What Should I Ask?

[debgreg]

Hi

I have finally taken the plunge and bought a 220SE +MM from Lexus in Stoke, 55 plate with 24K on the clock(I do quite low miles so not really fussed at the this) ,Mesa Red with Oakham interior( being female get your priorities right, colour is all ) . Got it for a price I was happy with,£17500 after trade with them giving me £3000 on my 307 £1,000 more than Lexus in Liverpool :D

Anyway I know there have been a multitude of problems especially with the older models,dash rattle, 5th injector whatsy etc ,what I need to know is when I go to collect the car, or maybe before, should I ask if any of these issues have occured and what has been done to rectify them or should I wait and assess for myself. Problem is ,will I know some of these issues, not being as technical as a lot of you guys on here (okay I will know a rattle before you start) and also after driving a petrol car for so long will they be obvious to me??? If I do ask, will they have the facility (ie will it be logged in the service history) to tell me.

I would also be grateful for any other advice you can give, apart from trade it in for a 250SE Auto :winky: coz unless you are buying new they are just to hard to obtain at a bargin price .

Thanx

Debi

[ihpj]

I would suggest you ask them. Structure the conversation properly, saying that friends/family who recommend the car to you initially had these problems, can they please check the S/H to see if any of these problems exist and if so, have they been rectified? If not, then can they be looked at prior to your collection - be open and polite, but firm. Let them know that you know that they know that you know about these problems.

Above all, good luck with the car - enjoy it :)

[debgreg]

I would suggest you ask them. Structure the conversation properly, saying that friends/family who recommend the car to you initially had these problems, can they please check the S/H to see if any of these problems exist and if so, have they been rectified? If not, then can they be looked at prior to your collection - be open and polite, but firm. Let them know that you know that they know that you know about these problems.

Above all, good luck with the car - enjoy it :)

Cheers

That was what i was concerned about, how I actually could broach the subject without sounding pessamistic Could i ask one more thing , I have read on various threads about the Sat/Nav having Nanny features I presume it doesnt look like supernanny so could someone please clarify what this means and do you think the price I paid was about right ?

Cheers

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

Debi,

hi and welcome - the price I reckon was good - the car isn't high mileage really, but it is one of the earliest ones - probably registered late Dec 05 or Jan-Feb 06. I reckon you've done OK.

The nanny features are a bit like Super nanny - you can swear at it, but it just sits there and remains polite and courteous!

Seriously - the nanny's in nutshell are:

Can't watch DVD's while moving - though that is a legal issue!!

Can't use the phone keypad when moving - but you can dial from the phone

Can't enter a destination while driving - though my Garmin sucker type won't allow it either!!

Voice Activation is too limited

You can't play MP3's off a DVD

The Satnav volume is low even on maximum, and if you have the stereo on above 15 you might not be able to hear what she says. The sound only comes from one speaker...and you cannot set it to mute the radio which would have been a huge help!!

PS - as far as the rattles are concerned, just switch the radio off, Air con off etc, and try it when you drive off first thing in the morning, or when it's hot...any creaks and rattles will be loud...

[debgreg]

Debi,

hi and welcome - the price I reckon was good - the car isn't high mileage really, but it is one of the earliest ones - probably registered late Dec 05 or Jan-Feb 06. I reckon you've done OK.

The nanny features are a bit like Super nanny - you can swear at it, but it just sits there and remains polite and courteous!

Seriously - the nanny's in nutshell are:

Can't watch DVD's while moving - though that is a legal issue!!

Can't use the phone keypad when moving - but you can dial from the phone

Can't enter a destination while driving - though my Garmin sucker type won't allow it either!!

Voice Activation is too limited

You can't play MP3's off a DVD

The Satnav volume is low even on maximum, and if you have the stereo on above 15 you might not be able to hear what she says. The sound only comes from one speaker...and you cannot set it to mute the radio which would have been a huge help!!

PS - as far as the rattles are concerned, just switch the radio off, Air con off etc, and try it when you drive off first thing in the morning, or when it's hot...any creaks and rattles will be loud...

Cheers Jambo

I have looked for ages for a car that wouldn't stretch the budget too far. The car looks in really good nick (think it must have had that paint protection thingy, how long does that last?) no stone chip marks, interior spotless, drivers seat a little grubby but it hadn't been valeted yet, so I am hoping that will clean up a bit, salesman said it would . I owner from new,just traded it for a 57 model, full service history,all at Lexus in Stoke, I have to say I found them far more helpful than Liverpool.

Sat Nav seems a bit odd, especially the volume, you would think there would be some kind of overide so the stereo volume dipped as the lady of the lanes came through :)

I am going to take the advice to mention the shakes rattles and rolls and see if has had any work already done. Can't wait now to get it ^_^ however it's on a private plate and I have to wait for the old reg to come through from the DVLA.

Thanx again

Debi

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Hope it goes well for you, I can't believe a 24k miles car has no stone chips. Have a look again, maybe they have been touched up.

[debgreg]

Hope it goes well for you, I can't believe a 24k miles car has no stone chips. Have a look again, maybe they have been touched up.

Well both myself and my other half had a really close look and we couldn't see any (hope I weren't lookin through Mesa Red coloured specs :D ) if they had been touched up would you be able to see them? The previous owner had the car from new, from that garage and traded it for a 57 plate. Are chippings covered under the warranty or if it had supagard would they do it under that?

It didn't have a single scratch on it that we could see and it hadn't been valeted as it had only been traded the day before

[Steve ( West Mids )]

If the chips had been recently done you might just pick them out, you have to look at different angles. They tend to show more noticeable in time. Supaguard wouldn't make any difference and chips aren't usually covered on any warranty. Ask the garage if they have had them done, sometimes it's necessary to respray the bonnet to make a decent job of it. I'm talking from experience of 3 Lexus cars here and about 60k miles.

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

Not trying to scare you (Honest)...though it might sound it...but contact the previous owner and ask them if the car has had an accident or they had the front end sprayed...It's a lot of cash you're spending - and I never believe what a sales man tells me about when a car came in, how long they've had, what'll scrub up and what won't...I've bought enough lemons and avoided a few too by doing some inspector morse stuff...

These Lexus's show stone chips like you wouldn't believe...mine is peppered...it's only done 12600 miles - roughly half of what yours has!!

PS - the dealer may say that they don't have the log book anymore - it's off to DVLA - but insist - they should have a copy in file or a record of who had it previously.

[debgreg]

Not trying to scare you (Honest)...though it might sound it...but contact the previous owner and ask them if the car has had an accident or they had the front end sprayed...It's a lot of cash you're spending - and I never believe what a sales man tells me about when a car came in, how long they've had, what'll scrub up and what won't...I've bought enough lemons and avoided a few too by doing some inspector morse stuff...

These Lexus's show stone chips like you wouldn't believe...mine is peppered...it's only done 12600 miles - roughly half of what yours has!!

PS - the dealer may say that they don't have the log book anymore - it's off to DVLA - but insist - they should have a copy in file or a record of who had it previously.

The car is currently on a cherished plate and it takes about two weeks for the DVLA to release it, as yet it hasn't come through and the owner is waiting to put it on his new car. Would this not indicate that the garage have only just acquired the car? Would they be obliged to inform me if it had been in an accident and if it had, would it make any difference to its value? are the chips mainly on the bonnet and would we have been able to spot them ie does white show through? The car had not been valeted (you could see that) and the salesman said if there were any stone chippings they would make them good,maybe we just that couldn't see them. The thing is that the showroom is over an hours drive away from us, so its not like we can pop around and take another look

Oh and by the way Jambo you are making me scared

[Rob]

ask them if it has had a crash - they should tell you, if they say no then they should have no problem giving it to you in writing, if it has had a crash i would walk away and of course it is going to be worth less.

stone chips should be visible even if touched up .

get the details of the last owner and give him a call.

as an example i looked at an RS4 a while ago and in the paperwork i found a phone number of the last owner, turns out it was involved in a crash and repaired by the dealer - the dealer denied all knowledge!

[debgreg]

ask them if it has had a crash - they should tell you, if they say no then they should have no problem giving it to you in writing, if it has had a crash i would walk away and of course it is going to be worth less.

stone chips should be visible even if touched up .

get the details of the last owner and give him a call.

as an example i looked at an RS4 a while ago and in the paperwork i found a phone number of the last owner, turns out it was involved in a crash and repaired by the dealer - the dealer denied all knowledge!

OK just spoke to the dealer, he assured me it hadn't been involved in a crash said if it had they wouldn't be selling it . Said the person who owned it is meticulous with his cars and would have probably had any chips touched up, he is going to check and let me know. Also asked about dashboard/mirror rattle, said he would check if they had been done if not he would ensure they are rectified.

He has worked at Lexus in Stoke for 7 years which makes me feel a bit more confident in what he says as opposed to Lexus Liverpool who seem to change their salesmen every couple of weeks

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

I'm always scared of myself too!

The styones chips are worse on the front bumper on mine, and unless you get a respray, you will always see them. They car has to have been recorded for the previous owner/dealer to have to legally tell you it's been smashed!! from my experience - no matter how meticiulous (isn't it strange how many times a dealer tells you the previous owner was meticulous - then you find dirty seats in the car, bald spare tyres and so on...) the owner was, only a respray or expensive chips-away treatments would get rid of it so well...

BTW - my dealer took 3 forms and 6 weeks to sort out my paperwork/transfer/cheque for my PEX...it really doesn't matter who/how long they've been around, but I don't trust garages of any make/marque - they are their to fleece you and are only interested in the bottom line! I've been their too many times - where the dealer just moves on to fleecing the next punter - and tells them what they want to hear -that's what selling for commission is all about!!

PS - they always tell you THEY will contact the previous owner...again - I never trust that....

You'd never be able to guess that I have a poor opinion of salesmen and women, would you?

[Exiled]

If you want to allay your fears of a chequered history, buy new. It's fine me saying that and I realise not everyone can afford to. We are always suspicious of second hand car salesmen, or new car salesmen selling second hand cars, they're both the same.

It's what you fall in love with, for example the gleaming two year old IS you see with all the bits you want may be a similar price to a new ordinary car that will get you from A to B fine, no probs. But you'll never look at it and think how georgious it is because it will never be what you really wanted. I had an Audi Coupe years ago, every time I got in it, went anywhere I felt good, I had many stressfull days at work but driving home I used to wish I lived farther away so I could spend more time in the car. I'd get home, look at it and think it was all worthwhile. The Mrs said she always felt special driving it.

Sorry debgreg, can't be any help. it's a bugger isn't it.