I went to a Lexus dealership today to purchase a 2015 Lexus RC350 CPO as a second car. After 4 hours of negotiations online, we finally agreed to terms. I inspected the car and the front bumper had a lot of curb rash underneath. I immediately cancelled the deal. Yes I know its a CPO and it might have some minor scratches but for a car over $40k I expect it to be damn near perfect. The sales manager said they would not paint it and would be sold as it is with lots of touch up paint. The sales manager statement to me was "Who looks underneath the front bumper?" I told him "I do", what a moron.

 

I am a car salesman for a not Lexus brand. I understand both sides of this issue.

There are a lot of things the play into this. For this under the front bumper rash I would have offered you 3 options:
1- no discount on the sale price (you mentioned negotiations) and I will make it like new,
2- as is with the discount. You wanting a used car to be perfect is demanding a lot, and the dealerships job is to make a little money and to make you a happy customer. If I knock $2000 off the sale price that doesn't leave me a lot of room to make it right

3- The other option I would offer you would be to have it fixed at my cost and you pay for it, so if its like $1200 worth of paint labor etc, I might get it done around $900. But you still get your discounted sale price you negotiated.

It wouldn't make sense for me to sell you the car for around $400 profit to spend another $900, more so when its a used car that is hard to replace, the best deal is often found on new cars because the dealership can replace the unit with a new one, and then make their money back from the service department etc...

If you want and demand a car be perfect I would recommend shopping new, I know you are upset with the condition of the vehicle and even if it was fixed I imagine the bad taste in your mouth wouldn't go away so easily, this feels like perhaps was not the right car for you. There are plenty of 15's if you take your time and look around, I wish you good luck in the search

 

^^ he's spot on with that answer.

 

The sales manager did not offer me any of these options and as far as the salesman, He stood in the background and just listened. But you're right, there are plenty of other cars to choose from and maybe its not the right time now. Thanks for your input.

 

Car never should have been on the lot as CPO. Wth! Did the ever put this car up on a lift before sending it out?

 

show me where is says Lexus CPO cars are required to be perfect with no scratches on the under body panels.

Lexus-Certified-Pre-Owned-161-point-checklist-brochure.pdf

it is CPO because it met the requirements of the Lexus CPO check list, if there was a cracked or broken body panel, yeah probably would not meet the CPO requirements, road rash from going in and out of a driveways or over speed bumps isn't going to be considered an issue.

I do not disagree with the OP, I would have walked as well if the dealer wasn't willing to something to correct the issue, but minor under body scratches are not going to disqualify it from CPO status.

 

CPO doesn't mean new so I would have to side with the dealer here. They could have given you options but I guess they rather let you walk. There are 161 points to the inspection and none of those cover curb rash under the front bumper nor should it be. But at least you caught it before signing the paper.

 

I still agree with Papi007. The car should be flawless all except for the miles on it for that kind of money and being a 15. Imo

 

flawless = new

used is used, regardless of the price the car isn't new it was bought, used, traded back in.

a house can cost 10 - 50 times a car, and unless it is a fresh new build it is going to be used, have issues, need repairs, it isn't going to be flawless.



hence the term "pre-owned"

 

If you want flawless buy new, if you are gonna buy a CPO or USED, expect some defects somewhere interior or exterior. Seats were a huge issue with late model Lexus cars for sometime

 

Vehicle Comments
NO DEALER FEE!!! F SPORT, NAVIGATION SYSTEM, BACKUP CAMERA, **LEXUS CERTIFIED**, SHOWROOM CONDITION, 1 OWNER & SPOTLESS CARFAX HISTORY, INTUITIVE PARKING ASSIST, REAR SPOILER, HUGE SAVINGS!!! No Surprises, No Sacrifices, 100% Lexus...

This is what the description says, take hence to "Showroom Condition". The pictures look nice, but like I said, I'm not giving away 40k on a car that needs to have a repaired bumper! I have purchased 5 CPO cars from Lexus before and have never experienced this. They have all been flawless! But I will have to say that I have never purchased from this particular dealership.

 

I usually purchase all of my Lexus vehicles from JM Lexus but they did not have the color combination I wanted. The sales manager there has always told me that their particular dealership would not sell a CPO with paint damage,they always correct it by repainting. Maybe this is why I have always purchased flawless CPO cars there because they go the extra mile. Lesson learned, I will just wait until they get one.

 

From another salesman's view.

There is no rule that a CPO has to be perfect. In today's world where everyone wants cars for cheap and play dealers against each other, there's less room to make cars perfect and still be in the plus side.
With that being said, I try to make everyone happy. I try to make sure the boss makes something, even if it's $50. I'll give the customer the option of repair at my cost or switch them to another car. I would not have allowed the manager to cost me a sale like that.

 

I don't believe in CPO or anything associated with that when it comes to buying a used car. I'm sure CPO goes through it's "100 million point inspection" but in the end of the day the dealer's bottom line is to make money. They can sell it as CPO or call it whatever they want and they are just hoping that you don't find anything wrong with the car during the CPO warranty time. If you do find something then of course they will fix it but it doesn't mean it comes with no issues when you buy the car from their lot.

 

no offense, but terms like:

show room condition
like new
low miles

are sales/marketing terms.

I've seen "like new" on 10 year old cars, sorry a 10 year old car isn't going to be "like new" unless it has NEVER been driven or titled.

I've seen "low miles" on a car with 80,000 miles, yeah maybe an 8-10 year old car with only 80k on the clock is comparatively "low miles" to the average 8-10 year old car with north of 100K, but 80k isn't "low miles" by any means. At 80k you are at the point of needing new shocks, brakes, flushing of all major fluids (power steering, transmission, rear end, etc.) probably new tires, the seat material is going to be worn regardless of how well it was taken care of.

To put something like "like new, show room condition, low miles" on a USED vehicle is simply marketing to draw in the tire kickers and get them into something.

CPO or not, used is used, by definition it means someone else owned and operated the vehicle and it will have wear on it as a result.

Yeah $40k is a lot for a used car, and if looking for perfection in that price range there are literally dozens of makes and models you can by new for $40K or less that would meet the criteria of "perfect"
used is used, it is not new regardless of whatever fancy words are in the ad.