diablo360

When I bought my 04 (40k miles) this past November I had asked the dealer to remove the CPO warranty and lower the price. The car had been previously certified however, and even has the CPO sticker above the vin sticker near the drivers side door. Anyways, I thought the car would not come with CPO and was fine with it. I even remember signing a document saying that the car was being sold without warranty, blah blah blah. Typical used car paperwork.....

Fast forward to today....... I come back from my holiday travels and check the mail only to find that I received a letter from Lexus thanking me for buying a CPO vehicle. The letter has 2 Lexus roadside assistance cards at the bottom with my vin # on them, and it also had my CPO agreement number and it had my vin # as well. It also says that I have CPO for 3 yrs or up to 100k miles from the date that I purchased the car (it listed the date I bought the car). So from all indications it looks like my car definitely has CPO linked to it. Could this be a mistake or did the dealer forget to de-certify it? The dealer I bought my car from is about 30 minutes from where I live, so I probably won't go back there for service. There is another dealer about 5 minutes from me. Now I have a letter showing I have CPO, am I wrong to assume that other dealers should honor it......?

What do you guys think? I paid $26k for the car, and they gave me a fair price for trade in. I'm thinking they might have just left it on..... Weird.....

VVTiBob

I say, Merry Christmas! And some say it better to give, than receive. LOL

Big Mack

iTrader: (1)

They probably needed the sale, so they lowered the price for a customer who was sitting with a pen in hand and had credit ready to go. Count your blessings, and Happy Nude Year!

Big Mack

TooCoolSC

When you told them you would prefer to pay less for the car and they could keep the CPO warranty, are you positive they lowered the price of the car from what they were previously asking for it? Generally, a CPO warranty will add about $3,000 to the price of the car, so that should have come directly off the agreed upon price.

You should be able to call someone with Lexus to verify if the CPO warranty is, in fact, in effect. You don't have to tell them the circumstances. Just tell them you wanted to make sure it's listed as a CPO car. Is there an 800 number included with the letter they sent you? I'd call it and find out. Actually, any Lexus dealer should be able to tell you if it's a CPO car. I don't know what they use to verify coverage. The VIN# maybe?

Hope you lucked out. Welcome to CL!

diablo360

Yes, the car was first listed at $31k, and then I talked them down to $26k without the CPO. It wasn't the greatest deal but it was the color combo I wanted and the car was a 1 owner trade in with a full service history, and it needed nothing. So yeah i'm pretty sure that was what they were going to do. They even offered to sell me an aftermarket extended warranty.....

I'm going to call Lexus tomorrow morning and ask them to confirm that it's a CPO car. Presumably it's linked to the vin #. Well, I already have a letter from Lexus saying that it's a CPO car, and I even have the CPO agreement #. In all likelihood the car is CPO'd. I'm just shocked.....

diablo360

I just called Lexus roadside assistance and they confirmed that the car was CPO

Sweet, now I can get those damn speakers fixed!

tromly

Wow, yours is a great story ! You just made about $3000, since that's what it cost to purchase from a dealer Maybe Lexus had an incentive with that dealer for a free CPO, and you were at the right place at the right time

azkaty

I think once it is certified and put on the lot as certified..its a done deal!

myLexRX

Do not understand why they would list an '04 for $31K when an '07 pebble (sp?) beach white/red with 27K miles can be had for under $30K..

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...5&aff=national

TooCoolSC

Because that '07 Pebble Beach was flooded in Houston and has a rebuilt motor. So it's not what it appears to be.

Congrats, diablo. What a great deal you got.

tromly

^^^1 ,thanks for the update on that car TooCool, thought it was way under priced !!

VVTiBob

Hey TooCoolSC how did you find out the details on the 07 in Houston???

diablo360

Yeah that's waaaaaaaaay too cheap. When I started looking around I wanted to spend around $20k. Here is South Florida I saw a bunch of 02's and 03's for around that price, give or take a few grand depending on mileage and condition. Most of the cars were at corner lots and I didn't want to deal with repairs and maintenance........ So I decided to look for a clean dealer trade-in or CPO car. My local Lexus dealers seem to list their CPO cars really high. There was another white 05 with 30k miles listed for $34k. Anyways, when talked my 04 down to $26k, I felt like I got a decent deal given that they gave me a VERY fair price for my Land Cruiser trade-in. Based on my research on Ebay Motors, Autotrader, etc. I though I got a decent deal. Low mileage 04's seemed to be selling at around the mid $20k range with low miles..... Also I was willing to pay some premium due to the fact that it was a local one owner car with full service history. Also the car was already CPO'd as stated above, so all maintenance was up to date, and all 4 tires were replaced with new ones within the last 2k miles.

This is a great surprise, I could not be more happy. I hope this good luck continues into the new year hehe........

I just added the 06 tails and will probably get some G-Spiders and call it a day.....

myLexRX

I did not know it was flooded...because the seller did not have courtesy to mention that in their ad.

scdroptop

iTrader: (1)

First of all-Diablo-CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You can also check your warranty status, and I highly recommend checking maint history and registering (it's all free) at www.lexus.com/owners and getting your car all set up. Check your warranty there too.

Sounds like your car is a CPO. I remember your story and I remember talking to one of the dealers on a pre-CPO car (They were getting ready to CPO it) for me, and I wondered about your deal and how they could take the CPO off. I guess they could have put it through the 194 point exam and done all the refurbising and NOT honored the warranty, but quite honestly they would be losing future business since Lexus reimburses the dealers for service work. Now they have a win-win. They sold a car towards end of the year when convertibles do not traditionally sell well, and kept a service customer. You have the biggest win obviously...a CPO for $5k less!!!!

toocool, tromly and I have been looking at SC PB's and we checked out some of these back when I was looking for mine and that particular dealer (CT, I believe or MA) regularly goes down to Houston and Gulf Coast areas to buy flooded cars, reconditions them and resells them. They had about six SC's at the time I was looking and even had a 2005 PB Edition like mine for nearly $10k less than mine.

Buyer Beware! If I was a cash buyer and could swing that car, I might have it TRIPLE inspected, take the carpets up, test all electrical components, check trunk, gas, cylinder heads, etc etc to ensure that it is OK mechanically. Otherwise, IMO it would be a huge gamble.

I spoke to the owner of the dealer (Mike...funny, aren't they all called Mike?) and he said that particular car and most of his only flood up to the door line on the side and he will not buy a flooded car that has gotten up to the seats. He said all electrical works like brand new, it has new carpet, reconditioned everything inside and engine runs like a top. He also said, "what do we need to do to get you into this car today"? LOL

Very tough to get insurance and loans on these types of cars today. Can be done, but tough.