Buying used car at a dealership - questions
05-07-18, 02:29 PM
#16
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Update.
I talked to the salesperson who is handling this and she said they are not giving away CPO cars for a visit to a mechanic. Which means they don't allow customers to test drive a car without a salesman sitting there.
Is it possible at all?
I know I am in a bind here not able to walk away, so I am taking a risk. I am going to do the deal Friday morning and then go to the mechanic. If there is something - they will have 1.5 days to fix it.
The car already has a "Sold" sign posted on it with my name and they processed $500 deposit. I got all the payment breakdown.
As for my trade in - they say : if I could drive there 500 miles in that car - they would give me $500 no matter what. Which pretty much what the car is worth considering that I put it on Craigslist yesterday for $1800 and today changed it to $1200 and still no one emailed me yet.
I think I better sell the car locally (either before or after I buy the lexus) . Flying won't save me much time, but I don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere if it breaks down.
Scratch? Is this the worst that I should be afraid of? Worst case, I drive it home and nag the local dealership to fix it whatever issue there might be.
There is currently around 5000 2013-2015 RX350 for sale in the USA. This is the only one that has all the features I want. That's why I am in a bind.
I talked to the salesperson who is handling this and she said they are not giving away CPO cars for a visit to a mechanic. Which means they don't allow customers to test drive a car without a salesman sitting there.
Is it possible at all?
I know I am in a bind here not able to walk away, so I am taking a risk. I am going to do the deal Friday morning and then go to the mechanic. If there is something - they will have 1.5 days to fix it.
The car already has a "Sold" sign posted on it with my name and they processed $500 deposit. I got all the payment breakdown.
As for my trade in - they say : if I could drive there 500 miles in that car - they would give me $500 no matter what. Which pretty much what the car is worth considering that I put it on Craigslist yesterday for $1800 and today changed it to $1200 and still no one emailed me yet.
I think I better sell the car locally (either before or after I buy the lexus) . Flying won't save me much time, but I don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere if it breaks down.
Scratch? Is this the worst that I should be afraid of? Worst case, I drive it home and nag the local dealership to fix it whatever issue there might be.
There is currently around 5000 2013-2015 RX350 for sale in the USA. This is the only one that has all the features I want. That's why I am in a bind.
05-08-18, 08:22 PM
#17
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Good luck and post back here how things turned out!
05-13-18, 06:47 PM
#18
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I am back now.
That was mostly nice experience. I arrived on Thu around 5 pm. The car was waiting for me at the front door. The saleswoman let me drive a car first. We drove for 10 minutes after which I suggested we go back and do the paperwork since I couldn't find anything wrong with the car. At the dealership I checked tires and turned out the rear ones had maybe 5/32 tread left while the front tires had at least 8/32 left. I pointed that out to the saleswoman so she called another guy. He was a little jumpy and tried to convince me that since the car is certified it means the tires are great. I pointed out that being certified and 5/32 being legal still means I would need to replace the tires very soon. Not to mention the fact the tires are different condition and that is not safe. I said that I heard Lexus is considered one of the top brands in customer satisfaction and they are selling me a car with tires that have 25% of life left. He wanted to go into math discussion about if they have 25% left or more, but I said I don't want to go there and that if he doesn't want to do anything about it - I won't be happy. So he got a hint and said that he will do in his power to make me happy. Even if that would mean replacing the old tires with new ones (and losing all the profit they are making on that car or something to that extend) .
ut I didn't want to have mismatched tires, so I asked if they could find 2 tires with the same 9/32 tread left so I have all 4 tires with the same tread. He went back to the service area and came back saying that was possible. So they put 4 Dunlop tires with 9/32 left.
Then we did the paperwork and another guy showed me all buttons and functionality and paired my phone. But I already watched some youtube videos and knew a little bit and I didn't want to go into details about music which I wouldn't be able to remember anyway. So I asked him to show me what I would need to get back home: lights, wipers, etc. Which he did and I was on my way.
The next morning I went to a mechanic who drove the car and inspected it on the lift and he didn't find anything wrong with it. The next day I drove home 500 miles and didn't find anything wrong with it either. I have yet to learn all the ins and outs and get familiar with the way it drives and get my driving style adjusted. Being driven a supercharged bonneville for 10 years I am used to the fact it can really jump when needed and it is not the case here. Not that I expected such, but I was feeling very comfortable in the Lexus which and on several occasions I forgot I was not in the Bonneville anymore and tried to merge into the left lane and the jump was not there until I pressed the pedal all the way down.
I turned the Eco mode off since so will see if that will make any difference.
Thanks everyone.
That was mostly nice experience. I arrived on Thu around 5 pm. The car was waiting for me at the front door. The saleswoman let me drive a car first. We drove for 10 minutes after which I suggested we go back and do the paperwork since I couldn't find anything wrong with the car. At the dealership I checked tires and turned out the rear ones had maybe 5/32 tread left while the front tires had at least 8/32 left. I pointed that out to the saleswoman so she called another guy. He was a little jumpy and tried to convince me that since the car is certified it means the tires are great. I pointed out that being certified and 5/32 being legal still means I would need to replace the tires very soon. Not to mention the fact the tires are different condition and that is not safe. I said that I heard Lexus is considered one of the top brands in customer satisfaction and they are selling me a car with tires that have 25% of life left. He wanted to go into math discussion about if they have 25% left or more, but I said I don't want to go there and that if he doesn't want to do anything about it - I won't be happy. So he got a hint and said that he will do in his power to make me happy. Even if that would mean replacing the old tires with new ones (and losing all the profit they are making on that car or something to that extend) .
ut I didn't want to have mismatched tires, so I asked if they could find 2 tires with the same 9/32 tread left so I have all 4 tires with the same tread. He went back to the service area and came back saying that was possible. So they put 4 Dunlop tires with 9/32 left.
Then we did the paperwork and another guy showed me all buttons and functionality and paired my phone. But I already watched some youtube videos and knew a little bit and I didn't want to go into details about music which I wouldn't be able to remember anyway. So I asked him to show me what I would need to get back home: lights, wipers, etc. Which he did and I was on my way.
The next morning I went to a mechanic who drove the car and inspected it on the lift and he didn't find anything wrong with it. The next day I drove home 500 miles and didn't find anything wrong with it either. I have yet to learn all the ins and outs and get familiar with the way it drives and get my driving style adjusted. Being driven a supercharged bonneville for 10 years I am used to the fact it can really jump when needed and it is not the case here. Not that I expected such, but I was feeling very comfortable in the Lexus which and on several occasions I forgot I was not in the Bonneville anymore and tried to merge into the left lane and the jump was not there until I pressed the pedal all the way down.
I turned the Eco mode off since so will see if that will make any difference.
Thanks everyone.
Last edited by Banbuk77; 05-13-18 at 06:53 PM.
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