jsnowash

We've been looking at cars, and had just about decided to purchase a used 2008 Lexus ES 350 (Certified Pre-Owned, through a local dealer), but we're wondering if we should reconsider this particular vehicle... The Carfax report doesn't show any accidents or other issues with the car. However, we went to "MyLexus.com", entered the VIN and pulled up the service records on the car. These service records show a couple of things that concern us:

Described service:

1) At around 17,000 miles: "REPLACED FRONT BUMPER, REAR BUMPER . REPAIRED R/R DOOR ( DENT WIZ) REPAIRED L/R" (cuts off there....)

2) At around 23,000, along with 5,000 mile service, all of the following were noted:

"REPLACED EXHUST SYSTEM"

"NSTALLED NEW HEIGHT SENSOR"

"I AM AWARE OF MY RIGHT TO CHOOSE THE LICENSED REPAIR SHOP WHERE THE DAMAGE TO TH" (cuts off there...)

"REPAIRED FRONT AND REAR OF VEHICLE// BOTH REAR VIEW MIRRORS ARE BROKEN"


Does it sound like maybe this car was at least in a couple of fender-benders, or accidents that weren't reported to the owner's insurance company? If they weren't reported to insurance, would they not show up on the CarFax report? Would any of these discourage you from buying this car? We have driven the car, and it drives fine, and has been through the Lexus pre-owned certification inspection, but finding these issues in the service record makes us wonder if there is anything beneath the surface we should worry about....

LexBob2

That does sound like a lot of different repairs on an '08, especially for a CPO. My advice would be to keep looking for somehting else that you like. There are a lot of ES350's out there probably some that didn't have such a tough life!

Good luck to you. Let us know what you decide.

bobsobi

I'd also recommend passing on it -- it appears to have had a pretty hard life.

Dave Mac

You did a good job on checking this car out - now I would just pass on it. There are plenty of good Lexus out there for you.

Dave Mac

jsnowash

Okay, we have some additional information. My hubby was able to contact the Lexus dealer that did the service on this vehicle. According to them, the first bumper replacement (@ 17,000) was purely cosmetic - the bumpers had some kind of paint, tar, or other parking lot schmutz on them, so the owners apparently had them replaced (?). The second incident @ 23,000 miles, the service guy said it looked like a minor collision, where the Lexus was rear-ended and pushed into the car in front of it. In the process, something in the exhaust system was damaged so the exhaust was replaced. According to them, the repairs were relatively minor and there was no frame damage. Other than that, it looks like the owners had all of their service done with the Lexus dealer, and did a good job of sticking to the maintenance schedule. Might not be such a bad deal after all....

Macklin

That sounds fishy. Surely one does not go to the expense to replace a bumper for purely cosmetic reasons. Would be far cheaper and a better option to simply refinish it.

Sounds like the dealers are in cahoots to me...

jagtoes

First thing to consider is carfax does not have the ability to identify all damage issues. It only reports what has happened to the car if the insurance company provides this information or the dealer provides this info. If the dealer has this info and does not allow carfax to see this then I would be suspect of the dealer. There should not have been this much replacement activity on this car. I would pass on this and go find another. I turned in my 2008 last year with 18,000 miles on it and it was listed as a CPO by my dealer. It did not have a scratch on it and was dealer serviced. There are many just like it out there.