Free Complimentary Upgrade From Is Lux To F Sport

[Habu]

So, it seems Lexus is running a special this weekend whereby you can get a complimentary upgrade from an IS Luxury to an F Sport during this weekends Drive Weekend when you test drive a new IS. I would have loved the F but could only manage the Luxury when I bought mine in March 2014.

[Habu]

Official wording from Lexus UK is "sorry you missed out".

So, for those of you who have just bought a Luxury how do you feel?

For those of you who have just bought an F Sport how do you feel knowing you've spent £2500+ more than you could have?

[Jerome K Jerome]

Which explains why private buyers think twice about buying a new lexus.

Had the invite to lexus drive this week, but I will go with a used one thanks!

[Wallace]

We've have had our Luxury for a week but aren't bothered with this offer. We didn't want an F Sport as we wanted to get away from the bone crunching ride that our last IS250 Sport had. It was down to the 18" wheels and low profile tyres, Rear ones were over £200 to change and as they are wider than the fronts you can't rotate them. So it's agreat deal if you want an FSport.

[ColinBarber]

Official wording from Lexus UK is "sorry you missed out".

So, for those of you who have just bought a Luxury how do you feel?

For those of you who have just bought an F Sport how do you feel knowing you've spent £2500+ more than you could have?

There is small print - this only applies to 'in stock' vehicles. Seems Lexus GB need to shift some unsold stock. With the £2500 discount I'd be surprised if you can negotiation any significant additional savings so are you really much better off, compared to just purchasing an F Sport at any other time and getting £2k - £3k off?

[Steve44]

This means they have more F-Sports in stock than others, so what is wrong with Lexus business model? Pricing too high/too low? Ride as mentioned above? - though personally I didn't notice too much of a difference. Styling too extreme for some?

[rayaans]

This means they have more F-Sports in stock than others, so what is wrong with Lexus business model? Pricing too high/too low? Ride as mentioned above? - though personally I didn't notice too much of a difference. Styling too extreme for some?

Probably the styling has a part to play. Most company car buyers prefer boring looking cars

[tinka]

I’m going with an approved used, as I want the premium Nav and vented seat options. which will probably not be available on new stock models.

How are lexus with Px values, is there still room to haggle on the prices?.

[rayaans]

I’m going with an approved used, as I want the premium Nav and vented seat options. which will probably not be available on new stock models.

How are lexus with Px values, is there still room to haggle on the prices?.

There is always room to haggle. You dont ask you dont get!

[rayaans]

Official wording from Lexus UK is "sorry you missed out".

So, for those of you who have just bought a Luxury how do you feel?

For those of you who have just bought an F Sport how do you feel knowing you've spent £2500+ more than you could have?

As mentioned before, it does say "in stock" vehicles. Therefore it means the car has already been built and possibly may not even be new. It may be a pre-registered vehicle.

Also, as with anything, I do believe that you do not have a clear cut argument. Prices change from one day to the next and offers change with them.

I could easily say in hindsight that I could have got my RX with red leather if id bought it later.

[DJP]

I must admit with anything I buy of any consequence, once I've bought it, that's it, I stop looking. I tend to be a bit of an early adopter (not normally with a car though!) and I pay a premium for that. When I think what I paid for my flat screen Sony Bravia, well, basically I don't!!

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[Habu]

Most of the above comments are valid but there's a difference between some complimentary offers and a whole different car grade in my opinion. I would have loved an FS but I couldn't justify the extra monies so, for me, it's frustrating that 2 months after I bought my Luxury I possibly could have got an FS.

My centre is helping matters either by bombarding me with mail and email regarding the offer.

[Steve44]

This means they have more F-Sports in stock than others, so what is wrong with Lexus business model? Pricing too high/too low? Ride as mentioned above? - though personally I didn't notice too much of a difference. Styling too extreme for some?

Probably the styling has a part to play. Most company car buyers prefer boring looking cars

As a company car buyer, styling is usually a consequence of tax bracket, which is what most company car people are all about, as cheaper CO2 means cheaper tax, means lower cost.

Personally, the styling sold me, both inside and out - way more interesting than a BMW 3 series or a Audi A4/5/6. And the fact that the US300h is low CO2. Reading the Car Mag July 14 group test comparing the IS to the BMW/Merc C/Audi A5/Infiniti Q50 - the Lexus wins hands down as the best styled interior and exterior, with only the grille coming in for some questioning.

But anyway, the Lexus offer this weekend isn't targeted at company buyers.

[Blisteringblue]

But anyway, the Lexus offer this weekend isn't targeted at company buyers.

Very true, the offer that was on when I ordered mine was free premium nav for orders via Toyota Fleet

[Silver Arrow]

This is one of the reasons why it's not a good idea to buy a brand new car. I say that, and guess what? I buy a brand new one....

This might make you feel a tad better - I've lost £16k in 2 years and 15000 miles. That sucks!

[rayaans]

This is one of the reasons why it's not a good idea to buy a brand new car. I say that, and guess what? I buy a brand new one....

This might make you feel a tad better - I've lost £16k in 2 years and 15000 miles. That sucks!

Yep, might as well buy an ex-demo because they seem to take the biggest hit but are kept in excellent condition

[DJP]

This is one of the reasons why it's not a good idea to buy a brand new car. I say that, and guess what? I buy a brand new one....

This might make you feel a tad better - I've lost £16k in 2 years and 15000 miles. That sucks!

I can relate to the first point, haven't had the car long enough to relate to the second, but that's just a question of time!

I'm already trying to work out what to do when this PCP comes up. Give the balloon payment and keep the car or hand it back and start again. And if I start again, should it be new or nearly new given the point you make about depreciation?

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[rayaans]

This is one of the reasons why it's not a good idea to buy a brand new car. I say that, and guess what? I buy a brand new one....

This might make you feel a tad better - I've lost £16k in 2 years and 15000 miles. That sucks!

I can relate to the first point, haven't had the car long enough to relate to the second, but that's just a question of time!

I'm already trying to work out what to do when this PCP comes up. Give the balloon payment and keep the car or hand it back and start again. And if I start again, should it be new or nearly new given the point you make about depreciation?

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PCP works out more expensive than the depreciation. If you're paying £350 a month for 35 installments + a £2k deposit, youll be paying £14,250 over 3 years. Thats nearly £5k a year and not including interest. There is no way that the IS300h will drop nearly £15k in 3 years. Its a scheme to make extra money due to the interest they add on.

Best way to avoid the depreciation is to buy nearly new. A 6-12 month old car with less than 10k miles a year will have taken the majority of the depreciation.

Take my car for example:

RX450h F Sport + Arctic Pearl Paint + ML list price = £53,605

PCP plan with third party leasing company - cheapest business deal NOT INCLUDING VAT: Deposit - £1978.26 + 35 monthly payments of £659.42.

Total cost over 3 years if not bought - £25057.96. Thats about £8333 every single year!!!!!

The car I bought:

Ex-demo. Registered June 2012. Bought in November 2012 so exactly 6 months old with 5k miles on the clock. My price - £43000 not including discounts and freebies. More than a £10k discount from list price in 6 months. How about that??

[ColinBarber]

you did get a good deal but unfortunately you cannot escape depreciation in the Lexus. Lexus Sidcup have a Sept 2012 F Sport RX with 13k miles up for £37,000. Therefore you could say you have only lost £6,000 from where you were in Nov 2012 but that rate will probably continue for some time and you still have the £2k-3k trade-in difference to take into account as well. This is on the RX which is the best Lexus model for depreciation.

But I certainly agree purchasing new is a bit of a mugs game. I wouldn't want to be the person who paid £53k for an RX only to be offered around £33k as a trade-in two years later.

The IS will certainly drop £15k in three years. I've been watching IS F Sports going for under £30k where the list price would be around £38k with the options included. Combine that £8k with £2k trade-in difference, £10k in less than a year. I can certainly see another £5k drop over the next two years.

[DJP]

I suppose keeping the vehicle for many years is the best way to mitigate the depreciation, although that brings in other potential costs with repair etc etc.

It's also not as much fun as having a new car.

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[rayaans]

you did get a good deal but unfortunately you cannot escape depreciation in the Lexus. Lexus Sidcup have a Sept 2012 F Sport RX with 13k miles up for £37,000. Therefore you could say you have only lost £6,000 from where you were in Nov 2012 but that rate will probably continue for some time and you still have the £2k-3k trade-in difference to take into account as well. This is on the RX which is the best Lexus model for depreciation.

But I certainly agree purchasing new is a bit of a mugs game. I wouldn't want to be the person who paid £53k for an RX only to be offered around £33k as a trade-in two years later.

The IS will certainly drop £15k in three years. I've been watching IS F Sports going for under £30k where the list price would be around £38k with the options included. Combine that £8k with £2k trade-in difference, £10k in less than a year. I can certainly see another £5k drop over the next two years.

Although if you come to think of it, they were all ex-demo's so no one actually paid the £38k in the first place. Ive seen that the dealers tend to put their demo's at lower prices than cars owned by actual people. It may be to do with covering about 2k miles a month which is double the average.

I said £43k without discounts, ended up actually paying £42k so I guess I lost about £5k in 2 years which isnt too bad. My dealer actually requested to buy my car off me because they were running short on RX F Sport stock when I went in for a service. He was offering £37,250. I asked him how much he would be selling for and he said he could easily shift it in a month for £39-40k. I think the price of a vehicle also depends on the location and the dealer. Dealers offer a higher price if they know they can sell it for a higher price and if its quick to sell.

[Martin F]

Well looks like this offer managed to hook me :D

Test drove a hybrid and petrol IS on Sunday and was pleasantly surprised by the hybrid and should be collecting an F-sport version on Saturday (they need to complete the sale by the end of June). The depreciation is always a big concern on buying new or from dealerships in general and the trade in price they gave on my GT86 was a stark reminder of this but I did get a reasonable part-ex price. The 6k off the new one(well technically pre-registered but it didn't have a plate by Tuesday this week) and 2.8% APR should help mitigate some of the impact of depreciation for me.

A pic snapped of it the other night.

[DJP]

Welcome to the club Martin!

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