Buying Dilemma

[pwhite8314]

Hi all. First post, good to see there's a good Lexus forum out there.

This is a bit of a story, but bear with me, I need your advice!

I've currently got an SLK320. Nice car, but it's 3yrs old now, due some tyres and a major service, and it's all getting a bit creaky for my liking. I've been looking at replacements for a few days, and come up with the following short list:

New CLK240

New A4 Cab

RX300SE-L

Can you spot the odd one out ??

The reason I'm moving away from the A4 is the cost of getting one spec'd up to a decent level (never a problem with a Lexus!). THe resons I'm not sure about the CLK are all down to the dreadful dealer network. I went to the launch weekend a couple of weeks ago, where the dopy sales guy eventually got up off his chair to tell me there's an 18 month waiting list ofr a new CLK. Really?? Yesterday I went to another local dealer (part of the same Lancaster franchise) who quoted September. Hmmmm. Bottom line is they just do not care about selling cars to private buyers. Last year I was looking for a 2-car £50k deal, and none of them returned my call, and nothing has changed since. Finally, although there's one available in September, there's nothing avaialbe to test drive. What is the point!!

Anyway, rant over. I've started looking at Lexus because of the excellent customer service reputation (though some of the posts here seem to indicate otherwise), and the fact that you don't have to pay the same again to get a decent specification.

The decision I have to make now is whether to give up the open top, quick car, and go for the highly specc'd and well regarded RX. I really don't know what to do. I love having a convertable, but my job generally means that I'm up early and home late, plus we've just had a baby which means it's just me that gets to enjoy the SLK. 90% of my driving is on a motorway, and whislt it's nice to get a tan whilst stuck in the jams, I think I want a more pampered environment. My ideal car would be a Merc SL, and I've even looked at the SC430, but both of those are beyond my means.

There, now I've bored you to death, 2 quick questions - does the RX come with an integrated mobile phone (presumably via the sat-nav screen), and is it possible to have the TV on the sat-nav screen. Finally, is it also possible to have trafficmaster access via the sat-nav (a lot of Mercs have this, and as my work journey involved the bad half of the M25, it's quite important to me!)

I'm off for a testdrive tomorrow (at Lexus Ipswich), I'll let you know how I get on. Anybody else made the jump from open-top to SUV?

TIA, Pete

[ricky_is200]

I've test driven both the RX300 SE-L and the new CLK Cab (although it was the 320). Both are very good cars although obviously very different so it really depends what you want from a car. I've driven a CLK240 coupe and it is quite sluggish compared to the 320, no such complaints about the RX.

As nice as the RX300 was to drive, it didn't feel as relaxed or sporty as a 'normal' car and I wouldn't want to drive high mileage in one.

[javaboss]

I was very impressed with the RX300 when I drove one at the Open Road event a couple of weeks ago. I've now driven both the SE and SE-L. In my opinion, I would go for the SE-L as the body control seems to be better and I've read that it is better on motorways whereas the SE is better round town. Most of my driving would be motorway work.

I am currently attempting to get a deal on an SE-L in exchange for my 3 month old IS200. Yes, the RX was that good!

I'm currently waiting on 3 dealers to give me part-exchange price for my car and am attempting to get the 3.3% discount that JamJar.com quote for a UK supplied car. I'll tell you one thing, these dealers just don't seem to want to sell a car!

I'm spending £38,000 and they won't take a bean off the list price! I just can't believe that they only make a couple of percent profit on a car that costs that much!

If I get crap quotes from all 3 dealers then I'm going to have to resort to buying the car from JamJar.com. I don't really want to do it, but I'm getting a funny feeling that's what I'm going to have to do...

[pwhite8314]

It's crazy, they're making at least 8% on these, but no doubt under very strict instructions not to discount, on the basis that it cheapens the brand. On the up side is does help the residuals (whereas Citroen's VAT free deal instantly wiped 10-15% of their resale prices).

I've got Oneswoop looking at the moment, I'll check out JamJar too. A collegue brought a car in via Denmark (an IS, saved about £3.5k,), but I'm not sure if the same is still true since the £ dropped in value (although not so much against the Kroner).

The problem I have is that I'm impatient, want an easy life (i.e. part ex), but also want a good deal (i.e. sell privately and go in with cash!).

I'm totally unsure about whether to give up chasing the CLK, so the Lexus dealer will have to do a sales job on me, otherwise I'll just walk away, as I have with Mercedes. My main worry is that the RX feels too slow; I know my SLK is a lot faster, but I'm hoping the higher ride and increased bulk will still give a good feeling of speed. My other worry is that I'll be blinded by all the cool gadgets, and not worry about the car itself! :winky:

[javaboss]

Well, I just can't work it out then....

<rant>

So, they won't drop the price on a new car to 'help residuals' but they'll only offer a ***** £18.5k for my 3 month old IS200! Work that one out!

They want their cake and eat it too!

"Sorry sir, we won't drop the price on a new RX 300 to protect residuals but we'll only offer ***** money for your 3 month old IS. Oh, you've purchased 3 cars from us before. Well, we couldn't care less about that." :tsktsk:

</rant>

Phew! That's lowered my blood pressure! Hopefully, tomorrow I shall get some feedback on trade-in values from other dealers. If they are good deals then it'll be time to put a call in back to my local "stealer"... sorry "dealer" :D