Questions about ES 330 purchase

Go and talk to your local Lexus dealer. Tell them exactly what you want in your car. Let them know you're willing to wait for the right car. Agree a price for the car and let them find it for you. If it's a rare combination of colors or options then you may have to pay slightly more than you originally wanted. This may be because the car is sought after or the dealer had to track one down and trade for it so taking more time and costs to ship the car to them.

The dealer may have one in stock that is close to what you want. But the decision to buy that or wait for maybe a few months to get the right car is one you'll have to decide.

I've dealt with a lot of car dealerships over the years and Lexus are the best when it comes to listening to their customers and getting them what they want.

They're not going to eat you alive like other dealers try to :-)

Yes, you can order, but most dealers dislike doing it that way, almost to the point where they will tell you can't. What they would like to do is to take your specs and find a vehicle on some dealer's lot or inbound that is "close enough."

With an ES, you basically chooose from four or five packages, select an exterior color, and select an interior trim. Everything else is dealer or port installed. There really aren't many options to mix/match so it is highly likely the dealer can find you a car.

I always advise anyone shopping for an ES to drive a high-end Camry and make sure that the Lexus is worth the extra money to you. And while you're out, drive a G35, a RWD car with a lot more performance for less money.

- Mark

Thanks, Alex and Mark, for your responses.

Rich

We just bought an 330 ES last Saturday. I researched, agonized about buying foreign, etc, just like you. For what its worth, here's what happened:

Decided to buy now and off the lot because the yen continues to creep up against the dollar. Dealer indicated that they would negotiate a price for car on lot or on the boat. We purchaed the "Premimum package" (no nav) had everything we wanted but didn't include variable suspension. It had wheel locks that I didn't want. Dealer gladly removed locks, handed them to me and replaced with wheel bolts. No cost, no fuss.

I researched Fair Market price on edmunds.com, then used the Lexus.com site to get two internet prices from dealers nearby. Second dealer was very close to edmunds FMV price but it took two e-mails to get a price. First dealer was 2% BELOW FMV from edmunds.com. Took about 1 hour to negotiate a fair price (my opinion) for my 1994 Eagle Vision Tsi.

Summed up -- FMV on web was HIGH, used car estimate about right, ordering may put you at risk for currency exchange rate and with the rising federal and trade deficits don't expect it to move in your favor, car had all but one item and I'm not sure I needed the missing item. PS my wife loves her new car

Howard

Back in May of '97 I wanted a Lexus ES 300. The only problem was the inside headroom with the Moonroof. The moonroof was an "option", but there wasn't a car to be had without a moonroof. I called it a "forced" option. I placed the order for a car with all of the other luxury options. They said it might take 4-6 weeks to order one. Well, August came and went. The 97's were finished. As of Aug 15 '98's were started to be made. My car came on November 2. '97. It took forever, but it is the best car I've ever owned. Almost 90,000 miles on it. No problems. I got a car that was comfortable for me, and a car that will have lasted me to over 100,000 miles. I will be buying a '05 LS 430. Lexus makes a great car!

I was looking for a Camry with a Navigation system. It was impossible to find it anywhere. I ended up buying the Lexus ES330. There are a lot of differences between a Camry and ES330. Enough to justify the price difference. (In my case, the most high end Camry was around 31k, I ended up paying $35k for a 2004 es330 with a Navigation system (also fully loaded). Plus, the dealer treatment, free car washes, free oil changes, and other perks are just fantastic and worth the extra $$.

Thanks for all of the responses, guys! They are all appreciated.