I keep my cars for a long time and always bought them used from private party. Now for the first time in my life I plan to order and buy a new vehicle (a Lexus ES350) from the dealer. I will get some financing via my Credit Union.
A twist: I plan to order the final model year of the ES (2024 model year) so I will have to wait till later 2023.
Question: Before I go to the dealer to order, what are the key things I need to know so the process goes smoothly?
Also adding @FJCruiser2014
Squeeze them. And make sure they follow through on their promises. Make sure the car has ALL it’s pieces. Sometimes they like to steal them out and put them in other cars to please customers.
Don't believe anything the dealer tells you unless it's in writing and even then don't believe it. A warranty will say something like "power train covered for 100K miles." Then you find out later that rear drive shaft isn't considered (by them) to be part of the drive train. Or they will say a certain part is warranted but the "design" of the part is not. Either way, you'll get screwed. When the car makes expensive sounding noises and you take it back to them, they all of a sudden become deaf and can't replicate the sound. Caveat Emptor!
It depends on how the car market will be in 2023, but if units stay limited like now then it will be a sellers market so it would make it harder to buy a new car from a dealership.
What you do is start by calling different dealerships in your area (and you shouldn't give up no matter how many of them you have to contact) until you find one willing to sell at msrp without dealership additional stuff (I wouldn't pay more than that for a car unless it's something really special). In this market your best bet at buying one like this is to find the dealership that has an incoming allocation for the vehicle you want, negotiate the price, and get a detailed signed sales order indicating car price is msrp plus tittle, registration, taxes, and if you are buying any additional items/accessories.
Many times dealerships won't give you a price over the phone or even email and that's fine; go in person but be prepared to leave if you realize they are doing market adjustments or other types of nonsense. The idea behind going in person is that it shows them you are a more serious customer than just calling over the phone and trying to get a price.
With your particular situation the 2024 model isn't even ready for ordering by dealerships and definitely no pricing information or anything else is available. If you have to have this exact car what I suggest is start looking for it starting spring of 2023 and when you find the dealership you want to work with get the paperwork done (sales order) and wait for it to be built and arrive.
Hope this helps and let me know if you have any further questions.
Try to negotiate everything before doing the paperwork. They try to add some last minute additional stuff while you are doing the paperwork.
Use your credit union as leverage.
If anything is over MSRP, walk away.
I don't know if Lexus is the same as Toyota, though I suspect they are. Toyota does not take factory orders, but sends a predetermined allocation to each dealer according to internal metrics. Sometimes a dealer can get what you want, sometimes they can't. So be prepared to travel a bit to get what you want.
I agree with @fjcruiser2014 that you may have to look around to find a dealer that doesn't add a "market adjustment".
Also, you may have to give a deposit, but verify in writing that it is FULLY REFUNDABLE. I gave a deposit to a dealer this year that told me they don't add a market adjustment, only to find out later they have a mandatory "pain protection package" or some similar nonsense. I eventually found a better deal elsewhere and it took 3 months to get my deposit back.
Totally correct about the deposit and making sure it refundable. I suggest using a credit card for the deposit; this is what I have been doing (and luckily none of the dealerships charged a fee for using a credit card).
