Corporate Fleet Vehicle - Read on....

Test drove the car tonight. 2010 with 29,000 miles, black on black. It has the Mark Levingson Stereo, backup camera, rear parking sensors and radar guided cruise control.


In all honesty, I did not feel much of a difference in the ride/suspension of this car vs. the 2011, but perhaps I did not spend enough time in either car.

This is a private dealer and they don't get the car's inspected. They buy cars directly from Lexus Corporate and sell them to the general public.

I spent 20 minutes looking over things and this car is about a 9 out of 10 to me.

The paint is in very good shape, there are only minor rock chips up front and some scratches that I can buff out. I'm sure I can make this car look like 9.5/10. Anything beyond that from what I saw, would require paint/body work, so I'm not sure I would want to go that route, although I have a relationship with a great body-shop.

The tires look new.

The interior is black and I would rate it at 8.8/10, some very minor blemishes that would require some parts to be replaced (gauge cluster cover for example)

2 out of the 4 wheels have some curb rush, but the dealer says he has a guy who will fix that at no charge.

I checked the fluids and everything seemed very clean.

Onto the test drive, was handed the keys and was told to "have at it".

Car is very fast as expected, and definitely got a LOT of looks during rush hour traffic. The dealer even offered me to take it home for 24 hours and take it to the inspection, but I just can't get passed paying $150 to inspect the car that I don't own. (catch 22)

We haven't even talked #'s or about my trade.

At this point I'm sort of un-decided, more like 50/50 on this car vs. waiting who knows how long for a 2011.

Let me know what you think.

This is mostly just my 2 cents.

If I were in your position, take your chances waiting until fall and see what incentives they put on the 2012 inventory. The vehicle won't be discounted much, but the borrowing rates are generally good with a security deposit.

I'm not sure if you can get the consumer reports car report, but in Canada it breaks down all the dealer incentives and rebates on the vehicle and what the dealer price vs MSRP on the vehicle and option packages. It was $40 or so for 3 car reports and it did help a bit understanding which dealers were honest in their pricing and sales schemes. I ended up doing the report a couple times on the F to see what incentives are rebates were going on month to month before I bought the car.

I'm not sure the 2014 is worth waiting for (and at the rate you are going you will never get a car haha). It is a long way off and the first model year isn't something I'd be interested buying. The current F with all the changes is a very solid car and you will get favorable borrowing rates on it. Drive it for 3 years then get a 2015 IS-F.