Buying 1st T4R, Opinions??

[T4Rnewb]

After searching for about 4 months now I have finally found what I hope will be my first T4R! It's what I've been looking for all the way down to the exterior color! arty:
My only concern is that I live in the Southeast and it's from the Northeast, which means it has been exposed to salted roads. Here are the pics of the vehicle including the undercarriage that I requested from the dealer. Just curious about any opinions from experienced T4R owners. I'm currently closing on the loan minus my down payment and will have it shipped down to me since I don't have the time to fly up and pick it up.
Cape Cod T4R pictures by kylega122 - Photobucket
:thanks:

 

[theizzardking]

personally i would never buy a car sight unseen and have it shipped unless you have the chance to decline shipment for full refund, and if that's the case have a mech waiting with you for the drop of day to thoroughly check it out or even have an independent mech from the area local to the dealership go there and check it out for you.

that said it looks great from the pics, but i do have a concern with this img

as you really only have 2 good shots of the undercarriage (the other ones are framed in such a away to show only the cleanest parts)
i may be a little concerned.

besides that it looks straight,clean and fairly well cared for and i'm personally a fan of that color as well.

it really comes down to price though, as even with a bit of rust if the price is right that's something you just deal with, you know what i'm saying.

 

[ski4runner]

just spray the recycled oil on the bottom and ta-da no more rust problem... assuming its not about to fall apart right now... rust can be dealt with if its not too bad to begin with...

 

[StreetKill831]

If that is truly the amount of rust on it I say go for it. I live in MI and know what the salt can do.. The amount shown in those images is nothing compared to what we see around here. Only thing I see wrong, is to me it almost looks like they may have gone in there with some black spray paint.

 

[theizzardking]

just spray the recycled oil on the bottom and ta-da no more rust problem... assuming its not about to fall apart right now... rust can be dealt with if its not too bad to begin with...

this is illegal in some states and can get you into big trouble, LPS3 is a good choice for those states, you can find out if this is illegal by asking around if anyone does it.

used motor oil will also break down rubber seals gaskets and suspension parts quicker, use a hydraulic oil or graphite and grease also re-using the old stuff from your block can also act like a sand paper and slowly grind down a bunch of things as well.

the oil spray thing is almost as old as cars in general, and over that time some things have been learned, if your poor and it's an old truck and your in the artic go ahead and use old oil from your block, but if it's a nice truck and you got the cash go with a proper oil and do it right.

also another thing is if that's just surface rust (hard to tell from the pics)
just wire brush it and then add some por-15 and call it good.

 

[toyfour]

looks like a decent find, if the price is right, but that being said, someone definitely painted the surface rust and recently, like before they took the pictures. If there is surface rust under all the black paint, i doubt its really bad, the truck looks well cared for.

 

[jmoskow]

nice!

looks just like mine! great find. gotta love the SE hood scoop..badass. i have leather interior, but I still would have bought it with cloth, leather was just a plus. I can't wait to get those damn running boards off..I'm 6'4" and step over them every time I get in and out.

 

[brian2sun]

There are 2 things that I will never buy without seeing and testing them out in person... cars and guitars. It looks nice from the pics, but I have a neighbor (who is a total dumbass, haha) who bought a '94 Jeep 4 banger from some guy on ebay who said it was in excellent shape and ran perfect. We are in CA and the Jeep was shipped from NY (already a big no-no to buy an almost 17 year old vehicle from the NE - especially from a private seller you know nothing about).

When it got here I swear you could kick a hole in the frame it is such a rust bucket! Not only that, it missed really bad and had several issues and my neighbor immediately took it to a shop and spent over $3K on it already getting it running again. She spent $4K on the Heep, $1K to ship it out here, and then $3K on repairs. So now she has a $8k Rusty POS Jeep that she could have bought around here for $2K easy. Like I said, she is as dumb as they come, but she hasn't heard one word from the seller since he got her $$. I wanted to say "I told you not to buy that thing", but whatever LOL.

 

[T4Rnewb]

personally i would never buy a car sight unseen and have it shipped unless you have the chance to decline shipment for full refund, and if that's the case have a mech waiting with you for the drop of day to thoroughly check it out or even have an independent mech from the area local to the dealership go there and check it out for you.

it really comes down to price though, as even with a bit of rust if the price is right that's something you just deal with, you know what i'm saying.

looks like a decent find, if the price is right, but that being said, someone definitely painted the surface rust and recently, like before they took the pictures. If there is surface rust under all the black paint, i doubt its really bad, the truck looks well cared for.

as you can see it is a 2002 SR5 SE 4wd in thundercloud with cloth interior (yes I prefer cloth, i'm weird) and it has 89k on it. It is available at a dealer in Cape Cod for $10,995 which is a very good price for the mileage! The only reason I'm even considering a vehicle so far away that I can't see in person first is that I can't find it anywhere closer and i've looked since August!:ybrick:
I've tried to find someone on the forum that lives in the area that would be willing to go check it out in person for me, but haven't had any responses yet and actually got banned from the forum for a few days for over posting :dammit:
I may have the dealer take the vehicle to the local toyota dealer and have them do an inspection for me that runs, and I quote from the dealer "$100 to $200" quite the range lol! but the dealer insists their inspection is adequate and is supplying me with the records of the inspection.

 

[SkidPalace]

Am I the only one who sees that the undercarriage has been spray painted black?
That alone doesn't mean it is rotten with rust, as mine appears worse off than this one, but it sure is a big GIANT red flag that a dealer has done that. I mean, they painted the CV boots for cripes sakes.
If they have resorted to that kind of trickery, you can only imagine what else they are trying to hide.
Of course it MAY have been the previous owner who covered up the rust in a lame attempt to get a higher trade in.
You're taking a risk buying that sight unseen. Sorry to rain on your picnic.

 

[p nut]

Thats what I was about to say, SkidPalace. That a rattle can job to cover all the rust. I would never ever get a car from NE or any rust belt state. Those saying it's not a big deal obviously never had to deal with rusted bolts and components before. If you buy this, make sure to get a tap and die set, along with a torch and air tools. You will need it.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Only thing I see wrong, is to me it almost looks like they may have gone in there with some black spray paint.

Am I the only one who sees that the undercarriage has been spray painted black?

Thats what I was about to say, SkidPalace. That a rattle can job to cover all the rust.

x4 looks like someone used spray paint over some rust. Inspect it thoroughly the day of delivery. If this thing has more evidence of a cover up, send it right back. IMO

 

[4-Ripcord]

And look at this pic from the album, you can even see where they over sprayed on the shock. haha

I would bet a lot of money that they used more than 1 can of spray paint on this 4runner..

 

[brian2sun]

Yeah, I agree, they're covering it up. I would most definitely pass on this one. Find one more local and drive it 1st.

 

[theizzardking]

Yeah, I agree, they're covering it up. I would most definitely pass on this one. Find one more local and drive it 1st.

we could all be over reacting, yeah they did some touch up who know if it was the dealer or a half assed attempt from the previous owner, i have shipped cars sight unseen international for a few people before and it's usually S.O.P. to have an independent local mech look at it, the hard part is trying to find someone local you can trust, pay them the 50-100 bucks to go and check it for you, it could either be nothing more then surface rust or it's rusted straight through and will fall apart first time you touch it.

at the very least protect yourself by making sure you have provisions in the contract that you can return to sender with out accepting the shipment.

i know where the OP is coming from the guys been looking since august and winter is upon us and he needs a truck, i get that if you can;t do better local this may well in deed be the best option (buying sight un-seen) but never ever buy sight un-seen and non-inspected vehicle, get someone there to check it out, i would but i'm 5K miles away lol

 

[p nut]

I agree it's better to have someone check it out, but if I were in his shoes, I'd try to keep it local. Even a few hours of drive is more preferable. I can understand wanting a car shipped from out of state, but we're talking 4 Runners here, not some rare exotic car. You will be able to find one soon or later---esp. in ATL!! If anything, go to a trusted local indy dealer and have him browse the auctions.

Just to he clear, I'm not against buying out of state. I've done it, but I got a ton of pictures and flew out to see it first hand before handing over the check.

 

[T4Rnewb]

New t4r

I agree it's better to have someone check it out, but if I were in his shoes, I'd try to keep it local. Even a few hours of drive is more preferable. I can understand wanting a car shipped from out of state, but we're talking 4 Runners here, not some rare exotic car. You will be able to find one soon or later---esp. in ATL!! If anything, go to a trusted local indy dealer and have him browse the auctions.

Just to he clear, I'm not against buying out of state. I've done it, but I got a ton of pictures and flew out to see it first hand before handing over the check.

I tried to keep it local, been trying for 4 months now. Bumming rides, borrowing cars, calling cabs, missing appointments. Problem is I'm way too picky and finding this exact vehicle in the southeast seems impossible. The closest I've been able to find is either base model 4wd or 2wd sport editions, can't find both in one!
As it turns out, I'm not getting the vehicle I originally posted on this thread. The dealer that I was going through to get the vehicle got impatient with me and started demanding immediate payment which was not an option since I was going through a loan company for the what I couldn't put down in cash. So on to the next one, just like it, except for 10k more miles and 1k more money, but from the pictures it looks like it was babied and taken care of in a manner that I take care of my vehicles. Already put the deposit down and working out the loan right now. It is through another dealer and the guy is trying to work me out a deal for shipping it down here that is hundreds cheaper than the lowest quote I've been able to find so far. In case anyone's interested here's the pics for this one.......
NH T4R pictures by kylega122 - Photobucket