I've got all the usual CL stories that everyone else has, but one sticks out when I was looking for my current 4runner. Found one local for a decent price that said it had trouble getting into 4wd and it was probably just the actuator. Guy selling it is a service manager, it's his buddy's car, it's on the dealer's lot (buddy got a new 4runner) and it needs to go so he's willing to deal.
So I checked it out and the flags start adding up pretty quickly. Guy didn't know what's wrong with it, despite us sitting in the back of a toyota dealership's repair bay. He refused my offer to pay $100 on the spot to have a mechanic there diagnose it. Couldn't explain why his friend wouldn't just fix it if it was a cheap fix, instead of selling it for $1000 below going rate.
So I logged into the toyota owner's site, typed in the VIN, registered it as my car, and got the entire service history. Turns out, it had been diagnosed the week before AT THAT DEALERSHIP as needing a new transfer case --- which was a used unit after the first one blew the year before.
I just never understood why this guy would put his professional rep on the line at his place of business in order to help his buddy get an extra couple hundred bucks. It wasn't like he was giving some spin or didn't know what was going on. Dude was the service manager on the repair order then actively lied to a potential buyer about what was wrong with the car. So stupid.
also, first non-classified forum post. yay
