Interesting post on TTAC on special ordering Lexus

[Tragic Bronson]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/01/ask-bark-ordering-vs-buying-off-lot/

Ask Bark: Ordering vs. Buying Off The Lot?

Dave writes:

Should we get a better deal on a special order car vs taking one off the lot? The dealer wants MSRP and won’t budge giving us some story about special orders affecting his allocation. We can’t go to another dealer because the other Lexus dealer in town has the same owner.

We’re looking at an IS 300. The reason for special order is my wife wants an exterior/interior color combo (from the standard colors) that the dealer can’t find in any U.S. or inbound inventory searches.

She’s flexible on other options, just has to have her color combo and is willing to wait for approx 90 days to get it.

Thanks,

Dave

Dave, you seem like a sensible guy, and not a dope fiend at all. So let me drop some knowledge on you about how dealer allocation and special ordering works.

First of all, the dealer’s “story” about special orders affecting his allocation likely isn’t a story at all. While I’m not familiar with the specifics of how Lexus dealers do orders, it wouldn’t be uncommon in the automotive dealership world at large for a special order to affect allocation, especially for a car that’s on the relatively rare side like the IS. While Lexus is obviously a mainstream, volume make, it’s still not Ford or Toyota, and production levels aren’t as high as you might think. There are 675 new IS 300s showing on Cars.com right now. That’s fewer than three per store considering the brand’s approximately 235 dealers in the U.S. Compare that to the 5,200+ ES 350s in stock, and you can start to see why a dealer isn’t super excited about ordering an IS 300.

Why? Because many, many, many special orders end up not being picked up by buyers. I, myself, ordered a BMW 135i in 2008 that I ended up not taking delivery of because the interior color was wrong when it showed up. It’s also how I got my Focus RS — it was a customer order that got canceled. So if you and the Mrs. flake out on your IS, it becomes a bit of a floorplan anchor for your dealer if it’s an unusual color combo that nobody else wants. (Lexus customers aren’t known for being adventurous.)

Now, if you’re a smart person (and you are, because you sent me an email), you’re probably thinking to yourself the dealer won’t have to pay any floorplan interest on the car so they should be happy, right?

Eh, Lexus stores don’t think that way.

Most Lexus stores are part of a larger group, and they’re mostly extremely profitable because Lexus customers aren’t known for driving hard bargains for their cars, and they’re historically willing to pay more for things like “ambience” and “ownership experience.” In fact, Lexus has taken the remarkable step of limiting the number of franchise stores that a dealer group can own to eight. No other manufacturer does this. Lexus is concerned that Sonic, Hendrick, AutoNation, etc., would buy all of the Lexus stores if they allowed it, because they’re among the most valuable franchises available.

The long and the short of it is this: why shouldn’t the dealer ask MSRP? You’re probably willing to pay it, eventually, and the dealer knows it. And for every deal like yours they have to work for, there are a million ES and RX customers behind you willing to pay full pop.

So, I have three recommendations for you:

1. Don’t assume that you can’t go to the other dealer just because they have the same owner. They probably have different general managers and they don’t necessarily operate the same. But, even if they do…
2. There are the aforementioned 235 dealers in the United States, and you’re special ordering a car and buying it essentially sight unseen. What difference does it make if you’re buying it close to home or on the other side of the country? Stretch your fingers out and get to emailing, son. Maybe there’s a Lexus store in Kentucky that really needs a sale this month.
3. Suck it up, pay your MSRP, and enjoy your car. If it’s what she wants, and a similar 328i/C300/A4 won’t make her equally happy, then pay your money and take your chances.

Curious to see how many here have had to special order their Lexus and if the dealer gave them grief versus finding one off their lot.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

As mentioned before, I've never special ordered, but as a result I've never gotten exactly the car I wanted (my current '15 LS is very, very close however). I may do it for the 5LS if there's a color I really love that turns out not to be in the standard allocations though.

 

[mmcartalk]

I special-ordered some time ago, in 2001, when I got my 1Gen IS300. I wanted Solar Yellow/black cloth interior/16" all-season tire-option for ride comfort, and no sunroof for the increased headroom. Stayed at the Lexus shop for hours, looking for one (the salespeople were trying to talk me into every color BUT yellow), They (finally) found one, out on a ship, headed for American shores, that was unspoken for at the time. I gave them a deposit, waited a couple of days for it to arrive, and picked it up. Kept it almost five years. (They did away with that right yellow color a year or two later, BTW)

My only gripe is that I had wanted yellow with the wood-trim inside, but that was the only exterior color that the wood-package was NOT available on...so there wasn't much they could do.

 

[oem_is300]

We special ordered the IS back in 2004 - wanted the Sportdesign package with manual transmission in Thundercloud with black interior. It arrived with the smoke grey interior instead. We took delivery anyways, not wanting to risk not having another manual come in. Sometimes I wish it had the black interior as its much easier to keep clean, but I've grown to really like the smoke grey and it looks good with the contrasting black accents inside.

I remember looking the VIN up on dealer software a couple of years ago and it actually was listed as black interior, but optioned under the Sportdesign package we got the smoke grey.

 

[mmcartalk]

We special ordered the IS back in 2004 - wanted the Sportdesign package with manual transmission in Thundercloud with black interior. It arrived with the smoke grey interior instead. We took delivery anyways, not wanting to risk not having another manual come in. Sometimes I wish it had the black interior as its much easier to keep clean, but I've grown to really like the smoke grey and it looks good with the contrasting black accents inside.

I remember looking the VIN up on dealer software a couple of years ago and it actually was listed as black interior, but optioned under the Sportdesign package we got the smoke grey.

Yes, in general, black seats are easy to keep clean, but black footwells and lower-door-panels tend to show a lot of scuff-marks from shoes. You'll probably spend a fair amount of time with a damp rag wiping and rubbing the marks off.

 

[oem_is300]

Yes, in general, black seats are easy to keep clean, but black footwells and lower-door-panels tend to show a lot of scuff-marks from shoes. You'll probably spend a fair amount of time with a damp rag wiping and rubbing the marks off.

The lower door panels are actually black. It really provides an interesting contrast in the interior, but yes, does show the scuff marks if not careful entering/exiting.

 

[Tragic Bronson]

We special ordered the IS back in 2004 - wanted the Sportdesign package with manual transmission in Thundercloud with black interior. It arrived with the smoke grey interior instead. We took delivery anyways, not wanting to risk not having another manual come in. Sometimes I wish it had the black interior as its much easier to keep clean, but I've grown to really like the smoke grey and it looks good with the contrasting black accents inside.

I remember looking the VIN up on dealer software a couple of years ago and it actually was listed as black interior, but optioned under the Sportdesign package we got the smoke grey.

If you special ordered your SD IS, did the dealer not correctly order the interior color? I would think that they double checked that the option and color codes were correct with you before they submitted the order to the Lexus region...

 

[oem_is300]

If you special ordered your SD IS, did the dealer not correctly order the interior color? I would think that they double checked that the option and color codes were correct with you before they submitted the order to the Lexus region...

Our's was kind of a unique situation. My dad is a di-tech at Lexus so it was a bit more of an informal/conversational order from what I remember (I was 13 at the time so wasn't really involved).

 

[mikeavelli]

I ordered my LS and had to wait a bit for it....

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

I special-ordered some time ago, in 2001, when I got my 1Gen IS300. I wanted Solar Yellow/black cloth interior/16" all-season tire-option for ride comfort, and no sunroof for the increased headroom. Stayed at the Lexus shop for hours, looking for one (the salespeople were trying to talk me into every color BUT yellow), They (finally) found one, out on a ship, headed for American shores, that was unspoken for at the time. I gave them a deposit, waited a couple of days for it to arrive, and picked it up. Kept it almost five years. (They did away with that right yellow color a year or two later, BTW)

My only gripe is that I had wanted yellow with the wood-trim inside, but that was the only exterior color that the wood-package was NOT available on...so there wasn't much they could do.

This resonates with me very, very strongly. All I basically wanted was a 2002 1st-gen IS 300 manual with a limited-slip differential, a rarity at the time in the Southeast Lexus states (Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas). In the end, I wound up special-ordering, and the Lexus dealer closest to my house was willing to place the order and let me lease the car for what my budget was at the time ($415/mo.) Given that I was ordering anyway, I went full-on bizarro (or, perhaps, schizophrenic) and my IS 300 was manual with LSD and no sunroof, but lux inside with beige leather/ecsaine and the wood trim plates.

The wait was billed as 90 days but actually stretched closer to 4 months, but it was worth every second once my baby arrived.