Guy Legend

Perhaps someone can shed some light on this. But I'm in the market for a LS460 and went to check out a 2007 LS460 at our local dealership in central Missouri (larget dealer in town - sell new toyotas/mercedes/bmw/ford/etc....ie very reputable dealer network).

I looked on their website and found that the car was bought back as a "lemon" in California. At first I thought that it was specific to this car, but I looked at their other Lexus cars in stock and found that 10/11 preowned Lexus models (lots of IS 250/350's and a few RX's) were bought back as lemons in California. All the cars are 2007 or newer.

I'm thinking this was related to the recent class action lawsuit that took place in California. Were Cali owners eligible to give their cars back to Lexus by classifying them as a lemons? Does anyone know for sure? I find it hard to believe that every Lexus from Cali is a real lemon....

caddyowner

So this is not a Lexus dealer? What does the service history say on lexus.com for that VIN? Very strange. It would raise a big red flag for me about buying from that dealer - regardless of their reputation. I won't bother asking if the dealer has a plausible explanation, as that's their job to come up with good stories about bad cars.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

Well the fact that you can find out their lemon history on the dealers website says a lot about them. Should have been an easy call to them to find out why, I'm sure you wouldn't have been the first person to have done their homework. Would be interesting to hear their story behind the lemon grouping.

Guy Legend

Lexus is one of the few brands not available locally in my town. I have no question for the dealership network - they're well known and own most of dealerships in town. Checking out their used cars, everything has a great history except for all the Lexus cars. The Lexus cars all have clean titles - no other red flags...except that all of them were bought back/lemoned from California.....

Can you check the complete service history of a lexus car on their website if you aren't an owner?

Guy Legend

Yeah, they put every car's autocheck report on their website.

I went after hours yesterday, plan on going today and ask them what the deal is.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i wonder if all the lemon says CA because it's through lexus corp which is in torrance, CA. just thinking

I8ABMR

If they were bought back as a lemon then they may have been bought back secondary tor the well known wind noise issue. Who knows?..... Bottom line is that if I saw a car was going to buy was purchased as a "lemon" then there is no way in hell I woulf touch it. I am sure they will promise you the moon and stars and that they will promise everything is fine.

84Cressida

It's possible they bought them all from the same batch or auction that specializes in these types of cars. Probably just a freak coincidence.

LexFather

Lemon could be a trillion things too. Somebody with a great attorney can lemon a brand new LS 600h L if they felt the floor mats were too soft and it was a lemon. On the other hand it can be a Lexus that for whatever reason doesn't start. So it all depends. I am also assuming due to the recall mess, a lot of people got out of their Lexus as a lemon b/c Toyota/Lexus was doing everything to keep people happy no matter if it was just or not.

I mean if we break up the statistics it also depends on the sample, etc etc.

Any reasonable person knows every Lexus in Cali is not a lemon.

scgt652

I can't find any figures for lemon law buybacks in California. However, here is the list of buybacks in New Jersey. The number of BMWs on this list is ridiculous.

http://www.nj.gov/lps/ca/ocp/lemreport/lemonvin.pdf

kitlz

My old Ford is on page 34

Lemon law cases are public record, at least here in NJ. Might be worth investigating before jumping to any conclusions.

-J-P-L-

There's no such thing as a Lexus that's a lemon. A legitimate lemon anyway.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Could be a generic accounting term for any number of reasons by corporate. These may be company cars that were written off then reconditioned. Demo cars used by corporate for press, promotion, car shows...etc. If it does come up as a lemon buyback, they may have re-worked it, tested and sold off. The dealer is buying them as a bulk to get a good ROI hence why they had so many.

Better to check into service history to determine the condition and go from there. I'd consider a warranty/lemon buyback if they had re-worked it, offered appropriate warranty at a reduce price.

spwolf

soooo Many BMW's... and Subaru's.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

I bet it has more to do with CA lemon laws vs. MO law plus few local Lexus dealers. Toyota corporate has people in charge of selling cars including "slightly used", once they find a good buyer they become thier 1st call