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Lexus ES 300/ES 330 Prices Paid and Buying Experience
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2005 ES330 with NAV, HID, HTD/COOLED SEATS/WOOD STEERING/KNOB.
quoted me $400 over invoice
MSRP = 36,894
INV = 32,854
QUOTE = 33,254 90.1% of MSRP
I noticed the LEXUS Brochure warns about more than normal tire wear on 17" wheels. Any opinions on this?
Do you know what is the invoice price of your car?
Region: Houston
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I just bought an ES330 this afternoon with the premium package (same as txjay): (17" WHEELS WITH SUMMER TIRES, POWER REAR SUNSHADE, WOOD STEERING WHEEL AND SHIFT KNOB,IN-DASH 6-CD AUTO CHANGER,LUGGAGE MAT, WHEEL LOCKS AND CARGO NET), MSRP is $33,964 (including destination).
Thanks to txjay, I was able to use his price as reference and negotiated the price down to $31,047 + inventory tax + doc fee + $385 Permanvin + TTL.
Price: 31047 + 77 + 50 + 385 = 31,559
MSRP: 33,964
%MSRP: 31,559/33,964 = 92.9 %
The only dealership that would even talk to me at this price range was Sterling McCall Lexus. Took me a total of 5 emails, 2 phone calls, and total time of 2 hrs at dealership to walked in & out with a new car.
This board helped me tremendously in pricing my car. Hopefully, I can do the same for others ..
As for the transmission issue, test drives found nothing. Drove it 25 miles home and only found a slight hesitation if I pump the gas hard (not my typical driving habits).
Overall, very satisfied. This forum rocks ..
=============================================
Thanks.
Dealer MSRP is $38,469. Dealer has offered $25,500 for trade and $2,335 discount off of MSRP. Out of pocket cash before tax and other fees would be $10,634. Would this be a good deal?
ES330 + premiums package, MSRP $35269. I paid $32569 + $399 doc + $42 TAG/title + 7% tax. Before tax, It looks like I got 93.5% of MSRP ($2700 off from MSRP or $2300 if including doc). As compared to other deals on this board, I may pay a little more. But, I am satisfied the results.
There are 5 dealers in my area. all of their quotes are quite close ~$2000 off MSRP or ~2500 during the week at end of month. So, I pick one is closest to my house (4-mile). Let me know if any one needs further info.
Thanks,
+elec brake assistance
+traction control
+stability control
+automatic telescope steering column
+power trunk lift
+tire inflation/pressure monitor
+second row seat can be folded
+second row seat reclining can be adjusted
+second row seat can be split 40/20/40
+privicy glass
+rain sensing wiper
+tow capability
+wheel lock
+roof rack
+18" alloy wheels including the spare
+sliding center console
-subwoofer
-gas 19/25 vs. 20/26
-??
Also check J.D. Power initial quality survey. Sad to see it is not very good.
And don't forget resale value. RX330 will be much higher.
Considered the Acura TL (drop dead georgeous car); the Maxima SE and the ES.
It's my wifes daily driver so let her make decision. I drive on trips only.
Most content is clearly the Maxima (power tilt/telescopic/heated wheel tied to the memory system). Good handling; a bit funky in styling, especially the instrument panel but we both liked it. Can buy '05 for invoice less 1k rebate (32k car for 28k). Downside, not to quiet and depreciation pretty huge.
I loved the TL for handling/styling. Had one for an afternoon for wife to drive. She felt it was a little firm suspension-wise (like the Maxima). She also complained that the cupholders were a "pain". Too deep. She had a can of pop in there and had to use her finger in the hole of the can to get it out. She could not get at the second cupholder unless she raised the armrest. I tried it and that is true. In returning the car she was the passenger and was annoyed at the passenger seat---only 4 way. Front/back and seat back tilts and she felt it sat too low (she is 5'7"). Could not get comfortable. Sticker 33.5k (no nav), sell at 31.5k.
Then she drove the ES---end of story!!! Ultra quiet and SMOOTH ride. I prefer a little more road feel/handling but was also impressed with the car overall.
Shopping began. Went to local dealer and noted virtually all that come without nav have heated/ventilated seats, 6 disc in dash, sunshade, VSC/TC, all seaon tires, power pedals,wood/leather wheel/shift know and the preferred acc. package. Sticker 35,394. Shopped Chicago suburban dealers and one 125 miles away plus the local. Jerked around pretty good by the local and ended up at a suburban dealer who eventually went $500 over invoice of 31,676 for total of 32,176 + doc fee of 53.52 plus tax. Salesman showed me their invoice which confirmed above. Edmunds indicates invoice of about 31,200. Either they are wrong or the dealer lied to me. However all 5 dealers I spoke to advised their invoice was 31,676 and they were dealing off that number. One at 1,800 over; one at 1,500 over, several at 1k over, one at 675 over. Then contacted a dealer who sold me a '92 SC400 when they first hit (finest car I have ownerd). Same salesman still there. He quoted 1k over; told him I had 675 over. He had color combo we wanted and asked if 500 over would do it. YUP!!! Went in following day, wrote check, they swapped plates while salesman was going over the toys in the car and we were gone in less than an hour.
Wifey even let me drive it today...impressive for quiet/quality.
However Lexus is still missing the boat in not doing electric tile/telescopic for the steering wheel. Hell, My '92 SC400 had it. That's my sole complaint.
I still think ES the most refined car among the three you considered, but TL the 'hottest' looking. Even my wife, who loves the ES fit and finish and of course, the ride and comfort, is excited about the TL look the most. There're some feature pros and cons between TL and ES, for about the same money, but TL does win one thing big. It's audio is much better than the base one (non-ML) on ES, if that matters at all.
BTW, your ES might have a few more options added than Edmunds' and so the price difference.
Wife loved it also but it had its drawbacks as far as she was concerned, especially the passenger seats lack of adjustments. She even suggested I sell my toy and get the TL as my driver. However, my toy is a Vette Z06 and even at my advanced age, I love that rocket.
The 31.5k buy is probably about as good as I could get. Sticker 33.5 and dealer invoice about 30.5 as I recall. Apparently Acura has no "holdback" so there appears to be no perks for the dealer to sell at invoice knowing he will get a 3% kicker from Acura. If we had gone with the TL I certainly would have tossed out 31k to a number of dealers and taken the best shot.
Yes, the stereo in the TL is awesome. Had the "demo disc" in it all day...WOW!!!
Performance and handling also go to the TL but my wife could care less about this and much prefers the quiet/smoothness of the ES.
Funny thing, she had to ride in the Vette for 70 miles to pick up the ES. Noisy cabin, firm ride (she calls it harsh) and then gets into the ES to drive back. When we get home she says, "I don't think I'll ever ride in the Vette again."
Anyway, I think your choice of the TL is perfect!
I am just wondering if I'd driven a Z06 in what'd he have said? LOL.
Who knows, once I grow up I may well consider such an attractive sedan. In the meantime, I'll just be stupid---LOL.
Specifications: Dark Blue Exterior with Tan Interior.
HID package available here in Nova:
17" all season tires with Alloy wheels
Heated/Ventilated Seats
HID/Rain-sensing wipers
VSC
Wood and Leather Steering Wheel and Shift Knob
6 Disc In Dash Cd Player
Preferred Accessory Package.
MSRP=$35709.
Purchase Price after minimal negotiation was $32338 +$249 "processing fee". Total $32587 = 91.3% MSRP. They do charge $55 "dealer's business license tax", which is a bit dubious but not worth it to me to haggle over. Temp tags were $5 (I do my own title work).
The personnel at Pohanka were very easy to deal with, and I would highly recommend this dealership. I expect I could have done slightly better due to some bargaining/differences in processing fees between competing dealerships, but in the end I went with the deal that was closest to my home.
Currently, dealer quotes from Maryland dealers are ~$33,700. Northern Va dealership quotes are ~33,000, though the value-added in MD may be that they still do the valet service, whereas the Va dealerships have eliminated this service.
A plus in purchasing this car is that the sales tax (which I will pay when I title the car) will be deductible on 2004 federal tax.
Those of you who are in states/situations that do not require you to pay state income tax who are waiting until Jan to purchase may want to consider buying before the end of the year.
NL- nav sys/Mark Levinson audio
WU-wood/leathersteering wheel & shift knob
FJ-17" summer tires/all0y wheels
HH-heated/vented seats
HL-HID headlamps
HN-pwer rear sunshade
XV-Power Adj accel & brakes w/mem
Z1-trunk mat, cargo net,wheel locks
tinted windows
Pinstripe
$38,509
- 2,500
$36,009 plus TTL, fees
The Houston area seems to command a higher price than the Southern California (and most other) areas, including that of Dallas.
Last year at this time, folks were paying 88-90% MSRP at the most for their new 2004 vehicles.
During the July-Sept time frame, folks seemed to be paying about 90-93% MSRP for the new 2005, with Houston area dealers charging in the 93% range.
Your quote is 93.5% MSRP, but including your fees, your price is even higher.
If I were you, unless I lived in Houston, I'd try and get 90-91% MSRP including EVERYTHING except license and tax.
That amounts to about $35,043 for 91%. Your quote seems high even for the Houston area.
All I know is that beginning with the 2005, the deals folks have been getting are not quite as good as they were for the 2003-2004 time period.
The guy converted her to the 2005 ES, which has some niceties like twin memory seats and ventilated/heated seats.
So the Costco price was about $1200 over the claimed invoice for the model without the NAV (incidentally, most of them had a bunch of options which you have to add in at Edmunds to get true idea of the price). NAV and ML seemed to be the only options you could add along with the sport/comfort transmission thing. So a model without NAV was about $2600 below MSRP and the model with NAV was about $2700 below invoice.
He then invited us to give us a price over invoice that we'd be willing to pay. Then he showed us on Carsdirect that the "best" price was about $700 below what he was offering and asked if we would buy for that price. That put it just under $32000 for a model without NAV. Of course, he wouldn't give us anything written to take with us so I'm recalling all these numbers from memory.
My parents wanted to hold off, check another dealer and check the colors better (we went at dusk).
I noticed that a lot of the discussion in this thread revolves around percentage of MSRP. So what is a good rule of thumb for the percentage of MSRP we should shoot for in the Bay Area? Will that change if we add NAV? Does the total MSRP include all the fees? I don't want to see some fees slipped in at the end.
As to the ES 330, I think I am more willing to give it another look even though I have been more interested in the TL. The ES suits more of my driving style, but TL's techno gadgets are way more cool, and I love its no-option pricing.
The sticker was 35,289, which includes HID, heated seats, sunscreen. In other words, the base option package which all of these cars seem to have.
By my calculations, that means the price before tax and license would be just around 90% of MSRP.
Just returned from a 1,300 mile holiday trip and gotta admit the ES was an absolute dream to drive.
Comfort beyond measure and the "hushed" cabin was a total joy. Even the grooved concrete (which is noisier than hell) in Wisconsin was so quiet one could almost take a nap. Virtually ZERO wind noise at 75-80 mph.
Gotta admit, she picked a real winner!
Black onyx exterior (Mfr Code @E202)
Black leather interior (Mfr Code @I21L)
Nav system/ML audio pkg (Mfr Code NL)
(PIO) Wheel locks (Mfr Code WL)
VSC (Mfr Code VV)
(PIO) Gold Package (Mfr Code GP)
Xenon HID Headlights (Mfr Code HL)
Wood Steering Wheel (Mfr Code WU)
Burled Walnut Trim (Mfr Code #BW)
(PIO) Carpet Trunk Mat (Mfr Code LM)
Heated/Cooled Front seats (Mfr Code HH)
All Season Tires/Chrome wheels (Mfr Code FK)
Power Sunshade (Mfr Code HN)
The internet sales guy stated the list price with the above options is $39,975 which makes his quoted price 91% of his list.
Please provide your comments - is this a good deal?
Thanks to all.
The selling price as quoted by the internet department at Lexus of Thousand Oaks is $35,570 plus tax and license fees and the list price should be $39,064. That make the offer 91% of list.
This was the initial offer - I have not started negotiating yet. Seems to me that some have been getting between 87-90% of list, and we are at the end of the year.
Please share your thoughts about this offer. Thanks.
Bill
Can't wait to get the new car.
I know it was about 2-3k better than another local dealer was offering.
One dealer called me with a quote that was more than $2600 over CarsDirect cost and started giving me a song and dance about how the options I wanted were after market. (Keyes Lexus)
One dealer emailed me a very long post about how good their dealership was and how long they had been selling cars but never provided a quote (despite my several requests). (Lexus of Glendale)
The other dealer (Thousand Oaks Lexus) provided the following quote for a 2005 Lexus 330ES with the following options:
Black onyx exterior (Mfr Code @E202)
Black leather interior (Mfr Code @I21L)
Nav system/ML audio pkg (Mfr Code NL)
(PIO) Wheel locks (Mfr Code WL)
VSC (Mfr Code VV)
(PIO) Gold Package (Mfr Code GP)
Xenon HID Headlights (Mfr Code HL)
Wood Steering Wheel (Mfr Code WU)
Burled Walnut Trim (Mfr Code #BW)
(PIO) Carpet Trunk Mat (Mfr Code LM)
Heated/Cooled Front seats (Mfr Code HH)
All Season Tires/Chrome wheels (Mfr Code FK)
Power Sunshade (Mfr Code HN)
His selling price = $35,570 + tax and license fees
He gave the MSRP of $40,076.
According to my calculations for MSRP from CarsDirect, I get a MSRP of $39,975 (includes dest chg). This makes the dealer's quote $88%. Is this a good deal considering it is end of the year and I do not know what the dealer incentives/holdbacks are?
Also, why have I only received 2 real responses to my quote request? What am I doing wrong? Is it too early in the month? Do the dealers' internet departments trade information about people requesting quotes via email? From reading this board, especially in 2003, people did not seem to be having problems getting email quotes.
Very discouraging.
Thanks for your response and happy holidays.
putnamlexus.com
I hope Ray Catena is a good, honest dealer.