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My experience from buying out of state is that you typically must pay sales tax to the dealer if you drive the car off their lot. If you have the dealer ship the car, then you are not required to pay their sales tax. Instead, you pay your local sales tax when you register the car.
The one "gotcha" is if you pay the dealer's sales tax to drive it off their lot, then you need to make sure you receive some credit for that expense when you register your car within your home state. Make sure you don't need to pay sales tax twice!
For our purchase in CA, we paid the dealer's sales tax because Arizona and California have some sort of reciprocal agreement regarding sales taxes. Any sales tax I paid to the CA dealer would apply when I registered the car in AZ. If my local sales tax had been higher than the tax I paid in CA, then I would have paid the difference when I registered. Check with your local department of motor vehicles (DMV) to see if there is a similar type of agreement for purchasing cars in Illinois. If not, then I would recommend having the car shipped, and paying your local sales tax when you register the car.
Of course, this means you will be required to make a trip to your DMV office, instead of having the dealer handle all the paperwork for you, but all that savings is worth a trip to DMV!
Just ordered a Flint Mica, AWD, Nav Lev, Heated FS, Towing +Pref Access Package. 18" Alu wheels. Came out to be $41,989, which is about 3k off msrp. There are only 4 Lexus dealers in SE MI and 3 didn't want to match. However, got the Lansing dealership to match, and so far to good.
Be aware that CarsDirect may allow you to configure options that are not readily available in certain areas of the country. For example, several months ago the Southern California dealers were not offering an RX330 with the Premium Package. The least expensive configuration available was a FWD with the Premium Plus Package, 18" wheels, and the floor and cargo mats. If that's still true, CarsDirect is showing this configuration at their indicated Invoice Price of $35,211.
It just seems too low to believe, doesn't it?
The best price we could find, here is southern California (in the Valley)is $37,580 plus sales tax, Registration & Documents.
Would sincerely appreciate any comments. Thank you.
I just went through the paperwork for a '04 AWD RX330 black on black with PREMIUM PLUS package, 18" wheels, 2-level front heated seats w/ rain-sensing wipers, towing package, cargo mat, all-weather rubber floor mats, and wheel locks for $36,925.00...not including taxes, registration, etc. There was no trade-in involved. INVOICE was $36,715.00 and MSRP was $41,680.00. The SUV will be arriving from Japan on Feb. 1st. I'm anxiously waiting.
The buying experience was fast and easy. I arrived at the dealership at 8:30pm and out the door at 10:00pm. Oh, they close at 9:00pm. The dealership was Lexus of Northshore in Glendale.
This is a tough price to beat, and quite possibly too good to be true, but what have I got to lose? I submitted my order yesterday(01/26/04) for an RX330 with the Premium Package only. I don't know how well they will be able to keep their agreement.
I have recently perused the online inventory from Lexus of Longo ( in Southern California). They only list the car as 2wd or AWD with a price, and don't disclose the options. I guess you have to call for that. But none of the prices seemed to agree with what the MSRP would be for an RX330 AWD with premium package only. I suspect that Toyota Corp. is getting a little greedy and sending everything with the Premium Plus, heated seats, rain sensing wipers, etc., to make and extra buck. Most discouraging. I'm hopeful that since CarsDirect offered the vehicle I'm interested in for my zip code (in Palm Springs area) that they will be able to deliver. I'm trying to save some money here. It seems pointless to save $3000 or more on a car that automatically comes with several thousands of dollars worth of unwanted options. Living in the desert I don't have much use for rain sensing wipers or heated seats!
Please let us know how you make out with CarsDirect. They may tell you that every RX330 is loaded. I checked the JM Lexus website. He is in Margate, FL and has an inventory of 290 new RX330's. He does have five with fabric interior, so I hope CarsDirect does not tell you that every RX330 is loaded. Good luck!
It was my experience that dealers within a specific region received only a handful of different configuration. No a la carte ordering.
If cars.direct.com can't come up with what I'm looking for with the premium package, I may just ask them if they can find it in the base model. My wife said she called Lexus of Riverside when we first started thinking about the car some months ago, and supposedly they had some base models in AWD. I think I might have seen them on the Lexus of Longo site some time ago also.
Maybe cars.direct.com can order one, we shall see.
Incidentally, I received an email this morning from cars.direct.com, stating that my customer service rep would be calling me shortly. That was at 7am when I checked my email. It's now 5:20 pm and no call. I emailed tham asking What's up? and gave them my phone number again. I can only ponder as to why they haven't called yet
Thanks for any input.
Steve, Host
tidester, host
Start here and drill down to the Lexus and look for TMV pricing - it'll be there along with MSRP and Invoice prices.
TMV is a guide that tells you what buyers are currently paying for new vehicles. The TMV price takes into account a number of factors, including the vehicle's invoice price, its manufacturer's suggested retail price, the current supply and demand for the vehicle, the vehicle's relative brand strength and actual transaction price data. (more)
Steve, Host
Thanks
Shaheen
Sometimes dealers take faxes more seriously - Blast Fax Car Buying.
It may just be a matter of a high demand car and low supply, although dealers do love to get you in the showroom.
Steve, Host
The Lexus website has a dealer quote request link. I used it to obtain price quotes last summer from several Lexus dealers throughout southern California and nearby states.
At that time, nearly every Lexus dealer was kind enough to respond with an email or phone call with an actual price quote from that dealer's internet sales (or fleet sales) department. I would be a little suspicious of any dealer who refuses to provide a quote. I think most internet/fleet sales departments don't require their customers to visit the dealership in order to quote them a fair, competitive price.
As for the licensing fees...I don't know where you live, but in Iowa my yearly plate fees are well above $350.00.
I got the same package plus preferred accessory pack (cargo mat, wheel locks), for $100 more in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Congratulations!
One of the dealerships in Massachusetts (Lexus of Watertown) did give me a quote but it was only $1500 below MSRP. Anyway I called the internet manager to give me his best price but he wanted to talk to me in person.
I had checked the MSRP and invoice from KBB.COM. AWD with nav, premium plus package, towing package, heated seats, preferred accessory package and 18" wheels.
He did not have Neptune blue that I was looking for. So, he wanted to get that for me from Connecticut or somewhere else in three weeks at the most. He agreed to a price of $40100 (MSRP $44188), with the invoice of $38635. Then he told me that I can get the Black Onyx that is arriving next week at $39500 if I buy it today and I decided to get it.
It was a very pleasant closing. We were done in fifteen minutes and put my deposit. And the internet manager was a very nice person. Their doc fee is $160 (not like ~400 that I am seeing in Ca and in midwest). Haven't completed the paperwork or the trade in negotiation yet.
I had also a very unpleasant experience with another dealership which I will mention in another email.
After I arrived at the dealership I had to wait for about 30 minutes before anyone could help me even though I had already talked to a salesperson earlier and had made an appointment. I was suggested to to talk to his sales manager, which I tried but again no luck. Finally the original salesperson arrived and found another person who took me out for a test drive and to take a look at the car.
After the test drive, the salesperson asked me for my credit card saying that he has to prove to his manager that I am serious (Which I did not like. I had talked to the salesperson about three or four times on the phone before and he should better know that by now that I am serious). So he took my credit card and I gave him my price of $39500. He went and came back with his manager. The manager gave me his price (much more than what I had mentioned) and told me that there are two other customers waiting for this car and if I don't like it he does not have time for me. I though that was very rude and unprofessional. And I decided to just walk out, although I was willing to pay for what he had asked just because no other dealership in Boston area had that color. I had never expected this kind of rude behavior from a Lexus sales manager.
And finally I bought mine for my asking price from another dealer.
I would like to place a formal complaint to Lexus authority. Does anyone (or Steve) know who should I talk to? Or do you think it is worth the trouble?
Thanks again!!
I have heard Norwood's documentation fee is very very high.
What was the name of the internet manager at Watertown and did you have a sales person as well?
Did you just tell them what you pay and they accepted it?
Thanks
Thanks.
btw, we frown on posting names of individuals around here to discourage shill posts.
Steve, Host
Thanks
Thanks
Wednesday, no call, so I call him when I get home. Says he's working on it and will call me right back, but did not. Thursday, no call so I call him and he says he will call back the dealer who's working with him (funny, I thought it was dealers, plural). He calls back and says the dealer doesn't have it in stock, but will see if he can order what I want. The rep says he'll call me on Fri. He doesn't, so I call him again Friday afternoon. He says the dealer will order it as long as I return the email he sends me for what I want with "I agree" typed in at the top. He talks like it's a done deal, sends me an email for what I want at about $38,500 out the door. He calls to go over the details, and congratulates me. Says he will call Sat. to give me the date I can pick it up. He doesn't say the car might not be ordered or that the dealer might not be able to order it. We make the deal and now all I have to do is to wait for the car, or so he has told me.
On Saturday he calls and whines about how the dealer can't order that model, but he has one on his lot that's the same except it has premium plus, heated seats with rs wipers, etc. and the new price out the door is $40,380. I feel now like this has all been a ploy just to get me committed to buying the car, and then switching the vehicle to one the dealer has on his lot that he wants to move out of his inventory. I ask if I can get it for $40,000 out the door since it's got extras I don't want. He says he'll talk to the dealer, then he calls me back and says OK. Not exactly what I wanted but I don't think I'll get a better deal. I could wait a few months for the 2005s, but then dealers might not be dealing on the less expensively equipped models. I hope to pick up the car tomorrow. Hopefully no more surprises. I'll let you know.
Thanks
The internet sales manager at Watertown was very easy and straight forward to work with, but Norwood beat his price.
I guess because they are located on Route 1 and they always have a volume of customers ending up buying from them anyway, they don't feel like they need to be courteous with their customers.
So, does anyone have any idea how to change them??
Thanks
Write the owner or general manager.
Maybe link them to this thread :-)
Steve, Host
MSRP $39233
Purchase price $34894
I pay aprox. $2800 (tax etc) = 39mo lease @ $485
I roll in the tax w/no $ down =39mo lease @ $545
It was a quick (and slick) phone call followed by a fax with the details on the car. Appears he's offering the car @ $500ish over invoice (too good to be true?) with a lease factor that translates to 3.5% (too good to be true?) and deliver it to my door within 24hours of our agreement.
I'm thinking this is a heck of an offer, but my head is spinning. Even thought I am currently leasing an ES300, I'm not that familar with the in's and out's of leasing numbers. Plan to do some homework tonight, but do all these numbers add up? I asked what the residual on the RX would be. He said in and around $21/22k which looks to be something like mid 50's residual.
My local dealer said Lexus lease residual on the RX is 57% but they're talking a money factor that translates to 6.2%. Have not talked price with them yet. Any thoughts?
Any one else has similar experience?
Last Saturday (Jan. 31)we got a deposit from a buyer on our old car and went into another close by store. Told them I needed at least $3500 off. They offered me $2300 off, then upped that to $2700. Told them if the wife went for that we would be back first thing Monday AM to finalize it all so they could put it on January's business.
Meantime the Austin salesman phoned me back, (I had phone him when I cut the deal on my old car). I told him I needed $3500 to beat the other deal. He called me back with what he had in stock, said the $3500 was OK with him and his boss.
Short story, we went in, wife OK'd the color, signed the papers, wrote the check. They gave us $25 in coupons for a nearby restaurant, we walked over for lunch while they prepped, and put the tags on. Got back they walked us through the controls and instruments, we waved good-bye.
We walked in at 11:00, 30 minutes with the sales guy, 3 minutes witht the F&I guy, spent an hour at lunch, drove off about 2:30.
Thanks to all the posters and host here for all your help.
BTW, total fees other than sales tax were about $225, including registration, state inspection etc. I figured about $125 of that was dealer profit so not too unhappy with that.
It's the AWD model. Here are the pricing details:
Towing Package $128
Premium Plus Package $2752
Wheels: 18 in. Aluminum Alloy $172
Multi-Stage Heated Front Seats w/RS $532
Preferred Accessory Package $95
VEHICLE PRICING
CarsDirect.com Price $ 36,812.00
Documentation fee(s) (not gov't. fee) 45.00
Taxable Total: $ 36,857.00
7.75% Sales tax $ 2,856.42
Subtotal with taxes: $ 39,713.42
Registration and license fees† $ 287.00
Additional Official fee: CA Tire Tax $ 5.00
FINAL PRICE $ 40,005.42
The MSRP for this vehicle with all the options was $41,838, that't without tax, license, registration, etc.
I got the car for less than what carsdirect was calling the invoice price. It was several hundred more than what Edmund's has as the invoice price, but I guess this is because of advertising fees, etc. My wife says she figured we saved about $5,350 on the deal, when you take into consideration the sales tax we would have had to pay if we paid full price, etc. The sales rep at the dealership was very professional and there were no tricks. He didn't try and sell us any extras or anything. Very stress free. The most difficult part was that we had to drive 220 miles round trip to pick up the car and close the deal, but it was obviously worth it.
When we had previously visited our local Lexus dealer, Lexus of the Desert, they didn't seem to take us seriously. One dealer was folding his arms, frowning at us while we looked at a vehicle. On another occasion, the salesman seemed more interested in showing us used vehicles when we started talking about getting a good deal on the car. He gave us the old "this is a hot car" routine, "were taking orders and we don't have anything on the lot"
Thanks to everyone for their advice on this board.
RX330 AWD
Premium Plus Package
Wheels: 18 in. Aluminum Alloy
Multi-Stage Heated Front Seats w/RS
Preferred Accessory Package
MSRP $41,688
Out the Door Price $38,600 (all fees included)
It took longer to get the financing paper work together in which they signed me up with a credit union at 3.33% for up to 84 months.
I will Definitely purchae from them again. Especially from the Korean gentleman that helped me. David you the man...
Here in CA, I had to pay $3600+ in taxes alone.
Rats!!!
Blue with ivory interior.
Lexus of Longo is owned by the Penske group. If your interested you can check out the website at
http://www.penskeautomotive.com/en_US/NewVehicleSearch_1.chtml, or you can probably google it by searching for penske automotive, or something like that. More than just the Lexus is sold by this company. You can check out their inventory of Lexus cars, and probably others by navigating from their home page.
I put down a deposit on a RX330AWD with Premium Plus package, Nav, Towing, 2-level heated seats, Alloy 18" wheels, and Accessory package.
The MSRP was $44,188
Final sale price was $40,000
I am to go down and complete paperwork. I hope they will not keep me waiting as they did with other folks who had appointments.