gt1209

Before I bought my RX 350, I considered Acura RDX and RX 400h. I posted a near-buy experience on one RX 400h here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hyb...need-help.html

After the above RX 400h deal fall through (thank God), I decided to up the ante and get an 09 RX 350 with less than 40,000 miles on it. I had no luck find one near my city with my budget. The reason why I did it is because we usually pay $2k - $5k more for these kind of vehicles in the Midwest than the East/West Coast and Texas/Florida. (I don't know why)

So I went to cars.com and set the distance to "all", and I found a used 2009 RX 350 with 20,500 miles on it in New York. I live in Kansas and bought the vehicle from New York. After reading some horror stories on vehicle shipping experiences, I considered fly out to NY and drive it back home. But in the end I decided to gamble on a shipping broker for $900 instead. My wife was worried when the driver didn't show up on the proposed pick up date. I calmed her down and the driver picked up the vehicle 2 days after the scheduled pick up date, and delivered the vehicle to me 2 days after that, which I was pleasantly surprised. My expectation was low after reading those horror stories online... Anyway, the vehicle was in a great shape when I got it, and I got to chat with the driver and found out that he also lives around my area. Again, I knew the risks, I took the gamble, and it paid off this time.

Now, back to the vehicle.

The bad:

1. Tire pressure monitoring system light is on. I checked all 5 tires and they're all between 30 - 34 psi. I'm going to take it to the dealership to check on Monday.
2. Did a car wash after reading some horror stories here. Saw the condensation on the right headlamp. Will talk to the dealership about the technical service bulletin as my VIN fall within the range that's qualified for replacement. I'm glad my 95 Avalon doesn't have this problem.
3. Vehicle failed NY inspection. I'll try to have the dealership here pull the code for me to see if anything is wrong. My guess is that it failed the emission test.

The good:

I didn't expect the vehicle to have Xenon and AFS. I got the vehicle a week ago and just found out about this last night. This is a huge plus


Pictures from the dealership:

Rainbird

Congratulations on the purchase. As a 2009 the in service date is most likely sometime in 2008 (maybe even early 2008). This is important since the Lexus factory warranty is 4 years or 50k miles whatever occurs first. Register the vehicle at the Lexus website below to view the service history of the vehicle and the date it entered service. Get this in to the dealership ASAP, all this should be covered under warranty. Let us know how this turns out.

https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/home

jgr7

iTrader: (1)

Is there a TSB for the headlight condensation?

MC5Wes

Congrats on the new Lexus.

First thing to do is get some stuff from Home Depot and cover up the A/C Compressor.

Carver

Very glad it worked out for you, beautiful car!

gt1209

Rainbird:

I appreciate the heads up! I registered prior to the sale to check on its maintenance history. However, I didn't pay attention to the in-service date at the time. I just checked and it's 11/26/2008. It looks like I have a little under 8 months of basic warranty. Wo-hoo! (will get my vehicle into the dealership next Monday)

jgr7:

The TSB for headlamp condensation is here: http://st.club-lexus.ru/files/l_sb_0008_10_153.pdf

I checked my VIN # on page 1 of the pdf, and it's before they made the production change, so I should be covered. The catch here for others is that the vehicle must still have the factory warranty. (4 years/50k miles)

MC5Wes,

I'm not aware of the A/C Compressor problem. Could you point me to a thread regarding to this issue?

Carver,

Thanks!

1koolfella

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for posting this TSB, I'm going to check with my dealership as well because from time to time I see it on the inside of my headlights.

Best of luck with you new purchase from Queens, NY.

mandyfig

Welcome to the CL.

The 1st pic looks like a photoshoppe, LOL. But the unit looks good, congrats.

Bring you car in to the dealer, you are well under warranty.

Good luck and enjoy your RX350.

gt1209

Yes the first one was edited by the dealership. I was too lazy to take pictures so I thought I'd provide one exterior picture to show the exterior color.



So what's the ac compressor cover? I did a search and found threads regarding to white flakes/dust but it seems like the whole evaporator needs to be replaced... can someone point me to the right direction for the reason behind compressor cover?

dandg

Looks like a real clean RX, congrats ! I have been toying with buying a Lexus (GX) from a distance and using a shipper pleased your experience worked out so well.
How would you rate that dealer for buying from internet/phone ?

thanks

DavidTB

I think he's talking about the fact that the A/C compressor is behind a big opening in the lower front bumper. Rocks have damaged a few members A/C compressors. An EZ fix is to fasten gutter guard with zip ties in the opening. It's here on the forum somewhere.

RX330inFL

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ification.html

lamar411

Congrats on the new ride. I've always been wary of shipping cars.

gt1209

I thought the experience wasn't too bad. Again, I didn't have a high expectation since it was my first time of buying a vehicle via internet/phone. It was the only way for me to save money.

So the process went like this:

I e-mailed them asking for Carfax and Autocheck. Talked to a salesman over the phone and was confused about an additional fee ($995?) on top of their online advertisement price. I don't remember the name of the fee but it was for repair/maintenance items for every used Lexus that they put on sale. I didn't really believe their excuse so I asked for the receipt of the work that they have done to the vehicle, and it turned out to be around $600 worth of work. So after a negotiation round with another salesman, we agreed on a price. It took around 5 days for them to clear the check from my credit union. Overall it took a lot of time and effort. But if I could save $2k plus then I'd do it again.

Big help, thanks!

I appreciate it!

Yeah I don't know if I'll do it again. It was a gamble after all. I'll probably just pick up the vehicle myself next time if I buy one out of state.