Dealer Discounts

[vrodman]

Hi

I am currently seeking a RX400h and am wondering how much the Lexus dealers will move on listed prices. I have a budget up to about 17k and would Ideally like a car no older than 2008 and with max 50k miles. I am scanning the dealers to see what they have in stock and most cars have the 'negotiate price' icon attached.

For information, I have the cash sitting in a Santander 123 account ready to go and I have no trade in. I intend to sell my ageing BMW 3 series privately after I have bought the Lexus.

Anybody any idea how much they will negotiate on say, a 15-18k car?

Dan

[nelmo]

There was a thread on here recently from someone who haggled them down from £18k to £16.5k but I don't recall the details exactly.

The thread was in the last 3 months in this sub-forum, so go through each one (there aren't that many) - you could try search but not sure what you would search for...

[IHgs300]

Have word with Andy on here (aclex) he's the parts manager at lexus poole, im sure he could help you out.

I know he's not in car sales but you never know.

[DanD]

I don't think there is just one rule. It depends on stock, whether a dealer has or has not met his quota, vehicle condition, mileage, history and colour, and vehicle spec. SE-L models are rarer and sought after, SR models without satnav and rear camera go for less money. I have learnt that paying cash is not necessary an advantage: a dealer will consider how much money they are likely to make on your trade in... and in turn may be able to reduce the price of the car you are interested in...

[teejaybee]

Be confident, don't be afraid to haggle and don't pay more than you want to. Be prepared to walk out if you're not happy, believe you me if the salesman can do the deal they ain't going to want to let you go!

Yes, the real profit is in second hand cars but if you had a non-Lexus trade-in all the dealership will do is ship it on so cash can be "king".

Good luck

[vrodman]

Ok, thanks for the replies.

I have been keeping a keen eye on what is available and been to see one or two cars. I am a little surprised that some dealers don't prepare the cars cosmetically before they put them up for sale.

I went to look at one car (in a Lexus main dealer) that was a bit grubby and had been 'keyed' down the side at some point in its life - it didn't look more than a light scratch of the surface lacquer and the salesman assured me that it would polish out in the bodyshop but I can't understand why they don't prep them before prospective buyers see them.

Looking at prices it would seem that buying private can 'save' me about £3k over dealer prices.... but of course without the warranty.

I know some wouldn't even consider buying other than from a Lexus dealer, but with careful checking and perhaps an AA inspection, is it possible to insulate against risk when buying private? I know that any car may be perfectly fine at the time of purchase but could develop a costly fault months later, but it would have to be a £3k nosebleed just to bring the price up to the level of what would have been paid to a dealer in the first place.

Worth the risk?

Dan

[ColinBarber]

A dealer may give you up to £1k to £1.5k off, it would depend if the car has already been discounted because it hasn't sold. Once it has been discounts once or twice they really don't want to give away too much more because they start getting near their cost price.

[vrodman]

Cheers.

How come some previous posts seem to have disappeared from this thread?

[nelmo]

Cheers.

How come some previous posts seem to have disappeared from this thread?

Actually, it's worse than that - looks like a whole week's worth of posts have gone - the last post I can see is dated Nov 20th... :eerrrmm:

EDIT: just seen the post from admin in another forum...

[Duncan Roberts]

Click on the banner at the top which has been up for a day or so.

[sendz]

You can put a Lexus warranty on a privately purchased RX400h.

[Duncan Roberts]

Can you?

seems remarkably generous/foolish, if they do not know its history.

[vrodman]

I am surprised too.

I had a quick look at the extended warranty details but I thought it only applied to Lexus approved used cars - I could be wrong - but does anybody take it out anyway? Not cheap I think...

Dan

[j20]

Personally i would not buy a premium car like a RX from a private seller.

You may pay more with the dealer, but you have all the checks and the back up service is there.

Peace of mind.