blperks

I bought my lexus after much investigation and reading. I got it last weekend and all was well. I took it to get work done like rotation and allignment. I received a call asking me if the car had ever been wrecked? Well, the carfax was clean, so I said I had no clue and went to the shop. The passenger front had all new parts but the caster was off by 4 degrees and unable to allign. Went by a body shop and they said it looked like it had been repaired very good minus the frame. Lexus looked it over and it has all new parts from the doors up. It is going to be measured at the body shop on Thursday. Anyone have any good advice or suggestions? Are they good for those type of repair problems. I have always heard they are never the same after a accident. Thanks

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well i mean if you get a SUPER good shop, they can fix the frame no problem. but it's always hard.

mmarshall

What did they mean by "all new parts from the doors up?" We may be able to help you better if clarify that a little.
Having said that, there are several possible things just from what you told us. The 4 degrees caster does not necessarily mean an accident. Wisconsin, like several Great Lakes states, is famous for potholes and frost-damaged pavement. A large pothole hit at high speed can bend or deform a strut. Check with the Wisconsin DMV to see if they have a record of the previous owner....perhaps you could contact him/her and discuss the situation. New body parts, of course, could mean an accident.....that's why the term "all new parts" needs to be more specific. Does the paint color AND texture match exactly from one panel to the next? Look carefully. Are there new (or newer) tires and wheels on one side and older ones on the other? Do the pinstripes (if equipped) match exactly from one panel to the next?

Good luck.

YoNadz

Take it back to where you bought it. Tell them you want to know what happened to it. If they lie, shoot them.

blperks

Thanks for the comments so far. The parts that are new are the side panels, grill, front bumper, grill and radiator panel. Lexus said it was one of the best paint jobs they have ever seen, So good they had to look at all the parts to figure out what had been replaced. All new rims and tires, new control arm on passenger side. New EidenBrock (sp?) lowering springs. there is a small mis-alignment of the hood on the driver side with some wind noise and gap between the driver door and passenger door. I will have it in the shop tomorrow for measurement and estimate. I will update at that time as to what they find.

Michifan12

iTrader: (2)

Hey you mentionted you ran a carfax on the car and the report came through clear. Well since it has been wrecked, you can file a claim with carfax and they will pay up to $5,000 or something like that I believe....you might wanna look into that.....

mmarshall

So that's YOUR car...the one with the nice wheels. You posted this car recently on another forum here...it got a lot of nice comments...including mine.

mmarshall

Interesting thought.....but even Carfax probably has some disclaimers. If the previous owner went to great lengths to cover up damage, it may have never gotten into the carfax database. I agree, tho...It's worth looking into.

flipside909

Funny you guys mentioned Carfax. The CarFax rep for all of Southern California is my customer. We had a fairly lengthy convo about their services and talked about how well their product is as a tool. Carfax used to only have a few sources to check the vehicles but now they have a couple hundred new sources they can bring up info on a car. But like he explained to me, the CarFax report is to be used as a "TOOL" to help with the buying process. The report does not show 100% of the records...but most of the info submitted to DMV is definitely there. He also explained to me it would be best to get a second opinion through a mechanic who knows what to look for to thouroughly check the car. It's fair to say some cars could have been wrecked and not even reported to DMV, insurance co. or etc. It is typical of dealership loaners to get damaged during their service, but it's obvious they will not report it to DMV or their insurance co for damages. Instead they will fix it in house to their best abilities to keep the value high. That's definitely the risk of buying a used vehicle. CarFax report is definitely a great tool, but it won't be the absolute answer to the car's entire history.

blperks

Flipside is on the right track, I actually called the DMV in 2 states and ran the CarFax Report, Title is Clean as a whistle. It turns out that the car probably was in a small crash. The shop measured it today and found that it had a bent control arm that has pulled the driver side down and in 4mm and a slight twist on the frame bar. From talking to the body shop they feel that it is a very minor issue and said that who ever did the body work did very well except for the alignment. The dealer is paying for the repair and throwing in another set of Lexus rims for winter time. I really love the car overall, and it does have a nice look to it. It turns out that it has (not sure if this is right ) Eiden Bach springs, approx. 2' lowered with the 17' MoMo rims. Hopefully this will be the end, I get the car back in a few days. Thanks for all the input.

darden

that's good that the dealer is paying for the repairs. i'd suggest to make sure you find every single problem/issue and have the dealer fix them within a month. that is a pain that you have to go through all this.

yeah, if the driver/owner does not report it, what can you do? you did the best you could to find out everything about the car before buying it. it is a good thing you discovered these issues early and the dealer is willing to take care of them at no cost plus giving you winter rims.

i had a second hand bimmer as my last car...i promised myself to not buy any more used cars (only from those i know personally and CL members) if i can help it. knowing the owner is the key in buying used cars IMHO. my last bimmer had many issues which i discovered too late and had to fork out lots of my own money to correct. buying used cars is always a risk.

then again, a used car is a much better bang for your buck when you get a good car and a nice careful owner who owned it.

anyway, keep us updated. hopefully this is the last time you have to correct these problems. now, you get to enjoy the car.

blperks

Just an update, the body shop was able to correct the frame damage back to spec. Everything lined right up on the allignment. The only thing now is that it bottoms out on the front left side over small bumps at slow speedds. Every other wheel is fine? Any ideas? I am going back to the shop that did the allignment to take a look at it. Thanks everyone with all of your ideas and help.

flipside909

Sounds like your shock is in need of a replacement.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah seems like the shock is bad already

blperks

It actualy turns out that when the work was done on the front end, they did not hook the fender well cover back in well and it was hanging down in the back by the control arm, scraping everytime I went over small bumps or in hard turns. It was rippled and peeled a bit so a new one is on order and will be replaced. I hope I can soon enjoy my car!