post used car purchase need advice
 

My brother bought a used Lexus LX470 with 90k miles from a Lexus Dealer. A day after driving it the check engine light goes on and it needs a new catalytic convertor which is out of warranty. The part is at least $2500 plus installation.

The dealer wants him to spend an additional $3500 more to get the Lexus warranty to cover the repair.

I realize he bought a used car, but to have a problem like this after a day of ownership with such an expensive part seems fairly shady.

What would you do?

Thx!

Makes you wonder if the dealer knew this and just cleared the code only for it to come back a day later

Isn't there a buyer's remorse law? Depends on his state I think.

Just did a quick search on CA laws (I assume we talkin bout CA) he would have had to purchase a 2 day return policy

Law said that the dealer MUST offer this policy at time of delivery

There is no "cooling off period" in CA.... so I don't think there is one.

here it is:

Note: There is no “cooling off” period unless you obtain a Contract Cancellation Option Agreement.
Consumers who purchase a used car for less than $40,000 must be given an opportunity to purchase a two–day Contract Cancellation Option Agreement.

Don't think it was mentioned to him. He is a lawyer so i'm sure he'll figure out what his rights are.

Oh, so your brother's in CA. Is there a way to hook it up to an OBD computer (maybe another dealer or at an indy shop?) and see when the last code was cleared? One day certainly sounds fishy. Is there a way to look up the last owner (CA DMV can help) and try to track them down to see if this was a pre-existing problem?

Ice pick the light?
Jim

It would be interesting to speak to the last owner i'll mention that to him

I would bet that it was in fine print on a piece of paper he signed

A real live Lexus new car dealer? Man I would call the GM of the dealership,and above until you get satisfaction. That figure is chump change in the larger scheme of things, they can fix it and make your brother square.

Although the vehicle was purchased from a dealer I wonder what BAR would say about this?

rjp

Lexus dealer messed up the engine on my daughter's car (I think they ran it without oil). made them give me a new car. Same color, options etc...except brand new (two year newer)model. Lexus Corporate ate the cost.

Don't discount the idea that the previous owner had the light turned out right before he traded it in, or right before this car went to auction.

Yeah but I think the car would have been started enough times between trade in and his brothers purchase to trip the light again

My check engine light just came on in my 2010 wrangler (EGR valve) I reset the light and it came back after three start ups

it there a way to look at the history of fault codes in the ECU? Or once erased are they gone?

I'm pretty sure you can but you need the high dollar readers to get past codes

I don't think the ones that the local auto part stores use will tell you

Was it truly the next day after purchase?

How many days has it been as of today?

What dealership? In Santa Monica?

$2500? Why so much?

You didn't say what year, but I looked up a 2002 LX470.
I show that it uses 4 cats. California legal replacements are $230 each.
They are CalCat from Walker.

Plug the VIN into this website to see if it has ever failed a smog test before:

Vehicle Test History

This would be my guess, too. I'd figure a good dealership would want to fix this issue. I bought my 50K Mazda from a tiny dealer on a gravel lot and they covered half of the cost of an issue I had two days later.