Sperry

I have been looking around since October for a CPO IS250 AWD. I almost bought during the columbus day sales event but had to opt out last second. There is currently promotional financing rates for CPO IS cars for 48 months and .9% which expires February 28th. I want/need to get a car during this timeframe. My trade-in, a 2003 Toyota 4runner with 120k miles, is about to need close to $2500 in work and I want to avoid this.

Anyways, I just recently came across a 2007 CPO IS250 AWD with only 29k miles selling for $22.5k. This is one of the best prices I have seen for a CPO car in Massachusetts with its year/options/miles. The car has HIDs with AFS, Interior Trim, and the Preferred Accessory package. I love the car, color, and price. They (Herb Chambers Lexus) are giving me just shy of KBB for the my trade, which is great especially given the soon to be bank breaking amount of work. So whats the issue? Why did I not just buy the car?

In looking around the car I noticed the drivers side back bumper color did not match the body of the car. The car is Starfire Pearl and the bumper looks Glacier White. The passenger side of the car looks fine (no difference between body and bumper). The dealer admitted that the bumper was painted in the past and are trying to say that both colors are the same but not worn in yet. Carfax shows no accident history (yes I know this is spotty). I told the dealer I was ready to buy and the price was fine, trade was good, and that I wanted the bumper resprayed and we have a deal. The dealer balked, first saying they would do it but for $500 tacked onto the price, and then eventually said they would do it for $300. They will not budge and I walked away. Someone else will definitely buy the car for that price and either not notice or not care about the paint. I have until tomorrow morning to decide if I want to buy the car.

Here is the picture for reference:



I am definitely not seeing things, the color is different. What should I do? Pay the $300 (my issue is not with the $, it is with the principle) and still get a great deal relative to other CPO IS's or walk and pay at least ~2k more for a comparable CPO? I am not looking to buy from a 3rd party dealer and buy a warranty later because I want to take advantage of special financing. I greatly appreciate your input

Sperry

Here is a view of the back and passenger side for reference:

Sperry

Back:


Front:

Sperry

http://www.herbchamberslexus.com/Veh...n-MA/936371773

Lil4cyl

I would walk away unless they agreed to PERFECTLY match the car up. I wouldn't be able to drive it knowing the color difference. And to me, it IS noticeable in the pics.

Lil4cyl

I also did not think they could certify a CPO if it has evidence of any prior damage.

Sperry

Yeah exactly, I was wondering this as well. They said it will be matched up perfect but it would add $300 to the price of the car. I will not accept the car if its not perfect.

Lil4cyl

Well, if you have been searching this long, and you feel like the deal is good enough, I would say $300 more for the car isnt' a bad deal provided you get FULL CPO warranty, they match it PERFECTLY and guarantee it will match, and they guarantee that their fix will NOT add a Carfax to the car. If those conditions are met and you are comfortable with it, then go for it.

Be sure to get everything in writing also.

pavelekPL

I'd say walk away. Plus remember once you'd sign paperwork they don't care anymore, even if you'd pay the $300 for painting. You could be going back and forth, or be out of a car for a long time before they would get it right.

ScKcBc

iTrader: (2)

I'd walk and pay 19k for the same car private sale, non cpo with no paint work needed. I'd say you can find that same car private for 19k even pretty easily. If so, that's a $3500 difference. Is the car ever really going to cost you $3500 in repairs that would have been warrantied? And even if it did, You'd be right back where you started anyway. If I were buying a BMW I would be more concerned about having an OEM warranty, but with Toyota, I feel very confident. I had an 07 4runner v8 before my Is350 too and I put 44k trouble free miles on it as well.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

You don't know what caused the damage requiring respray (and dealer didn't either other than it happened), correct? That's the gap that makes me suggest walk away.

Repaint for CPO often happens on front bumpers and sometimes hoods for rock chips, but seldom for a rear bumper. That's an accident.

Sperry

From what I was told it was something akin to someone backing up into something and they had to respray. Should I be concerned with pre-existing damage when the car has a bumper to bumper warranty?


The closeness in price to this CPO and a private party is one of the appealing aspects that makes it hard to walk. The private party would be had for 19-20 with comparable miles/options. I would have sell my car private party and given the issues I know of and future issues on the horizon, I do not want to get screwed over by MA lemon law (since you know T4Rs I am sure you are familiar with frozen brake calipers and failing XREAS systems at ~100k miles). If I bought private party I would buy a warranty from Lexus for like $1800 for 100k platinum (from one of the vendors/partners here) so my cost would be 20800 to 21800 private party +warranty. Warranty is important to me for peace of mind. This is close to the CPO price and no worry about my trade. And the .9%. I was so for the car and it seemed a perfect fit. I would own it now had the dealer just stepped up and stomached the respray cost.

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

Even if they respray it the bumper color will still look off. Pearl are hard to match especially white. It's still gonna look whiter than the rest of the car. If you want it go for it.

chi123

iTrader: (12)

Honestly, if I were in your situation, I would have brought it. But what I'm wondering is they said the color hasn't worn it yet, how does a respray do it? $22,800 for an IS250 with only 29,000 miles is a pretty good deal and what's stopping you from buying it is just a $300 paint cost. The car you want to trade you say has issues and needs work done soon. Trade it with the dealer and not worry about it. If you sell it to a private party, they might keep bugging you about the problems the car has and telling them about the issues before they buy will not make them want it so selling it may be tough.

The cheapest CPO IS250 in my area right now is an '08 with 56,000 miles selling for $23,900. So you're getting a decent deal if you buy it. Plus, you won't have to worry about your 4Runner and you get the added CPO warranty. I didn't even notice the paint difference when I looked at the pictures until you mentioned it, but it does look quite noticeable when you know it.

Sperry

Damn I didn't think that would be the case. I thought they would just need to respray and it would be all set. Guess the search goes on