Advice needed, Could be a steal of a deal

[Cox]

So here is my situation, I left a post earlier about a 98 limited model I am looking at buying. It was on ebay. I live in KY and the car is in FL. So on their website the car was posted at going for $8,995 and after a couple days of talking back and forth to one of the guys there he said he can give it to me for $6500. The bidding ended at $6,800 but said reserve not met. I asked him why he would sell it to me for $6,500 and he said because he knows I'll buy the car and he won't have to waste his time calling the winning bidder because half the time he said he'll put cars on there and people won't stay true to the bid. Does this sound like an accurate cost for a 98 limited model with 136,000 miles 1 owner and carfax looked good. Only thing about carfax is all it really had was the owner paid registration every year and a couple service things done. I've heard you can't rely on carfax, but for those that do, it was clean. Is this too good to be true, or should I go for it? I'd pay a $500 deposit and either fly down there and drive it back, or have it shipped to KY.

Any thoughts are appreciated

Thanks

 

[durrell]

It sounds a little sketchy, but the price is about right for the mileage. I paid 5700 for my 98 SR5 one year ago, but it had 161k miles on it. It was listed at 6900.

I personally probably wouldn't do it, but I suppose it's all in how bad you want it.

 

[trailmix]

Sounds like to much to me, especially after you register and spend the money to get it home. Does it even have a locker or anything?

 

[Duhockey]

as long as you are doing cash on delivery and bring someone with you to a public meet place, I dont see how it could be bad.

Have a bill of sale drawn up already. If he starts asking for cashiers checks or something funny then I would start to worry.

 

[Cox]

Thanks for the replies so far. I am the original poster. What is a locker? Also it is a dealership selling it. I would pay taxes in KY. Possibly drive it home, so I'd only be out gas, but that would be significant coming from FL to KY

 

[Duhockey]

Thanks for the replies so far. I am the original poster. What is a locker? Also it is a dealership selling it. I would pay taxes in KY. Possibly drive it home, so I'd only be out gas, but that would be significant coming from FL to KY

LOL, do you have the posting? what link?

the rear "locker" locks the diff when you have a wheel slipping for maximum traction.

if a 4runner has an "e-locker" it will have a button by the steering wheel that says RR diff

 

[trailmix]

If theres nothing special about this one, i.e locker then i would pass and try to find one local to you, i paid 5700 for mine a few months ago with 140k on it, limited, locker, and immaculate.

 

[rjaudi]

I really liked that 4runner. I searched and found the one you are looking at. It does have the rear locker. The seats are in great shape and everything looked great. I believe it is worth every bit of the asking price.

 

[maxspeed96ct]

I would never buy any car that old or with that many miles without seeing it in person or test driving it ...

Its realy not that great of a deal anyways.

 

[MTDewX8]

I would be weary of the guy saying folks that dont always pay the winning bid when they won. I thought it was contract when you placed your bid. as you place a bid it asks you like 2 or 3 times are you sure you want to place the bid.

I just bought a 00 117k miles 5spd with an e-locker for $6000.
but 4 days I had it I had to replace the rear axle cause it rusted out. so now I am up to $6650 so far. but I am happy with it with it all fixed.

as for the e-locker, if you dont know what it is or used for, then I wouldn't worry about it. (not trying to be rude by any means) but it is a good feature to have cause there rare.

good luck either way.

 

[Duhockey]

I would be weary of the guy saying folks that dont always pay the winning bid when they won. I thought it was contract when you placed your bid. as you place a bid it asks you like 2 or 3 times are you sure you want to place the bid.

I think the difference here for the OP was that the dealer didnt have his reserve met.

 

[Maxil]

Before I got mine, I looked a good bit in Florida since it isn't too far away. First off, from what I saw 4runners sell like hot cakes there. The price is also kinda high like Georgia.

Just before I got mine I saw a very nice looking 98' with 135k 4x4 not sure about locker but it sold in 18 hours! Same thing happened with a couple others. Then I looked the other direction and found mine, almost same features except mine had some upgrades to it and 95k miles for $400 less.

If you don't take that one, might want to look in the North Carolina area, Ga and Florida are expensive.

 

[Cox]

OP here

rjaudi, how did you see the 4runner? The auction had ended? Is the locker switch on the left or right side of the steering wheel?

As far as the guy saying a lot of people don't buy with the leading bid, yes duhockey is corrrect, the highest bid still hadn't met the reserve price. I have been going back and forth with this guy the past couple days, so he said he would rather just sell it to me than to have to worry about getting a hold of the highest bidder ect... It seems kinda wierd, but it could be a good deal. I don't know, keep the posts coming. I'm having a hard time making a decision.

The website to check it out is Delray Hyundai | Delray Beach, FL | Sales and Service go to pre owned inventory and its the charcoal 98 4runner.

 

[SCRunner12]

I say you should go for it. That is a good price and it looks really clean. Plus the color is cool steel!

 

[Duhockey]

That looks super clean,

I can kinda see the RR diff lock button there but its not listed in the features or options,

definitely dont mention anything about it if the dealer doesnt,

 

[Cox]

OP here again

Does anyone live in or around Delray Beach FL? Maybe help a fellow forum buddy out and give it a test drive......

thanks

 

[josh.bunch]

Sounds like a decent deal. I have bought 5 cars on ebay before and 3 of them happened just like you mentioned where you settle outside from the auction. I'm in TX and I have flown to Maine, Kentucky, and Florida and driven cars back.

My general rule of thumb is finding a car 500-1000 below trade-in value which is not always easy, but can be done. 1998 Toyota 4Runner Standard Equipment, Pricing and Information - NADAguides.com

I would say ask the guy if he will take $6000 cash since you have to fly down there. Also if they agree to the terms have him send you a second chance offer with that amount of $6000 and purchase it thru ebay. That way you are protected through their fraud services. Since it is a dealer I feel confident that you will be just fine.

I used to work at a Ford dealership 5 years ago and base on my experience they probably paid $3800-5000 for the truck so @ 6000 they should still have a profit. Also they sometimes put cars on ebay as a last resort because if they sit on a car too long they have to send it to auction and usually take a loss there.

Let us know what you end up doing. Also post a link to the ebay auction if you can.

Don't go on impulse. There will always be another truck. I looked for 3.5 years before I found the one I wanted. I'm patient & didn't want to settle.

 

[98Base4R]

That is a nice truck. There will always be another truck to look at, but there is something to be said for making a deal so you can get on to other things.

I flew to Dallas to pick my 4Runner off CL, and didn't have nearly the pictures to go off of you do. If it doesn't drive like it should when you get there, and they won't fix it, just plan on going back home without it.

It may be better to pay a few hundred bucks more to get the right truck.

 

[Presta24]

OP here again

Does anyone live in or around Delray Beach FL? Maybe help a fellow forum buddy out and give it a test drive......

thanks

I used to live there. Who is selling it? What dealer? also I am in ky now, where u at? Hell, I might even go down with ya I used to work for the largest car dealer in Delray. For a small fee Im sure I could get one of those guys (mechanic) test drive it and look it over.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Saw the pics. It looks really nice. You may want to recover the steering wheel, but that's about it. I'd say go for it. Familiarize yourself with the laws regarding used car sales and warranty's, return periods, etc. I got caught on that one in VT.

I can understand not wanting to go through ebay. I am assuming he has to pay a hefty fee to ebay as well, so he is saving that by selling privately to you.

They should have a mechanic inspect it (3rd party would be best, but they probably won't do that) and send you the report before you head down. Just be sure to put a couple hundred down as a hold fee so no one snakes it from you before you get there. be sure they will return the hold fee if it isn't up to snuff when you get there.

Good luck!