Is 250/220 Approved Cars

javeeds@hotmail.com · February 22, 2006

Hi Guys

I have just been on the Lexus official website and have seen 61 IS250's on sale(Approved cars) - I have never seen even 5 on the road! They also have 13 IS 220d's. Are they the demos? Their price is not far too below from the new ones.

Javeed

Tango · February 22, 2006

Hi Guys
I have just been on the Lexus official website and have seen 61 IS250's on sale(Approved cars) - I have never seen even 5 on the road! They also have 13 IS 220d's. Are they the demos? Their price is not far too below from the new ones.

Javeed

Probably the '55 plated demonstrators and the Lexus dealers 'Company Cars'. They change them out every 3 months so it's about that time.

Parthiban · February 23, 2006

I wasn't surprised there were so many car on there (although I agree I think I've seen about 5 as well, and one of them was Koshime's!), because as Tango said all dealers rotate their demo cars every 3 months, but I was surprised by how expensive they are. Is there still a waiting list long enough to justify that price premium?

TonyDownunder · February 23, 2006

Is there still a waiting list long enough to justify that price premium?

If the UK is similar to Australia, the waiting list for the IS250 is growing, so demo models are holding their price. What Lexus does in Aus is offers great finance deals - currently 4.9% on demos - rather than discounting. That helps maintain brand value and loyalty amongst early buyers.

Unitee · February 27, 2006

Hi Guys
I have just been on the Lexus official website and have seen 61 IS250's on sale(Approved cars) - I have never seen even 5 on the road! They also have 13 IS 220d's. Are they the demos? Their price is not far too below from the new ones.

Javeed

I noticed that also. I had a 250 on order about this time last year. Changed my mind when the pricing came out and also after the test drive where I found the drive disappointing. I've not completely gone off the idea.

Is it really because of dealer rotation or, are their more like me who have cancelled orders? It's not a direct replacement for the 200 and a lot expected it to be. It's gone into a different price bracket and with that in mind, I suspect at that price buyers would consider a beemer 3 as technically it's a better car. The 250 has shifted into a completely different market and I think it's gonna take probably a year to get a picture of 'who' the 250 buyer is.

I don't live far from the Edgware Rd dealership and have only seen one on the road.

Scarlet Pimpernell · February 27, 2006

Hi Guys
I have just been on the Lexus official website and have seen 61 IS250's on sale(Approved cars) - I have never seen even 5 on the road! They also have 13 IS 220d's. Are they the demos? Their price is not far too below from the new ones.

Javeed

Javeed,

just checked 'em out.

They all seem to be below the ticket price by a few £00. All ex-demo's, and some have "Available Date" which is in the future (to allow for the 3 month thingy).

Most have 1000-5000 miles on them. I am surprised that there are so many available and many have MM!! Yet the dealers keep tellng us it's impossible to get hold of the MM in SE and SEL!

I bet a serious customer could name their price (in a reasonable band of £2-2.5k below what they are asking).

I suppose the "What Car?" and "Autocar" mags haven't helped the cause!