startover9

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!

jfelbab

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.

pheonix72

iTrader: (6)

Maybe the previous owner jumped a curb and damaged the car. Anyway, have the car inspect just in case but i think the car should be ok if it was properly repaired and drives OK.

RickBois

^^^What Jim said. Grab a piece of cardboard and a flashlight and take a look "all up under there"...

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?

robbyk

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.

startover9

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.

startover9

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"

Rainbird

Perhaps the Lexus dealership can decode this for you. Also the dealer stated "needs to go to Cavins". That sounds like the name of a body shop and since it was August 2013, I wonder if it was sent there and repaired. You need to get the vehicle inspected.

AussieAuto

Suspension left arm # 1. side without ball joint. ? I think?

Band

A wild guess: suspension L arm one side without ball joint
I know, doesn't make sense.

jednav

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.

roadbike56

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.

startover9

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!

jamieZ

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