yardie876

I'm possibly in the market for a 6ES soon and stumbled on one with the ultra luxury package. It was previously in an accident (or two) and according to its service history, there was frame/sub impact detected. The carfax shows no structural damage nor airbag deployment. Now I know the serious reservations with purchasing a car with a previous accident but this one seems like a good deal at only $21k with 40k miles. The power trunk, ML, and panoramic roof are drawing me in. Opinions?

ES350mark

Is the car being sold on a Salvage Title? Some Insurance Carriers will not cover you and you may not be able to get bank financing. Further, the Lexus warranty is probably negated. JMHO, but I would walk away.

LexBob2

I'd walk away too. Too many questions. There are quite a few ES350's out there. Maybe not at $21k. but there is a reason they are asking $21k. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Fillykonk

For my personal taste there are too many uncertainties associated to a car with the kind of damage you describe. I'm with ES350mark and would move on.

yardie876

No salvage title. I'm just wondering how bad the damage really is. But then again even a slightly tweaked frame can lead to hell down the road. I'm inclined to leave it and move on. It's interesting though, apparently my local Lexus dealership had possession of the car this month and that's when the damage was found. I guess they sent it off to auction shortly after. Gotta think this one through. Thanks guys.

lesz

It should be noted that we often have more confidence in Carfax reports than what is justified.

If a Carfax report shows a problem, it is likely real; however, if there is a problem, that problem will not necessarily make it to a Carfax report. Carfax reports only contain information if the shop reported it, and, as often as not, shops will not report to Carfax.

If the Lexus dealer decided to send the car to auction, instead of keeping it for their own lot, that would be another red flag. There is likely considerably more profit in the dealer keeping the car and selling it off of their own lot than there is in selling the car at auction.

Also, note that, even if you save some money by buying a car like this one, when it comes time to sell or trade that car, you are likely to lose most (or more) of what you saved because potential buyers or used car managers are going to have the same concerns that you are having now.

For me, it would not be a difficult decision to look elsewhere to buy a car.

azipod

There are too many good cars out there. Why buy a car when YOU KNOW it's been involved in an accident. Big or small, you won't really know unless you can do a thorough inspection or have access to the repair invoice. I would say you should pass on this car.

On another note, contrary to what another member has said, just because a dealership chooses to send a car to an auction does not necessarily mean the car is bad. Good cars go to the auction all the time. And vice versa, bad cars with accident histories make it to Lexus dealer lots too -- with some of them being CPOed!

rld14

That car is dirt cheap for an UL... And for a reason; it has frame damage.

I am a Lexus dealer, that car wouldn't go anywhere near my lot. $21,000 is well under wholesale but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was in a serious accident. Feel free to PM me the VIN and I can run the history for you.

We just had a beautiful 2014 GS F-Sport come off lease. Clean Carfax yadda yadda...

Last year we did close to $20K in repairs on that car including structural repairs and new airbags.

yardie876

Thanks again guys. I'll probably keep it moving. The ULs are so far and few in between.
PM sent. Thanks!

Oh wow $20k? And nothing in carfax... That's scary.

rld14

That's nothing. Anoher member on here PM'd me about a GS F-Sport out in Cali... same deal, was on a used car lot for like $31K or something when wholesale on a nice one is more than that.

Sure enough, clean Carfax, but ran at auction with frame/structural announcement and sold for mid 27s if I recall.

Correct. I pass on stuff all the time that's nice... right now, for example, I just don't need any more Black/Black 13 RXs... I have a few of them and they're easy to find and I just passed on a mint one with Nav and 28K.. I just have like 4 of them right now!

Also once a car breaks 60-70 days it's often off to wholesale.

As far as bad cars getting CPO'd, I see it a lot. I have wholesaled cars because of structural damage and seen them end up being sold as CPO cars.

yardie876

The minimal savings is probably not worth it. I'm moving on. I happened to be at Lexus yesterday and was looking at the '16 ES. Leasing one would put me roughly around a similar price as a preowned '13. They have a special currently for $329 + $3k down but that's for a base model. I want at least nav and the safety system which is going to drive the monthly price over $500. I'm torn.

rld14

It's also worth pointing out that, to be fair, this car isn't priced like a nice car.

$21,000 for a 2012 ES350 UL with 40K is VERY cheap much less a 6th gen!