Canadian Spec 08 Is 350 Luxury W/ Nav Pack.

[DEstiNy]

Hello everyone. It's great to know there is a forum that people can share different information about the same car!

I live in Vancouver, and I ordered an 08 IS 350 Luxury Package w/ Nav. And the car is now on its way to the dealer and it will take another 2 weeks or so to arrive ;D I'm so excited to have such a great car! I'm gonna be an official IS newb in 2 weeks!

Okay, here's my problem.

On the day I signed the contract, the dealer told me that this Luxury Package will include all the features that other packages have and as many of you are aware, Sport Package for a Canadian model includes Limited Slip Differential, Sport Tuned Suspension and Aluminum Sport Pedals.

I checked out the 08 IS brochure and the lexus.ca web site, and apparently both sources don't mention about LSD, Sport Suspension and the Aluminum Pedals being included as a part of Luxury Package.

Since it was the dealer who told me that it will have all the features, (and I have the printouts that he gave me on the pricing

schedule w/ options and it is indicated that the lux pack will include all the features of sports pack) I'm expecting to get every single thing that's on the paper.

To make sure that I have all the features, I was thinking about checking if the car has LSD, Sport Suspension, but the thing is..... How do I check if the car's equipped with such parts?!

Would anyone be able to help me on this?

1. A way to check the presence of LSD

2. A way to check the presence of Sport Sus

3. I think I can tell whether the car has aluminum pedals or not ;)

I'll hope there'll be some replies posted soon!

Thanks for reading guys! (and girls if there are any..)

[Gaugster]

Hello and Congratulations,

Did you place a special order for your car? If so then it would typically take many months for it to arrive. So when the dealer says ‘another 2 weeks’ don’t be surprised if it takes longer.

If you did place a special order then be careful. The dealers have cars coming from Japan every month. If is possible that they will try to sell you a similar car with similar features but not exactly what you wanted/ordered.

Not too sure where your information about the LSD is coming from. AFAIK, there are no options (Open, LSD, Posi) for the differential(s) in these cars. All of them, even AWD, have LSD – So I guess there is no need to worry about this.

The Sport and Luxury packages can be had with 18” rims. I think the easiest way to tell if you have the Sport Suspension package is to check for summer tires as opposed to all seasons. This would be my best guess.

I would go online and print out a list of all the options that you are expecting for both the Luxury and Sport Packages. Then confirm one by one on the actual vehicle before driving it off the lot. Typically the sales people don't know the details about the options. So if the see a car with 18" rims they assume that it is the full sport package when it may not be.

Good luck

[Knightshade]

The sports suspension is .5 inches lower in the front than the normal suspension, that's the easy way to check it

But I'd bet money your dealer was just a misinformed idiot and you won't get the things you think you will.

Regarding the LSD- US spec cars don't have real LSDs, they have sorta-LSDs.

I've heard rumors canadian sports package cars get "real" LSDs but haven't seen any proof personally... it's certainly possible though.

There's ways to tell if a car has an LSD, but nothing easy to do without jacking the car up, especially when it would otherwise have a sorta-LSD.

[DEstiNy]

Hello and Congratulations,

Did you place a special order for your car? If so then it would typically take many months for it to arrive. So when the dealer says ‘another 2 weeks’ don’t be surprised if it takes longer.

If you did place a special order then be careful. The dealers have cars coming from Japan every month. If is possible that they will try to sell you a similar car with similar features but not exactly what you wanted/ordered.

Not too sure where your information about the LSD is coming from. AFAIK, there are no options (Open, LSD, Posi) for the differential(s) in these cars. All of them, even AWD, have LSD – So I guess there is no need to worry about this.

The Sport and Luxury packages can be had with 18” rims. I think the easiest way to tell if you have the Sport Suspension package is to check for summer tires as opposed to all seasons. This would be my best guess.

I would go online and print out a list of all the options that you are expecting for both the Luxury and Sport Packages. Then confirm one by one on the actual vehicle before driving it off the lot. Typically the sales people don't know the details about the options. So if the see a car with 18" rims they assume that it is the full sport package when it may not be.

Good luck

Thanks for the reply. I'm getting the information (of having LSD) from the Lexus.ca Website.

Here's the link for it

http://www.lexus.ca/lexus/experience/en/ho...category=option

For sure, I'll check for summer tires when I get the car. ;D

and it sounds like to check whether LSD is present, I have to tear the car down. ;( too bad

Maybe the dealer would say that it was a misprint or something to cover his mistake up, but I won't let it go so easily.

In case, he does that, I'll be asking for more discount on the car since the options I'm getting are not the same as what he told me.

And I got a call from the dealer today, that the car will be ready for a pick-up in two days! I'm so excited! ;)

[DEstiNy]

The sports suspension is .5 inches lower in the front than the normal suspension, that's the easy way to check it

But I'd bet money your dealer was just a misinformed idiot and you won't get the things you think you will.

Regarding the LSD- US spec cars don't have real LSDs, they have sorta-LSDs.

I've heard rumors canadian sports package cars get "real" LSDs but haven't seen any proof personally... it's certainly possible though.

There's ways to tell if a car has an LSD, but nothing easy to do without jacking the car up, especially when it would otherwise have a sorta-LSD.

Thanks for the reply!

Oh...so the car equipped with sport suspension is lower than other is's with ordinary suspensions.

Thanks for the tip! I'll make sure to check whether my IS is lower than other IS's equipped with normal suspensions.

[DEstiNy]

And this brings up a question.

In case, the dealer was misinformed, I'm gonna have to ask for a discount for the parts that he said was gonna be included.

This might sound stupid but I'll ask anyways ;)

Do you guys know how much LSD and Sport Suspension cost?

[Knightshade]

I'm unsure the "real" LSD (if it exists) is available by itself... since I've never heard of anyone upgrade theirs (and no US cars get it so it'd be a nice upgrade for them)

The sport pedals are fairly cheap, hundred or two bucks...

Sport suspension I dunno anyone who has bought the parts after the fact since they usually just buy aftermarket at that point

Probably sewell lexus or one of the other dealers that sells to forum members at a discount could give you part #s and pricing on all that stuff though if you need it...

But if you have in writing that you get all that stuff you wouldn't care about the cost, dealership would need to eat that :)

[Gaugster]

And this brings up a question.

In case, the dealer was misinformed, I'm gonna have to ask for a discount for the parts that he said was gonna be included.

This might sound stupid but I'll ask anyways ;)

Do you guys know how much LSD and Sport Suspension cost?

You can use a source like Consummer Reports to find out the option costs for the vehicle both MSRP and dealer cost. It's not free though and you will need it soon to compare with the selling price that the dealer is asking. Below is the link to the Canadian version. I don't know if it will have the LSD information itemized.

http://crcanadacars.org/default.asp?EXTKEY=cana2CROAP

Regards,

[Knightshade]

That doesn't really work though, because none of those things are available as standalone options

They're parts of the sports package, but so are half a dozen other things that come in the lux package as well (the HIDs with AFS, rain sensing wipers, heated/cooled seats, memory system, auto dim/tilt mirrors, etc)

[Lex Law]

Make sure your contract or other writing ("We Owe") includes every feature/option you expect to be on the car. You need it in writing if you paid for it and expect to have a legal course of action to hold the dealer to his promise. Make the sales manager sign the form and get a copy before you leave the dealership. You can even refer to your list on the purchase agreement if you wish.

Document, document, document.

[DEstiNy]

Make sure your contract or other writing ("We Owe") includes every feature/option you expect to be on the car. You need it in writing if you paid for it and expect to have a legal course of action to hold the dealer to his promise. Make the sales manager sign the form and get a copy before you leave the dealership. You can even refer to your list on the purchase agreement if you wish.

Document, document, document.

Thanks a lot for your advice. I'll try to do my best.

[Lazar1389]

Well, I think you already said you had a "writing" of what the car came with. Essentially, if that is the case, you have a contract and if the dealership delivers anything but the EXACT car you had on paper, they would be in material breach of the contract.

You'd certainly be entitled to specific performance (meaning they'd have to get you the car they said they would - in a "reasonable" amount of time). Reasonableness is up for interpretation, but I would say anything inside of 90 days.