I think he means the piston?

 

Just catching up…

@macmaster - I agree with everyone else, you did the right thing. That’s a lot of money for a spec you’re not 100% in love with.

 

lift off the accelerator.

 

Take your foot off the gas and let the engine brake the car.

 

I wanted to break down the stupid add-ons my dealership is requiring and get your guys' thoughts. Going with them might be my only option since after speaking with 3 dealerships today within 100 miles of me (that were not already on the Google Sheet) I learned they all do $10k-15k markups.

Ceramic Coat - $1995 - Dealer says with this I have a lifetime warranty on paint and lifetime warranty on nuluxe damage, even if someone rips the seats. I say that seems pretty good as long as they honor the warranty.
3M door edge guards - $695 - Dealer didn't say anything about this. I think it's overpriced for what it is as I've seen other dealers add it on for $300 I think.
Windshield protection - $1995 - Dealer says this is important since the Lexus windshield costs $3000+ to replace since it's filled with electronic goodies. I say WTH do you buy insurance for then?
Security System - $1395 - Dealer didn't say much about this, or I don't recall. I also don't see the point of this.

I'm curious if any of you have experience with any of these. Other than ceramic coat, I think they're all stupid. If I'm wrong though I'd like to hear it from you guys, not a sleezy sales manager. Please help me out, thanks!

 

Gonna have to agree with you. The ceramic is the only thing that’s worth it, solely because of the warranty that’s included. Door edge guards can be had from the port for $60 I believe. Windshield protection is dumb since full coverage insurance will cover it. And security system is also dumb. Here’s the best security system y oh can get. Buy a $5 metal can, stuff your key in there when you don’t need it, and boom, nobody can spoof your smart key.

Have you considered going out of state? Considering you want a premium, I’m sure more dealers are willing to sell at msrp

 

^^ I agree, I would hold of as these cars will eventually be coming down in price and as TipsyTonio said, ceramic coating is the only feature worthy of paying for. Are you saying you will be charged a 10-15k market adjustment too? Please tell me it ain't so....

 

I'm open to going out of state. But I live in Socal and I'm in line at 3 dealerships. If I can't get one of them to play ball in the car mecca of the world then WTH is happening.

No, my option is either go with the dealer charging $6000+ for these 4 add-ons or go with a dealer charging $10k extra. Obviously I'd never do the latter. I have not seen a dealer in SoCal that did not charge something extra.

Are they coming down in price eventually? Last I checked 2021 IS350s are selling for more than they MSRP'd when they were new. $52k for a regular IS350 and $60k for a DHP 350, with 4k-10k miles. Things are not looking good...

 

6000$ for add-ons really sucks, especially if they are not things you want. I know some have ventured in other regions and bought at MSRP and used the money to make a trip out of it and I would go that route if you can find one. I can't be sure that car prices will come down, I can barely predict the weather (lol) - That being said, this madness will eventually subside and things should cool off again. Will they go to crazy rebates, probably not, but at least MSRP I can see by the fall if you can wait that long.

I saw a youtube video today where apparently FORD is intervening and clamping down on dealers selling with market adjustments so maybe this will start a trend and Lexus will follow suite.....if enough people call and voice their concerns, maybe they will

 

The security system thing is really weird. I'd definitely have a hard time signing up for those add-ons anyway at that price.

From personal experience, I would question any time a dealership tries to sell "ceramic coating" too. I had "ceramic coat" applied to my GLI by the dealer, along with a "polish", but if those things were done, they were done poorly. I could barely tell any difference from before. Some of the swirls in the paint were gone, but water beading, etc. seemed identical to beforehand. So I feel a bit jaded about that and would only have a third party directly perform the work. Having said that, it depends. Maybe they can provide a receipt from the detailer.

 

So correct me if I’m wrong, but what I read on Ford was that they sent an internal memo saying that they would remove allocations from dealers that were charging for a spot in line for the F150 Lightning, not that they would punish dealers for selling over MSRP. In the memo I read it said that Ford has no legal basis to tell a dealer to not sell at MSRP. Their specific concern was dealers charging $5000 for example, just for the right to get in line to order a truck. Those $5000 would not be applied towards the vehicle purchase

 

I would do the ceramic coating. Have you ever had a windshield replaced cause safeties ones blow imo. Door egde guards the same as the 99$ 3m ones?

 

That would be cool if Lexus intervened. I know mark-ups is not the Japanese spirit. Come on, Japan.

The problem with venturing into other regions is that it feels like a crapshoot. There are hundreds of dealers out there and they get random allocations. Where am I supposed to begin? Nobody knows what dealers will be getting what color, so am I supposed to make hundreds of deposits? That would cost me a fortune and I'd need another spreadsheet just to keep track where my money is! I know dealerships can swap cars but the swap system seems dubious at best; the way the sales manager described it to me last night is that a dealership receiving a IS500 from another dealer must also have an IS500 to trade with them. So let's say I contact a dealer out in Oklahoma and they say "yeah we can put you #1 in line for a USB, no mark up" - for me to get it, they would either have to get lucky and get a USB directly from Japan OR they get any other IS500 color and find another dealership who has an unclaimed USB IS500 that is willing to trade with them. These scenarios seem so unlikely and improbable!

Edit: One other possibility I can think of is waiting for the USB to come into my dealership with add-ons where I'm #1 for USB. Then ask them to swap it to another dealership that has another IS500. Then purchase the USB from that other dealership with no add-on/mark-up. Something tells me they wouldnt go for that though. That's a lot of work for them just to lose a sale. And when the USB car arrives at the other dealership, who knows if they won't bait and switch and throw on an even worse mark-up or add-on.

 

My dealer sprung this nebulous security system on me in Sept/Oct. No pricing, no tech specs, nothing…

Nothing about it sounds right, so I’d push to get it off.

 

I was at Lexus Thousand Oaks getting my GSF serviced today and they had 2 IS500's in the showroom. The standard model had a $10K markup and launch edition had $25K markup. Could have never imagined an IS sedan costing $100K.