Anyone ever contact the previous owner?

[2ndhandyotaman]

I've been looking for another 3rd Gen, looked at lots of turds being sold under false pretenses. I saw one today that looked pretty well kept, a '99 Limited. Multi-mode t-case and E-locker. It ran/drove ok, needs a bit of love but a very solid starting point. I wanted to do a bit of background research before making an offer, so I texted the dealer after leaving to ask for the VIN. He sends me a pic of the title, I could see the persons name very clearly.

I gargled the name and address and it came up in several searches, so I called the number. When the lady answered I explained who I was and why I was calling. She started telling me about the vehicle and the history behind it. Long and short of the story, it was her late husbands vehicle, he purchased it in 2001 and was anal about taking care of it and it shows. She drove it for 7 years past his death and maintained it but decided it was time to sell it in October and buy a new car.

She asked me where I saw it, I explained that it was in a CL ad and it was for sale on a Russian owned, buy-here, pay-here/ wholesale lot next to the local Ford dealership. She asked me how much they were trying to sell it for. I told her the advertised price was $4500. She gasped and said that she sold it to carmax for $900 and that there was no way that the 'runner was worth $4500. I agreed with her and told her that my offer was going to be much lower !

I had reservations about calling the titled owner, but I'm glad that I did. I feel like I know more about the vehicle and how well it was maintained. I think with a bit of maintenance it should be a good vehicle for years to come. Now to make a deal with the Russians !

 

[Scramble]

cool story but no, I've never called the factory in Japan. eace:

 

[KingPrat]

It's great this story turned out the way it did, but if I found out that you had obtained my info in the manner that you did, I'd be raising hell at that damn dealership. That is so far past acceptable....

I've never called a previous owner. I've had the dealer reach out on my behalf, but I've never personally done it. I'd be a little weirded out if someone tracked me down, but happy to talk to a fellow Yota guy about a truck I'd sold.



I bought my truck from the previous owner, and if I ever see him again, I'm not sure I'll be too nice... :lmao:

 

[LittleCaesar]

Yes, I knew them quite well. In fact I dated and did much more with the previous owner's daughter. But at that time she has a somewhat out of control love for white powder, which one doesn't see fall from the sky in South Carolina, so the summer tryst soon fizzled out.

Why anyone in their right mind would sell their car to Carfax and/or even buy one off their lot is beyond me.

 

[phattyduck]

cool story but no, I've never called the factory in Japan. eace:

I talk to my Dad and sister all the time. They enjoy seeing their old 4Runner from time to time. :lmao:

-Charlie

 

[MN4runnerman]

cool story but no, I've never called the factory in Japan. eace:

They’re too busy battling Godzilla and playing Pokémon Go to care anyways.

 

[Rock_Rat]

I'm with [MENTION=7105]Scramble[/MENTION] cool story but I too could never get the number to the Tahara factory in Japan.

 

[Rock_Rat]

They’re too busy battling Godzilla and playing Pokémon Go to care anyways.

I think Shinzo Abe shifted his focus towards his missile defense system to take care of Rocket Man. haha "Got to catch them all!"

 

[jbrentd]

I found the previous owner’s information on a piece of mail in the glovebox of my 4Runner and reached out to him to see if he had the timing belt replaced. But this was after I already bought the car from the dealership he traded it in at.

He clearly regrets selling it and I kind of felt bad after trading a couple emails with him.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I'm with [MENTION=7105]Scramble[/MENTION] cool story but I too could never get the number to the Tahara factory in Japan.

Even though I didn't buy my Acura(s) brand new, both come across the US from the same dealership in Cerritos, sold to different people by the same salesman who later on was arrested for attempted murder.:dizzy:

 

[Beaumont67]

........
Why anyone in their right mind would sell their car to Carfax and/or even buy one off their lot is beyond me.

Agree ^^
The Gen3 seems priced reasonable enough, at the Russians price of $4,500 even though CarFax hosed the old lady at $900 and flipped it through the auction house.

I bought my one-senior owner 2000 4Runner SR5, two years ago...from a close friend garage owner, with a small used car lot.
- garage kept in mint shape, with low 80,500 miles (129,600 Canadian Km) / rust free & original paint
- it was purchased through a dealer-2-dealer auction, from a Lexus/Toyota dealership
- I bought it the very next day, safety checked & e-tested...$9K Cdn. (equals 7,000 US$)

After taking delivery, I paid $20 for a Licence Package Pass, in Ontario / for original owners name & city info., from Govn. agency.
- google search provided me the former owners phone #
- we talked for a good half hour
- senior guy finally regretted selling it, as he babied it since new / and drove an old Mercedes, as a winter beater
- we laughed when he said: "I bought a brand new Toyota Corolla, what was I thinking?...I loved that 4Runner"

The reason for my phone call, wasn't mechanical condition, as timing belt & water pump was done at 110K Km / but rather the T4R did not come with remote keys and I wondered if the dealership failed to include them.
- found out it was ordered with remote but made without
- guy had dealer install an aftermarket remote keys & 2 years later he got locked out
- so off system came, in year 2002

PS - 2.5 years ago I looked up and phoned the original owner of my wife's 2008 RAV4 Limited v6-4x4.
The senior owner had bought a new Lexus RX350 and I was trying to purchase SUV before he traded it back into the local Dealership, in 4-5 years, from now - he wasn't keen, on selling private (but worth a try & I found out early).
- found out he sold v6-RAV4, for $7K Cdn trade-in value at Toyota dealership / SUV was sold to a Doctor, for $22K incl. tax & extended warranty

 

[sdwaltz]

IMO, this is more of a cautionary tale related to why you should never take a vehicle to CarMax, because they'll throw you the lowest of lowballs. $900 for a vehicle that will go 400,000+ miles if well-maintained? Poppycock!

You didn't mention the mileage of the T4R but if it's been well maintained, $4,500 ain't bad. By all means get it down as much as you can, but $4,500 is pretty good when you look at prices nationally. I paid $4,400 for my T4R Limited back in Feb...granted, they were asking 6k, but still.

 

[Melrose 4r]

I am trying to track down a previous owner now!

The guy I bought the truck from said it came from South Korea. I have docs in Korean that I cannot read. But the prior owner is in the Army and I believe, back in S. Korea.

Just did a carfax and there is no history between 1986 and 2011 when the guy I got it from bought it.

Any help tracking down ARMY guys in Korea appreciated.

 

[ToyotaBrah]

Never met the owner or test drove my truck, but it was from Seattle, WA. Our entire conversation was done on the phone. He seemed like a very credible individual and had all of the records for the truck dating to when it was new. Sent him a check and a week later my truck was here. Risky move on my end because the truck could have been rough in real life, but the pics and his description were quite accurate.

Would love to meet him, though! Very few people feel comfortable, even after receiving a payment, to ship out a car to someone they haven't met. That's like a telltale sign of a craigslist scam lol.

 

[TheDurk]

I don't speak Japanese.

 

[tystaco]

I have debated contacting the previous owner under totally different reasons.

I bought our 2000 limited from a girl in her mid 20's that had gotten it from her aunt and uncle that got it new. A nice family, and a clean rig. After having it for 10 months, I found out that the check engine light had been removed (something I now will check for anytime I start a vehicle is to see that light work).

I was fuming at the time because I was having some issues (turned out to be knock sensors) but I wasn't see a CEL until I got my bluetooth reader. Once I did the knock sensor job, it was clear someone else had done the job before me and used after market sensors that then started throwing the code again. I am assuming this happened to the PO, they took it back to the mechanic, and the mechanic removed the CEL and told them it was fixed.

When I calmed down from my initial rage, I went into "looking out for this girl" mode and told my wife I wanted to call her to let her know what had happened on the off chance she still uses that mechanic and wasn't aware. My wife told me I was weird.

 

[Rich_O]

No info on the previous owner, but I did get some maintenance records from a Toyota dealer based on the VIN. The papers he gave me didn't have any owner information.

Last item shown was intermittent starter failure, recommend new starter...$600. I guess the PO passed on the starter and traded the 4Runner.

Indeed, the starter was acting up soon after I bought it. I did 15 minutes of research and a couple of hours to pull the starter and replace the copper contacts. Less than $10 in parts. :lmao::lmao:

 

[2ndhandyotaman]

Thanks for the replies, some of them made me laugh a bit ( in a good way !) I ended up getting the rig, I'll post a new thread w/ a few pics. While I was hesitant to contact the last titled owner, it ended up being the deciding factor for me to strike a deal on this rig. I have a friend that is a service writer at a local Toyota dealer, she was able to pull all of the records from anything done at a dealership. It was a long list ( 12 years worth ) and showed a pattern of taking care of big problems at a dealership level.

 

[AntleredRuin]

I would call her.
I think she'd appreciate that a lot, honestly

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[infamousRNR]

this is an interesting topic as i just recently paid for carfax's on my trucks because I'm curious... BTW, $.99 on eBay per carfax is a little pro tip....for better or for worse the information showed no accidents which is good but then again, there is a repair on the drivers side above the wheel well before the gas door which has a noticed painting of sorts..so these reports don't show everything. anyways, i found out that my vehicle went through 5 owners including me.. thats A LOT considering i bought it with only 120k on the clock....