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I sent a dozen dealers a fax stating the color/features I wanted and told them I would buy the car that week from whomever had the lowest price. 6 or 7 replied, South Bay and one other had the lowest price, so I then called their General Managers and negotiated a little further. South Bay had the car in inventory within 48 hours and I closed the deal. Good Luck!
Thanks, Al
If it is I'm off to Vancouver this weekend.
The "lock sw" refered to having them reprogram the way the door locks work. The default opens the drivers door only on the first press of the button, and you need to press a second time for the rest of the doors. Similarly, when you put the car in park after driving, only the driver's door is unlocked. You need to hit the unlock button to open the others. They can easily (5 minute job) make all the doors unlock on the first press and also when you put the car in park. I had it done before delivery.
Information on my lease is # 829 and 835. In my case they wanted to sell a car, and bought me out of my $640 Mercedes lease which didn't end until July 23. They gave me a good price to start(57,900). At that time Edmunds and some buying services were saying list or maybe 1,000 off. I said OK but..in July, interest rates will be down and with a softening market you'll be at least as anxious to sell the car and you'll probably offer at least the same number if not better. I challenged them to come up with some reason for me to buy now. My salesman went to the manager and they knocked another $1900 off for 3 lease payments agreed to prorate any delivery before April 23 (at their option). They found a car and chose to deliver yesterday, 19 days early. As a result they credited me for $380 of the money due at delivery.
Leases through Lexus can use extra refundable security deposits to lower the money factor and therefore payments. This is much preferable to a down payment in my mind because:
1. You get a reasonable return on your money. An extra $7,000 reduced the payment $83/mo on a 42 month lease. Since this is just a reduction in rate it isn't a taxable event, so I'm getting almost $1,000 a year return tax-free.
2. Your gap insurance doesn't cover any cash you put into the lease. It protects you only to the amount of your exposure to the leasing company. If the car is destroyed or stolen you will probably lose any cash down payment.
I'm very busy working and leaving Saturday AM for a weeklong business/pleasure trip with my wife coming along. Unfortunately we have to fly. I may not get a chance to check in here until I get back around the 15th. Everyone be well and continued good luck with your cars.
Both cars were great to drive, but I was driving the LS faster without really trying, which I put down to it being quieter and having less 'road feel' - you don't know if you're close to the car's limit. Also, I didn't notice a great amount of body roll.
Hope to do this again in a couple of weeks at the Motor Trend Cadillac World Challenge :-)
The owners manual says that the disc player will not play these. Don't know why.
Took delivery on my car last Wednesday and then had to leave town for 10 days on business. Very frustrating! Look forward to long drives this weekend!
I sent each of them the same form letter- telling them the color/options I want, that I was a serious buyer looking to buy the car immediately, and would give the business to the lowest quote I receive; I would not share their quote with any other dealer, and would not haggle over price; I would just buy the car from the lowest quoting dealer.
I then took the two lowest quotes and worked them both until I got the best deal; about $800 over "invoice cost", or $55,100 (including chrome).
Stevestein - try the Circuit City on RT. 9 - that's where I got my CD-R's -- But park far away from the door.
ljflx - I don't plan on parking near any doors for a while. I'll be parking in the outback for quite a while.
All - Just found the small pad to cover the space above the rearview mirror -tee hee hee - love Lexus.
Re: CD-R
My TDK Certified Plus CD-R blanks won't work. I have Samsung Premium 12x guaranteed that do. This is true across two different CD burners, and both with and without labels. This is consistent with what Bitkahuna discovered about blue CD-Rs. I never paid much attention to the media before as there was no need. Unfortunately, many of the car CDs I have are on TDK. I'll just have to switch my car's CDs between my wife's car and home until I get the originals. From now on I'll stick to a brand I know works. The why of it still bothers me though.
I have used it for three years now and it really, really shine. swiftm
"...The MSRP for the third generation of Lexus’ flagship model, the LS 430, will increase $200 to $54,205, a 0.4 percent change.
On average, the overall price increase for the Lexus line-up is 0.2 percent, or $79 over initial
2001-model pricing. The price changes for the GS 300/430, RX 300 and LX 470 will be effective on
May 1, while the LS 430 price change will be effective on June 1."
Relections: couldn't get the voice recognition on the gps to understand anything i was saying. Wish the cruise control was always "on" and didn't have to reset this after every stop and toll booth. They should inprove this. I have no trouble using cd-r's my son made for me (they were either tdk or memorex). spoils me...quiet... smooth...powerful. Passing on US 170 between hilton head and Savannah was like a hot knife through butter. to get to 90mph was a snapp. blissful performance. I should have increased my lease milage allotment so i could drive this for everything....business benefit???
Just thrilled with this car....6k miles and not a glitch. the first car i can truly say is "perfect"
As for cruise control, mine works flawlessly. I'm not sure what you refer to about toll booths. The "resume" feature speeds the car back up to previously set speed as long as you don't physically turn it off by the button. Maybe I am misunderstanding you. My only complaint on cruise was the 1 time I let my wife drive and use it. She is a notorious rt. lane truck follower and said the cruise seems to keep her directly behind the trucks and that this was a design flaw. Now this is a very intelligent woman, yet she actually said this. I, of course, assiduously avoid rock-throwing, dust kicking, speed changing trucks and was very unhappy at her tendency to set the cruise and follow them in the right lane. And, yes, this resulted in a "heated debate", as usual. My gorgeous black cherry paint shall not interface with granite projectiles, even if it costs my marital harmony!
I put 1200 miles on my LS this week and averaged about 26.5 miles per gallon at 75 MPH. The NAV worked very well and was extremely accurate. I think the car handles better than I would have expected for such a big sedan, especially on some curvy Virginia piedmont roads. The look of the car continues to grow on me, and I would take issue with anyone who still thinks it's a weakness.
Only thing I can think of is to have the locks re-programmed for one-touch all open. And. I don't have much luck with NAV voice commands either.
Wbwynn - told you those looks improve everyday. I'm actually starting to like the S only from certain angles now. I'm also getting above 25 mpg consistantly. They've improved the mpg over the old model despite the bigger engine.
See:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1016688&a=9788935&p=32461561 for a photo of a '97 Accord that was Z'd for the first time a couple of months earlier. Think how your LS could look!
I'm in the market to buy a LS430 with the Navigation/Mark Levinson package with Lexus Link. I looked at Edmunds and got the following prices:
Invoice: $52,774.00, MSRP: $61,005.00 and TMV: $57,162.00.
Is TVM is the "average" price I expect to pay for this car with the options listed ? In other words, the Lexus dealer will most likely sell this car to me at this price ? Is this price reasonable ? Btw, I live in the New England area. Thanks.
Dave.
I'm in the market to buy a LS430 with the Navigation/Mark Levinson package with Lexus Link. I looked at Edmunds and got the following prices:
Invoice: $52,774.00, MSRP: $61,005.00 and TMV: $57,162.00.
Is TVM is the "average" price I expect to pay for this car with the options listed ? In other words, the Lexus dealer will most likely sell this car to me at this price ? Is this price reasonable ? Btw, I live in the New England area. Thanks.
Dave.
Or just park it and admire it from a distance.
Lexus U.S.A. reported sales of 20,715 units, which represents a sales increase of 24.0 percent from the same period in 2000, setting a new best-ever March for the luxury manufacturer. First-quarter sales of 51,540 are 15.1 percent ahead of last year’s record pace.
The hot new SC 430 hardtop convertible, which went on sale March 15, posted sales of 2,112, breaking the SC’s long-standing all-time best record set in December 1991.
Overall, passenger car sales were up 75.4 from last March. The LS 430 premium luxury sedan had a great month with sales of 3,021 units, up 192.4 percent from March 2000, while the IS 300 compact sport sedan posted sales of 2,702. In other car sales, the ES 300 sold 3,346, and the GS series posted sales of 2,092.
Lexus sport utility vehicle (SUV) sales were down slightly with RX 300 mid-size SUV sales of 6,621 and LX 470 premium luxury SUV sales of 809.
"We had our own brand of March Madness at Lexus," said Denny Clements, Lexus group vice president and general manager. "Customers are clamoring for the all-new SC 430, and we’re working hard to satisfy customer demand as quickly as possible."
In addition to outstanding new-car sales, Lexus posted all-time best-ever pre-owned and Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) sales with total pre-owned sales of 4,921 units and CPO sales of 2,759 vehicles.
PS I have the ecru interior on my LS
Can you give me the name of your dealer (and phone number?) so I can call them to understand what they did to make this work?
That, by the way, is what any transportion means really is, a utility. Let's not ever forget why we really buy these cars.
For myself I want a vehicle with which I do not have to always have second thoughts about who, or what, (dog got out in the rain and got muddy? Oh, gee, I'll have to run home and get the RX!)I want to transport at any given time.
I'm reminded of a good friend that put down very light colored carpets. After yelling and screaming at her kids, and husband, about (inadvertantly) tracking in dirt and stains for about six months she gave up the battle and sent her carpets to the dump.
Maybe my personal "color vision" is off, but I have never seen a car with a really light interior such as the ecru that I wasn't glad someone else owned and not me. One of those was a really beautiful white 911 with a completely white leather interior. And I did say REALLY BEAUTIFUL. Until then I had NEVER met a 911 that I wouldn't want to own. nice, beautiful to look at, but NOT practical.
I have to wonder if you polled those that bought a Lexus with an ecru interior would they have selected that interior if Lexus had given them another choice?
I guess that one of my main attractions to Lexus, expecially when I bought the 92 was the overall "understated elegance", no chrome, no "gimmicks" no gugaws. That was the inverse of how I saw Cadillac and Lincohn, no real luxury substance (same engines as T-bird, etc.), but the exterior and interior "appearance" of luxury.
Maybe that's what's really bothering me at the core of this, a movement by Lexus away from their established customer base and toward attracting more of the traditional "older" (minded?) american luxury purchasing "crowd".
And I doubt that any of us who really love and cherish our (somewhat unique and apart from tradition) Lexus vehicles want to see them go that way.
As far as Cadillac goes; the Cadillacs were just Luxury barges. The LS430 on the other hand, no matter how Luxurious the interior, has MUCH more than just nice white carpets and leather interior going for it. This car is truly first rate in every department including and especially under the hood.
Utility? A car is transportation, true. But at $60,000 to $70,000 dollars we left the idea of just basic utility behind, tens of thousands of dollars ago. The "L" in "LS" stands for Luxury. If you're going hiking, or transporting kids back and forth to little league or halling lumber, you might want to consider another car not just simply another interior color.
As skip says, buying a luxury car is going WAY beyond just utility. If all we wanted is utility, we'd buy an Accord or Camry 'appliance' or an SUV or truck.
A car like the LS430 *pampers* its occupants and is a real pleasure and experience to lease/own and drive.
For me, I marvel that humans can build a thing of such complexity, refinement, quality, and capability, at ANY price.
Now, Ecru interior. I had a cream interior on my 95 STS and let me say, never again. It stained pretty bad, and the skuff marks from my shoes just would not come off the base of the seats etc. The interior on my 98 LS400 is black, and I will probably stay with the black interior from now on. I havent grown tired of it after 85,000 miles, when I was sick of the cream in the Caddy to the point that it was nausiating after a year. I really prefer the darker interior. Keep in mind also that the mats in the Ecru car are darker than the rest of the carpeting if I'm not mistaken.
Now current Lexus owners and the LS430. I dont see a problem here, all of the gizmolike options on the LS430 are just that, options. If you dont want them you dont have to get them. Personally, I like the move to some more tech wizardry in the car. My 98 is hardly void of these gadgets, but it does lack some of the things that other cars in its class have. I personally love the nav system on the LS430, the extending legnth seat (long legs), the auto wipers (great invention). Also a lot of these gimmicks that have become mainstream such as auto lights are great ideas. Lexus has to keep up with the competition.
As for the floor mats, mine (ecru, ultra lux) match the rest. So I don't know where your info comes from.
As for the Q - my salesman was telling me (while showing me the newest arrivals of the SC430 in 3 colors) that a local dealer here has taken delivery of 4 of the new 2002 Q45's and has only been able to sell 2. The other 2 are sitting on the lot. Not quite what Infiniti expected from it's redesigned Lexus/Benz alternative.
And just FYI, I saw the bright red, deep red (similar to my blk cherry) and black SC430's arrive. Gorgeous, and, of course, sold.
Floor mat posters::> Use a rubber mat during the winter. Buy yourself a new set of factor floor mats every two years. I have my dealer detail my car every spring.
But, does that mean you do not still use it for basic transportation, as in "utility"?
Maybe it would help, explain my feelings, if I told you that I would NEVER buy the gold kit, as a matter of fact I usually remove all of the manufaturer's badges that I easily can. Yes, I do like my luxuries, Lexus especially, but I'm perfectly satisfied with just me knowing its a Lexus, I have no need to announce anything to the world.
That's probably part of what bothers me about the ecru interior, it's LOUD!
I'm sure you have seen that many automotive "critics" disparate the LS for its "unappealing" looks and lack of updating, changes, from year to year. But that's exactly why some of us like the car.