Utah Lexus Car Dealers

I purchased the following vehicle from Putnam Lexus , Redwood City, CA on 3-17-08 based on discussions on this board:Here is the info. Option MSRP Invoice ES350 $33720 29987 Rear Air bag 250 200 Bluetooth 300 240 Full size spare 205 164 Heated front seats 640 512 Premium Package (leather trim etc) 1280 1098 Wood/leather steering 330 264 Accessory package 197 160 Delivery 750 750 Total 37687 33390 (MSRP shown is from window sticker and Invoice from Edmunds) Amount paid : $32300 ( $1090 under invoice) plus Tax, license, fees, total OTD; $35332 (8.25% tax, vehicle license in CA) Color: Ruby Red Metallic: Dealer ordered the car from Southern CA and had it ready for us. Drove it from CA to UT (870 miles) , 30mpg, as measured from pump (not trip computer).Avg. speed 75mph plus bay area traffic. My previous posting regarding the CA sales tax is correct unless the vehicle is shiped on a truck out of state. In other words the vehicle cannot be driven out of the dealership not licensed or pay the tax .The trade off for me was the cost of shipment to UT vs, the diference in sales tax between CA and UT. The sales experience was excellent and I was impressed that they trucked the vehicle from southern CA. The vehicle had 15 miles on the odometer. I would definetely recommend this dealer, straight talk, no hassling.

I am facing with the same dilema.I live in UT and the Lexus dealer here will not budge.From reading the posts here , I found better offers from dealers in the Bay Area . Have not purchased yet but try Fremont Lexus and Putnam Lexus both in the Bay Area.Realize that you would have to license and pay the 8.25% tax in CA. I was told by many dealers in CA that you have to license the vehicle there and pay the tax.Your state will not charge additional tax when you register the vehicle in your state.I hope this helps in calculating your purchase price. I will post whenever i purchase the vehicle.

I am also in search of a GS350 AWD in Utah. In talking with a local saleman there were only a few minor changes to the "08" vs the "07". My understanding was the body style is not changing. The MSVP here in UT for a GS350 fully loaded including nav, vent seats, & upgraded steroeo system is close to $51,000. They are claiming the 2007 GS350 in AWD are tough to keep in stock. I've also read there are a few dealers in Portland and Seattle who have been great to work with on the price. I'm not sure if there will be a price change on the 08 model when it hits the market sometime in Sept or Oct.

"Too many consumers see AWD as a "snow thing", when in reality it is an excellent safety feature and great for rainy weather." I've driven many AWD,FWD and RWD cars and sport utes in all kinds of weather in the upper midwest. If I didn't expect to drive much in slippery conditions I don't think I would go for the AWD version. AWD requires additional maintenance and a potential expensive negative is the tires. To prevent damage to the system you must keep all tires identical. So, if you damage one tire you could be looking at replacing all 4. Also, remember that while providing excellent traction and "go power" when streets are slick, the AWD does nothing to slow you down. The VSC, Brake Assist, and VDIM systems are what prevent you from crashing into something. Those systems are available on non-AWD models. Good tires can also make a FWD or RWD car perform much better in slippery conditions. I know of several LS430 (RWD), SC430(RWD), and ES330(FWD) owners who just use snow tires or good "all-weather" tires and seem happy with the traction they need to negotiate winter in the "snow-belt". I currently drive the IS250AWD, and couldn't be happier, but if I lived in a southern climate, I think I would go for the rear-drive.

In Seattle we similarly have no available inventory and waiting lists are apparently still common. I sent emails to all of the dealers in the western states except for CA for obvious reasons for the purpose of finding one available, not so much for getting below msrp. I received a few auto response emails but only Lexus of Albuquerque responded that they thought they might have one or two that weren't already committed to someone. I called right away and made an msrp offer on one and before the salesman could get my offer in the RX sold to a buyer there in the dealership. He then investigated another one that they had and found that a buyer on their list was scheduled to come the next day to look at it but had not yet committed to buy it. It was the right color for us so I made an offer for it, secured it with a small credit card deposit and they sold it to me. We flew to Abq a few days later and drove it back to Seattle, making a family vacation out of it with stops in Santa Fe, Moab,UT and Twin Falls, Id on the way back. We love the RX-h and very much enjoyed the purchase and travel experience. What a great road trip vehicle. From SoCal, Abq should be an inexpensive flight and nice easy drive back. Try the Phoenix stores too as someone said the availability there was better but I received no responses from them other than auto ones. I called a few of the out of state dealers too and didn't rely on email only but email is actually what worked the best in finding the ones in Abq. I would be happy to share the contact information for the Abq dealer if you are interested. BTW, you may have to go further east (ie Texas as was noted) to get a "deal" on one currently. Good luck to you in the search.