I just purchased a 2005 SR5 4runner with 8k miles on it..I love the thing, but as I've spent more time in in the past couple of weeks, I've noticed a few things and wondered if the past owner was a complete slob - or if all 4runners are like this..All I know about the previous owner was that it was a private lease to a company - so I assume not the best care would go into the car. Underneath the rearview mirror there is a black box (I think to let the driver enter some kind of gated parking or something).

Here are a couple of issues:

The lights in the headliner (only the rear and middle) lights seem to be sagging out of the headliner..like they need to be reglued or reattached.

The headliner looks creased in areas..Almost like it was folded and then put back..kinda weird..Not everywhere, just certain places it looks like a crease..

The passenger side 'oh sh*t handle has some kind of glue or something coming out of the creases between the handle and the headliner..looks like a tan color glue and is only around where the handle would attach to the headliner..

My drivers side seat makes some kind of creaking noise - which I have heard on here some people have, but when I took it to the dealer, they could not reproduce it.

On the driver side rear seat, the headliner is not tucked neatly under the plastic side molding..this car does have side airbags..the driver side back seat is all nice and neat, but not the passenger..and lastly the plastic at the top (just before the headliner) looks to be almost sanded away or rubbed against by something (looks like plastic that has been worn). That is in both the passenger side and driver side plastic pieces that connect to the headliner..

Sorry for the long post - I was just wondering if anyone else has any of these problems or did I just have one messy owner?

Except for the drivers seat noise, it all sounds like sloppy workmanship for warranty work.

sounds a bit odd..

but have any pictures that could give us a better idea?

Was this vehicle possibly ever involved in a crash or collision?

Definitely sounds like the headliner was removed, and not carefully. Could have been warranty work on the moonroof. Is there anything about that black box that might hint at another reason... maybe an antenna or something? Maybe satellite radio or the GPS antenna for an aftermarket navigation system? Or maybe lights... what business was that company in?

Strange, mine in my '05 looks extremely neat. Sounds like someone messed with yours for some reason.

Try to go the dealer and ask them to fix it. Headliner should be warranty issue.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Sounds like they removed the headliner for some reason and tried to piece it back together. It could have been to install something (do you see any holes or patches on your roof?) or maybe to clean it?

I had sunroof work done on my 2003 Sport when I had it. The headliner had creases in it and never really looked the same. The likely reason for this is the sunroof broke and needed reapirs. I just hope there was never a leak or something like that. Is there anyway you can get the service records for the vehicle?