Cosmo2002

I bought a new 2016 ES 350 from my hometown Lexus dealer in the summer of 2016. Earlier this week I took it into another Lexus dealer to be appraised as part of buying another Lexus, and they said they would not buy it because the passenger door had been repainted. This was a shock to me because I bought the car new, and have never had it painted. I asked for details, and they took me out to the technician, and I watched him use a FenderSplendor FS688 Paint Meter to measure the paint. I observed each measurement myself, and every panel other than the passenger door had a reading of between 4.2 and 6.5 mils (1/1000th of an inch). The passenger door measured at greater than 17.3 mils. From my research, this shows that the panel has been repainted. The dealer said they could not offer my car as a CPO because of this issue, and would not buy it.

Question - is it possible the dealer that sold me the car repainted the door before they sold it to me, or is it possible that the factory repainted a panel? Either way, I'm upset because this will affect the value of my trade in. Not sure what to do next, but I plan to talk to my hometown dealer tomorrow. And no, I won't actually sell it to a dealer, as I plan to use Carmax or sell private party. But it is distressing that this is an issue on an otherwise flawless car.

bc6152

I believe that its entirely possible that your car was damaged in transit or at the dealer where you bought it. The dealer would simply repaint the damaged part and not inform the buyer if not noted by the buyer beforehand. This very thing happened to me when I bought a Dodge Ram pickup. In my opinion this is disingenuous at least and dishonest at most.
If I knew beforehand that a part of a NEW car had been repainted I wouldn't buy it. You're finding out the ramifications of this now. Bad business.

lesz

It is not uncommon for cars to sustain shipping damage, either while in transport or while they are on the dealer's lot. I'm sure that there are many of us who have, at one time or another, unknowingly bought a car that has had such damage.

I'm not sure that I understand, in the case of the OP, what the dealer said about a car with paint work not being able to qualify for CPO certification. Many CPO cars are cars that have had, at least, minor paint work done to them. It makes me wonder if there was something about the quality of the repair work that caught the attention of the appraiser.

You might want to check the history of the car on the Lexus Drivers site. If there was transport damage or damage on the dealer's lot, that should have been noted on the Lexus Drivers site. When I bought my 2017 ES and looked it up on the Lexus Drivers site, I saw that it had sustained transport damage, but I was relieved to see that it was only minor surface scratches that they were able to polish out. Had the damage required any re-painting, I would not have been happy.

Cosmo2002

Thanks lesz, very helpful. I checked the Lexus Drivers site and it didn't say anything about painting or other damage. I actually don't really care about it having been repainted unless it affects the resale value of the car. Before the appraisal, I showed them the Carmax offer, which was quite good. So perhaps the line about not being able to offer the car as a CPO was a way to not match the Carmax price without coming out and saying it. Before coming to the dealership, the internet sales guy said they could match any Carmax price no matter what. Perhaps the Carmax price was just too high for them.

The passenger door panel did measure much higher, and had to have been repainted. I've sold several cars to dealers and Carmax, and I don't think they've ever tested for paint. Oh well, I guess I won't worry about it too much, and just take Carmax's offer if I don't get a good private sale.

Thanks again.

EJC

I had an issue with a dealer in 2010 along these lines.
I was swapping a 2007 IS-25 for a 2010 IS-250 in MARCH 2010, moving out of a lease early and into another lease.
All the discussions were done over the phone, all I was supposed to do was drive down (about an hour from home), sign the papers and drive home.

We showed up for the car (Sat), which was supposed to be in stock. I'm going through the paperwork when the Salesman comes back and tells me he made a mistake, the car would not be in-house until Tues. I told them I couldn't come back on Tuesday and they offered to deliver it.
Tuesday they pick up the '07 and drop off the '10 and when I get home I notice the car had 500mi on it. Seemed like a lot of mileage for a car that supposedly had just gotten into port.

Now it starts getting interesting. I called the Salesman and he tells me that it was driven up from the port because he knew that I was in a rush. A load of BS if ever there was one. I responded that Newark wasn't 500mi away.

I start playing detective. I had a good contact with Lexus Customer service in Torrence, CA (now retired) and I asked him to run the VIN. He quickly gets back to me that the car had gotten into the country in Dec and was prepped for delivery mid-Dec. This confirms the BS from the Salesman. I check out the GPS in the car and I was able to piece together 400 of the 500mi. Then I call the service dept to see if there was any unusual service done to the car, the response was NO. Next, I call the Body Shop, it turned out that they could not deliver the car Saturday because it went into the Body Shop Friday.

I get the Sales manager on the phone and start laying into him the failure to disclose and the lies from his Salesman. He offers me some free service, I responded that I'm not going to travel an hour for an oil change and let him know I'll get back to him.

THE OUTCOME: First, since the car was a lease it really didn't matter to me, but I now have the dealer by the shorts and he's worried I'll file a complaint with MVD and Lexus. I get the Sales Manager back on the phone and tell him what I want. He will buy my wife's 2002 ES300 for full market retail and we'll take out a new 2010 ES350 for invoice less holdback - a no profit deal for him.
He agreed to the deal and my wife and got a great deal on a new car.

My suggestion: Go to the original dealer, sit down with the Sales or General Manager and try to resolve the issue. If they balk call Lexus Customer Satisfaction and ask for help dealing with their dealer. If this fails, file a complaint with MVD for failure to disclose damage and diminished value.