I have a question to all you GS fans...
I'm in a good position to buy a 2008 GS with 18500 miles and with good options in it. It's actually my parent's car that they want to sell.
They are willing to give it to me for $23000 which it the quote they got from carfax. But there is one small catch to all this. The car has been in a small accident where another car had reared into our GS. The damage was pretty light but had a rear frame damage that had been reparied by dealer certified shop. I know all this because I was the one who help them get repaired. the damage was less than $6000. If i buy this car i probably wont sell this car again for next 3 to 5yrs.

Here is my actually question, is it worth buying 2008 GS350 RWD with little frame damage or should i just look for another car? what is the trade off of buying a frame damage?

 

Is it really frame damaged? i.e. did someone measure the frame after the repair and find that the shape was out of tolerance? or was it properly repaired?

The fairest way to value a car like this is to take it to three dealers, get trade-in quotes, and you pay the best price plus a margin to your parents.

 

Thanks for your answer *Batman*
I really don't have problem paying them 23k.
I guess i should be more specific my question.
I kinda meant to say if i should by the car or not rather negotiate the price.

Is worth buying a GS or any car for that matter that's been damaged?

this is beside the point...
but visually i could have never guess that frame would have had a damage.
and yes it did have frame damage. The accident was last year so i cant fully recall the exact detail but we did get paid from our insurance. i'll try to post the picture of estimate if i can find it. (i think i kept the quote since i handle most of their sutff.)


back to my point....
So bottom line is is it worth buying frame damaged car, even if you know the exact condition of the vehicle? what is the downside of buying a frame damaged vehicle?

 

I've driven multiple salvage title cars due to frame damage. I've replaced the rear quarter panel on an old car, front radiator support plus support beams, whole rear of the car etc. It all depends on how the car was fixed. You can do it the right way which would be removing/replacing the body panels where they were welded and having the frame straightened, or just slapping some bondo on the dents and pound out the damaged sections.

Bottom line, if the work was done by a respectable shop and you trust the job was done to restore the car back to original specs, then it is definitely worth it in my eyes. If the car wasn't salvaged, then to me, it really wasn't damaged that much..

 

Sounds like a really good price on a great car w/ very low miles. If it's been repaired properly I would in a heartbeat. 6k is hardly any damage to begin with, it couldnt have been that bent IMO. Anyway, 23k seems like a real bargain.

 

The question I asked was not whether it was frame damaged, but whether it is frame damaged.

i.e. are the frame measurements now back to OEM parameters or not?

If it is back to normal its fine. If it isn't then the car will have issues under stress (e.g. at speed, in slippery conditions, under emergency braking, in heavy rain, etc.). You should not drive a car with a frame that is not within OEM specs.

 

Personally I would never buy a frame damaged car. Reason being is that they are hard to resell. But, in you situation, you have been a part of the process to get it repaired and it was your parents car so, I would probably do it. Just my 2 cents.

 

My thoughts exactly! If it was good enough for you guys to keep, given it is totally SAFE! Good deal, fully loaded? I would buy it from them.

 

i think it all depends on the actual title on the car. if its no titled as "salvaged" you wont lose money in the long run when u sale it

 

I don't think that any $6k damage on a car like our Lexus should be a big hit on resale value but if you don't feel too comfortable "buying" a frame damaged car, why not have them give the car to you and you buy them a car or help them with a $23,000 down payment? Perhaps that might make you feel more comfortable taking their car?
If my parents and I ever have to buy from or sell to each other (never likely,) that's what I might do.

 

if the frame was really damaged, i thin 23k is too much for a frame damaged car (fixed or not). secondly if it is frame damaged, good luck reselling it.

 

Yeah gotta agree, frame damage, parents, yes those play a part but if they were your parents they would understand that to get a lower price would be the right way to go about this. frame damage would just give you problems later on when going to resell it for sure but I'd say more like $18,000 sounds a little better, correct me if I'm wrong but if there your parents they should be giving you a better deal on the car anyways.

 

Honest opinion take it.