Tempting...

SW03ES · May 17, 2006

He had an ES350 he "knew I'd be interested in". He also took the liberty of running me a lease and computing a general trade in range for mine. How thoughtful of him huh? LOL

Well, I popped down and saw it right after it had been sold to someone else LOL (this car is VERY popular here). His idea of my taste is a little off (UL package which I'd want, but Moon Shell Mica which is too Mary Kay for me). I did get to sit in the car with the grey interior though. The interior is MUCH more appealing in the grey than it was in the ivory, I'll have to see it in black (my favorite interior color) before I pass final judgement on it.

He did however pose a tempting structure. The lease is $595 a month (we'd need to work on that) for 36 months including my mileage needs. The trade he quoted me on mine was ~19k, which as he noted pays for almost the entire lease for the 36 months, pays for the entire lease if I put it in an appropriate money market account and make the payments out of that, plus I'd have the added benefit of getting the tax break I'd get for 2006 for the lease payments. Tempting. Had my fiance still been gainfully employed I probably would have put a deposit down on one and tried to get a Tungsten/Black or Smoky Granite/Black UL. Or at least tried to find one I could test drive lol

That brings up another interesting thing, I know we were talking about the apparent lack of the UL package on the Lexus site. Well, they're still getting them here...

amf1932 · May 17, 2006

Come on Steve, make the trade!!! You'll be blown away at the performance difference between the '03 and '07!!

I couldn't be happier, and I know you will be too. :)

I found out that the center bin DOES have a shelf, so I can put stuff in the bottom and top.

Secondly, I also found out that my car didn't come with the Radar Cruise control....just the regular cruise.

I spoke to the dealer about that and he told me that this accessory was a special order and no dealers have

them in any package. I don't know whether that's BS, but I was putting zip codes from all over the country

on the Lexus website and not one area offered this item! I'll live without it.......no big deal......but he told me

I had the top UL package. Strange???

SW03ES · May 17, 2006

For some reason the radar cruise is a rare option on all Lexus' that have it availiable. You rarely see an LS with it either. I'm thinking maybe their corporate lawyers haven't completely signed off on it yet.

I'm thinking about it. Oddly enough when I mentioned it to Carla she thinks its a good idea! She wants the cash I think so she doesn't have to go back to work right away ;) As I explained to her the cash would go into a money market account the lease payments would automatically debit from LOL

I think I'll at least wait until this summer though when the inventory gets a little bigger and I can get exactly what I want, maybe negotiate a little, and I'll be able to see the new LS and decide if I'm ready to commit to payments like that LOL If I do it I definately would want a Tungsten or Smokey Granite (i'm tired of dark colored care so probably tungsten) with a black interior with the UL package. Although I did see your color when I was over there Alan and I like it, a little too gold for me though.