15-20 tiny ruptured blisters on hood - thoughts?

I agree with the other guys about the undercarriage, and this is in CT? Any Toyota dealership repairs/maintenance will be on file if you enter the VIN on Toyota's website (click the owners' link).
 
I agree with the other guys about the undercarriage, and this is in CT? Any Toyota dealership repairs/maintenance will be on file if you enter the VIN on Toyota's website (click the owners' link).

No it’s in SoCal, I haven’t updated my location. Recently moved here from CT.
 
...and the timing belt service looks to have been done.

Yes- carfax showed it replaced at 46k mile mark ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I’ll take it!


On my way for a final glance hopefully to purchase. I haven’t seen it detailed yet. Thanks for the input guys, cosmetics (the hood) aren’t vital after all.
 
v8 sport, 1 owner, low miles, no rust. Buy it. You'll regret it if you don't. Touch up the spots on the hood and see what you think. If it doesn't suit you, have a shop do a real paint job on it for several hundred bucks and be done with it. I know that wouldn't scare me away from it. curious as to what a dealership is asking for that.

$15,9
 
the car fax are very straightforward with routine services every 5,000 miles. Nothing out of the ordinary (perhaps in the opposite way of being over-cautious for a vehicle that wasnt used much), and the owner serviced and now traded in to the very dealership he is buying his new runner from, so the truck has stayed local here in SoCal


Fair enough, and looks like you’ve done your due diligence. Underside looks amazing, making the hood even harder to understand. It’s like they sent it through a time machine to be painted at a 1980s GM plant. :-O
 
Excuse me for going off-topic but how to check if the timing belt was replaced?
Thanks,

I saw the sticker on the silver engine cover.

As mentioned, there's usually a sticker applied by the garage/mechanic somewhere under the hood/engine compartment (When I bought mine I didn't think it had ever been changed but later I found the sticker on the underside of the hood, not the best place to put the sticker, it should be placed in a very easy to see place, but at least it was there!).

Also if the timing belt was replaced by a Toyota dealership it should show up on the maintenance history, or if not a dealership on receipts from the previous owner.

Just a FYI, if you go to the Toyota Owners website and register, then input the VIN number of your T4R or one you're looking to buy it should show any and all work done at all Toyota dealerships.


Link to Toyota owners website
Welcome to Toyota Owners
 
It looks to me as if tiny bits of something interfered with the adhesion of the paint, as if it wasn't properly prepped. I'm not a paint expert, just looking at how these lifted and opened up. If the primer had been applied to clean metal, I don't think this would happen. Heck, maybe it was repainted for whatever reason, and someone popped open a can of pop and accidentally sprayed droplets on the ready-to-paint metal (or primer) right before painting.
 
As mentioned, there's usually a sticker applied by the garage/mechanic somewhere under the hood/engine compartment (When I bought mine I didn't think it had ever been changed but later I found the sticker on the underside of the hood, not the best place to put the sticker, it should be placed in a very easy to see place, but at least it was there!).

Also if the timing belt was replaced by a Toyota dealership it should show up on the maintenance history, or if not a dealership on receipts from the previous owner.

Just a FYI, if you go to the Toyota Owners website and register, then input the VIN number of your T4R or one you're looking to buy it should show any and all work done at all Toyota dealerships.


Link to Toyota owners website
Welcome to Toyota Owners

Thanks for the tips, I haven't seen any sticker on mine but I'll look more carefully.
Previous seller had no hard records.
I went to Toyota but due to privacy laws in Canada they are not allowed to share the info of the car. That was the dealer, I should contact the Headquarter or whatever. Oh yeah, after some persuasion, the service guy looked in the history and although couldn't be specific, told me no major service was in the records.
So I'm gearing up to do the service myself.
 
So - I went back today to see it one final time. I noticed that they removed the trailer hitch (?) and I asked why that was and of course the sales rep didnt know. So he ran to his manager and came back with "if it didnt look stock and its electrical they remove it so it doesnt negatively interfere with the electronics".

Tbh my experience with this particular sales team was awful. They essentially held a gun to my head to purchase, threatening 20+ people are waiting to purchase it. I ended up purchasing, though.

I immediately brought it to a mechanic to do a "pre-sale eval" even though I already bought it. He agrees about the trailer hitch....doesnt make sense other than some mechanic who inspected the vehicle at the dealer needed/wanted one for himself?? Im thinking of calling them tomorrow and asking for it back. Just isn't fair, especially since it was on there on Monday evening when I first saw it.
 
That is an old sales trick. When i got my 2020 sales guy said over phone one guy wants to buy it. I said thats ok ill think about it. PRICE MAGICALLY WENT DOWN REAL FAST. This was after walking out initially.
 
So - I went back today to see it one final time. I noticed that they removed the trailer hitch (?) and I asked why that was and of course the sales rep didnt know. So he ran to his manager and came back with "if it didnt look stock and its electrical they remove it so it doesnt negatively interfere with the electronics".

Tbh my experience with this particular sales team was awful. They essentially held a gun to my head to purchase, threatening 20+ people are waiting to purchase it. I ended up purchasing, though.

I immediately brought it to a mechanic to do a "pre-sale eval" even though I already bought it. He agrees about the trailer hitch....doesnt make sense other than some mechanic who inspected the vehicle at the dealer needed/wanted one for himself?? Im thinking of calling them tomorrow and asking for it back. Just isn't fair, especially since it was on there on Monday evening when I first saw it.

I would definitely DEMAND for it back and installed, it's a factory V8 hitch installed by Toyota and hard to find and you can't buy one from Toyota anymore, DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER, stand your ground!!

If they say no and give you a hard time tell them you will report them to the Better Business Bureau, since it was on there when you first looked and got interested in buying it!!!
 
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Just my .02, but I have a similar issue with my car. Many small dings from rocks/construction being kicked up on the highway. At least it’s just my hood and not my windshield.


And yes, this is Baltimore, where they salt the roads when someone thinks it could, might, maybe snow...


Edit: my car has never been towed
 
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I would definitely DEMAND for it back and installed, it's a factory V8 hitch installed by Toyota and hard to find and you can't buy one from Toyota anymore, DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER, stand your ground!!

If they say no and give you a hard time tell them you will report them to the Better Business Bureau, since it was on there when you first looked and got interested in buying it!!!

I second this exact course of action. Go back there and get YOUR tow hitch. Freaking BS that they took it off. I would have been furious
 
Get your tow hitch and wiring back.
Especially since you have photos with it on there.
I didn't realize the dealer i got mine from ditched the K&N filter that was installed for a paper filter until I went to clean it a year later.
 

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