"buyer beware" got me BAD

P

pauls4runner

New member
I still love my t4r but I found out yesterday I got scammed BAD. I bought my 98 SR5 off of craigslist. the guy had the listing as having 135,000 miles. I went and test drove it and liked it. and for $3000, I wasnt expecting it to be perfect which it isnt. I knew before I bought it that it had been wrecked and repaired. WELL, yesterday, I typed my vin into a search browser, and I was appalled at what I found. I found pictures from the auction yard before my 4runner was repaired. one of the pictures was of the odometer. Before repairs, the odometer read 275,680 miles. the day I handed the guy $3000 cash and drove the runner home, the odometer showed 134,890 miles. Im pissed but cant do anything about it, I have no proof that he advertised it at 135,00 miles and the title shows exempt for mileage and it was cash sale with no receipt bought from an individual. But, it does run and drive good, just has some minor front damage and needs a rear main seal and shocks and struts.
My boss pulled the carfax for me yesterday after I found the auction yard pics, and it shows the vehicle was listed as a total (which I knew from the salvage title) loss due to front damage, the last carfax entry was an emmision/state inspection, listed with odometer discretion.
For anyone that reads this, please spend the $30-45 for a car fax, its well worth it even if it doesnt have everything.
 
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Sucks man but would've been easily avoided with a Carfax. Never would've let the seller list it as "exempt" either. If the odometer works, no reason to list exempt for the mileage regardless of age. That should've been a red flag right there. But, you probbaly would've had to spend near $3000 for one with 275K on it anyway. Good luck.

Curious, how did it go from the auction yard to the private seller? Did the guy you bought it from buy it from the auction? If so, he knows he screwed you. Probably not much you can do about it but I'd sure as hell confront him about it anyway.
 
it was in a mild front end collison and owner left vehicle, the owners insurance had vehicle towed and they declared it slavage and sent it to an auction. a different insurance company bought it and sold it as a rebuildable. an individual bought it from the insurance company and did some repairs. I knew I wanted a 2wd V6 3rd gen 4runner, the guy had quite a few pics and the body looked decent, I called and he told me it had a salvage title from a front end collison that it came from an insurance auction that he had pics of the damage. I went and looked it over, it seemed to be in decent overall shape (with minor issues here and they that I could take care at work). seeing the odometer at 135,000, I thought it seemed pretty good, I test drove it, it ran and drove pretty good. after a test drive and getting it to operating temp with no problems, I hooked my scan tool up and it had no codes. so I didnt think twice. and jumped on what I thought was a good deal.
I bought it on a friday, monday at work, I entered the vin on my computer at work (im a toyota tech) to check service history and their were no open recalls or service bulletins. well, yesterday at work while I was bored, thats when I searched the vin and came across the auction info, i told my service manager about the odometer so he went and pulled the carfax for me. It sucks that I was scammed but, it runs and drives good and everything aside from the alarm works like it should and the a/c is the coldest air I have ever had in a vehicle.
 
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This is also why I always do a bill of sale with the car purchase. A bill of sale that states the price, the buyers, the ODO reading, VIN # and signatures by both parties. I would never even consider a car with the ODO as exempt.

I imagine this isn't the first time he's done this and got away with it and won't be the last. This world is full of stupid people and people willing to scam them. Not saying you're on of them but if you don't do your homework then something like this is bound to happen.
 
WrexHAmm said:
This is also why I always do a bill of sale with the car purchase. A bill of sale that states the price, the buyers, the ODO reading, VIN # and signatures by both parties. I would never even consider a car with the ODO as exempt.

I imagine this isn't the first time he's done this and got away with it and won't be the last. This world is full of stupid people and people willing to scam them. Not saying you're on of them but if you don't do your homework then something like this is bound to happen.
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true, we live and we learn. what helped me get scammed though, i knew what I wanted and had 2 color choices of preference. this 4runner met my criteria, after it ran and drove good, my blinders went up. im upset with the odometer deal but overall, i still love my truck
 
pauls4runner said:
true, we live and we learn. what helped me get scammed though, i knew what I wanted and had 2 color choices of preference. this 4runner met my criteria, after it ran and drove good, my blinders went up. im upset with the odometer deal but overall, i still love my truck
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right it could have been worse, and really for 3k even if the motor takes a dump on you or something stupid you can get a rebuild for like 3-4k and still have a nice truck with a fresh motor,tranny or what have for around 6-7k, so still not too bad of a deal (well at least here, in washington a 200k mile 4runners still go for 6-7k here with no rebuild)
 
PitbullRescuer said:
Never would've let the seller list it as "exempt" either. If the odometer works, no reason to list exempt for the mileage regardless of age. That should've been a red flag right there.
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Actually, in Missouri where I live the State automatically replaces the mileage on the title with "Exempt" apparently when the car is so many years old. I don't know what the cut off is. I just found out about this when I changed names on all my car tltles recently. My '97 T4R has 130,000 miles on it and came back Exempt. Worse yet, my '96 Porsche Carrera with only 29,000 actual miles on it came back Exempt. This pisses me off because the mileage for the Carrera is a big selling point. Now I wonder if it's going to hurt resale or at least cause some questions when I advertise it's low mileage.

I hate the DMV. :(
 
BradB said:
Actually, in Missouri where I live the State automatically replaces the mileage on the title with "Exempt" apparently when the car is so many years old. I don't know what the cut off is. I just found out about this when I changed names on all my car tltles recently. My '97 T4R has 130,000 miles on it and came back Exempt. Worse yet, my '96 Porsche Carrera with only 29,000 actual miles on it came back Exempt. This pisses me off because the mileage for the Carrera is a big selling point. Now I wonder if it's going to hurt resale or at least cause some questions when I advertise it's low mileage.

I hate the DMV. :(
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Will absolutely hurt the resale. Although undone work in it anymore (think American Chopper) my dad owns a small car dealership here locally. He deals in a lot of highline/exotic type cars. The exempt on the Porsche is going to kill you. I would petition the sh*t out of the DMV until they correct both. It actually sounds like you got a lazy clerk as opposed to things being done as they should.
 
You can still use it as a selling point if you have records that show a documented mileage listing.

Most dealerships/Mechanics/ garages when you get work or maintenance will print a receipt and job detail. That detail includes vehicle info, including mileage.


A "trail" of this supporting documentation is very helpful, if you wish to use mileage as a selling point.

At some point, however, the mileage no longer matters. To few miles becomes as big a red flag as too many. It could mean is was kept in a garage and babied, or that it was wrecked and sat at a lot for a year before fixed. It could mean the seals, hoses and other bits have dried out from not being lubricated with regular use.
 
Knowing the vehicle will transfer ownership on a salvage title is a big red flag to buyers. Assume the worst and accept it for what it is. Usually sold at bargin prices unless you run into a salesman. Sounds like you ran into a Salesman.
Either way, if you're happy with the purchase and don't intend on selling it. Salvage titles are a hard sell. Enjoy your 4runner, it's found a good owner.

regards.............8sm
 
8sm said:
Knowing the vehicle will transfer ownership on a salvage title is a big red flag to buyers. Assume the worst and accept it for what it is. Usually sold at bargin prices unless you run into a salesman. Sounds like you ran into a Salesman.
Either way, if you're happy with the purchase and don't intend on selling it. Salvage titles are a hard sell. Enjoy your 4runner, it's found a good owner.

regards.............8sm
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alot of people think about resale when they purchase any vehicles. My intentions for buying a 4runner was the size (we have a 2 yr old daughter and are planning a 2nd baby), toyotas reliability, and function and style. I would love a 99 to 02 4dr tacoma, but the tacoma doesnt have the enclosed cargo space i need/want ( I have alot of stereo equipment). the 3rd gen t4r has similar body lines to the tacoma and has the enclosed cargo area for my stereo and still have room for storage when we travel. I wanted a 4runner with the intentions of driving it until the wheels fall off, and since I work on toyotas for a living, i dont foresee the wheels ever falling off LOL. Knowing I wanted to have it for a long while, I didnt care if I had little things to do here and there. I just hate being lied too. if my intentions had been drive it a few years and sell it, I would have stopped when he told me it had a salvaged title.
 
If you're happy with it, that's all that really matters I guess. But if I were you, I'd run away from that thing as fast as I could. None of the panels on the left side line up and I suspect that if you pull that door edge trim off the right side you'll notice a bit of mis-alignment too. Also looks like the rear was banged up a little?

Being a Toyota tech, I'm sure you know how far these things can go, when properly cared for. I can't imagine this thing was well taken care of given the condition of the rest of it.

Not trying to rain on your parade, please don't tkae it that way. Just don't want to see you getting buried in it. You'd probably do well parting it out and buying another 4Runner without the issue. Just my $.02
 
How did you not know it was salvaged? The title would have shown that, if it didn't he committed fraud.

I believe in TX you have a duty to disclose the title, salvage, etc. You can get out of this sale, if need be.

And this is a larger.... "Caveat emptor" always remains true.

Yea. I just looked it up, TX law requires disclosure.

Sue him. Contact him and tell him he has 5 days to process a refund and take possession of the vehicle. If he fails to comply you will 1. contact the police for fraud (criminal) and sign out a warrant and 2. Sue him in Civil Court for fraud .
 
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thing is however that a CARFAX is NOT in anyway a sure fire solution for this type of misrepresentation.
There have been MANY cars completely totaled and never show up on any Carfax.
There are about 20 states where if the car comes from that state then carfax is basically worthless.

So the best by far is to have a good trusted mechanic go over it, check the numbers on the panels, see if anything has been replaced, bent frame etc.
 
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