dvdchance

Take a look at the doors on this car. Do they look odd.

The drivers side front door looks like a replacement because the bottom looks very mismatched and it appears to have some molding around the edges.. But what about the passenger side back door, it looks like it has the same molding around the edges doesn't it?

Did any ES300 doors ever come with any edge molding?

PFB

That door molding was put on by a previous owner, to protect the edge of he door. It comes right out.

The bottom cladding of driver's side doors seems to be a different Colors, but it could just be the picture, or it could have been changed. No big deal.

How come you are just noticing it now? How long have you had the car?

Phil

OceanView

edge molding was not included.
I think the previous owners put that on themselves.
The bottom cladding color looks different on the left rear door.
They must have put on a different one due to damage or loss.

PuReChaos

If you wanted to verify, I'm not sure if Lexus did this back in 97, but I know the newer models have the VIN printed almost everywhere on the body of the car. You could check along the door to see if the VIN was printed and then compare it to yours. The cladding on the drivers side door seems to match better with the back of the car to me than the rear driver side door. I wouldn't worry too much about it, the areas you would want to worry about more are the front of the car crumple zone and the rear, but if there are no bigger than normal gaps between the fender and hood or trunk and rear fenders then your probably fine.

dvdchance

Wow thanks for the quick replies.

It's not my car but one I'm thinking of maybe buying. Or at least looking into. I just happened to notice the door issues and it put up a quick red flag.

While you looking give me an opinion here, the seller says new timing belt and water pump, 178,000 miles asking $2900. Would you say worth looking further into?

Thanks for reading.

PDXLex

Definitely looks like that door and/or the grey moulding below was replaced at some point or the lighting is doing some tricky things. I would probably walk away from that without knowing more of the history on what happened.

speedkar9

From the pictures, I would blindly guess that this car was hit in the vicinity of the left rear quarter panel / door area. The rear door cladding is a different color than the rest of the cladding, the chrome molding is missing, the paint is slightly hazy compared to the right side of the car, the left tail light's red colors don't match the red lights on the trunk lid and the left rear window doesn't have tint where the right side does. Better pictures are needed to confirm this.

If the door was damaged to the point where it needed to be replaced, there might have been some structural damage to the vehicle. If it was merely surface damage, a competent body shop would have opted to replace the door skin.

Things to look out for in that area is the left rear shock tower and control arms. A slight misalignment could cause you to wear out tires no matter how many times you do an alignment. Have a look at the tire wear, and open up the carpeting in the trunk for obvious signs of repair.

If the work isn't documented (i.e. no carfax / police report, or before/after pictures), I would stay clear of this car. If however it was a minor repair (<$2000 damage?), I'd consider offering $2000 for it if everything else checks out okay.

OceanView

I would try to negotiate a better deal but for $2900 what do you really expect?
As long as the engine is in good condition and you don't notice any real issues it's really not a big deal.