Went and looked at a used GX yesterday and was disappointed to see that the passenger front fender had been repainted. There were smallish gouging scratches on that side of the front bumper, and it was completely obvious that the fender had been replaced or repaired. The dealer claimed that they didn't notice it on their pre-inspection and they showed me the Carfax stating that nothing had been reported (which obviously doesn't mean much). I told them they neat to get their caliper out and test the paint, because it 100% isn't original from the factory.

My question is if there is a way to use a VIN to find a previous owner and contact them about the vehicle? It would be nice to ask them what they hit and how much damage was actually done. If it was a simple dent/scratch and repair, then no biggie. If they hit something hard enough to need an alignment, then that's another story.

Carfax report?

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Carfax report?

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Does it have the previous owners name on it?

ccolley68 said:

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If you called me as a prospective buyer, to ask about a vehicle I used to own and sold, i'd tel you to **** off

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Why? Other than taking up your time, what's the harm?

CanyonAg77 said:

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I think you guys are overthinking it and way too scared of some nut suing you. Unless you intentionally hid a dangerous flaw, I don't see how you could be hurt.

Nothing wrong with being nice. Talk it down if you want, so your liability is less.

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Yeah, would just want to know simple things. It's just odd that the damage is not on a Carfax, but the salesman told me that not everything is reported to Carfax, even in regards to vehicle damage.

You can tell the paint color is a little different. Either that or when they buffed it they simply made it shine so much brighter than the rest of the car that it looks different. I could see the buffing compound in the gap between hood and fender when I opened the hood. There is also clear bra on the hood and drivers side fender, but no bra on the passenger fender.

Just talked with my buddy that used to run a body shop. He said they do not report to Carfax, but insurance companies do. So if the damage was bad enough to get insurance involved there would be something in the report. If they paid out of pocket it wouldn't hit any report.

sounds like subpar repairs
must be cheap

I facebook messaged the previous owner of a car I bought for my kid, she was cool about it and very nice.

I don't recommend calling them tho.

I have wanted to do this recently as I have been truck shopping for a rig to pull a 5th wheel. First was a nice low mileage one owner 2012 F-350 that upon inspection, I could tell the front fender had been replaced and painted. Dealer said they didn't catch it in there 35,334 point used car inspection. Then they said it was from a tire blowout. I asked them to contact the PO so I could see what all body work had been done. They said hell no. I probably should have bought that truck, but passed because of the continuing bad attitude of the sales team. It also showed "damage reported" on the Carfax, so that makes me think it was truly a blowout and not an accident. Nonetheless, it would have come up when I would try to sell it one day.

Next truck was a 2013 F250 from a Ford dealer in Grapevine. Took it home for the night and found the leaf spring hangar hanging off the frame where a weld had broken. That one was CPO and had been through a 56,240 point inspection. The PO home was left in the GPS, so I was thinking about looking him up to ask some questions but didn't. Returned that one pretty quick.

Next was a 2015 F250 KR. They left the bluetooth for his phone on there so I had his whole name and found him on Facebook. Didn't mesage him because the truck was pretty perfect.

Finally bought a 2014 F350. PO name was on all the paperwork in the glovebox. Looked her up on Facebook and she looked like the type of person that takes care of things.

On most of the trucks I have sold, I leave my number in the console so if they have any questions about maintenance, I can tell them.

I am pretty particular/weird when it comes to buying used vehicles.

I did this a few years ago when I was buying a pickup for my daughter. Found a tire receipt from Discount Tire that had his name and phone number. I had questions about the truck the dealer could not answer. He turned out to be a real nice guy and answered all my questions. We had probably a 30 minute phone conservation. I did buy the truck.

Go enter the VIN on the Lexus owner's website. You can see the entire service history (including body work) if it was performed at Lexus. Next, ask the servicing dealer to pull the service history. Many times, the owners name and phone number will be on that report. On 3 reports I've seen in the last year from Sewell, they all had the previous owner on it.

If I wanted to do that I would have sold it myself on Craigslist and not traded it in. I have had this happen before and find it incredibly annoying.

That's fine, I don't find it annoying. Just seems like a polite thing to do.

I had 2 front enders in a vehicle i sold. Pulled a carfax in advance just to see what would show up. Clean as a whistle...

ccolley68 said:

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If you called me as a prospective buyer, to ask about a vehicle I used to own and sold, i'd tel you to **** off

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I have no idea why. Why would you be any different about this than anyone who was offering to buy a vehicle you currently had for sale? They already found out you're a previous owner, so why not talk to them?

I'm not going to let them take up too much of my time but if they want to know about service, gas I used, how I took care of it, etc., I'd tell them

CanyonAg77 said:

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ccolley68 said:

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If you called me as a prospective buyer, to ask about a vehicle I used to own and sold, i'd tel you to **** off

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Why? Other than taking up your time, what's the harm?

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For me, it wouldn't be the imposition that the buyer is putting on me. I have no issue answering questions about the history of my vehicle. But if I wanted to do that with every tire kicker that was interested, I'd have listed and sold it myself. Plus, just because that vehicle is at a used lot in Des Moines doesn't mean that's where I am or where I traded it, or any of the people involved in my transaction are there. Maybe XYZ Ford in Houston where I traded it were well aware of the accident I was in, the repair work that was done, and my trade value was lowered as a result. Then it hits the auction block, gets sold site unseen to ABC Motors in Sheboygan, they overpaid because they were unaware of the accident and just got blindsided with the car on their lot they 'hoe bathed' and stuck it on the lot hoping for a quick turn is worth $5K less than they paid for it, and they are going to beat around the bush with you the buyer because they have no knowledge or explanation for the condition.

And I would be just a little freaked out that you as the prospective buyer of the vehicle had the time and ability to find my personal info somehow AND actually called me. And now in the back of my mind I'd be very worried at the possible repercussions of a lawsuit of some kind if everything isn't what you thought. I traded it to the dealer for a reason, all that BS is their problem now. I don't even want someone to be able to know my name of a vehicle I previously owned, much less be able to pick up the hone and call me to ask at what mileage intervals I changed the oil.

FC12 said:

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Go enter the VIN on the Lexus owner's website. You can see the entire service history (including body work) if it was performed at Lexus. Next, ask the servicing dealer to pull the service history. Many times, the owners name and phone number will be on that report. On 3 reports I've seen in the last year from Sewell, they all had the previous owner on it.

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Good tip. Car comes up clean there as well.

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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vansprinkle said:

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1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Carfax report?

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Does it have the previous owners name on it?

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It would have a damage report.

FWIW, on a 'normal' car, if you reached out and contacted the PO, they may find it weird.

When I reached out the PO of my E55, the guys wife was like "My husband will be so happy a car guy is buying his car", and I spoke with him, he sent me all the maintenance records and photos and detailed history on the car, and told me some of the history on it

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Same thing if someone contacted me about the 944 I used to have. I sold it 11 years ago and would be happy to know that it's still on the road and that someone gives a crap about it. I'd be able to tell them the history going back to about 1990 because I knew the owner before me.

I could see it maybe being a little more acceptable in the 'enthusiast' car type atmosphere. Old Porsche's, old Benz's, etc. But a run of the mill soccer mom grocery getter that's only a few years old at a Lexus dealership I traded in? That's not a call I'm going to take

We think about vehicles very differently

Sounds a little "cray cray." Find another car.