(This is half-rant, half-help thread. It's going to be a bit of a long read, so TIA for bearing with me. )

My SC300 was totaled a week before Thanksgiving. Insurance gave me a check for $4,200 and I bopped along Craigslist looking for a replacement vehicle. Came across a 1995 SC400, black on black, with HIDs and a 97+ bumper. Interior is very clean, only flaws are the bleeding climate LCD and an inch of loose stitching in the rear seat. Seller advertised the car with 155,XXX miles. Purchased it for $4,800. Car currently reads 156,083.

The car is a clean title and I wanted to attest that fact, and also to see the history of its owners. I hopped on AutoCheck and purchased the report, which stated there were no accidents, showed it was shipped to Lexus of Concord for sale (original CA car, so no rust issues to worry about) and I am the third owner, BUT to my surprise the last odo reading was in April 2008 at 251,903.

WTF?

I'm sure when it comes to DMV (ala government) work they don't make mistakes. I should have known better to purchase the AutoCheck prior to the purchase, but the seller appeared to be very honest and the car was presented extremely well. The seller purchased the car six months ago and had the car smogged to transfer the title to his name (CA law); the smog certificate in June of this year indicated the car had 151,000 miles, so he didn't know any better than I did. Seller did mention he had the cluster redone right after he bought the car because most of the cluster wasn't lighting up.

I kind of wish I never discovered this information, but then I'm thankful I did because now I know I have to be extremely attentive to my SC400's mechanical condition.

As of now, because I don't know the actual mileage of the car, I'm treating my car as if it has 300,000 miles, twice the current amount on the odometer and twice the amount I originally thought it had. Once I learned of this misfortune/outrage I had it inspected at my local dealership and they found "heavy oil leaks, possible crank seal, rear main seal leaking, valve cover gasket leaking. Front struts and support mounts weak. Cracked drive belt."

Seems like I'm in a hole. I'm stumped as to how I should act or what I should do, both legally and mechanically. I'm going to have the car inspected again by an independent shop (Exact Motorsports in SJ, a CL vendor actually) for a second opinion. I know Toyotas/Lexuses are 'bulletproof', but 300,000 miles? As much as I hate to say this, I have a feeling there are some headaches in the future that are quickly approaching. As far as I can tell the car runs fine, but I'm really tempted to either rebuild or replace the 1UZ motor just for the peace of mind. Should I be so quick to think about replacing/rebuilding the motor? I know one should not expect to purchase a used vehicle and not spend any money to get it in better shape, but this is a different situation...

Also I found out it leaks water into the cabin via the top windshield area during a massive storm last week. I already plan to replace the windshield because there's a large crack, so hopefully the new weather stripping will fix the issue.

In the end, for $4800, I got a car that has the 1UZ V8 (what a difference when compared to the 2JZ-GE sibling) which performs and sounds great, does not have a single dent or scratch, came in the coveted black interior, has a 97+ front bumper which I grew to adore, and I don't have to fiddle with the HID kit I've always wanted. At least I got the aesthetics taken care of. I'm still kinda pissed off about the whole odo issue, but I've taken it as an early and valuable lesson on purchasing used vehicles: always get a CarFax/AutoCheck!

Any advice or feedback (or flaming?) is appreciated. Again, TIA.



Cliffs: Bought an SC400 being told it has 155k, but AutoCheck report acquired after the purchase shows the last odo reading was in 4/08 with 252k. Treating the car as if it has 300k. What should I do legally and mechanically?

 

you can start here...

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site...20087dba046a0/

 

Sucks you got a car 100k+ over what you thought it was but at least you didn't pay too very much for it. The good thing is that it's a Lexus and built to last. But If the engine and mechanical parts haven't been well-maintained then you might have to throw some money in it for a new engine or at least get it caught up on maintenance. When I got my SC (paid twice as much as you : ( ) won't buy from used dealer anymore) I had to put about $2,000 in it for maintenance.

 

If you think you're in a hole, throw away the shovel before you dig deeper. Drive it, enjoy it, then.... sell it. As for the purchase, he bought it with the same ODO reading so, you own it.

 

Both fortunately and unfortunately, drivetrains for these cars are cheap. I'd drive it until it dies, but I do all my own work. IF it dies, buy a totalled SC4 and start swapping, then part out the shell - you may be able to break even depending on your wreck. Welcome to the 1UZ joy - though it still isn't close to a boosted 2J.

 

Same thing happened to a friend but he bought his at an independent small dealership kinda like Proto Motorsports... Anyway, it also showed low mileage but he wondered why for some reason he had to do a lot of maintenance and fix stuff here and there. He then decided to run a carfax finding out that the car had more mileage than what it says on the odo. I forget exactly but I think he just immediately called a lawyer instead of dealing with the dealership. Anyway, he ended up getting a $12,000 settlement or something. This was a 93 MR2 Turbo. The dealer took the car back, paid him the $$$ and more (settelment and all the hassle he went through). Now he got a very clean FD. I forget what year but sure is very clean, has all the service records. Purchased from a private party.

Anyway, good luck to you man. SC's are tough and i'm sure with proper maintenance, you can drive it to the ground for a very long time.

 

Did you buy it from a private party or a dealer? It might be easier to resolve it with a dealer than a private party. Before you spend money on an attorney, contact the seller and see if you can resolve it on your own first. Alternatively, I imagine attorneys that work on these type of cases are probably willing to take a contingency fee so you may not have to front any money. Civil litigation isn't my area so I know pretty much nothing off the top of my head, but here are some relevant laws:

Federal:
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/49/VI/C/327
http://www.justice.gov/civil/ocl/monograph/odom.htm

CA:
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/VEH/1/d12/5/10
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/V.../4/1/s11713.18

You can also actually file a complaint w/ the DMV, but I'm not sure how effective they are at resolving these issues... if it's like anything else at the DMV, probably not very.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/consumer/invest/inv172.htm

 

Enjoy your car man,dont feel bad. Whatever's done, done. You'll have to fix problems sooner or later.

 

congrats on the purchase sounds like you got all the good stuff so to say. If it seems to run ok and you don't notice anything major wrong with the car and can live with the fact that the milage isn't correct then it probably isn't really worth the time or money to fight it. any used car is going to require some maint. so that is really no big suprise. I bought my 92 sc400 leaking oil and running rough because the previous owner neglected it(but is still love it), and I also used to work at a Toyota dealership and saw cars come in with 300,000 miles that the owners didn't do any maint just oil change and they just kept running. Toyotas an Lexus are deffinatly well built cars and can run forever. You can run them unmaintained but I don't recomend it. As for the water leak check the sunroof drain tubes they have a tendancie to get clogged and cause a leak from that area.

 

I wouldn't trust the seller one bit, at least file a complaint with the dept of trans. Don't take this kind of crap without making some noise. 100,000 miles is a lot of driving.

 

Agreed. Seek satisfaction. That's what the DOT is there for. You are supposed to be able to trust ... that you bought what you thought you bought.

 

felixsc300 says the previous owner didn't know any better. Since the car had been passed on, it'll be very hard to go to the "other" previous owner and the previous owner after that. I think he'll just have to live with it and go from where it stands now. felixsc300 did say the previous owner had to get the cluster fixed so who knows.

+1 on LEXMAN's comment below

 

just send your 1uz to the scrap and buy a 1jz(y)