mstrsltr

Hi!

I was hoping one of you out there could give me a hand and search the Lexus Owner's website to help me track down what, if any, service a used GX has had. I've tried to register on the owner's page several times over the last few days and it keeps telling me the "server is not available" when I try to submit my registration.

The Carfax literally has ONE solitary registration event back when the car was purchased in 2007. It's actually kind of impressive to see...

And then not a SINGLE service reported. There are only two events:

When the vehicle was purchased, and when it was offered for sale by the dealer... which happens to be a LEXUS dealer, who claims they can't give me more detailed records than they already have.

One theory I have is that it was bought and then shipped immediately out of the country for the last 8 years, and then shipped back and traded in.

At this point, I'm just curious, as the shadiness factor of this is super high. To think that an actual Lexus dealer (one the most prestigious and awarded dealers in the country no less) would even try and sell a vehicle like this is astounding. You'd think they'd auction it as quickly as possible because it smells fishy from a mile away.

Anyways, if a charitable soul out there has access to the owner's page, and would like to help me satisfy my curiosity, please PM me and I'll give you the VIN.

If for some reason this sales person is just a lazy idiot and the car actually checks out, I might still buy it, so I don't wanna disclose the VIN (or the dealer) publicly just yet! Low mile GX's are hard enough to find as it is, without any more competition! Ha!

Thanks!

mstrsltr

Okay, so in case anyone cares... At this point I am spooked enough by this GX to forget it and move on.

The dealer in question is Longo Lexus in El Monte, Southern California. They are one of the premier dealers in the U.S. apparently. Which in my opinion makes all this even more odd. Check out the Carfax attached.

And their internet sales guy has been SUPER shady about trying to help me learn more about the car.

I even did a NMVTIS and the car basically hasn't existed, at least not in the States, for the last 9 years.

Back to my earlier theory about it having been exported to another country and then re-imported, after some research, there's ZERO chance of the car getting back into the country without it being immediately registered.

So riddle me this... how does a car run for 75,000 miles and 9 years and NEVER show up on anyone's radar? Like I said, there are two events recorded to the car. it was registered back in 2007 in Southern California when purchased, and then one report 7 YEARS later @ 68k when it passed smog in California. Other than those two events, it has not had a single update (registration, service, title change) reported to its VIN!

Perhaps it was owned by the Secret Service! Or the NSA! Or the Knights Templar! Or JFK!!!

Seriously though... how could this happen?

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

Some people just run dealer tags on their cars..... so it would never come up as a registered vehicle.

Maybe someone in the dealership used it or some bodyshop/performance shop with a dealer license used it as a personal car but ran the dealer tags on it... pretty common if you got a dealer license. See it here all the time.

And if the services were done off the books, they would not be recorded under teh carfax, even if someone at a Lexus/Toyota dealership or a comparable large dealership just did the work themself or paid the mechanics tehre to do it after hours, it would not be recorded officially.

mstrsltr

Thanks for your reply!

Ok... let's assume it's nothing nefarious for a moment, and that some well-healed dealer just wanted to borrow a GX from his dealership.

1.) How many dealers (salesman, managers, etc.) have you known to ever keep a car for more than a couple years? These people change their cars like underwear.

2.) Why on Earth would this person try and hide the service records? Particularly if the services were performed at that dealership?

3.) What incentive does this particular Lexus dealer (Longo Lexus) have in keeping this hidden? Why not simply explain this as being the case?

Or perhaps I'm misinterpreting you here and you mean to say that a dealer may have purchased this car for themselves, kept dealer tags on it for NINE years straight, AND paid someone under the table at a Lexus service facility to service it, all the while ensuring that service records were never created? I'm not disputing the possibility of this occuring. But I am disputing the sheer length of time that this could plausibly go on for.

And why was this theoretical person able to avoid Smog testing for so long, only to have it tested, but not have to register it?

Or do dealer tags really allow that level of invisibility for so long? And would a dealer ever want to tie up their tags on one vehicle for 9 years?

Inquiring Minds Want To Know!!!

chiph9

No paper records, no dealer records, no state records. Run far away.

Chip H.

tomtbone

I added the vehicle to my lexus account and the last thing I see done was the 5000 mile service. Here is the entire service. If you are searching for a gx470, sign up for a lexus account. secure.drivers.lexus.com. You can add as many vehicles as you want and see the entire history. I actually use it for my own maintenance records now as I can input data into the system.

5343 MILES

DATE: 07/07/2008


REPAIR# 0386550
REPORTED BY: Lexus of Westminster
SERVICE: COMPLETED 5,000 MILE SERVICE
DESCRIPTION: COMPLETED 5,000 MILE SERVICE ~ ~5K INSPECTION-WARRANTY-6 CYLINDER MODELS,CHANGE ENGINE OIL AND FILTER,CHECK AND CORRECT FLUIDS,ROTATE TIRES AND SET TIRE PRESSURE TO 32PSI.,INSPECT EXHAUST,DRIVE AXLE BOOTS,STEERING AND SUSPENSION,INSPECT BRAKES,ROAD TEST,WASH CAR. ~ ~REQUESTED SERVICE. ~ ~COMPLETED SERVICE. FRT BRAKES 9.0MM AND REAR 9.0MM REMAINING. ESTIMATE TO REMOVE DENT FROM RIGHT FRT DOOR - WE WILL ATTEMP TO PERFORM PAINTLESS DENT- THIS SHOULD BE AROUNG $300.00- IF THIS IS NOT POSSIB LE, THEN A BODY SHOP ESTIMATE IS IN ORDER.

1258 MILES

DATE: 02/29/2008


REPAIR# 0375077
REPORTED BY: Lexus of Westminster
SERVICE: FIRST SERVICE - 30 DAYS OR 1,000 MILES*BODY/CHASSIS INSPECTION,CHECK FOR FLUID L
DESCRIPTION: FIRST SERVICE - 30 DAYS OR 1,000 MILES*BODY/CHASSIS INSPECTION,CHECK FOR FLUID L ~ ~FIRST SERVICE - 30 DAYS OR 1,000 MILES*BODY/CHASSIS INSPECTION,CHECK FOR FLUID LEAKS,ROAD TEST VEHICLE,PROGRAM LEXUS PERSONALIZED SETTINGS IF REQUESED (.4) ~ ~REQUESTED SERVICE ~ ~PERFORMED 30 DAY SERVICE.

15 MILES

DATE: 10/25/2007


REPAIR# 0361683
REPORTED BY: Lexus of Westminster
SERVICE: PRE-DELIVERY SERVICE INSPECTION
DESCRIPTION: PRE-DELIVERY SERVICE INSPECTION ~ ~PRE-DELIVERY SERVICE INSPECTION

BradTank

Not sure if I'm understanding correctly, but CarFax is not where you find service records. Once in a while someone will put that info in there like a timing belt job, but 99% of the time, no service records will be on there. It's not even really sold to be that, it's to show things like how many owners, accident history, if it has had a salvage title, etc. It's just a really basic title search and even then, don't expect it to always be complete.

And as far as the Lexus dealer not having records, the owner simply may have taken it in to an independent shop for routine maintenance like oil changes and never exercised the warranty. Lexus has a central database where you can check the VIN and if it's been to any dealer in the country, they should have a record of it.

I doubt there is a big conspiracy here like it's been shipped in and out of the country. I tend to think that would just be too much trouble for all that to get some crappy trade in value at a dealership. And a car exported out of the US probably would show up in a CarFax report. It's probably something as simple as an owner that lost the paperwork, happens all the time.

But if you get a bad feeling about it and the story, then simply don't buy it.

co4wheel

Lexus does not report to Carfax. Not for service. One owner, serviced at an independent shop would not really have anything on carfax

mstrsltr

I appreciate the input, but a couple things:

I've looked closely at literally hundreds of GX 470's over the last three months. And you're mistaken about Carfax, 99% of Carfax's DO SHOW services. And the majority of vehicles I've seen that have had timing belts changed DON'T actually have it on their report. I can post literally dozens of Carfax's that prove both of these things to be true. Not trying to be a d**k, but the interwebs don't need any more misinformation. So had to clear that up.

(CAVEAT: Carfax's from Texas don't show services, but do show registration & smog events, so SOME states may not report to Carfax)

But even if one doesn't show services, which I assure you WOULD be the exception, an owner losing paperwork doesn't absolve them from having to register the car. This too will absolutely show up on a Carfax. To my knowledge, there's nowhere in the country where you could drive without registration. So back to an earlier poster's comment, it was probably a dealer's car with dealer tags, thus allowing them to not have to ever register the vehicle.

If this were the case, I still find it odd, that an actual Lexus dealer wouldn't try to account for it in some way. We're not talking about Joe Schmo second hand car dealer here, it's one of the most decorated dealers in the U.S.

So maybe it IS a conspiracy!!! Duhn-duhn-duhhhhhhhnnnnn!!!

Again, completely UNTRUE (except perhaps in some states). I've found many Carfax's that have impeccable service records as reported BY Lexus. And I've found many with reports from independent shops.

BradTank

Most service events do not show up on CarFax. Period.

co4wheel

OK, MY LEXUS does not report to Carfax. I am pretty certain that not EVERY good indy shop reports to carfax either. So it is very possible to have a Lexus serviced car or a good indy serviced car with zero carfax notes for service. POSSIBLE.

I love the "Completely Untrue" "Except" remark. Hilarious.

Fact. Almost none of my Lexus Records were found on my Carfax. Multiple Lexus dealers in Texas did the work. Crappy work. But thats besides the point.

Coulter

The OP is confused about a lot of things.

Expecting Carfax to have maintenance and service like oil changes is like expecting a title search on you home to have the new garbage disposal you installed.
Some select dealerships may decide they want to upload that info as some sort of sales tool, but most car service shops DO NOT upload all service and maintenance to CarFax. In fact, it's a pretty extreme minority that put anything on there because what good does it do for them? It also could open them up to liability afterwards.

Finding a CarFax without maintenance history is perfectly normal. The car you were looking at was not kidnapped and taken overseas.

mstrsltr

You guys are cute... but obviously don't have a clue what you're talking about. I understand the impulse to hop on the internet and talk about things you don't actually understand, everyone does it every now and then. But in the hopes of edifying you, here are several examples that I just pulled off of Autotrader in the last THREE minutes.

These forums are meant to inform people, not mislead them.

EDIT: Nor were these Carfax's cherry picked. The TRUTH (unbeknownst to previous posters) is that the MAJORITY of Carfax's WILL include some sort of service history. The whole endeavor is based on that very fact. It's also apparent that SOME states will NOT have Carfax's that include service histories. So yes, the people in those States may think that Carfax's don't include service histories, but that's because they most likely haven't seen Carfax's from other States.

mstrsltr

I never ONCE claimed that Carfax is the end-all, be-all of researching a vehicle. And it's funny that people are trying to explain that to me, all the while not actually understanding what Carfax's are or what they do.

Coulter

Hey genius, what people were saying is usually service shops don't upload this to CarFax because they have no incentive to do so. How hard is that to understand?

If you know all of this, why are you coming here in panic that it doesn't have service records? You obviously have no idea or you wouldn't be asking.

Most places don't upload this information to CarFax. Some dealerships do.

Which theory makes more sense? That CarFax doesn't have all the service records is because the car has NEVER been serviced (not even an oil change) and/or shipped to the other side of the world? Or that not every service place uploads maintenance info to CarFax?

I really do wish the forum would start filtering the "should I buy this car?" type questions.