I'm in the market fora 4th gen 4 runner 4wd. I'm located in Boston, MA

I'm hesitant to buy a potentially 12 yo truck in New England (my current Xterra is dying by way of rust) plus rust make seized bolts a pain etc and ages the truck/ parts so much faster

Anyhow I'm looking to buy from a "non rust belt state" what ever that may be PA ish and south, even the west coast possible

My question who has bought a car online, what steps do you reccomend prior to and during the buyin gprocess.

Any leads on sites besides fourms, CL, FB market place, cargurus.com etc.?


Biggest points I will do:
Pre inspection check by a local garage
Not carrying the 10-13k in cash during travel ( potential seizure by police for suspected illicit activities) Possibly doing SWIFT or similar wire service

Thank you!

10k cash is not a lot. Just claim it and go flying.

Do calls/video calls, videos, pictures. Lots of each if possible. If it's from a dealer have them put it on the lift and video chat you while they go underneath. I asked them to take a hammer and bang on the frame. Same thing have them drive it with you on the phone/video. Make sure the 4wd actuator does what it's supposed to. 4lo/4hi locking the center diff.

For payment we agreed on a price (made sure they would budge) and I went to a bank for a certified check after final tax/title/stuff was arranged.

I also arranged for them to pick me up at the airport which was convenient. Hope that helps

This is good advice. My $.02 would be - don’t be afraid to walk away, even after you’ve made the trip. Some sellers/dealers may feel like they have the hook sunk deep if you travel to them. But remember a plane ticket home empty handed is a lot less expensive than years of unexpected repair. You’re the buyer - you’re the one with the power.


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I live in Seattle and flew to San Jose to grab mine. I'd say first bit of advice is to plan on going there and not buying the vehicle. Have a plan for coming back empty-handed. If you plan too much on buying it before you ever see it, you may end up with a rig you might not otherwise have bought.

$10k may not be a lot, but it hits certain government thresholds. I wouldn't try to fly with that much money due to this. You could likely be held up quite a bit due to it.

I think what some of the other users have suggested would be the best method. You could also plan to go to a bank once you arrived, assuming you bank with one of the larger banks that have a footprint in the area you will be buying the vehicle from.

Thats why I said claim it. I've flown with more than 10k to Vegas more than once never a problem.

My problem with the Banks is my primary is Bank of Hawaii. And as you can tell by the name its not readily available on the mainland.

I rented a car and took a four hour trip out of state. This gave me the option of walking away if any unseen issues came up. Be sure to get a local mechanic to do a thorough check over prior to your trip. Also, I used a cashiers check so i did not carry cash.
A bonus was that the car rental company only had a new Camaro available. Driving that was way better than flying!

I just did a 2900 mile fly and drive from Calif to Ohio. I was buying from a buddy so a lot of my situation might not be applicable to you.

Here's a trip report, bad words and crude comments abound:

April 2019 RFF* US trip - MeefZah

Good advice from others. I would add:

A few things. PA is still rust belt as shit. Don't be looking at PA cars - look well past it to salt free southwestern and southern states. I wouldn't have bought an Ohio truck for that reason but it had a frame replacement in 2017 and I knew the hx personally.

Get the VIN. Run a Carfax. Carfax in and of itself is worthless but that'll let you know if it's been registered in a salt-free state all its life as well as a good overview of the vehicle, number of owners, etc. You can get a CF on EBay for like $3 for a one time query. Run the VIN through Toyota's website for maintenance hx and recalls.

There's no issue with carrying $13k, especially if you have documentation to explain why you have it. If you're uncomfortable then get a cashier's check from a mutually agreed upon financial institution and in the event that the deal falls through you can cancel it and get the funds back.

I'd have someone on here or on TW in the area of the truck go and look at it to offer an impartial and (hopefully somewhat) knowledgeable opinion on it. Might be a little tricky to coordinate a independent mechanic to pick up and look at a truck you don't own long distance, but if the seller is reputable they can probably help you do that.

You're definitely seeing a larger area of rust issues with these rigs as they get older. I would be leery of anything along the Atlantic coast as well as in the midwest if you're trying to avoid rust.

That being said, keep in mind that there can be issues on the flip side of areas that are on the dry and hot side. While good on the rust, they can be death to rubber and paint.

also to add:

When I was looking I found a bunch in the Carolinas and Tennessee area that were priced well, but once I looked into it closer, they were shipped from rust states and the frames looked like garbage. I feel fortunate to have found a well taken care of truck from upstate NY. With 70k miles for an 07 I'm guessing it was their summer vehicle. So you can find gems

I used car guru's. They were fine but it really boils down to the individual sales lot.
First place I contacted said the truck was solid and really nice, after the carfax I discovered it was a Vermont truck with a re painted frame and about a dozen failed inspections, the solid really nice truck they were trying to sell me had a big fat reject inspection sticker on it.
The next place was great, worked with me on payments and were very honest.
Luck of the draw.
If you do get the dealership to help with getting a mechanic to look at it make sure YOU pick the mechanic, ask people on this forum or search for reputable mechanics.

I just bought a 4th gen in Charleston, SC which is about 5 hours away. Here's what I did:

* Got lots of photos from the seller and had him answer lots of questions
* Obviously get CarFax if possible
* Created an account on the Toyota website and added the prospective car; you can do this on cars you don't own. You should then be able to see any service done by Toyota dealerships.
* At this point I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into. It helps to find a private seller as opposed to a dealer. They tend to be more open about information (dealers often don't know the history of the vehicle) and they often have more room for negotiation.
* I then researched to find a reputable local mechanic in Charleston who does pre-purchase inspections. I was fortunate that my seller was willing to drop the car off ahead of time. I got a great report from the mechanic and was happy to move forward.
* I negotiated the price ahead of time (conditional upon good inspection and no other major issues).
* I rented a car through Hotwire for a one-way. The key here is making sure you can turn it into a round trip in case you decide to not purchase the vehicle. I rented through Enterprise and they were more than happy to do this for me.
* Before you go, make sure you understand title transfer issues and the potential bill of sale requirements for the state where the seller lives. South Carolina required a specific template. I downloaded their template and had two copies with me that I filled out ahead of time.
* After I test drove the vehicle and agreed to purchase, I went to my bank (national with locations everywhere) and got a cashiers check.
* Finally went with the seller to his bank to sign the bill of sale and deposit the cashiers check to pay off his lien and begin the process to release the title to me.

Not an easy process but well worth it. I spent almost two months looking for a 4th gen T4R and believe I found one of the best available in the country within my budget. Good ones go very quickly so you kinda have to go to this sort of effort if you have high standards and know exactly what you want. Good luck!

How does one register a car for the trip home?

As long as you have a bill of sale with you, you should be fine if you are pulled over.