diff RX's for her.
i really dont see an excuse as to why they cant locate a 350 for you.

jdanon

The reason they can't find one is because they can only look in the Northeast. Don't ask me if this is a Lexus rule or dealership imposed limitation, but I've been to multiple dealerships in the area, and they all say the same thing. Fine you say, there must be plenty of cars available in that large of an area since it is the most populated part of the country. Not so because the IS350 was mostly made for the warmer parts of the country where AWD wasn't necessary half the year, so there's a limited number of IS350s available to the Northeast to begin with. Add to the fact that it's the end of the model year making new cars generally more scarce, me wanting a red one (which I'm told accounted for only 1.5% of all IS350s made in the Northeast in 2007) and you have the recipe for no car. Basically I have dealers who aren't willing to go that extra mile, and once they've done their quick check of Maine to Virginia they say oh well how about a used one, a 250 AWD, or a different color. You know I thought I was the easiest sell because I didn't need to be convinced to buy a car. I told them upfront that I knew what I wanted and if they could get their hands on it I would buy immediately.

My biggest question is why can't they look further west or south of Virginia? I just don't understand that. Maybe there is a corporate policy that they have to follow? Can anyone with insider knowledge answer that? I'm positive if they did a national search there'd be plenty of cars for me to buy. In fact, someone on another thread said there is one in Texas that they saw on the lot less than a week ago, so they definitely exist. I wanted to use my dealer for their search capabilities and logistics in getting the car to me, so I don't mind paying their sales commission since I know I'm asking them to do a bit more work than usual for me.

youresexii

^ im from maine...the very tip top of the northeast, and im saying ive seen 350s at the dealership IN maine.
maybe people in maine really arent buying 350s at all.
but i dont think in red...i missed that part.

neil0311

Are you in Portland? Are you talking about the Lexus dealer where all the other dealers are by the mall in S. Portland?

youresexii

yeah im talking about the one in portland why?

Gtidan

the IS 250 is way underpowered (slow) compared to its peers.

By what standard? Depends on your point of view doesn't it? To the guy in a Corvette your IS350 is a dog. To the guy in his SLR Mercedes the Corvette is a dog and so on.

Let me suggest the following:

Toyota Camry: Base engine 4 cyc 150+ hp V6 260+ hp
Lexus IS 6 cyc 204 hp V6 306 hp
Lexus ES350 6 cyc 270+ hp
Lexus GS350 V6 306

I see the IS250 as being a nice fit within Toyota's model range.....

Also, as many on this forum seem to forget. The world is going green and
Lexus can see themselves as being on the cutting edge in this area. That's why in Europe where people pay a lot more for fuel you don't even see the 350 motor but rather the IS220D and IS250 as the only models offered.

jdanon

I say people should get whatever they like. You can't go wrong with a Lexus, period. If someone wants the 250 then it's a nice car.. in fact I want one - just with the more powerful engine Now if only I can get the salesman to sell me one...

w4rjd

I have a 250. Power is perfect for normal driving. Miles per gallon is 27 in stop and go driving. The 350 was a lot faster but that was just not important.

Ollie

SonnyIs350

Sorry to hear all your problems. But the 350 is a dime a dozen in the atlanta.ga

b737dog

Bought my 350 in ATL three months ago. Very few in ATL. I went to four dealerships and there were two total. The dealer I bought from had not had one 350 in their past two shipments and were not expecting one in their upcoming shipment as well.

Gtidan

Out here in Southern California the IS250 outsells the IS350 4 to one or more. For the past two days my wife and I decided to keep count of how many of each model we see in our out and about chores.
The count for Saturday and Sunday was 16 IS250s and 3 IS350s.

Here in Little Saigon (30 miles south of LA) the IS250s are everywhere...as are lots of BMWs (3 Series) and Mercedes.....all models. Asians love their Mercedes that's for sure and in my unofficial estimate outsell both Lexus and BMW in Little Saigon.