So...
A month ago i purchased a 2005 4runner v6 sport 4x4 from Lodi Honda in Lodi California. The vehicle was a trade in. It passed all their inspections and i drove it and had my mechanic friend drive it and it ran amazing and was extremely clean. A month later i got curious about the service history and decided to call the dealership that had done the last service before it was traded in. I talked to their service center and they let me know that it was diagnosed with a leak in the head gasket on the bank 1 head. I was super surprised since the runner runs amazingly. So I took it to my roommates shop and we did a block leak test and sure enough, we found exhaust in the coolant. So, now i am trying to figure out if i have any consumer rights to return it or get some money for repairs since even though it was purchased as is, there was a major defect in the car 300 miles before they sold it to me that they claimed they didnt know about. Anyone know about this?? Luckily if the repairs get stuck on me i have access to a shop and can have my roommate do it as a side job with my help.

And if anyone wants to be super cool, go give Lodi Honda some bad reviews. Their sales manager was a complete a** hole when i talked to him about it today. At one point i asked "all legal things aside, do you feel like you are doing good business knowing that you sold a vehicle with a blown head gasket." He replied, "I am happy doing that sort of business with a vehicle that had 120k miles on it." He argued that it was my fault since i bought a car with over 100k miles on it. These motors are known to last over 300K. Guess i shouldnt have bought a toyota from a honda dealership

Sorry to read of your bad experience but WTF is up with that comment? You expect everyone to rally together with pitchforks because of your raw deal?

You have access to a shop and a mechanic in your household. Get it fixed and move on.

Sheesh!

My comment?? Look at the comment you just left. It wasn't an expectation you idiot. i just mentioned that if anyone is bored they should give the dealership some **** for how ****ty they treated me. A 20 hour job is not really something i want to deal with or should have to deal with. I cant even believe you took the time to write me that comment. Obviously i am going to get it fixed reguardless. go fu*k yourself

Intelligent reply. Is that the best you can do?

Lemme make sure I have this right....I'm an idiot who can go F himself but clearly your request for anyone who wants to be "super cool" and blindly give bad reviews of a dealership is completely reasonable.

...and 20hrs to do a head gasket? Not sure if you realize this but you don't have to start from the tailgate and work forward. Just pop the hood.

Wow...bergs has a point you know. We understand this situation sucks, but you can't expect a bunch of people to go a write a bad review about a business just because they heard that someone had a bad experience. Yeah, I agree, if the owner cared about the customers, he would look into it more at the very least. How did you approach the dealer, because if you called and said "you sold me a broken car!!" they would just laugh in your face. You need to come to them with evidence and records from the other dealer you contacted and make sure they know you have a case and they will probably do something about it to keep you quiet. Good luck with your situation, but this forum isn't for name calling or fighting.

I dont wont to get in the middle of this but that icon cracks me up!

Knowing that vehicles have a many wearable parts, and you bought a vehicle that is 7 years old with 120k, what parts would you accept that show wear?

I think you are 100% responsible here because there is history of head gasket issues with a v6 and you should have checked that when you had your mechanic check it before you bought it. I assume that the dealership that checked it out and called the head gasket wasn't the Honda dealer. Undoubtedly the Honda Dealer had no idea because there is no way they would have put it on their lot. It would have gone straight to auction where some other unsuspecting dealer would have picked it up. Your grief should be with the original owner who knew they were on borrowed time and traded it in without disclosing the issue.

This just stresses the importance of doing a leak down test as well as compression test before seriously considering a used high-mileage vehicle for long term use. Toyota or not.

Clockwork, welcome back.

Also this is probably the best advice you've ever given on this site. Well done.

X2!!

Another reason why i bring my possible-purchases to a mechanic before buying and have him go thru it from stem to stern for a few bucks and a 6-pack!

First of all I agree that it is mostly the buyers fault on this one for not having it checked out BUT that Honda dealer has very poor customer service and obviously their used car department isn't trust worthy.

You guys shouldn't jump down this guys throat like that, if any of you live in that area I'm sure you'd be happy to know that the used car lot at that Honda dealership doesn't care about their customers nor do they fully check out the cars they are selling on their lot.

I know if I saw a review like that I'd avoid them.

but this is a valuable lesson learned in the car buying business, good luck on the head gasket job.

What are the lemon-laws in your state? You might want to check that!

Don't lemon laws only apply to new vehicles? This *may* be a defect for this particular engine but does not show until after 100k it seems.

Like what? I asked two very simple questions and immediately was called an idiot and told to go F myself by the man with the huge keyboard yet *we* should not jump down his throat in a manner that says nothing more than "ya shoulda done your homework".



I'm done with this nonsense.

Thanks Red. That is really all i am getting at. To be honest i just really want their reputation to suffer from how badly they treated me. You guys should have heard the conversation. And a leak in the head gasket isnt "usual" wear. And i agree that i was at fault. I assumed things such as a leak down test were included in their inspection of their used cars. Am i that dumb for assuming that a dealership service center of a huge honda dealer wouldn't do something like that?? As for the guy that decided to make this thread hostile and jump down my throat, Look the job up on All Data. It calls for 19.5 hours for doing a head gasket on both banks. All Data is an extremely reputable source and it is what all mechanics use to quote customers for parts needed and labor time. The jobs can take longer or shorter and thats why quotes are just quotes. So before you insult me and make a comment like you did, you should know that All Data is a data base that every mechanic uses for a job.

So getting back to what i would like out of this thread... Is the issue known to be just the head gasket? Or has anyone ever gotten a cracked head out of this common issue at 120k?? Basically this job is going to take us a day to rip it apart, a couple days while we send out the heads to make sure they are straight and solid, and another day to put it back together.