A friend of mine had bought a RC350 after he went for a ride in mine. He sold it last year (long story). This is his last week where we work together. His new job comes with a bigger salary and a big fat sign on bonus. Since I bought my 2019 RC F, he wants to go back to a Lexus. He has fallen in love with the new IS 500....specifically the launch edition. He has the bug so bad!!! I;m not sure he will even find one at MSRP???

 

^^ Your friend will certainly enjoy the IS 500 for sure....There are some LE to be had at MSRP although depending on where he lives, he may need to haggle the dealers a bit, or get one from out of town. If I had to spend an extra 5K on a market adjustment or buy one at MSRP and spend 5K to get it, I would spend the 5K on the travel cost just based on the principle

 

I know that the Santa Fe Lexus dealer is getting an LE any day now. Not sure if it's sold or not, but when I talked to them a couple days ago it wasn't. You might be able to get it for MSRP. I know they started at $4k over when I talked to them.

 

My coworker came by this morning and complained that autotrader had a fair number of listings when sorting for an IS 500.....but, if you go to the dealer, the car is actually an IS 250. Dealers suck if they are purposely listing cars as a 500 and it is NOT!

 

If true, that's scummy. The cars don't even look alike. It wouldn't surprise me that dealers are trying to capitalize on the IS 500 hype.

 

louczar1 - First and foremost, just as an FYI, Lexus has produced a decent amount of the Launch Edition models and while many have already reached the dealers, some are still waiting to be delivered so all hope isn't gone yet. The non-LE are even more scarce but your friend is looking for the LE but I would suggest that he does a search for such. It is frustrating for many customers trying to find this car, especially when many dealers are charging a market adjustment, just because they can....Keep us posted. We know a few are still available in Canada but I think it's because the market and demand for a RWD V8 is lower here...

 

Also, FWIW it could be that the dealer's online inventory simply isn't being updated often enough to keep up with how fast these things are selling. For instance, the IS 350 I was originally wanting to test-drive was sold within minutes after I arrived at the dealer. If I had arrived a bit later, I would've felt a little betrayed.

 

Autotrader has a link in it directly to the dealer and for the car (autotrader web page did not have any pictures...says coming soon). Click on the link and the dealers website comes up with the IS250

 

Yeah, could be a bait and switch then... Sorry I thought you meant when you PHYSICALLY went to the dealer, they had no IS 500. A fake link, on the other hand, is no good.

 

Seen a few of those around here over the past year. They claim an IS350 when point of fact it is an IS300. Whether it's a ploy or lack of proper listing, they can't be doing this kind of stuff. Just get the facts correct.

Been told by numerous dealers that expect volume of "regular" IS500's to be produced in very limited supply. Late March/April delivery, and few and far between. But who knows, the LE's are coming in fast and furious, and spring time is a great time to reel in new fish ahead of the fun, RWD, V8 tire peeling summer season.

 

I think it's a sales tactic. Remember car salesmen are sleezy. I've spent some time this morning contacting new dealerships and those that have $15k markups are still on the lot. The majority of us are not fools.

If there's anything I learned from Cobra Kai Season 4 this year it's "never put passion in front of principle." As much as we think we love this car do not get suckered into paying mark ups and add-ons out of financial principle. These things do not translate to resale value.

 

Yup, and around here there are LE's on the lot as we speak for selling at MSRP.

In fact, despite what all the dealers are telling me, I full expect an Infrared IS500 (my colour of choice) to appear in a showroom in the not too distant future. "Oh no sir, you must order that now. Will be very hard to get". Yeah, yeah, yeah. sure. Last year, there were 3 LC500's sitting all winter in the showroom. (i Should have bought then). Lol.

I have no doubt that the supply will be limited , but you need to have cars sitting in the showroom to attract fresh fish.

 

I experienced the same when I was looking for my LE. I called the dealer and it was indeed a LE IS 500. The only way to truly know if it’s a bait and switch is to actually call the dealer. My dealer had no clue their website listed the car as a 250. The price is usually the giveaway. I almost gave up on my search, but I was certain 250s don't go for $68k and had to call. Now I have number 179/500.

 

Care to clarify? Are you saying they're not selling even at MSRP?

 

There are a few things that can be done to see if it’s real or fake. As I mentioned before, my dealer’s website had the LE IS 500 listed as an IS 250. Is the listing price is the MSRP of an IS 500 this is the first giveaway. Also check the engine size as mine showed the IS 250 as an 8 cyl. Those two details combined urged me to call and I was able to secure my IS 500.

There seems to be an issue with online listings as this is a new model. I’ve seen IS 500s posted online as just Lexus IS, Lexus IS 250, and Lexus IS 500. Could be the templates used for online listings. But if the person really wants a 500 then it’s worth making the call to confirm.