My 4Runner had a whopping 3 miles on it when I picked it up at the dealership. I'd guess that those three miles were from the driving needed to get my 4Runner from the assembly plant to my dealership, via truck, ship, and truck again.

Most dealerships around my area have vehicles set aside for test drives so that the one you buy doesn't have any test driven miles on it at all.

Hell yeah. If are going to buy a new one get one like fourty-four. I have seen lots of people not even flinch at buying a new one with 100 miles or so on it.....is that really a new car?

That is a sweeping statement and I am here to say that it is not true for everyone. (I understand that you are trying to make a point with a "sweeping statement" and I see it too!) But I am here to tell you that when I was consulting I was in a rental for every week from M-F. My point is direct. I am Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde when it comes to my cars and rentals. Mario Andretti channels through me when I enter a rental. I practice my J-turns (high speed reverse slinging front end around) every chance I get. I don't care if the car warms up. If I am late to a meeting there is a good chance I am going to break a local speed record or have a helluva lottta fun trying. When I used to rent 4x4s for the northern sites I would look for old farm roads covered in snow and shoot and scoot! Ahhh, those were the days...

Seriously, I respect the engineering that goes into every car, Toyota or not, but I love to test the envelope when it comes to a rental.

Now, my cars get a nice warm up, my personal oil changes with synthetic and rarely see over 50% to the redline on the tach. Tire pressure checked regularly and washes with a carnuba wax after EVERY wash! My friends all say I baby and take great care of my personal vehicles. My brother always offers me for my last car because he knows it has been babied!

On another note, I don't think I would do the same if I drove Toyota rentals. Just big 3 vehicles. I would probably be much nicer on a Toyota since I own them. Strange, but I cannot answer that one as for why.

Good Advice!

Hmmm, I am not sure about my '06, but my '93 4runner won't shift into overdrive if the tranny has not warmed up properly. I know this is a feature of the ECT transmission because it states so in the manual. It says the computer does not the shift happen to prevent damage to the transmission.

It is so annoying because I let my engine warm up in the winter, but have to get on the freeway directly. I hate revving over 3500 just to go the speed limit until the tranny gets warm enough.

I am sure if my '93 has this the '06 has something of the same.

And actually to get technical the poster did not say it limits the revs, but shifts lower than 3000 RPM. (What I meant to say is the poster is not saying the 4runner limits you to 3K RPM when cold).

And does the M3 actually limit the rev or do the LEDs on the tach just warn you to stay under what the computer suggests until the engine is warmed up? Just curious.

Well, when you're paying that much for the use of it, you might as well get the full potential out of it. Think about it... You can finance one of these barebones sh!tboxes for $189/mo and yet the are raping you for $40-50 per DAY to drive it?? I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to get MY share of wear out of it.

You're comletely wrong. My 4Runner never gets over 2000rpm before it's completely warmed up because I don't rip on it... I change my oil and use quality synthetics in the engine, differential, and transmission. I take good care of my own stuff, parking far away from other cars in parking lots (unlike rentals where I find the first available spot), and generally do everything I can to keep it looking and running well for years to come.

Ricky

Anything more than 50 miles on a car would bug me if I was buying new so I understand dealers apprehension to test drives but a few miles migth be a good thing to make sure it's been through a few heat up and cool down cycles.

Yes it is.

Well, I know that almost all vehicles will not lock the torque converter until the operating temp reaches normal, but I've never heard of overdrive being locked out because of temperature.

As far as the M3 goes, the truth is that I'm not 100% sure. Like I said, I always drive my vehicles easy at least until they reach full temperature. So I've never tested to see if there's any kind of soft rev limiter to prevent high rpm when cold. I assumed that is does, but honestly never tested it. One thing that I do know is that the damn lights at the top of the rpm range never go out, even after full temp is reached. I always thought BMW should make those lights go out completely when full temp is reached.

No one abuses rentals... right???

Sorry to say, last weekend, I was out on the beach with the family (this is one of the few drive-on beaches in Massachusetts), and this guy was pounding his new Explorer through the surf and over the rough areas of the trail (about 1 mile) to get to the beach. When he stopped I asked him if he was concerned about getting the salt water getting into the diffs or pounding it on the trails... He laughed and said it was a rental... He does this 4-5 times during the summer, then takes it to the local Shell to fill up and get his free car wash before returning it. Think that'll show up on the maintenance records?

That's the exact kind of stuff that I've been talking about.... I know not everybody does that kinda crap, but if you buy a rental, it's the risk that you're taking.

All Toyota AT's lock out OD until the tranny temp reaches a certain temp.

The trans temp? Or the engine operating temp? Either way, I'll have to try it out on mine because I never realized that my overdrive was locked out when the engine is cold. Then again, I live a few miles from the interstate, and I might not have noticed it at low speeds on back roads.

You're taking an amount of risk with any used vehicle tho....I know guys that do worse stuff with their personal bought/leased vehicles than anything mentioned in this thread so far.

If you are buying a one-owner used vehicle, you can usually tell by the owner if the vehicle was pampered, abused, or treated normally.

With a rental, there are just too many asses in the driver's seat, so it's likely that some of them were morons behind the wheel, if you know what I mean.

Whenever I sell my personal vehicle, the new owner has no idea how lucky he is to get it, because it's always been perfectly maintained and carefully driven. Now that I think about it, I'd love to buy a used car from me! LOL

They do not lock out OD when they're cold.... They DO, however, not lock up the torque convertor clutch (TCC) until the transmission temperature has reached a certain point (I think it's 85 degrees F).

Ricky