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Thanks!
We don't exactly have a final price, but the sales guy is claiming that he can get it for $2k under MSRP.. We'll see, once it comes in..
-- Rick
Try to shoot for more. Longo and several other dealers will give you the same 2k under MSRP. I picked my GS300 up there a few weeks ago for more than 3k under. Glendale was very good about beating other dealership prices, especially Longo.
http://www.carpages.co.uk/audi/audi_a6_s_line_part_1_17_07_04.asp
As for the $3K below MSRP, was that some special wheeling-n-dealing to get that and did you pull out a wad of cash to tempt them, or was it a lease?
Just curious..
-- Rick
Thanks for the great advice and insight based on your experience! You should right a book or something.
I've decided to purchase a GS300 with the NAV/ML package and was thinking about sending emails via the Lexus website (contact a dealer) to all the local dealers (SF Bay Area) to start the price negotiations. I heard that one always pays more if one walks into a dealership rather than negotiating by email or phone.
Do think starting with emails, rather than calling on the phone, is a good approach?
If I contact a dealer via email, will a salesperson get a commission or will I be dealing directly with a salesmanager?
In the current market, do you think paying 5% over the Consumer Reports Wholesale Price (invoice - holdback) is reasonable?
Is it fair for the dealer include a local/regional advertising fee in their "invoice" price?
Is it true that better deals are available at the end of the month?
If weI end up buying from a dealer in an outlying area, will certain benefits not be available to us from the local Oakland dealer? For example, months ago when we stopped by the Oakland dealer, they told us that they provide free car washes and provide free parking for up to two weeks at the dealership when one flies out of Oakland Airport. The airport is very close to the dealership.
Thanks in advance!
otguy
Alomost bought a GS300 and then thought about the fact that I could buy a GS 430 w/ out Nav for roughly the same price as the 300 with Nav---No brainer (once I drove the 430 there was no turning back---
Thanks to many of you for the insight, advise, and info that ultimatley drove my decision-- Good luck
Martin
After Driving the M45 one final time and then the 430 on the same test loop, highway, normal bumpy streets, off road track, [just kidding].....drum role please..........................I went with the 430-Flint / Black. Both cars are nice but the G is truly the ultimate ride. The ML kicks A** by the way. I never really listened to it previously because I don't buy cars for the sound system but hats off to the ML design team! Decided on factory 5-spoke wheels chromed as it really sets off the chrome accents already on the car, AZ legal tint in front with limo back and rear. XM installed by dealer and Signiture audio doing a custom antenna to be located on rear deck as shown in previous threads. Pick it up tomorrow at 4:00. Thats 18 hours 58 minutes and counting
Did you drive the Avalon Touring model? It has firmer "sport-tuned" suspension than the Limited or XLS you probably drove. Though the Touring lacks the luxo-features of the XLS or Limited, Touring's suspension parts (springs/struts) can be swapped into an XLS or Limited by Toyota for less than two grand, and then you'd have a much better handling Avalon that'd still be nearly 10 grand less than the GS 300. That price difference, the GS's tiny trunk and its underpowered engine (Nissan Atimas and other cars costing 1/2 the GS's price have as much or more power) steered me into an Avalon XLS.
As a nod to the GS, I gave up a nicer looking car, a few options, a interior and better warranty/customer service, but saved $10K in the process. The interest on that money will pay for the referenced suspension swap in a few years, and will grow substantially before I sell the car in 10yrs. I guess If my pockets were deeper or my priorities different, I'd be singing a different tune about the GS - but that's what makes horse racing.
Regards,
Deannie
P.S. It seems Toyota left out real wood as an option for any Avalon, and made the Touring model unavailable with Vehicle stability control or more luxo items, to intentionally handicap Avalons and protect the GS 300. Just a thought.
No special wheeling and dealing at all. I just dealt with internet dept's at both dealerships. When Glendale knew I was shopping at Longo they just guaranteed they would beat their price. They also knew that at the time, Longo woulnt go below 3K off MSRP so they just sweetened the pot to get me to buy from them when they knew I was gonig to get the car from someone. The beat longo by another $500 and threw in a cargo net and a year of oil changes. The Glendale Lexus crew really turned out to be class act vs the Longo staff so I was happy to buy from them in the end. I read your follow up post as well. Did you come home with a new GS?
To each their own.. Personally, I've been burned by Nissan too many times to look at any of their products anymore.. Regardless, I'm not too enamoured of their M series vehicle and while you may believe the GS300 is underpowered, it's just fine for me.. I'm moving from a 1996 Chevy C2500 Pickup truck to the GS300 and it's quite powerful enough.. Afterall, I'm not going to be towing a 7000lb trailer with it like I do with the P/U. Also -- the GS300 will get much better milage than my P/U does (about 8-10 in the city), so I figure I'm saving some gas $$ on this switch (no, I'm not getting rid of the P/U -- it will still be put to work on the weekends) and getting a much more sexy vehicle in the process.. Anyway, YMMV..
I put in a quote with Longo as I mentioned earlier and got a call back within an hour or so from one of their sales guys. Anyway, I ended up getting the 2006 GS300 RWD ML+Navi in Cypress Pearl (aka Green) for $3K under MSRP... We ended up throwing in a little extra for the Simonize treatment for the inside/outside that gives us coverage for something like 6 years if I recall. Anyway, the sales guy (who was great to work with by the way) plopped me down in the car and walked me through a variety of NAVI and other options on the car to get the gist of how some of the features work.. That NAVI is 1000% better than the Navi in my 2001 Honda Odyssey.. It is SOOOO much faster, has tons more features, etc.. Blew me away!
Anyway, the vehicle will be ready for P/U on Wednesday morning after they spend tomorrow putting on the Simonize treatment and fixing one minor itty bitty 1/8" long hairline scratch on the gas door. Now, I think I'll have to get some dark colored carpet samples to put on the front floors to keep the tan carpets from getting filthy in no time soon...
I've got a few questions for you regarding service (hopefully not too off-topic -- I'll keep it short and to the point, feel free to ping me privately if you wish).. The sales guy was claiming that if I ever need routine maintenance, Longo will send out a flatbed truck, drop off a loaner vehicle, and pickup my car, take it to their shop to fix it, and then return it and do the swap again.. He claimed that this was a Longo exclusive feature only for people that buy from them.. Did you get any claim like that from Glendale? Being a new Lexus owner, I find this all rather amusing.. They even have a mobile crew that can come over and change my oil at my office without me having to go anywhere.. Slicker than snot if you ask me.. Unfortunately, I believe I only get the first oil change free, not like your first year.. Now I just need to get my $500 back from Glendale..
-- Rick
Have a question for any GS owners regarding the illumination lighting system. When I approach the car with the electronic key the outside puddle lights and the inside lights come on if the door is locked. However, if the door is unlocked when I approach the car, the light do not come on until I physically open the door. My reading of the owners manual I cannot find any reference to the doors needing to be locked for the illuminations system to automatically work.
Anyone know, is this the way its supposed to work? Thanks, for any help: GREAT CAR! :confuse:
congrats on the new car. and it sounds like you got an excellent deal, as well. can you tell us with DC/MD dealership you shopped at. I have been working with a VA dealer, but it's always nice to have options.
thanks.
I'm looking at 3yr/30k or 36k. If it is anywhere close to the '05 BMW 530 I'm going with the GS!!
By the way, my neighbor bought their 2 Lexuses (Lexi?) from Longo. Even though we don't live close to there, Longo does indeed come out to their house to perform service.
One other question: I have seen posts indicating Lexus will be upping the size of their v8 to 4.6 liters (which makes sense if the upcoming 3.5 v6 can produce as much power as the existing v8). If this is the case, does anyone know when this would happen, and how much additional power the 4.6 should provide?
Regarding my purchase of a GS 300 AWD in the metropolitan DC area, I tried dealing with all the MD and Northern VA dealers, and ended up falling into the $3,000+ off MSRP deal with Lexus of Rockville.
My experience with both of the VA Lexus dealers was that they had very limited stock and were sticking pretty much to the MSRP give or take $500 line. If you need an offer to motivate them, try Sheehy Lexus in Annapolis. I contacted them via the Net, and they were offering about $2,500 off MSRP via e-mail. (Annapolis was also extremely helpful and accommodating, and I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from them.) Having that e-mail in hand certainly helped in negotiations on the one I purchased.
Overall, it is a very nice looking car inside and out. It looks a bit different (in a good way) compared to the pictures on the Web site and those for sale on E-Bay, esp. the interior and trunk. A few people here have been bashing the trunk for being too small (and it seems that way in the pictures), but I think it is OK (not great, just OK). I golf a lot, and I can't buy a car that can't fit clubs, so I brought mine along for a test fit. They fit in no problem width-wise, and they almost fit in length wise (with the heads of the clubs pointing to the front of the car). I have an average sized set of clubs, and I have four King Cobra metal woods (and my driver is pretty long). All fit without any problem at all. I think even those big Rodney Dangerfield bags (from Caddyshack, if you remember that far back) would fit OK. I was Very Pleased.
The seats are very comfortable, and most controls are placed where you would want them to be. The only thing I didn't like was that little tricorder (a la Star Trek) flip down panel left of the steering wheel. It's not a major problem, just a little annoyance.
Someone here said that when you start the car with the doors closed, you can't hear the engine; that wasn't my experience. The engine isn't loud - but you can certainly tell it is running. While driving, the engine seemed to be a bit "whiney" - a little high-pitched instead of a BMW like "growl", but I guess that is typical of most Japanese engines. I'm not saying this as a negative - just an observation.
I've read a few posts here about the acceleration of the 300 model being a little (or a lot) less than what people would like, but it was more than fine for me. Leaving it in "regular" mode (non sport) was more than acceptable, and I didn't notice any lag when slowing down (as if coming to a red light) and then accelerating (as if the light just turned green). Putting it in sport mode gave it an even better kick. For me, at least, any thoughts of acceleration problems are a thing of the past with the GS300.
The interior room (headroom and shoulder room) was good. I'm 5'10", and I had plenty of space above and on the sides. My father (riding shotgun) is 6'3", and he said that he had enough space as well and was quite comfortable.
One issue that I wasn't expecting was the ride quality over bumps. I've driven the Audi A4 and BMW 330xi, and they both absorb bumps quite well. There is a road near my fathers house that is kind of a beat-up back road, with many pot holes and missing chunks of pavement – it makes for a good test drive. Taking the A4 and 330xi down this road, I noticed that they both performed so well you could probably do surgery while driving with no problem. I wasn't able to take the GS down that road (the Lexus dealer is quite a ways away from my father's house), but I plan to during an extended test drive on another day. However, based on how the GS performed on "regular" roads with a few bumps on them, I'm not expecting the same performance.
The AWD model has run flat tires - could that perhaps result in a harsher ride? I'll admit that I don't know much about tires, but aren't the run flats stiffer? I'd think that would result in feeling the bumps more than "traditional" tires. Also, the model I drove was a Lexus executive’s car that had 7000 miles on it - maybe s/he beat the crap out of it? I don't know. But, I'll make sure I get a different car for my next test drive (in a few weeks). Everything else on the car is so good, I may be willing to throw a new set of traditional tires on it if that will fix the problem.
The model I drove had the Nav system in it. I didn't use it very much, but compared to the Nav system in my father's Audi A8, I thought the screen seemed a little fuzzy and harder to read. I don't plan to get the Nav system anyway, so it wasn't a problem for me, but you may want to take a close look at it before plunking down the $$$$.
Overall, I like the car a lot. Other than the ride quality over bumps, everything on the car is perfect. I hope that in a future test drive, I like the ride as much as I did in the (less expensive) Audi A4 and BMW 330xi.
-Ben K.
Let me know how it goes, or if you need other info. I dealt with literally all the MD and NVA dealers trying to get the car I wanted at a "fair" price.
US Bank $700.00 (w/o tax) per month 39mos
Lexus FI $773.00 (w/o tax) per month 39mos No cap buy down on either
Love the car---They sure look good when they are away from the dealer lot and so many others---very sleek / incredible color options (wanted an A6 but had to admit that although they are nice ---they are simply out classed by the GS)---
In case you can't tell, I don't know much about tires.
Re. your 6'3" dad, yeah, the passenger seat has a bit more room than the driver's - I think it's a bit lower to the floor. Plus, since the passenger doesn't need to reach the steering wheel, the seat can be reclined to get additional headroom. Have your dad sit in the driver's seat in a position where he can operate the wheel and pedals, and I think you'll see the headroom problem.
I find the ride quality over bumps to be very luxurious; it should be a plus for this car versus "sportier" competitors. I would bet the run-flats are responsible for some of the harshness you're feeling.
Re. the golf club test, interesting. Still, only one set of clubs width-wise. I assume they fit lengthwise if you angle them a bit? Could you get another set in that way? What about suitcases, do you think you could get two full-sized suitcases in? If so, how, stacked one on the other? Note that some space near the top of the trunk is lost to (I think) the mechanism for the rear sunshade - it's easy to miss in the darkness back there.
I drove an Avalon XLS, and before I even got it out of the dealer's driveway, I knew it wasn't for me. A lot of body roll, typical "American" sedan. I would have considered the Touring model, but I find it incomprehensible that it doesn't have stability and traction control. Don't understand that, especially since those features are available on all the Camrys, I believe, and maybe even Corollas. I imagine they will add that on the '06s. I don't think it was omitted for any reason related to the GS, because the two cars appeal to very different buyers.
I would hesitate to begin switching suspensions as you mentioned. Sounds like real possible trouble to me, plus the possibility of voiding the warranty, etc. True, 10,000 bucks is a lot of money, but there really is a world of difference between the Avalon and the GS. I love the power of the Avalon engine, though, and when they put that engine into the GS, it will be unbeatable.
Anyone know, is this the way its supposed to work? Thanks, for any help: GREAT CAR!
i am in Boston and I am trying to get $3k off a 2006 GS300 AWD. The dealer said they would give me the $3k if show them some kind of prove that others are too getting the similar deal. if you or others reading this who got $3k or more off their GS300, please help. I am a poor dealer, and that is why I am dealing with the dealer over the internet.
Thanks a great deal,
I agree with everything you said re: Avalon (my Avalon posts echo what you said), particularly how ridiculous it was of Toyota to omit VSC as an option with the Touring. I'm still waiting to hear from Toyota re voiding the warranty for using Touring suspension bits, but I digress. This is a GS 300 discussion.
Yes, the Avalon's engine in the GS will be unbeatable (next year perhaps?), but I couldn't wait that long to buy my next car. Just saw a 300 yesterday in black - stunning, particularly w/the stock wheels.
Regards,
Deanie
I'm looking to get the GS300 and the dealer in south bay will only go down to $1500. I'm not a good negotiator so I was wondering if you could be of some help on how you delt with the dealership. I tried to PM you but can't figure out how to do it. If you could PM me then I'll reply to ask you a few questions if that' sok with you. Thanks and congrads on your new Lexus can't wait to get mine!!!
Quick question on your lease. Did they provide you with the information for US Bank or did you have to ask for it. I mean that's a huge different and I would think they would want you to go with their Lexus financing, How you were able to get US Bank to finance it?
THanks
I have owned the car for 1 month. I found a dealer who gave me the price I was willing to pay (about $3,000 off list) but he did not have the car in stock so I had to wait 3 wks for delivery. Keyes Lexus in Sherman Oaks is awesome. I have already tested their service dept, I switched the wheels to 18" Momo with Yokohama tires which they ordered and installed for me. The ride is now much more sporty. I am very happy with the choice I made and would recommend the car to anyone.
Mine is the GS 300 AWD, without the Nav/ML stereo. Sticker price, including the destination charge, was $47,419. When negotiations began they told me they had never discounted more than $1,500, however, when I showed them an e-mail from Annapolis offering $2,500 off the non-Nav. price, they offered to match it, and we went from there. I do not think I could have gotten this deal except on an in-stock car. I might have been lucky in that they had just received the color combo I wanted, apparently all on their waiting list had passed wanting the Nav., and I was there with checkbook in-hand. Might just have been the right place at the right time, but if you can get the offer from Sheehy they should at least match, or buy from Sheehy. Never visited, but Sheehy was extremely helpful over the Net and phone.
Which color combination are you getting? Have you had a Lexus before? Any experience with Rockville service?
What color combination is your GS? Other than changing the wheels/tire, have you had any problems in your month of ownership? The illumination system, do your outside lights come on if the doors are unlocked, or only when the are locked?
I am also in Boston and ready to pull the trigger on GS AWD. maybe we could deal together as 2 car deal and have advantage to negotiate more. I love the car but just can't stand the thought of ~$8000 markup from invoice.
2) Has anyone had the rearview mirrors stopped from tilting down in reverse?
3) Does anyone else not like the sunshade going down every time you put in reverse?
I talked to Southbay Lexus as well and they really weren't too interested in wheeling-n-dealing besides the fact that I don't believe they had much inventory (my guess based on their comments). I'd suggest not bothering with them any further and look a little further away such as Longo or Glendale.. If you want to ask me more questions, drop me a note at rickf-at-"ca-flower"-dot-com.