STLLEXUS

Long story short I purchased my 2019 ES 350 new November 11, 2019. I noticed later when I got home and was detailing the car that two of the wheels weren’t quite as shiny and felt like they had overspray on them. I also noticed that the rear bumper gap seem to be off on the passenger side. I have now looked at my Lexus app and under services I noticed that a new car delivery for that car was back on July 5 with 6 miles on the car. Then on August 30 there was another service for full bumper and two wheel repairs with 49 miles on the odometer. So my question is was my new car not new when I purchased It even though they sold it to me as a new car. What do you all think and what would I do?

signdetres

How many miles were on it when you got it?

Canesguy

Was the car ever titled? If not and it was an “executive driven” car by one of the bosses at the dealership, it still qualifies for new status When you bought it. At the least they could have disclosed the damage which could have happened with delivery or after at the dealership. If you talk to them about it, politely but confidently, you may get some answers. You may want more proof before wanting to spend money on small claims court and/or attorney’s fees..

This is a lesson for all of us to do a careful inspection with a walk around at the time of delivery before funds are exchanged and contracts are signed.

STLLEXUS

there was 52 miles on the odometer.

STLLEXUS

I am assuming it was never titled. I just don’t understand why they never told me about these repairs and at the time of the repairs the car only had 49 miles on it. When I purchased it there was 52 on the odometer.

bc6152

Sounds like it was a demo car for new customers. Like when you take a car out and drive 3-4 miles to check it out when considering a purchase. For me, I would want new wheels and the bumper realigned. These stories are just incredible to me. That a dealer would sell a car as new with obvious issues...
Canesguy is spot on regarding doing a careful pre purchase inspection for damage and/or any irregularities.

EastTNLex

If it was never titled before you signed the papers, then it’s a new car. As Canesguy stated, the car may have been a demo car a suffered some damage...if you ask the dealership they may come clean, but what is your end goal in pursuing this finding?

STLLEXUS

I would have have appreciated them being honest with me at the time of the purchased. I would’ve just picked out a different car. The repairs have supposedly been made they are supposed to deliver the car tomorrow. When I spoke to them last I did not know that the car had A full bumper replaced and repaired wheels in the past. So the repairs they have made now was realign the bumper and replaced the two wheels.

STLLEXUS

so the new car delivery service that was on July 5 with 6 miles on the car. would they do that without ever selling the car?

irishbrahm

Depending on how things go tomorrow, you might consider calling Lexus Corporate to have a case opened. You'll receive a case number and be assigned a case manager. If nothing else, the case manager might compensate you with a goodwill credit that you case use for future service visits, etc.

LeeSoFL

You can check history from the time it was delivered to the dealer, here:

https://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/history

It might have more thorough entries and details.

SW17LS

So, this sort of stuff happens more often than you would think. Cars get damaged in inventory all the time, and are repaired and sold as new. I was at one of my local Lexus dealers the other day buying a cabin air filter for my LS, and there was a brand new ES350 sitting there with the sticker still on the window and the passenger rear door bashed in. I guarantee they will fix the door and sell it as new and not tell anybody.

It does often show up in the Lexus service history, which I find incredible when they are trying to pull a fast one on you...so blatant.

As to why they didn't tell you, you answered your own question. You would simply have chosen another one. So would anybody who was told that, so they would have to deeply discount that car to sell it if they were upfront with people.

STLLEXUS

I spoke to the sales manager at the dealership. He told me that when he went back and looked at the records on the car back when the car was prepared for sale it was to go on the showroom floor. Then he told me that the bumper replacement was that they took the bumper off of my car to put on a car that they sold to a customer that had a damaged bumper they then ordered a new factory bumper for my car to replace it. The wheel repair supposedly came from being driven around the dealership. They brought the car back yesterday with wheel replacements that looked just like brand new, but so I am pleased with that. They try to realign the bumper but it is still not right on the passenger side it protrudes at the gap a little. When the light hits that gap you can actually see behind the bumper Just a tiny bit.

lesz

I'm not buying what the sales manager told you. When cars are painted at the factory, the paint used to paint a car is all from the same paint lot because there are likely to be variations in the color from one lot of paint to another lot of paint. Thus, if a panel is removed from one car and installed on another car, it would be a virtual guarantee, because of the fact that the paint on that panel came from a different lot than did the paint on the other car, that the paint match would be "off" and that it would stick out like a sore thumb. Thus, it would only make sense that, for the customer with the damaged bumper, they would order the new bumper and properly match the paint on that new bumper to the paint on the rest of the car, and I doubt that they would even consider replacing a panel with one taken off of a another car.

In any case, it is true that there are many times when cars get damaged in transport or while they are on the dealers lots, and dealers will repair those damaged cars and sell them as new. For anyone who has bought cars for 20 or 30 or more years, it is likely that he or she has, one or more times, without knowing, bought a car that has been damaged and had repairs done on it.

With regard to the fit of the bumper, bumpers are attached to the car with bumper brackets and bumper clips. The bumper bracket is attached to the frame/unibody and the bumper clips are attached to the bumper. Then, the bumper clips snap into the bumper brackets to hold the bumper into place. I suspect that, with your car, the bumper was damaged, either in shipment or while on the dealer's lot, and that there was also damage to one or more of the bumper brackets or bumper clips. If damaged bumper brackets or bumper clips are not replaced along with the bumper, the result can be a bumper whose alignment with the adjacent panels can be a little off.

SW17LS

Sales manager is full of it. When they order a factory bumper, they don’t come painted. So bottom line is your car has a non factory painted bumper, and somebody else is driving around with your factory bumper.

But like I said, I agree that this happens all the time.