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old damage uncovered under bumper after fender bender for CPO, what to do?
Hi there, I'm asking this for a friend who is the owner of a 2014 CPO ES350 purchased November 2017 from a Lexus dealership.
She got into a minor fender bender and after taking it into a body shop to fix the scratches, more extensive damage was found underneath the rear bumper that could not be explained by the accident. She had been having issues with weird noises in the back as well as rear sensor issues but service always told her it was nothing. The original Carfax report mentioned the accident but gave no more details and when she asked the salesman about it prior to purchase, she was told it was just a fender bender and the repair was only paint work.
Obviously I feel my friend was misinformed or worse. She has the pictures showing the more extensive damage. The car is still under CPO warranty but the same salesman is no longer there. What advice should I give her to minimize the cost of fixing the damage, possibly by getting the dealership to take more responsibility? I also bought my CPO 2011 LS460 from them which fortunately has been running fine but this really gives me second thoughts about buying another car from them.
Vehicles with an accident documented by Car Fax can be L/Certified when they pass the 161-point inspection.
Disclosure of the accident with the Car Fax report is required by the L/Cert program. The verbal assurance of
the salesperson is meaningless (unless it was their own trade-in!) and creates no official obligation for the dealership.
Page 5 of the L/Cert book provides contact information in the event misunderstandings occur: 800-255-3987 is listed.
Typically the transaction price reflects the year, model, miles and Condition, the accident disclosure certainly created
a lower price compared to comparable units at the time of purchase.
Unfortunately, many people are under the impression that, when they buy a CPO vehicle, they are buying a vehicle that is "almost new" and that has never had any collision repairs. That simply is not the case.
At least, your friend was informed, at the time of the purchase, that the car had been in an accident. Accidents appear on the CarFax report only if they are reported and entered into the data base by a law enforcement agency, insurance company, or body shop. More often than not, accidents are not reported or entered into that data base. Every year, there are posts on the various CL model forums from people who bought a CPO vehicle and who, at some point later, were surprised to discover that the car that they bought did have an accident history, and, in some cases, the accidents were quite serious and involved very expensive repairs.
What is the nature of the damage that was discovered on your friend's car? What is the estimated cost to remedy the situation? My suggestion would be to talk face-to-face with the general manager of the dealership. At a minimum, I would hope that he/she would agree to cover a good share of the repair costs.
Interesting as I know my CPO had minor bumper repair. Now I think I should remove the bumper to inspect it. I wouldnt know what I'd be looking at anyway even if I did. #worried
Really don't think you can do anything. Salesman did say it had been in an accident..fender bender...not really a legal term, so hard to do anything after the fact.
I agree, they even advised you that the car had been in a "fender bender" accident so unless you determine that it was much more than that I think you are out of luck.
Having said that, I had a friend who purchased a late model LS and determined a few months later that the car had been involved in a pretty significant accident. The selling dealer apologized and refunded all of the purchase price and taxes. So it can't hurt to ask. Before you talk to them though, have the car inspected and get an estimate of how severe the prior accident was. It would be nice to have this in writing if possible.
This is one of the cautionary things to keep in mind about *any* "Certified" vehicle, whether Lexus or any other manufacturer. It's great that it passes an umpteen-point inspection, but in many cases, it's really little more than an opportunity for a brand dealership to resell a used car at an above-market price. Not always the case, of course, and no offense to anyone who looked for a certified car, but it just doesn't offer a worthwhile premium to me.
When I was shopping and came to realize I was probably going to buy a used Lexus, I realized very quickly that "Certified" units carried a premium price over comparably equipped third-party offerings. And "certification" is no guarantee of anything with regard to accidents. I'd have a really hard time buying *any* car with CarFax-listed accident damage.
Thanks everyone for your helpful responses. My friend finally sent me the pictures from the collision shop that shows the scratch on the driver's side of the rear bumper from the fender-bender, but damage underneath the pristine passenger side rear bumper which she was told would be at risk of rusting if not fixed for about $800. The dealership's GM won't even give her the time of day, saying that there was no prior accident according to Carfax and even pretended not to see anything wrong from the pictures she showed him. He did give her a copy of the Carfax report which showed no previous accidents so it's possible that she remembered incorrectly. I checked Vehicle History and it didn't show anything as well. I'll probably go with her to the dealership and see what happens. It's obviously a frustrating experience for her abut definitely a learning experience for me as well.
This is why I prefer to buy new cars even though used cars are significantly cheaper. You never know what previous owners have done.
Respectfully disagree. Yeah, there's a risk for hidden damage, but for us, across *six* u cars ranging from small trucks, to minivans, to daily-driver Corollas, to my current Lexus, our experience with used cars has been nothing short of great. We have saved countless thousands (tens of thousands) not buying new and have yet to encounter any "land mines" like hidden damage. IMHO, buying used is still by far the better way to go economically, risks notwithstanding.
This is why I prefer to buy new cars even though used cars are significantly cheaper. You never know what previous owners have done.
i don't know about this one. my car's original msrp sits at around $44k. compare that with the $21.5k i paid for mine with 37k miles (which is nothing for a toyota product), add the best CPO in the auto industry and voila!
Granted my car has a few minor cosmetic flaws, but very acceptable for 50% savings over new.
i don't know about this one. my car's original msrp sits at around $44k. compare that with the $21.5k i paid for mine with 37k miles (which is nothing for a toyota product), add the best CPO in the auto industry and voila!
Granted my car has a few minor cosmetic flaws, but very acceptable for 50% savings over new.
Couldn't agree more. My four-year-old ES 350, with only 39,600 miles, was almost exactly half its original retail, although not CPO. It has been fabulous and had barely a single, small hood nick and a dent in the chrome trim on the driver's side door. The interior is immacculate. It looks new, rides and drives fantastically, and someone else paid the new-car depreciation. And I have over 10k miles of the original Lexus warranty to boot.
(Not knocking new car purchases or leases, just found that buying used has proven so much more economically practical and successful for us).
Last edited by SoonerDave; 03-20-19 at 04:45 AM.
Reason: Grammar and typos
03-11-19, 10:27 AM
old damage uncovered under bumper after fender bender for CPO, what to do?
