Certified Preowned Warranty

[Lexus1211]

My wife and I purchased a 2009 RX350 with 15,000 miles in Feb 2010. The car was advertised as being CPO. I just had the oil change and the Service Dept informed me that the rack and pinion was starting to go out. I told them the vehicle was CPO and it should be covered by the 3yr/100k warranty. I was contacted the next day and told there was no record of this warranty. I pulled up the listed internet ad for our vehicle and it clearly states it was CPO. The Finance Mgr contacted me and stated that when we purchased the vehicle we had not included the purchase of the $1000 CPO warranty. The problem is that the only warranty that was offered at financing were the extended warranty packages. We declined them since we had been told by the salesman that we already had the CPO warranty. The Finance Mgr then clarified that the $1000 CPO price had actually been deducted from the purchase price. Once again, I reviewed the sales contract and it doesnt show a $1000 deduction, only our down payment. I haven't called dealership back yet, however, it appears that the Finance Mgr's argument is that what I presumed was a negotiated reduction of $1200 from the purchase price was actually a removal of the CPO warranty(which we were never told). Has anyone had any similar issues like this? It appears to be a very deceptive sales practice if this is indeed what has occured.

[pj8708]

Welcome Lexus 1211,

You are absolutely in the right. Of course there is always a possibility that each Lexus dealer has some leeway in how they conduct certain aspects of there business, but Lexus/Toyota is very strict on how the dealers follow the Lexus franchise rules.

In my experience, The $1000. CPO price is always included as part of the total purchase price as the car sits on the lot. You do have the choice to purchase the car without the CPO or "as is" no warranty. But since again, the total retail price on the lot included the CPO, the invoice would show , original retail, less CPO price, net price. plus tax ect.

I should correct myself here for I see your CPO cost is $1200. not $1000. Correct?

Having said the above, what I suspicion is really happening here is what a lot of dealer customers don't know. A car dealer can, and many times does, make more profit from what goes on in the Finance Mgrs. office than from the sale of the car it self. I can speak to this with some authority as I have a nephew who is the manager for the "Customer Finance Dept." at the largest Ford dealer in Iowa. He shares alot after a Scotch.

When the Finance person tossed in the term "Extended Warranty" after the salesman had told you you didn,t need it, it feels like he's trying to squeze you into buying the Extended Warranty, then that would cover the repair which would have been covered in the first place had you not screwed up and told us you didn't want the CPO, which we can't find any paper work for or document. So, see. It's all your fault and you'll have to buy the Extended Warranty for $2300 !!!

Probably exagerated. But here is a suggestion. Choice 1. Get the salesman and finance guy in the room together. This way, you can make each one tell there story, and you, in my opinion, are still intitiled to your CPO warranty. They cannot prove you did not, and the salesman either has to back his customer or lie to the finance guy.

Choice 2. Insist on talking to the General Manger. It is in his/her best interest to resolve this so that you don't turn around, walk out, and tell everyone you know what a rotten dealer they are.

Choice 3 Contact Lexus directly. Explain your situation and ask them to contact the dealer. Have all you paper work in case they ask you to scan, fax or mail copy's

Choice 4 Leave the car there. It was advertised as "Certified" pre owned, and they boast that they perform something like a 112 point inspection. I am not a mecanhic, but if the rack&pinion truly are bad, and the car has only 15,000 miles on it, IMO, that doesn't pass the smell test. Any mechanic would have found a defective rack&pinion while doing their Certification inspection.

I have no idea if this long ramble has been any help, but please post back with your progress so we can all learn from this situation

Good Luck,

Paul

http://www.lexus.com/contact/

[1990LS400]

I just had the oil change and the Service Dept informed me that the rack and pinion was starting to go out.

What does "starting to go out" mean? If it is starting to weep a little fluid it could be years before it fails. How far out of the 4 year/50,000 mile basic warrenty is this vehicle? If it's close you might at least some break on the repair (if it is really needed - get a 2nd opinion) from Lexus corporate.

[Lexus1211]

The car is currently at 57,000 miles, so it just recently went beyond the basic warranty mileage. The salesman is no longer working there, but I'm going to request to meet with the manager and the Finance mgr to discuss this. Coincidentally, today we received an off from a warranty insurance company offering to sell us an extended warranty policy. The company is AutoAssure, LLC. It seems very odd that a week after this experience we receive this offer. Thanks for your posts

[LEX-SV]

So what happened? Status of CPO warranty?