Question... Ordered A Rx400h

[JonathanIT]

Hello, I just came across this forum recently and decided to post some questions if anyone wants to help a newbie out...

I test drove the RX400h yesterday at Longo here in SoCal. It seems to be everything I was hoping for, I thought it was sensational! My sales guy offered us a Savannah Gold 400h he had coming next week but the buyer had to postpone his purchase (which I thought was nice, since we are not exactly next on the wait list). This car will mostly be for my Mom and she and I both preferred the Millenium Silver, so I called him today to pass on the gold one. :(

From our place on the waitlist he promised us a delivery date by this summer, maybe July. I don't mind the wait, but I had a question (since there was hardly any literature available yet). Does anyone know what the options/package list looks like for the RX400h? The salesguy told us that the ONLY option is the RSES (DVD player). Could this be true? Only one option? I just want to make sure that we don't miss out on anything important. I know the Navigation is standard (a must!) and I think the rear backup camera also... is Homelink included? Is there no "upgrade" to the stereo? It just seems strange to only have ONE option available.

BTW, does anybody have the factory DVD system? Do you like it? He tried to talk us into the dealer installed "headrest" DVD screens, but they are a little too "Pimp My Ride" for my taste. I prefer the idea of a factory installed system anyway. Does the flip-down screen interfere with the rear view mirror?

Also has anybody gotten any break in pricing? Did you have to pay a premium? He offered use straight sticker price, which seems reasonable, correct? I trust this guy pretty much, we bought an '02 LS430 from him, and he was referred by a friend of the family.

So far I told him that we will go with the Millenium Silver w/RSES. I can't wait! :)

[RX400hGirl]

Hello, I just came across this forum recently and decided to post some questions if anyone wants to help a newbie out...

From our place on the waitlist he promised us a delivery date by this summer, maybe July.  I don't mind the wait, but I had a question (since there was hardly any literature available yet).  Does anyone know what the options/package list looks like for the RX400h?  The salesguy told us that the ONLY option is the RSES (DVD player).  Could this be true?  Only one option?  I just want to make sure that we don't miss out on anything important.  I know the Navigation is standard (a must!) and I think the rear backup camera also... is Homelink included?  Is there no "upgrade" to the stereo?  It just seems strange to only have ONE option available.

BTW, does anybody have the factory DVD system?  Do you like it?  He tried to talk us into the dealer installed "headrest" DVD screens, but they are a little too "Pimp My Ride" for my taste.  I prefer the idea of a factory installed system anyway.  Does the flip-down screen interfere with the rear view mirror?

Also has anybody gotten any break in pricing?  Did you have to pay a premium?  He offered use straight sticker price, which seems reasonable, correct?  I trust this guy pretty much, we bought an '02 LS430 from him, and he was referred by a friend of the family.

So far I told him that we sill go with Millenium Silver w/RSES.  I can't wait!    :)

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Thre is some great info on the Lexus website where I'm sure you've been, and yes it is correct there are only 2 additional options for the 400h (and you can only choose one):

1. Mark Levinson sound system & Heated Seats

or

2. Read DVD Ent & Heated Seats

We went with the ML sound system and it is quite nice! I'm not an audiophile, but I do think it's a great sound system.

We payed sticker as well, so it sounds like everything is on the up and up with your dealer.

Congrats on your good fortune in getting one so soon!

[pinzabu]

Hi,

I am on the waiting list too, and unless I misunderstood something, you can order just the heated seats without the ML music system or the Rear DVD.

[patt]

The option thing on the RX400H is a little confusing.

The brochures list three options:

Heated seats,

Mark Levinson stereo,

Rear entertainment

But they are bundled into two option packages. One with all three and one with the heated seats and ML audio. All the RX400H's have one of the two option packages so the heated seats and ML audio are options in name only. The only true factory option is the rear entertainment.

Actually, from the Lexus site and what I've seen at dealers the RX 330 seems to also always have at least the lowest option package. That subset of options is always there so I guess these non-optional options are part of the way Lexus does things.

[JonathanIT]

Thanks for all the replies!

This had my worried:

Thre is some great info on the Lexus website where I'm sure you've been, and yes it is correct there are only 2 additional options for the 400h (and you can only choose one):

1. Mark Levinson sound system & Heated Seats

or

2. Read DVD Ent & Heated Seats

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But after I checked the website again, it looks like the Mark Levinson upgraded audio is included with the RSES DVD package. Whew! For a seconed I thought I was going to have to choose between the two!

Yeah, the option list is funky--I especially like the fact that when "building" your RX400h at the website, when you get to the four option packages... you HAVE to pick one! What if you don't want any of them, and just a standard model? I guess your SOL! :D I guess this is why my salesman told me that the Mark Levinson and heated seats are "included," you just can't get one without them!

So, I will double check again with my salesman tomorrow to make sure I got the right package with the Mark Levinson, DVD/RSES & heated seats. I do kind of like the fact that the option list is limited... it makes it much simpler.

The anticipation builds...

[ReXus]

In my area, there are no Levinsons available. Seems it goes by region or something. I would have preferred the upgraded audio, but the standard one isn't bad really.

[stiksandstones]

My wifes 400 was $50,800 (I think...I dont have sticker in front of me)-savannah gold. Our so cal dealer did put chrome wheels on it for a huge upcharge, she hated the wheels but they would not remove them-she bought anyway.

At the time of pick up, they were putting on some HIDEOUS step up tubes, I would call them running boards but they looked to be off a chevy monster truck, we begged to keep those off, after begging for 10 minutes they said ok, but the wheels gotta stay. They were also trying to add on the lojack, but we were walking out and they said "ok, just the wheels then"

All this to get the markup without adding markup...my wife was kinda *BLEEP*ed, but has wanted this car since news of its release and its her hard earned cash so choice was hers.

I am going to try and get money back now after news of the NO CUSTOM wheels email from corporate.

Anyway, we love the car...mileage is MUCH better than our 99 rx300 and more powerful and other cool stuff....sure we paid a premium, but I think buying the Hybrid is more about making a statement than anything else-telling our govt that we are willing to look at change.

over and out

[Husker4theSpurs]

It goes region by region as to how the cars are SENT OUT TO THE DEALER ... however if you are ordering the car, you should be able to pick the options you want on it without regard to how they're being sent out ... unless the dealer is basically "preferencing" one for you ... which means he'll request the colors you want on one that they'd already have coming in. That is not a true order.

Here they basically come in 2 packages ... everything but RSES (including ML stereo) and everything (including RSES).

[OKEH1]

My wifes 400 was $50,800 (I think...I dont have sticker in front of me)-savannah gold. Our so cal dealer did put chrome wheels on it for a huge upcharge, she hated the wheels but they would not remove them-she bought anyway.

At the time of pick up, they were putting on some HIDEOUS step up tubes, I would call them running boards but they looked to be off a chevy monster truck, we begged to keep those off, after begging for 10 minutes they said ok, but the wheels gotta stay. They were also trying to add on the lojack, but we were walking out and they said "ok, just the wheels then"

All this to get the markup without adding markup...my wife was kinda *BLEEP*ed, but has wanted this car since news of its release and its her hard earned cash so choice was hers.

I am going to try and get money back now after news of the NO CUSTOM wheels email from corporate.

Anyway, we love the car...mileage is MUCH better than our 99 rx300 and more powerful and other cool stuff....sure we paid a premium, but I think buying the Hybrid is more about making a statement than anything else-telling our govt that we are willing to look at change.

over and out

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I remeber seeing an e-amil from Toyota/Lexus re not changing the RX400 wheels from standard, maybe you should check and see if the dealer change was legitimate and not compromising warranty or safety.

[JonathanIT]

I remeber seeing an e-amil from Toyota/Lexus re not changing the RX400 wheels from standard, maybe you should check and see if the dealer change was legitimate and not compromising warranty or safety.

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See this line from his post:

I am going to try and get money back now after news of the NO CUSTOM wheels email from corporate

[ReXus]

I believe all Lexus dealers fear poor results on the post-purchase Lexus survey sent to all new owners. Bad survey results = bad relations with corporate.

No doubt, you have one of the worst Lexus dealers in the county if they treated so horribly, AND made your car unsafe in the process.

Let Lexus (Toyota) corporate know that, and send a photocopy of your survey to the General Manager (or owner) of the dealership. The squeaky wheel (in this case, quite literally) gets the grease.

Good luck.

[av8tr]

I believe all Lexus dealers fear poor results on the post-purchase Lexus survey sent to all new owners.  Bad survey results = bad relations with corporate. 

No doubt, you have one of the worst Lexus dealers in the county if they treated so horribly, AND made your car unsafe in the process. 

Let Lexus (Toyota) corporate know that, and send a photocopy of your survey to the General Manager (or owner) of the dealership.  The squeaky wheel (in this case, quite literally) gets the grease.

Good luck.

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I agree with letting corporate know. You will get a survey in a couple of weeks. Anything less than perfect gets them into hot water. My dealer was Longo Lexus here in So Cal and they were great. The wheels on the 400H are beautiful. I can't imagine changing them. I did change the ones on my RX330 that I traded in, but they came with unappealing wheels imho.

[marmadmax]

Stiks - If this is the way your Dealer treats a majority of its Lexus customers, it won't be under the same management for long. Your experience is not normal for Lexus customers, otherwise, Lexus would never have risen to current level of notariety. Our Dealer took a $1000 refundable deposit and wrote a contract with the sales price listed in the contact as sticker. When the time came to close the deal, there was never an attempt to sell us any extras, period. I am sorry you did not have a similar experience.

I agree, take this up with corporate.

[rocky2]

My wifes 400 was $50,800 (I think...I dont have sticker in front of me)-savannah gold. Our so cal dealer did put chrome wheels on it for a huge upcharge, she hated the wheels but they would not remove them-she bought anyway.

At the time of pick up, they were putting on some HIDEOUS step up tubes, I would call them running boards but they looked to be off a chevy monster truck, we begged to keep those off, after begging for 10 minutes they said ok, but the wheels gotta stay. They were also trying to add on the lojack, but we were walking out and they said "ok, just the wheels then"

All this to get the markup without adding markup...my wife was kinda *BLEEP*ed, but has wanted this car since news of its release and its her hard earned cash so choice was hers.

I am going to try and get money back now after news of the NO CUSTOM wheels email from corporate.

Anyway, we love the car...mileage is MUCH better than our 99 rx300 and more powerful and other cool stuff....sure we paid a premium, but I think buying the Hybrid is more about making a statement than anything else-telling our govt that we are willing to look at change.

over and out

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