Bought a used 5th gen 4Runner, epilogue

JimPA

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If anyone is interested. I always buy used. 1995 SR5, 2001 SR5 and now 2014 Trail Premium.

I used this URL to see what options the Toyota 4Runner had: https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/Toyota Seems like options get improperly listed on the 4Runners especially the Premium editions. This isn't true if buying used from Toyota or a private seller.

CarMax only listed the 4Runner as Trail. The VIN showed it was a Trail Premium with KDSS. The listing was so new they didn't have the pictures posted yet. So I put a hold on the 4Runner and had the vehicle carrier transport from Kansas City to Saint Louis at no charge or obligation to buy.

CarMax had the CarFax equivalent, AutoCheck.
The 4Runner had 110K miles and the AutoCheck only listed 5 records, all title related, no service records. So I went to Toyota owners, logged in and added the VIN to "MY VEHICLE" and look at "Service History". There was 11 service records showing oil changes, new tires and other records. I ended up buying the 4Runner but if I didn't I would have removed the VIN.

I did the usual inspection including a OBD reader to look at some information such as Distance traveled since DTCs cleared.

Maybe someone finds this useful.
 
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That vin decoder site is pretty neat. Starting a search for a used 4runner now.

Assuming I can't use "My Toyota" since I don't currently have one.

What is OBD?
 
That vin decoder site is pretty neat. Starting a search for a used 4runner now.

Assuming I can't use "My Toyota" since I don't currently have one.

What is OBD?

I think you still can create an account on My Toyota even if you don't own a Toyota. The 4Runner you are looking at will be your Toyota VIN. Just remove it if you don't buy.

OBD is very useful. It shows a lot of good information. You just have to use it on a know good car and get a feel of the data. One obvious is miles driven since DTCs cleared. This means someone cleared the codes. If very few miles are shown, they troubleshot a problem and there isn't enough miles to know if the problem was solved. OBD will show you the code that was cleared.

All you need is a smart phone and a bluetooth or WiFi adaptor, Or you can get a USB and laptop or MacBook and then use it techstream to program stuff on your T4R.
 

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