Calling fellow FX owners, need advise!

V

Visceral

Member
Hi All,

I am about to purchase a 2007 FX45 tomorrow with 50k miles, but I noticed on the CarFax that there is a reported accident / structural damage. It is a two owner vehicle (1st one was dealer lease, 2nd one private). The accident occurred with the first owner back in 2009, and the structural damage was disclosed at auction in 2010. Consequently the second owners have limited knowledge of the actual accident, but they said there was limited damage to the front end, and that its front bumper was repaired (no airbags deployed). They described it as a minor accident, but I am sure people are prone to play it down. They said they obtained a structural inspection from Infiniti, which gave it a clean bill of health, that they still have documentation on.

This makes me a little nervous, and I would greatly appreciate some fellow FXers feedback. The title is clear (not salvage or anything), and the sellers consider the condition "like new". I am getting a great deal on it, so I do not expect 100% perfection, but I am wondering if this is too big of a risk. I am paying approximately $8,000 less than the Kelly Blue Book value for "very good condition". I really love the FX45s, and getting one in similar condition would be out of my financial reach.

Please help. I have never purchased a vehicle with an accident on its report before, and I would welcome your guys/gals feedback with this.

Thanks!

---------- Post added at 04:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:28 PM ----------

P.S. The airbag was not deployed according to CarFax.
 
It would not be worth the savings to me personally, but this is because i'm the type of person that would constantly think about the accident in the back of my mind! I purchased a 2007 fx45 recently as well and love it, but made sure it was never in any accidents.
 
I understand. While it would be ideal if it didnt have an accident, I guess the fact that is has been in an accident doesn't bother me too much given the price I am getting it at. It was a lease vehicle at the time of accident, and therefore repaired by the dealership. So you can't tell from looking at it that it has been in an accident, and there is no noticeable impact on the ride. I guess my concern is how much an accident like that could potentially impact the performance, life span, safety, or reliability of a vehicle.

Since the airbags were not deployed, and it wasn't totaled, I wouldn't think there would be any major impact to the aforementioned issues, but I was wondering if people more familiar with the specifics of the car could give me an ideal of what to look for, or be concerned about, with a front end collision like that. My understanding is it is a unibody, and a if they had to fix the bumper braces it could be deemed structural, but not really have much impact on anything else. I am leaning towards buying it, as it is one of the only ways to join the ranks of the people with taste and passion in this forum, but wanted to get some collective wisdom in case I was clearly taking on too much risk. I realize there is going to be some degree of risk no matter what given the unknowns, but does it sound like a reasonable level given that I am getting it for $8.5k under KBB value for "very good" condition?
 
Need some advice from the local FX pros!

Hi Guys/Gals, I am scheduled to purchase a 2007 FX45 with 50k miles tomorrow, and have some concerns about the vehicles history. I would really appreciate any feedback from some of the local PNW IS members. A link to the thread I started in the general community section, where more details are provided, is as follows:

https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=20709-Calling-fellow-FX-owners-need-advise!


P.S. Sorry for double posting, but I need to decide by tomorrow as the car isn't really local, so I need as much feedback as possible asap. This is one of my dream cars, and the price makes it affordable, but I don't want to take on an unrealistic amount of risk. However, I realize some amount of risk is unavoidable.

Thanks in advance!
 
there is a reason why its 8.5k under kbb value.

one of my cars got smashed in the rear while it was parked overnight couple years back. airbag was also not deployed but cost of repair was 15k. still clean title.
 
Okay, there is no need to post a new thread, pointing to another thread.

People will see it and respond.
 
First off Ill be the first to say don't let this push you away. I had the exact same thing happen to me. A little backstory:
Bought the car is 08 with clean title/carfax. In in 2011 I was looking to sell it and decided to get a carfax to show the potential buyer. To my surprise Carfax reported structural damage that was observed at an auction that the dealer who sold me the car got it from. Apparently carfax contracted with that auction house and started to report all the info they knew about vehicles that went through them. In theory it could be anything. From a major wreck to a minor bumper repaint. In my case, I put the car on the lift and went through it. It looked like it was hit in the left rear as one of the bumper attachments was a bit bent/rusted.

So again if you're getting such a deal take it to someone you trust who has automotive knowledge. If it was in a pretty bad wreck it wouldn't be that hard to spot it. I say if everything checks out go for it. Ive owned several salvage cars and havent had issues yet. Just got to be careful and go over it well. Keep in mind that when it comes time to sell it be ready to sell for a lower price as well. If you have more q's PM me.

---------- Post added at 07:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 PM ----------

BTW is it a private seller or dealer?
 
Guy is new, cut hime some slack. Mods will merge them :smile (2):
 
When I buy a used car I put most of my gut feeling on conversations I've had with the previous owners. Of course you can't talk to owner #1, so that would bother me. I prefer non-lease cars, so that would bother me. If you're buying from a dealer now, that would really bother me. I would worry about the carfax accident report after all these things. Like sir21 said, getting it thoroughly inspected will get most of the whole issue off your mind.
 
Thanks porkandbeans, those are some good points. So far, I do have a really good gut feeling from my interactions with the seller (private party).
 
Yeah, the sale was delayed a week because they realized it had a problem with the power driver seat right before they were going to sell it to me, so they insisted that they take it into the dealership so that the car was in the exact condition originally described for the price we had agreed on.
 
Take it to a mechanic, some mechanics have 'eyes' and experience to spot things that you wouldnt normally see. I wouldnt be too worried though. What worries me if theres any leaks, or powertrain problems. Take it for a test drive, drive it on the highway. Only downside that i see is that it was leased before. Some ppl lease and beat the hell out of a car and some dont. I guess you can buy it and drive it for a while and if it doesnt give you any problems then keep it and if it does just sell it. Dont forget your buying a 7 year old car for its age it should have wear and tear. I would also test drive other FX's around town and dealer, to see if you feel any differences.

So why is there a 8k price reduction?
 
Very good idea Dracula. Go test drive others 45 for some comparison. I would do the same as other have suggested here. Examined by some trained eyes and ears makes a huge difference. Given the history of the car, if you're not keeping long enough where the value goes down to nothing, you will take a hit on your selling price though, but you also have to take in consideration that you got a $8k break on the purchase now. May not be too bad after all. I would buy it since I tends to hold on to the car until is falls apart lol. Sounds like the current owner is nice enough to have the seat fixed up, otherwise that will be at least a $400+ on that repair itself.
 
Since the sale is delayed do what drac suggested. Go and test drive some other 45s in town
 
Yeah, all good points guys. One variable that I don't recall if I mentioned is that the car isn't really local, it is from a smaller town approximately 5 hours away. The owners are driving out to meet at a half-way point. Therefore, taking it to a mechanic presents issues that wouldn't otherwise be there. By the way, the fact that it is coming from a smaller town so far a way from a big city is probably a factor in the good price. The sellers were initially asking $5.5k above what we eventually settled on, but I negotiated using Edmunds.com values. It is a wealthy elderly gentleman's dead wife's car...so I think he just wants it gone. I always buy used cars, and this will actually be one of the newest used cars I will have owned (2001 540i currently), so I am very reasonable with wear and tear.

Well, about to leave to go buy it. I've settled on pulling the trigger assuming everything checks out. Wish me luck! Thanks for all the feedback guys.
 
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