Fair Market Cost?

 

Everything I'm coming up with will get me banned 😁

With a new Toyota CEO I think the IS 500, and Lexus in general, has an unknown future. Lexus will be the electric halo for Toyota, no room for a V8 in that plan. I wouldn't be surprised if our car only got one more model year.

It is unfortunate for sure. I like that BMW and MB are still doing hybrid performance cars and not going full electric. I hope there are similar options for Toyota, but they have zero hybrid performance cars so a future hybrid performance car is unlikely in my opinion. I think their performance cars will be BEV only.

 

The rumor I heard from a Lexus employee (please take with a HUGE grain of salt) is he believes the IS500 will get a 2024 model year. Now, will HQ make that some kind of super-ultra-unlimited batch or color? Who knows.

If you want to pay bottom dollar, try to buy one that doesn't come with the BBS wheels (over $2k option). That's what I would have done but the only ones that came through without the BBS wheels were color combos I didn't want, and the ones I want were snatched up before I could even pick up the phone. I also ended up with Molten Pearl, which comes with the BBS wheels as part of the "special appearance package" anyway, making it effectively the highest MSRP before other PIOs/FIOs, so aren't I the genius! Also not caring about color/color combos will give you way more opportunities. If you're into resale values, consider softening the pain of the price tag with a color/combo that you predict will be more desirable if up for sale against your fellow forum mates' in the future (Ultrasonic on red, Infrared on black, Atomic silver on red, possibly any Grecian water at this point).

There are enough of these cars that I wouldn't call anyone crazy for holding out hopes of price drops or haggling. But unlike some lot of you, I was not coming from/trading in some other contemporary sporty car, nor was I strongly cross-shopping against other models. So for me, a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.

 

FMC = Full Model Change (cycle)
MMC = Mid Model Change (cycle)

 

For those of you Grecian folks. Lexus of Orlando is getting a Grecian with black interior. But beware, they've been on the naughty list before so be prepared to fight tooth and nail to remove extras and ADMs, especially now that someone created a spreadsheet proving that it actually is a rare combo.

 

Oh the irony LOL….

 

You working for the brokers now?

 

Huh? No thats not what I meant. It was funny to me that someone so enthusiastic made a spreadsheet tracking every IS500 that now it can be used by dealers against the very same enthusiasts. That's irony.

 

From what we’ve seen until now, the attempts to screw us are still rampant. Regardless of color, the car overall is still super rare, so what’s one more potential trapping? 😜

Personally I think Frank’s sheet is super-awesome and the positives of its existence far outweigh the negatives. Speaking of which, I need to load it up to see where the ‘23 #BlueCrew folks are now. 😎

 

^^ Speak for yourself (LMAO)

On a serious note, I agree, the spreadsheet is super useful and very interesting to watch the % of color combo out there and the overall number of units floating around. As with anything, some will take a good thing and try and exploit it but the saving grace is that as consumer, we can all vote with our money and if a dealer wants to exploit you, you can just stick it to them by walking away. I would rather spend extra money on travel cost to grab a car at MSRP than pay a market adjustment and buy local. Even if I am not saving a penny by buying elsewhere, it's the principle that they will not be getting the extra money for doing nothing - At least the extra travel money would give me a little trip out of it

 

LOL!! 😂

The last part, amen, Amen, AMEN!!

 

While I normally 100% agree, the problem is that basically any Grecian Water is borderline impossible to come by (which is a good thing since it's hideous but I digress) and if you do manage to find one, it's either been reserved for months or the dealer is sticking it to you. Before the spreadsheet came to light we all knew Grecian was tough to come by, but we didn't expect it to be this tough. But now you can literally walk into a dealership like Lexus of Orlando, ask to get their car at MSRP and they could turn around and say "tough s***. Lexus has only made 7 cars in this spec over 2 years. We know what we got", and for once, they ACTUALLY know what they got.

 

Oh my bad my dude. No hard feelings </3

 

^^ I hear ya but as you said, while GW is a nice enough color, it is not considered something overly special and unique, at least not something that will make the car worth more down the road. I recall when I was shopping for my little Spark, I wanted the light blue color (almost aqua) called Mystic Blue but the only one I could find, the dealer was giving me 1500$ less on my trade in value for my old one compared to the other dealer I ended buying from. In the end, while I would have liked that color, I was not going to sell my soul just to be taken advantage.

I know some people love the GW color, but IMO, is it worth being taken to the cleaners because a dealer knows there isn't much available in that color, I don't think so. USB is another shade of blue available and quite honestly, this car looks amazing in pretty much every color. If everyone had the discipline to not support dealers that play this game, eventually, they would be on their hands and knees begging people to buy cars from them, but sadly, you can't get people to agree or band together but I for one, regardless of the situation, would never be willing to pay more for something just because of a hype.

 

I wish car buyers had that kind of solidarity. This was the first vehicle I actually had to pay MSRP for. Old me would definitely have given me a side eye and question my sanity in doing so.