Bought 09 RX 350. Found scary service record. Please help decode.
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Bought 09 RX 350. Found scary service record. Please help decode.
Hello, first time Lexus owner here.
I recently purchased a relatively low mileage (63K) 2009 RX 350. One owner, clean title and carfax. Car appeared to be in generally good condition.
Today I registered the car on lexus.com and found that I could see its previous service records at a local Lexus dealer. Glancing through the list, most were routing maintenance stuff such as air/AC filters. However, this one item caught my attention:
Dealer Reported 08/31/2013 Mileage 50592
SUSPNSN L.ARM 1 - SD W/O B.JNT - RIGHT REAR END LINK TRAILING ARM IS BENT, THE MAIN BODY SUPPORT IS TORN AND BENT AS WELL. RIGHT SIDE PARKIG BRAKE CABLE IS CUT AND BENT ALSO - THIS WILL NEED BODY WORK, NEEDS TO GO TO CAVINS
Can someone please help me understand this repair better? Is this something major that I should be concerned about? Does this sound like an accident?
Thanks!
I recently purchased a relatively low mileage (63K) 2009 RX 350. One owner, clean title and carfax. Car appeared to be in generally good condition.
Today I registered the car on lexus.com and found that I could see its previous service records at a local Lexus dealer. Glancing through the list, most were routing maintenance stuff such as air/AC filters. However, this one item caught my attention:
Dealer Reported 08/31/2013 Mileage 50592
SUSPNSN L.ARM 1 - SD W/O B.JNT - RIGHT REAR END LINK TRAILING ARM IS BENT, THE MAIN BODY SUPPORT IS TORN AND BENT AS WELL. RIGHT SIDE PARKIG BRAKE CABLE IS CUT AND BENT ALSO - THIS WILL NEED BODY WORK, NEEDS TO GO TO CAVINS
Can someone please help me understand this repair better? Is this something major that I should be concerned about? Does this sound like an accident?
Thanks!
#2
Welcome to the forum Startover9
It means you can't trust CarFax. Many body shops don't report data to CarFax. Your vehicle was in an accident and repaired.
If you bought the vehicle from a Lexus dealership, you might bring it there and ask them to thoroughly inspect that area and ask them why they did not disclose this info as it was part of their records and would be of interest to a buyer. Most used cars sales are on an "as is" basis so it is up to the buyer to do the investigation and ask the pertinent questions, i.e. "was this vehicle in any accidents?". Prior to purchasing a used Lexus you might have entered the Vehicle ID into the Lexus site to pull the service records.
IMO, this doesn't sound like a major accident and if the car was repaired properly you should have no concern.
Again, welcome to the forum.
It means you can't trust CarFax. Many body shops don't report data to CarFax. Your vehicle was in an accident and repaired.
If you bought the vehicle from a Lexus dealership, you might bring it there and ask them to thoroughly inspect that area and ask them why they did not disclose this info as it was part of their records and would be of interest to a buyer. Most used cars sales are on an "as is" basis so it is up to the buyer to do the investigation and ask the pertinent questions, i.e. "was this vehicle in any accidents?". Prior to purchasing a used Lexus you might have entered the Vehicle ID into the Lexus site to pull the service records.
IMO, this doesn't sound like a major accident and if the car was repaired properly you should have no concern.
Again, welcome to the forum.
Last edited by jfelbab; 02-14-15 at 07:50 AM.
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Welcome to the forum Startover9
It means you can't trust CarFax. Many body shops don't report data to CarFax. Your vehicle was in an accident and repaired. I'd have that repaired area inspected but this doesn't sound like a major issue. If the repair was done properly, you should have no problems.
If you bought the vehicle from a Lexus dealership, you might bring it there and ask them to thoroughly inspect that area and ask them why they did not disclose this info as it was part of their records.
But again, if the car was repaired properly you should have no concern, IMO.
It means you can't trust CarFax. Many body shops don't report data to CarFax. Your vehicle was in an accident and repaired. I'd have that repaired area inspected but this doesn't sound like a major issue. If the repair was done properly, you should have no problems.
If you bought the vehicle from a Lexus dealership, you might bring it there and ask them to thoroughly inspect that area and ask them why they did not disclose this info as it was part of their records.
But again, if the car was repaired properly you should have no concern, IMO.
Also, based on the description of what was broken/bent, it sounded to me more like someone drove (or maybe backed) OVER something. Either way, probably a non-issue. Let us know?
#5
I would take the car to get alignment to be sure there are no issues with the 4 wheel alignment.
If alignment can't be performed to specs means there is something wrong with the frame or suspension components.
If alignment can't be performed to specs means there is something wrong with the frame or suspension components.
Last edited by robbyk; 02-14-15 at 08:17 AM.
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Thanks for your responses. I will definitely have my mechanic take a look there. What sounds a little scary to me was the "body torn/bent" and "body repair". Does this part of "body" most likely refer to the area in the bottom suspension? As far as I can tell the car's main body (panels etc) doesn't seem to have any signs of accidents/repainting.
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Also, can someone kindly help me translate this abbreviated part into full words and maybe phrase it such that it's easier to understand? Asking this because my mechanic isn't a native speaker and may have a little trouble understanding all the abbreviations. I want to help him pinpoint the exact area that needs to be checked. Thanks again.
"SUSPNSN L.ARM 1 - SD W/O B.JNT"
"SUSPNSN L.ARM 1 - SD W/O B.JNT"
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#8
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Also, can someone kindly help me translate this abbreviated part into full words and maybe phrase it such that it's easier to understand? Asking this because my mechanic isn't a native speaker and may have a little trouble understanding all the abbreviations. I want to help him pinpoint the exact area that needs to be checked. Thanks again.
"SUSPNSN L.ARM 1 - SD W/O B.JNT"
"SUSPNSN L.ARM 1 - SD W/O B.JNT"
#9
Also, can someone kindly help me translate this abbreviated part into full words and maybe phrase it such that it's easier to understand? Asking this because my mechanic isn't a native speaker and may have a little trouble understanding all the abbreviations. I want to help him pinpoint the exact area that needs to be checked. Thanks again.
"SUSPNSN L.ARM 1 - SD W/O B.JNT"
"SUSPNSN L.ARM 1 - SD W/O B.JNT"
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I'd be more concerned about " main body support is torn...." if it means the chassis, it entails
major and skillful repair. If not done right, you may be driving straight but the body of the
vehicle is facing somewhere. Good luck.
major and skillful repair. If not done right, you may be driving straight but the body of the
vehicle is facing somewhere. Good luck.
#12
If you used Carfax to buy the car, you need to check the fine print. You may be entitled to $$$, possibly Carfax buying the car back.
On the other hand, we tend to freak out today when we see "accident" in the carfax report. Only a few years ago, cars that were totaled were repaired and sold as low mileage beauties and many were very happy with these cars. I worked in a shop on weekends that rebuilt cars. They knew what they were doing and built some beautiful cars with frames that were more "straight" than new cars. It's actually scary how many new cars back in the 80s had frames that needed correction. So I would have your car checked out and if it's straight, just drive it and enjoy it. If not, take action with Carfax.
On the other hand, we tend to freak out today when we see "accident" in the carfax report. Only a few years ago, cars that were totaled were repaired and sold as low mileage beauties and many were very happy with these cars. I worked in a shop on weekends that rebuilt cars. They knew what they were doing and built some beautiful cars with frames that were more "straight" than new cars. It's actually scary how many new cars back in the 80s had frames that needed correction. So I would have your car checked out and if it's straight, just drive it and enjoy it. If not, take action with Carfax.
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I believe Carfax's buyback guarantee only applies to title related issues, which is rare.
I did have my car inspected at a dealership and all came out clear. The SA said the rear suspension looked to be all original and he could not tell if it's ever been repaired at all. So all is good.
Thanks for all the advice!
I did have my car inspected at a dealership and all came out clear. The SA said the rear suspension looked to be all original and he could not tell if it's ever been repaired at all. So all is good.
Thanks for all the advice!
#14
As somebody once said. Carfax isn't worth the paper it's written on...Where ever you bought the auto from should wear some of the responsibility unless the repair job was done so well you couldn't tell. If that is the case, let it go.Jamie
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