dealer issue

I'm about to surrender the vehicle to a dealer for a tradein towards a new lease. so far three dealers have offered the same $3500 for the 4runner, two of them, sight unseen. The Toyota dealer that fudged it is offering me $3500 and putting me into a 2011 Venza for $298 per month 36 months. No money out of pocket. A competitive Toyota dealer is offering the same $3500,on a Venza but $290 per month. Both Venza'a are stickered at $29,500. A Ford dealer is offering $3500 for a 2011 Edge (sticker $34,300) at $298 for only 24 months.
So these are my final choices other than putting out $3000 or more to possibly havei t fixed with a replacement engine. Any final thoughts? I need to make the deals asap. I need a vehicle.
 
Dealerships are offering you $3500 for a truck with a busted engine? Something doesn't seem right here...either it's not as difficult as they say it is to fix or you're over-exaggerating the cost of repairs. I would call up an independent garage or two for a quote.
 
I hate car payments. $3500 is a great trade in price for something not running. But if it was me, I would find a small shop (who knows toyotas) and have them put a junkyard motor in it. If the tranny is bad, I would have them replace it at the same time.

You might be able to get repaired for less then 6 months of car payments on a new car.

Where do you live and maybe some members here can recommend a good shop for you.
 
Please do yourself a favor and have it towed to a decent independent shop around you, make some calls first to each shop to see if they are willing to do a thorough check up for you, and explain to them what the Toyo mechanics did.

If you brought it to one of those dealerships where the garage is open until late night, most likely the good mechanics left at 5 and the grease monkeys that do oil changes and things of that nature tried wrenching on your vehicle causing greater damage. You will have no idea because even if they did all that dealership will do is swear up and down that your truck was destined for failure before you brought it in.

Lets be honest, im no car mechanic but i can say that if my truck would not engage into drive or reverse i would NOT be forcing anything, nor would i be giving the throttle the slightest push in fear of what could and did happen.

Good luck to you Bob.
 
Shawn...I have done just that. It is in a local repair shop that came highly recomended. They are in the process of giving me some indication of what went wrong, what is wrong, and what they can do about it. One early comment was that it may be possible that the mecjhanic that replaced my timimg belt at 100,000 miles may have set it off by one notch. The new tech thinks that is a possible cause, but won't know until its opened up.
 
Ahh.....Now this opens up a whole new set of things that could have gone wrong. This may even be a way for you to get out of a huge repair bill. What mileage is on the truck now? If it is the timing belt, make sure you have hard evidence that the timing led to a rod to throw in the engine. Then politely bring it up to the shop that did the belt, if they are not cooperative then you know what to do.

Always cover your ass and document EVERYTHING. Pictures, mileage, writing. I see some light at the end of your tunnel.

Once again good luck, i will check back in frequently.
 
Huh? How can installing a timing belt one notch off on a NON-INTERFERENCE engine cause a rod to let go?
 
Why on earth would you lease a car? It's a terrible deal unless you can take most of the expenses off as a business deduction. Either fix what you have or buy something used you can afford to buy. JMO but leasing is a way to stay financially on the edge.
 
Seems to me like a busted tranny cooler. If i'm right, coolant and tranny fluid where mixed while you drove the truck making the tranny not working anymore.

Chain reaction created the tranny/coolant mix go in the engine making it overheat enough to damage a connecting rod bearing wich ended in a broken block. The only thing that makes me wonder is usually, it takes high revs for a knocking engine to blow a rod.

Have you checked if you have the pink milkshake problem? I might be wrong but it's worth checking...
 
Seems to me like a busted tranny cooler. If i'm right, coolant and tranny fluid where mixed while you drove the truck making the tranny not working anymore.

Chain reaction created the tranny/coolant mix go in the engine making it overheat enough to damage a connecting rod bearing wich ended in a broken block. The only thing that makes me wonder is usually, it takes high revs for a knocking engine to blow a rod.
Click to expand...

I does not sound like what happened, sorry buddy. For one thing if the radiator failed and mixed with coolant, the dealer (any mechanic) would be able to tell right away. Also you would have to seriously overheat the engine to get it to throw a rod - IMO. I doubt that this would happen while the dealer is test driving it. They probably don't drive vehicles more than 5 miles anyways when to are troubleshooting.

:gun6:
 
BobNJ said:
I'm about to surrender the vehicle to a dealer for a tradein towards a new lease. so far three dealers have offered the same $3500 for the 4runner, two of them, sight unseen. The Toyota dealer that fudged it is offering me $3500 and putting me into a 2011 Venza for $298 per month 36 months. No money out of pocket. A competitive Toyota dealer is offering the same $3500,on a Venza but $290 per month. Both Venza'a are stickered at $29,500. A Ford dealer is offering $3500 for a 2011 Edge (sticker $34,300) at $298 for only 24 months.
So these are my final choices other than putting out $3000 or more to possibly havei t fixed with a replacement engine. Any final thoughts? I need to make the deals asap. I need a vehicle.
Click to expand...

On a purchase or a lease? No way those payments are on a purchase. Payments on a 24 month or 36 month would be WAY higher if you aren't putting anything down....like double.
 
Gents, Thanks again for all of your comments.i took the vehile to a highly recomended independent repair shop.( owner operated.) He tells me the the tranny is in great shape, just can't tell about the pressure until he can actually run the vehicle. he offered the following options. a 90,000 mike replacement engine with a 1 year warranty, installed for $2400 or a rebuilt jaspaer engine installed for $4500 with athree year warranty.

I can't swing the $4500 , so it looks like I'm just going to take the $3500 towards a trade on a lease for the next three years. An attorney friend told me there is nothing I could do that would make me recapture the value of the vehicle with the dealer.

Last call ...the 2002 4runner has 108,000 miles on it. If anyone wants it, as is, make me an offer at or above the $4500 cost to replace engine. I think that'sthe only way I would sell it. Again I am in Bergen County New Jersey. If interested, we need to finalize a deal by wednesday night.
I'll check this thread again wednesday morning.

Thanks again 4runner fans. Great advice from all of you.
 
look you are definitely wrong to sell.

you already have the option to fix this truck for $2400 - that is a great price for an installed used engine with a 1 yr warranty.

if you trade it in for $3500 credit towards a debt on a lease .. that just makes no sense. the same dealer that broke it no doubt .... LMFAO at this story.

perhaps it just broke because of random issue, bad luck. but if you trade it in to take on an expensive lease you will have been fully screwed.

just pay the $2400 and keep the truck. btw no one will want to buy it because it doesn't have any value as singtoe already said. But it will have value if you fix it. The only reason the dealer is offering $3500 on a trade in is because he will probably make $6-$7k on the lease and sale. Remember that dealers buy for low trade in and sell for high value that is how they make a lot of cash. He probably already has an engine lined up and after the repairs will sell the truck for $7-$8k
 
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1st- do some research on here learn all the problem areas these motors have(not many) 2nd buy the used motor for 2400.. if money is the real prob here, sell the truck after the motor swap then buy something else. Last but not least.. Tell the dealer to use some lube next time cause that sh&t is rough..
 
Unlike alot of people on here it doesnt sound like you're very attached to your 4runner so I say off it. FWIW, I would definitely drop a used motor in and then sell it. Financially it makes better sense. But if you dont have the 2400.00 just get rid of it. You can always buy another one.
 
If you have enough credit to get a lease, then you have enough credit to get a small loan to fix the ole runner up. If you have too, you can put the lean on the 4runner.

For what it is worth, I have seen many 4runners go through salvage auctions and they are pulling in more then $3500 for the shape that yours is in.

Keep it, fix it and drive it, then sell it.
 
BTW, I understand the pain of fixing a truck - I just spent $2700 + taxes to fix my heads. I was in a similar position - fix or scap and I fixed it. If you can get a whole engine for $2400 + tax - installed with a 1 year warranty, that is a really good price. It will be much cheaper overall to fix this truck then get a new vehicle. You need to consider insurance, taxes, leases fees ect.

:wow:
 
The 3500.00 is likely made mostly up of what they would take off of the new car if paying cash for... so in fact they are giving you nothing for the 4runner. I bet you could get the same deal with no trade.
 
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