rominl

iTrader: (4)

if there are really that many lfa around (170 in the US), i will expect to see quite a few of them running around or spotted as well, maybe in 2 yrs

TommyJames

That's the thing, the car community will quickly know exactly how many cars are in the US. Enthusiasts will immediately begin a registry of every car, color, wrap, location, VIN and owner. There is one for all 4,099 Murcielagos and it's maintained by someone in Hong Kong! All SVs in the US are tracked down as a game and the same will happen with the LFA. If it doesn't show up, it's either gone directly to storage or it doesn't exist. It's virtually impossible to move an exotic any distance without photos, and those photos always have a way of ending up on the forums. Just like the photos above, it won't be long before every car that moves will show up on a photo thread and will be checked against a registry.

07grIS350

I've meet 2 future Canadian LFA owners at our car config meeting, and sort of know who the remaining 7 are. Perhaps, the majority of LFA buyers prefer to stay quiet until their cars arrived, unlike I

G Star

iTrader: (2)

Obviously, things are not so black and white, especially with this new exotic owner that the LFA buyer is. Many of the LFA buyers will be new exotic owners, Lexus loyalists and people with a deep passion for 'driving' and not just 'owning exotics' and/or 'motorsports enthusiasts'.

TommyJames

Hard to say what the culture will be until the cars start showing up. If nobody sees many cars running around then there are two reasons, one is there aren't that many, and the other is that they were not bought by drivers. If all 170 were bought by drivers, the photo registry should fill up fast. If all 170 are sold, you should see them arrive at about seven a month.

As with the SVs, every car that hit the US was photographed and posted by someone within 48 hours of arrival and I'd expect the same thing to happen with the LFA. It's also happening with the 599 GTO. Even if someone is taking a picture of something else and an LFA just happens to be in the photo, someone will spot it and post the photo. Someone here will kick off the US spreadsheet of VINs and begin tracking every car.

Word is out we are getting one in the Seattle area. It's owned by the Bellevue dealer.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

good that one is going to seattle, bad that it's going to a dealership

05RollaXRS

You need to get me acquainted with the owner in Calgary, AB so that I can befriend him so that I can be lucky enough to sit in the passenger seat and experience the LFA first hand. J/K.

GFerg

Despite all the qualifications its not shocking to see one (probably more) find its way to a dealership. Now will they be able to sell it immediately considering they are a dealer (probably at a mark-up) or will they be under that 2 year contract?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

oh, for sure NOT one, i have known a few dealerships getting it. that's why i laughed seeing how it contradicted lexus' initial claims.

i believe they also have to sign to not sell the car within 2 yrs

TommyJames

Yea, good question. If the cars are first sold to dealers like any other customer, you'd expect them to buy at wholesale or some discount. Even then, does it really count as a sale? I guess it somewhat depends on how the car is registered. We have some strange laws in Washington State regarding dealer registration and use to prevent individuals from avoiding sales tax, which is now almost 10%. I believe that both Ferrari and Lamborghini have restrictions regarding the purchase (not for sale inventory) of limited edition cars otherwise they would buy for speculation. I don't know the full answer.

flipside909

There's good reason for the LFA to make an appearance at Cars & Coffee. 1) There are many exotic owners that live in the Orange County area. Exposure is key. 2) Because there are only 2 LFA's in the USA, there are scheduling conflicts. Because the LFA is housed at Lexus HQ, driving down to the OC is not a big deal at all. I agree the LFA should have been at the Forza X Box party, but if one or both are already scheduled there's no way they can make those changes. Its easy to talk about where the LFA should be but theres a lot behind the scenes that people tend to not think of.

07grIS350

I think this is not a bad thing at all, if the dealers are subjected to the same reselling rules as private owners. These cars will be displayed at the dealer showrooms, and may actually give them greater exposure to the public.
On the other hand, I would not mind one bit if the dealer can turn around and make a profit on reselling the car.

TommyJames

According to my contact at Microsoft who's tried to get the LFA up here, Lexus considers the Seattle area to be a "secondary market" for the LFA. It was the same person who called from the X-Box Team to see if I could bring two of my cars to the event. BTW, they have since delayed it, so who knows we may get the LFA here if it does happen. Still, I had to laugh at the comment. It was funny. In our "secondary market" we have two of the largest Ferrari collectors in the US, we have three Enzos, twelve Scuderia, five of the 31 SVs are owned by Seattle area owners, the two F599 GTO allocated to the Seattle dealer sold the day they became available. We have at least six 458s already and several of the new Superleggers in the last few weeks. Countless 430s, etc. We have about two dozen Gallardos overall, around a dozen Murcielagos, countless Porsche, five Carrera GTs, etc. When we did the Carz video, Anthony called me on Tuesday night and shot me the list of cars he wanted to shoot on Saturday and I called everyone Wednesday morning and got all the cars together that Saturday. There are over 60 exotics in the video, and 29 were at the airport alone. We had a few pickup shots the following week for those cars that couldn't make Saturday's shoot. Notice how many sticker for more than the LFA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwII0k2bSpM

The only reason the LFA isn't in the video nor is it mentioned is because it's just not been on the radar in the exotic car community in the normal channels. Usually the marketing process for cars like the LFA is that you tour the car to major cities, track down the exotic owners through word of mouth and do both a public and a separate private showing, usually with some test drives. That's never happened up here with the LFA. Yet, it's happened with just about every other brand including Bugatti. It was not ignored as a snub to Lexus. If anything it's been more of the other way around because of the factory pronouncements of their "selecting" owners about a year ago. Who knows, they must think we're all Prius guys or something. Anthony has owned several Lexus. BTW, he too inquired at our local dealer around six months ago and was told they were sold out when that was the prevailing rumor so he never pursued it further. He's yet to see one in person either. None of these guys are really the kind of people who are going to chase after something in a new category like the LFA.

We both going to be at CES this week so who knows, they may have one there. If they do, I'll take pictures.

LexTriton

iTrader: (1)

Do you mean the dealership itself is acquiring the car? Or the owner of the dealership? The owner of my local dealer is on the list for one, but is purchasing it for his own personal collection. From my understanding, because he owns a dealership, his allocated car will be one of the last 50.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i am pretty surprised they didn't bring the car up to seattle area actually. very interesting how lexus determine the market