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Going through my emails, I discovered that I had made an error. The Obsidian that I got the spec sheet on was from Westport (maybe the car they sold you because it has a black interior and has the 44090 MSRP), and not IRA. So many contacts in a few days, it is hard to keep everything straight. If IRA has agreed to sell you the car for 38K I am sure they will do it for your color also, if they have it or if they have one coming in.
They recommended a shipping company, and the company told me it would be $700 to ship and said that they work with Lexus of Watertown "all the time" so that is reassuring also. A search of BBB and other sites shows that this dealer had a lot of complaints about 5 years back, but very good reviews recently and what seems to be a reasonable number of BBB complaints for an auto dealer (and almost all the complaints were about the service dept.)
I'm also figuring that if something does come up (which I'm getting less and less worried about) there's always Lexus corporate to turn to.
This forum has been an excellent source of information for price guidance. Does anyone know when the 2011's may actually arrive ? I keep hearing Sept, early October !
The way I decided to buy it in the first place is that I wanted a small-ish SUV, then I looked at Consumer Reports repair ratings to narrow the list, and then test drove this, an X3, and an Acura. I liked this one the most (by far). I've only owned 2 Toyotas, both of which I've been very happy with (a Corolla and a Sienna). Maybe I should take the attitude that no car is perfect but you take the bad with the good and there's a lot of good to these (i.e. never being in the shop, lasting a very long time) that are more important than whether or not one piece of trim is leather vs. plastic? Thoughts?
I had the same feelings before I purchased.
I notice that previous Lexus RX owners are the most critical. I guess they were expecting more improvements from previous models. Some even say they liked their older model better. Thats happened to me before on a different make car .... I bought the newer model for big bucks and kind of wished I had kept my old car ... that feeling pasted in time .... I think the big bucks is what gave me temporary buyers remorse.
I read all the complaints in the reviews. Just remember there are thousands that are satisfied for every one thats not. I recently had surgery on my back ... everyone I knew that had back surgery got a bad result .... so I thought. When I started asking around, I figured out, that just wasn't true. The people that had a problem tell everyone they know for the rest of their life .... the ones that had a good result don't talk about it unless you ask.
I'm very sensative to the wind noise. I didn't notice excessive wind noise during the 3 test drives .... and I was listening specifically for that. Thanks goodness the car we bought doesn't have that problem either ... same with the tire noise. The "soft paint" issue .... I don't know. Lexus does use some different paint system, different than some others makes. You don't see the "orange peel" effect on the lexus like you can find on most other brands. The paint looks awesome, we got the starfire or whatever .... white. We do lots of highway driving and get a good many chips anyway .... will that be worst with the Lexus .... I don't know . I think the complaints about the nav are related to limited functionality when in motion ... I think thats a safety thing or possibly a legal thing. I've heard other some other cars are the same way .... I'm not really sure. I guess to much messing with the nav while in motion would be similar to texting and driving. The mouse thing is really cool and easy to use ... thats a feature the wife and I both like.
What else did I read about .... oh yeah ... the soft windshield. I don't believe that one ... all windshields are built to exact federally mandated standards.
Take a long test drive in the actual car you want to buy .... go on the highway ... run it up to 80 for a minute. Be in tune to these reported problems. If the wind noise is excessive drive another and see if its the same ... who knows ... maybe its a fit issue on a fender or something. Anyway ... you get the idea ... check out all the stuff you can prior to giving up the cash .... look the car over real good in the sunlight.
Good luck B man .... my wife loves hers .... its really nice looking. That "soft" paint looks awesome with the "noisey" 19 inch wheels .... my wife is smiling so big I can't tell if I've got a chip on the windshield or not
Thanks again!
Have you found a good deal? What options are you getting?
The vented seats are the bomb ..... just a little cool air on the [non-permissible content removed] is very nice this time of year. I really like the 19' 7 spoke rims ... they give the car a different look. I got premium, comfort, nav, towing, 19 inch wheels and the $300 leather thing ... I think thats it.
Get one and enjoy
AWD, Cerulean Blue, Gray Leather
Comfort Package (Bi-Xenon headlamps, adaptive headlights, heated/cooled seats)
NAV system with 12-speaker premium sound system
Premium Package (moonroof, heated outside mirrors, power rear door, etc.)
Tow prep package
Remote engine start
Wood/Leather steering wheel
Cargo net package
Cross bars
The MSRP is $48,259. The invoice should be around $43,000. The price is $41,525 + $369 doc fees. I'll pay $700 to ship MA to OH.
Maybe the only thing I would have liked is the parking assist. The car I test drove had sensors telling you when you were about to bump something. Is that what that is? Or will my car still have that (is intelligent parking assist something else)
1) I found the car I wanted and they emailed me the window sticker with the VIN and told me the price. I gave him a credit card number and they charged $1000 (refundable) to hold the car for me.
2) I called my car insurance and had it added (they needed the VIN). They said if the deal fell through, they'd remove it and charge me nothing
3) I went to the bank for the loan. They wouldn't give it until I had the proof of insurance. They gave me the check made out to the dealer. They said if the deal fell through, I could return to them with the uncashed check and I wouldn't be charged anything.
4) I called the dealer and gave him the leinholder (bank) information. I faxed him the proof of insurance and my driver's license.
5) He prepared the bill of sale and overnighted it to me. I also had him fax it so I could see that it was correct faster (he hadn't changed the price or tried anything tricky). This is where I'm at now.
6) I will sign the bill of sale and overnight it back to him with the money (the bank check and a personal check to cover the difference).
7) He will then prepare the title and overnight it to me.
8) I will take that to my local DMV to pay my sales tax, get the car registered, and get plates.
9) I will overnight the registration and plates to him. Simultaneously I will arrange for the transport company to pick up the car the day after the plates will arrive at the dealer (I already have the quote from the transport company and gave them a heads-up about the expected date).
10) The car will arrive at my house 2-4 days later.
So, yes, there will be a lag, but should something go wrong the bank can always stop checks, etc., so I'm not too worried. Also, the bank owns the vast majority of it, so if something happens I know that their lawyers will be gangbusters to get the vehicle or money! I think everything is going smoothly thus far. I first talked to them about the car Monday, the bill of sale comes today, I expect to have the car in my possession by the end of next week.
He said if I wanted to send him the money first, he would put the bill of sale and title in one mailing, so I could have cut out some steps (and maybe 2 days), but this made me nervous, so I opted to do it stepwise.
I am buying a new 2010 LEXUS RX 350 Truffle Mica + Beige Interior with same specs as mentioned by tbartman. I bought same car in Nov 09 - was involved in an accident in june, the insurance company totaled the car and buying one again.
I m buying this one at 44,500 All inclusive including SIMONIZ. (car + Sales Tax + Doc Fee + Registration transfer from my old car + SIMONIZ). This is about 700 -750 $ less than what is mentioned in tbartman's note. I am not sure if this the BEST deal but i think it is better than most of the other dealerships.
If tbartman or anyone else wants more details about this, feel free to email me at nsriram73atgmaildotcom
Where in Ohio are you? I am in Cleveland and the best deal I've been able to negotiate thusfar on Nav, Prem, Comfort (MSRP around $48000+) is $43997. This is still over invoice and I haven't sensed either of the Cleveland dealers hungry to negotiate further. I found it interesting that you went out of state to MA. My glitch is that I would have a trade - I really don't want the hassle of selling it on my own. Would be interested in knowing your experience in OH.
Enjoy yours in the best of health and thanks for a well thought out and written opinion about all the RX 350 "problems".,..
THANKS!!!!!
After I got the number from MA, I went to the local dealer one more time, and he said no way he could match it and if he were me, and if the offer were real, I should take it, so I did. He was very forthright about it.
I emailed the Dayton dealer today with the VIN and price and said "there you go!"
I don't know why it's so different out there, but even with the shipping, it is still WAY less than I was going to get here. There's the slight riskiness to it also, but I've been careful and figure I always have ways of remediation if I need them.
I don't see any cash to dealer for Lexus RX350. I wonder how are they doing it.
If this is true, I can't imagine what will happen next month and the month after!!!!!!
2WD,Premium Pkg.,Nav.heated front seats, so I believe it comes with comfort pkg, also has walnut trim on steering wheel, and shifter
1) Dealing with the cash flow / monthly payments - obviously you don't want to end up with a loan that you can't make the payment on and end up bouncing checks, missing payments, hurting your credit rating, etc. You mention (correctly) that one way to do this is to get a longer loan.
2) The total interest paid - the longer the loan and the more you borrow, the more total interest you pay. You can use a calculator (like http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/auto/auto-loan-calculator.aspx) to put in numbers and figure out the monthly payment as well as the total interest paid (if you use the "Show/Recalculate Amorization Table" button).
You may find (especially with lower interest rates) that changing the amount or length of the loan does not affect the total interest paid that much, and you can save more on the car to make up the difference. For example, I had also hoped to have more cash down by buying a car in a few months - not because I can't handle whatever payment, but because I knew if I borrowed more I'd pay more total interest. But the deal on the car was $2000 less than I could find around here, and borrowing the larger amount only increased my total interest payment (over 48 months) by about $200, so I came out ahead borrowing more for a cheaper car now than borrowing less for a more expensive car two months from now.
Also, you have the option of prepaying the loan (knocking many thousands off of the principle) whenever you want. While this won't change future monthly payments (they won't get recalculated), it will shorten the loan and lower the total interest paid. So one option is to get the monthly payment as low as possible (by taking out a long loan) - that gives you cash-flow protection - and when you have extra money around send it in and your 72 month loan may actually get paid off in 60 months or less.
Hope this helps. Play with that calculator (it even has an option to put in an extra payment at a time you choose to see what it does to the amortization table).
Just curious. Did you have any luck renegotiating the price with Westport?
I’m really excited to get it!... also kind of wary because of all the posts here (my boyfriend encouraged me to take a look at the forums before I signed the dotted line) but from what I can tell, Lexus of Watertown has honored all their prices so far, and I really liked my salesperson over there – he walked me over the whole car, he addressed consumer reviews that I wasn’t even aware of, which I thought was weird but really appreciated The clincher was that he convinced me NOT to opt for some options that probably would be increased his commission, because I really would not have used them (ex - roof rack: “do you have a roof rack on your car now?” ”yes” ”how often do you use it” ”never?” “well definitely your call to get it or not, but it you’ve had one all this time and don’t ever use it ”)
Pretty cool that he did that. It’s nice to have a good experience at a car dealership for once.
Anyway, I did my homework and shopped around with my boyfriend a bit last weekend at the other stores – we went to Herb Chambers and Ira, and we even drove down to Inskip Lexus which is in Rhode Island (btw, complete waste of time/drive). Chambers was pretty good, but they couldn’t match the price and kind of gawked at us when I told them how much another dealership was giving it to me for ( in hindsight they probably just thought I was just making it up). Ira couldn't move from their “best deal” either. So Lexus of Watertown it is I guess... Has anyone had a deal fall through with them?
I agree with Tbartman, I also read a bunch of reviews from years back that were really bad for Lexus of Watertown – but in the last two years, especially lately, their reviews have been really good. (Maybe new management? Whatever, I’m getting a fantastic deal out of it so no complaints here.)
I’ll post when I get the car, but so far so good! Any suggestions for me before I signed the dotted line?
Just anxious to make sure I’m getting the biggest bang for my buck! Thanks for any help!
2010 Lexus RX350
premium package
comfort package
NAV
backup camera
(price out the door incl fees.)
Ahh... yeah... that's what everyone says that doesn't get their job done...
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pls read my message #3736 of 3759 .
The list price of the car you and I are buying is 49300$, I am getting a base price of 41,000$. You have finalized it at a much higher price. You may or may not get 41K but you can certainly get 42k $ as base price. Just let them know that you are getting the car at 42K from another dealership and you want to go with them. they will be all over you and start negotiating. Just make a counter offer and walk away, then the managers will call you several times just accept your offer in the 2nd or 3rd call if you hold your nerves in the 1st and 2nd call.
reach me at nsriram73at gmaildotcom if you need any help
This is a factory to dealer incentive. My hunch is that the incentive is at least $750 or more right now and may climb a bit higher by mid September. This incentive is why dealers can now sell below invoice and still make a profit; plus, they get volume incentives for moving cars.
Edmunds.com - Not up to the par for sure
Cheers
I agree ....Edmunds ... not what they were. In addition to the issues you mentioned, their TMV prices are usually higher than what you can make a deal for. Years ago the TMV price was good info to use when making a purchase. My last 2 or 3 purchases, before I bought the Lexus, were at prices much lower than edmunds TMV price. I had a couple of Lexus dealers tell me "we can give you the car at Edmunds TMV price ... are you familiar with edmunds", I thought wow ... edmunds is a tool for the dealers now. I bought a Honda, maybe 3 years ago, for about 10% under TMV and the diff wasn't due to any factory money.
The forums are the only good source for final price and then you have to sort through the BS. I love the forums but I'm very disappointed with Edmunds in general.
Prices seem to be improving overall a bit. Did you break down and buy one yet??
People were posting they were getting killer prices in California a couple months back .... much better than most on east coast at that time. Prices should be even better there now. Look back a couple months on the forum and get the details.
Good Luck
I completely agree with you, their TMV prices are a joke. Forums are the best way to find what people are paying for the same car. As for my purchase, i have not. Still waiting for a bit better deal
Dealer finally called me today AFTER I had to call this afternoon to get the decision on my pre-qualification (it should have come in 1 day, it took over 6, 5 full business days).
I let him leave a message and will call him back this week.
I need some advice on what would be a good price for the RX350 FWD. I live in North Carolina and noticed that Lexus is now having a golden opportunity sales event. Last week (before the Golden Opportunity Sale), the dealer quoted me $42,500 which was $500 over invoice. The MSRP was $47,385. The car had nav, premium, comfort, 19" wheels. With the Golden sale going on should I be able to get a better price...maybe $1500-$2000 below invoice? What's the benefits of the golden sale?
Any help/advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.