Buying 08 T4R - what to check and CarFax question

[drh11]

Hi,

I am thinking about purchasing a 2008 4Runner and was wondering if there are any specific problem areas to check on a 4th gen when shopping. I also am looking at a copy of the CarFax for a particular vehicle I am interested in and I'm not sure I understand the last few entries in the vehicle history and was hoping someone could enlighten me:

09/08/2011 - 66,419 - (Denton TX) - Dealer Inventory - Vehicle offered for sale
09/09/2011 - 66,437 - (no city) - Dealer Inventory - Vehicle offered for sale
11/28/2011 - no mileage - Auto Auction - sold at auction

The dealer we went to (who is located in Denton) said they just got the vehicle, which makes sense if they bought it at auction. But what do the two previous entries mean? It seems like they have had it for several months. I'm concerned if it sat for several months without being sold. The previous entry before this is an inspection, obviously the previous owner. When we looked at it, the mileage was still right around 66,437. We will take it to a mechanic but I'm a little confused by the report. Otherwise the report looks fine, one owner and no accidents.

Thanks.

 

[DC runner]

Do not rack your brain on those type entries, they will make you crazy. Every state has weird rules on how dealers must document a vehicle. Some states do not care, and it could move between several dealers before final sale with 0 documentation; and then sometimes you have this.

Here is a short and sweet of how the behind the curtain dealer works.
When a dealer takes in a vehicle as a used car, they have several options. 1. Sale there, to a private party. 2. Take the vehicle to auction immediately, to sale, to another dealer. 3. Transfer/trade to another dealer, outside of an auction.

And a couple other combo's. That vehicle was simply moved to an area of demand. Don't sweet it. It takes time. There are only a few large auto auctions in any area, and as a result, vehicle may take a bit to get there.


Besides.. it only added a few miles since then. It has been waiting for you. Check it out mechanically, but please don't over think this little stuff. Carfax is a vague service at best... accident/mileage history is important; but understand that it is all voluntary to car fax.. so the data they get is AT BEST going to be vague.

If it is accident free, and after you have it professionally inspected; in great shape... I wouldn't fret too much.

 

[zerowkul98]

Have you checked out the Toyota Owner's website? Plug in the VIN and see if it was serviced at a dealership at all? I got an 08 a year ago...there was next to no service history but only had 42k on it. I took it in to my local dealership shop, they went thru it from top to bottom. It needed the diff's oils changed out, a new battery and i got rid of the new Dunlops they put on it. SInce then i did the 45k maint., and oil changes every 3k.

Good luck!

 

[NWSKIUrbanRunner]

+1 on Plugging the VIN into the Toyota Owners website. I did this and that's how i sealed the deal on my 08 4Runner. After I saw all the records had been done in Toyota of Puyallup, I knew this guy took well care of the truck

 

[drh11]

Thanks for the suggestions -- the Toyota owner website shows the same service history as the CarFax, it was brought in at 10k miles and 15k miles. It was a leased vehicle. It has a Jiffy Lube sticker on the windshield, so hopefully they at least got regular oil changes. I won't sweat the last few carfax entries.

Any common problems I should be on the lookout for with 4th gens?

 

[snowbrdr033]

I'd highly recommend, as many others did above, to check the VIN on the toyota owner's website. It's free and it will tell you of any stealership maintenance that has been done on the truck.
It will also tell you if it was brought in for a problem, if it was addressed, what it was, and if it was fixed or not. The only downside is that if the previous owner took it to a no-namer shop to have the oil changed, it will not show that maintenance.

Good luck in getting a new 4R!

 

[Coldnapalm]

car fax is garbage i have friends who have rolled the miles back on there cars 40k and car fax supports the roll back ive wrecked my fj before didnt report it to insurance fixed it myself guess what not on the carfax if you swap your engine with 50k miles on with with an engine with 250k on it its car fax clean... car fax is garbage

 

[ClockWork]

Make sure 4lo engages properly.

 

[MikeInNH]

By Carfax's own admission they only have less then 5% of all maintenance and transactions on all vehicles. With less then 5%..that's not even going to be close to being accurate.

From the Carfax information listed..it shows NOTHING. And lack of nothing doesn't mean that NOTHING happened. Carfax is a tool for dealers to give their customers a false sense of security thinking the vehicle they bought has a clean record. If something does show up on the Carfax report..then it's probably accurate...but lack of information is NOT the same as nothing happened.