99 T4R - rant about 2nd hand dealer

[T4Rscott]

Hi all,

I recently bought (back in Sept) a fairly nice 99 T4R SR5 with 125,000 on it. I knew that it was not a perfect vehicle, but, it's nuts what I have had to do to this truck. The 1st thing was put my all terrains on from my other vehicle (02 Trooper). At that point my friend looked it all over and said that it looked like a good one. He then pointed out that the axle seals were leaking because the diff vent was rusted shut. :dammit:.

I was back a week later with a check engine light on. This had us going in circles. No real code, just 1133 and 171. His computer doesn't stream live data. Another week goes by and the truck refuses to run. MAF sensor is the culprit. One more week later and the CEL is back again, o2 sensor. Almost 250.00 in parts and I am back on the road. So far this is all supposed to be covered under my states inspec. laws. Oh and when I got under the truck to replace the o2, I noticed that the right side front brake hose had a significant gouge in it. At that point I shelled out more dough and did the front brakes.

Now this week I had my friend do the axle seals and clean up the rear brakes, I did the vent mod and all is well.

I guess my point here is to be really careful about what you buy.

Scott

 

[Nelsonmd]

I am not quite sure what is so bad here. It was a used car, and that kind of stuff comes up.

I bought mine used only to find out on the drive home that the rear axle had rusted through and was leaking gear oil (that alone costs way more than $250), coolant lines to the rear heater had rusted through and leaked a bunch of engine coolant out. There still many other little things that I am finding out about.

That is what you get when you buy a used car. Unless it is certified used from a dealer, you get problems you have to fix. Frankly, if you come away for only $250, I'd say you got a great car.

At least most of your work is covered by inspection laws. Vermont doesn't have any laws for used cars, so it is all out of my pocket.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Really, I don't think you have too much to get angry about.

Here in Colorado you buy a used car, it's yours good, bad or ugly unless you have a specific warranty which usually only happens on almost new used cars. In fact, it is required that dealers have a warranty sticker in the window and almost all older used cars are marked As-Is - No Warranty.

I've owned my cherry 2002 4Runner for about 3 years now and thus far I have put on new tires, the entire timing belt/water pump/alternator replacement, new struts and shocks, a new power antennae, and some other minor things. All total about $1300 (I did all the work) but it is still a bargain because it cost less than half what a new one would and it looks, smells and drives like new. I paid cash for it so I haven't had a car payment for those three years. I now have just under 100k miles, it had 60K when I bought it.

Just remember it's a vehicle with 125K miles and there are items that are going to wear out and need replaced. Even if you had to replace a major drivetrain component you are still way ahead financially compared to what you would be making a $400 a month car payment.

What is great about the 4Runner is that if you take care of them and fix the wear items, they will easily run 200-300K miles or more.

 

[Maritimer]

What is great about the 4Runner is that if you take care of them and fix the wear items, they will easily run 200-300K miles or more.

:bravo:

 

[cek77]

My rule of thumb with used cars is to always have $5-600 to spend right away. That's generally been enough to get a used car up to speed. If it was from a Toyota dealer is expect more. The used car dealer I got mine from wouldn't even throw in an oil and filter change.

 

[Maritimer]

My rule of thumb with used cars is to always have $5-600 to spend right away.

Agree. It's usually hard to find something someone doesn't want anymore to have no problems. I was seeing 2-3 thousand dollars in the next few months on my old CR-V, and wanted to drop it like a hot potato.

 

[T4Rscott]

Oh I agree that you have to expect to pay something with a used car. However this guy was such a hack. He was boasting how he replaced the rear bumper because of the inspection laws. His "mechanic" only used 2 of the 4 mounting nuts on the bumper an never tied in the corners.
I am actually very happy with this truck. And I guess I am on the back side of "what comes around goes around" because the Trooper I traded had major oil consumption issues. If someone doesn't know about this with Troopers, which is a normal problem, this motor will grenade.

Thanks for all the wisdom,
Scott

 

[xrover]

That's peanuts! While I got a good deal on my '96, and it is in overall great ship, there was definitely neglect. Within the first 30 days I had to:
- replace rear hubs as they were so rusted the rear brakes were not working well
- replace front calipers and brake lines as they were so seized they could not adjust them
- replaced ebrake linkage

I'm still wrestling with the stock rear diff lock as the actuator is seized.
Body is in great shape.
Engine in great shape.
No known issues with auto transmission.
205,000 km

I agree, always budget to dump $500-1000 into the used vehicle you are buying. Even from a lot.
Len