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BTW, since you are considering out-of-state, why not just buy from a neighboring state and drive the car home? Many dealers will pick you up from the train/airport and take good care of you. A few hundred mile drive and pickup is easily done in one day. Just a thought.
TC
Which website is this posted.
RXSilver
anyhow, good luck with your car and update us on how it does. thanks.
When the cars hit a port, the company (Toyota) has a huge area/warehouse/lot where they do further "prep" of the cars before they are trucked to the dealers. The Gulf States port is notorious amongst Toyota buyers because of the extra "stuff" they add on to the vehicle to jack up the price.
Anyhow, the dealers with the best ratings (volume, CSI, meeting high quota goals) usually get first pick of what comes into port. I talked to a number of dealers and the two ways that the AWD is coming into this country is usually a)Value Package or b) Value Package, HID, and wood sterring wheel. That's why I'm surprised that you can't get your configuration.
Good Luck,
TC
your enjoying yours.
But I must admit, the Nav is a blast! I didn't think it would work as good as it does. I do IT for a living so it takes a lot to impress me. I actually don't mind now having spent the extra $2k.
The first thing I ordered for it are Husky Liners for the front, back and cargo area. We get slush and snow around here.
Next thing to get is the gold badges, they look awesome against the black
Next, an A-bar for the front protection and a rear bumper guard for the back. Full wrap-around brush guards are too tacky IMHO
Maybe side-step tubes for my 3-year old.
Enjoy!
I
TC
anyone know the oil capacity off the top of their head?
Thanks
Since tictoc2's original post included the fact that he dealt with Rockville Lexus (thru PL) and his salesperson's name. I printed tictoc2's post and went to Silver Spring Lexus for luck. Although I could tell the GM wasn't very happy about the way I pushed the deal, but they just couldn't let a customer walk out and go to Rockville. So I got the same deal from Silver Spring. I honestly think it is a great price without haggling. My salesperson is very couteous and helpful.
Here's the summary:
2001 RX300 AWD/NAVI/HEATED SEATS/SPOILER/CARGO MAT/TOW HITCH/WHEEL LOCKS - $38700 + Destination + Tag + Tax + Luxury Tax (4% of $700 + Dest.)
My wife insisted on the blue, so we're now waiting for one that is on transit. Silver Spring gives free 1K miles and 5K miles services plus Lexus loaners /or pickup and delivery within 30 miles. (Not sure if every Lexus dealer does this.)
There are two ways you can use this info. Shop other dealers for a even sweeter deal. Or hop to Silver Spring for the exact same price. You're more than welcome to work with my salesperson. If you have additional questions, please email me at morgan_chiu@yahoo.com.
Regards,
Morgan
All Lexuses include the 1k and 5k service for free. It's in your documentation.
Happy motoring!
TC
There was absolutely no bait and switch when I picked mine up. The price I paid was the price I bid, plus 8.5% tax, plus about $200 to cover title, docs, registration and new plates, and luxury tax.
TC
4dr 4WD, with the following options in SF bay
area
Navigation system pkg
Cargo mat
wheel locks
golk pkg
all season tires/chrome wheels
one-touch pwr tilt/slide moonroof
w/sunshade, pinch protection
nakamichi premium audio system
Priceline gives me the following quote
Invoice MSRP
30,970 35,655
Navigation pkg 4649 5370
cargo mat 47 76
wheel locks 31 52
gold pkg 199 299
all season tires 850 1,700
Moonroof 800 1000
Nakamichi audio 1277 1630
Destination chg 545 545
Advertising fee 500
Total 39868 46327
The color is Burnished Gold Metallic/Ivory
I offered 40,000 without much success.
Any suggestions?
A few ways to minimize turn radii:
1) Turn wheels as far as possible while waiting for traffic to clear.
2) Advance *slowly* into intersection, then turning steering wheel quickly, and as far as possible, while accelerating.
3) Turn wide (in opposite direction) during turn. This is least effective because it is limited by oncoming traffic and cars in adjacent lanes.
I have found that these methods prevent having to make three point turns, unless of course the road is so narrow that most cars would have trouble turning anyway.
Bay area prices stick because of all the dot com millionaires going in and paying retail prices in cash.
I have never heard anyone rave about the Nak on the RX300, most say wait for the Mark Levinson option to come out on it.
TC
Now, what do I look for when I pick it up? Do I test drive it? Do I kick the tires? Do I check if anything is loose? What do I do if something doesn't look/feel right? Suggestions from experienced buyers would be appreciated. I am picking it up Friday morning.
I suggest you still need to check and test the one you are buying just to make sure.
How does it feel to get $4000 off of MSRP on a great vehicle?!
We never test drove our exact vehicle until we picked it up... which is good. Afterall, would you want to buy a vehicle that's been test driven by several customers? Ours had 22 miles on the Odo, which is normal according to the manual since it was test driven at the factory, US port, and dealer.
Things to look for when picking up:
* A quality Lexus dealer will have it ready at the specified time. It will have been washed/cleaned that day. Ours was pulled inside to the service area for our final inspection.
* Take as much time walking around the car, look for blemishes, scratches etc. Do the same thing for the inside. A good Lexus dealer expects this.
* Ask questions, afterall, you're paying for exceptional service when you buy a Lexus.
* I would not hand over the final check or sign anything until you test drive it and are ok with it. The likely hood of anything being wrong is almost nil, these are quality vehicles.
* Make sure you get the complete handhold/explanation of the vehicle. Lexus requires them to do this.
* Make sure you inspect it outside on the lot also. The paint will reveal different things in the sunlight. Ours is black and is prone to swirls and "spider-webs" if run through an auto-car wash. Always hand wash a dark color for long term beauty.
* Last and most important- enjoy the ride home.
Good luck,
TC
I must say that I was not interested in the navigation system originally, because I am pretty good at reading maps and finding directions, and because the cost seems high. But I happened to test drive one with the navigation system and the sales guy showed me how it worked just for fun. I can't get my mind off it afterwards. I am looking forward to driving the RX300 and playing with the navigation system. Thanks again.
I did not get the tow hitch, because I have never wanted to tow anything with my car so far, and don't plan to do so. I understand that one can also use it to carry bicycles. But since I can also carry bicycles with RX300 with a back seat folded down, and I don't expect to carry bibycles that often, I decided not to get it. Good luck with getting what you want.
Question for you guys regarding priceline:
Would you find it effective to go to a couple local dealers lots on a Sunday, write down the exact specs for Rx300's we like and then put those vehicles, one at a time of course, into Priceline?
What do you think, would they be more willing to accept an at or near invoice bid for their existing inventory?
PL = Careful what you wish for. Meaning that if your bid is accepted, you are expected to pay for the car. If not, they charge your credit card a penalty.
My best advice is don't buy a Lexus the way you buy a Hyundai. Don't try to chop options off if you can't afford the car to begin with. You need to go to at least 2 dealers in your area to see how the cars are coming in configured. Don't forget, these things are built in Japan, you can't build to suit. Pick a realistic configuration at the dealer that you like and can live with.
Next, go to PL and reproduce that configuration using their tools. In terms of bid, most of us are able to get $1000 over invoice for the top-line configuration (Nav option). I firmly believe you could do better depending on your market. Be willing to travel at least 100 miles to get the best possible deal (select more than 1 county in your PL search option).
Feel lucky? Try $600 over invoice. You'll know in 24 hours whether it was rejected. If so, up it a little to $800. $1000 seems to be a slam dunk with most dealers on PL, since it's assumed that customers using the service will buy the car.
Good Luck,
TC
What I meant to say was by going to the dealers lots, I can record the 'exact' configuration of the stock they have on the lot and use those as the Priceline parameters. My thought is that they may be more willing and offer for cars they have in stock.
Good Luck!
As Silver Spring Lexus told me, while some customers do look for barebone cloth-seat RX's, they just don't order many of them. In fact, only 1 was ordered and sold in the last year. But on the other hand, the Navi equipped RX's aren't exactly the most popular either. When I went in, they have more than 5 Navi Rx's sitting on the lot for over two weeks. According to the dealership, that wasn't good. They requested repeatedly if I could take one from the lot. I would have and negotiated for a little more discount if my wife practically fell in love with the blue.
So if you can afford the Navi, from what the trend indicates, buyers can get unbelieveable deals right now. I sure feel proud to be able to remain flexible between the MDX and the RX. I hear in the Bay area, $1500 market adjustment and a 13-month wait is no strage thing.
I personally thought I was crazy for trying to snag a Nav at about $2k more than the PremiumPlus package. But I firmly believe a lot of "quality" cars will have this feature as standard equipment 4 years from now, so in effect, by getting it now you are protecting your resale value.
But in the end, I absolutley LOVE this option now that I have got it. Maybe it's the "toy" effect, but it's really cool (and useful).
TC
Last year, the gov't allowed a more precise positioning for civil use. That has solved some of the problems in a very congested and maze-like area. Before the coordinates had an error range of 100 yards. When I get to the myriad of highways near the Newark Airport, the Nav would go haywire not knowing exactly which road I'm on and what directions to give.
I don't believe having the Nav would increase the resale value after 4 years unless the Nav HW/SW can be updated to stay current. If I go out and buy a top of line PC today it would become pretty downlevel in 5 years if it does not become totally obsolete. This is the reason I did not get the Nav unit for my MDX since I plan to keep it for more than 5 years. I don't know if any extent warranty would cover the NAV unit after the basic warranty expires.
1. I am thinking about offering around $35,500 + TTL for the car with the spoiler. (Invoice is about $35,200). Am I crazy? MSRP is $40,571.
2. I am also interested in an extended warranty. How much should I offer? Maybe $36,000 total?
3. Is it difficult to use the stereo, trip computer, a/c, etc. with the NAV system on?
Any comments welcome.
Thanks.
The Nav is a feature on a car, it's not a PC. It's just like side airbags. Almost every car in 4 years will have them. Would you buy a used car without side-airbags, if every new car for the same amount of money you were spending had them? I don't think so.
And the Nav on the RX300 is at least 2nd generation and uses DVD instead of CDs. ML320 owners are still fumbling for separate CDs if they decide to drive out of their region. And yes, the system is updateable.
Again, it's not meant to be PC. It's is extremely handy, and I've only had it for 3 days. The more I learn to use the advance features, the more I love it.
Yes, one could buy an aftermarket unit (the Alpine is VERY slick), but they cost even more (for now, about $3k installed) and don't tightly integrate into the car and it's systems.
For the use I'll get out of the Nav for the next +4 years, I think it was worth it. YMMV.
TC
TC
Also, if the vehicle lists with destintation charges for $40601 what is considered a good price?
My wife has been driving the RX since we got it a few days ago and it hasn't bothered her.
TC
We have 12,000 miles on our '01 RX and I frankly have never been bothered by a limitation in the turning radius.
Calm down Tony. :-)
Pat
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