Help with potential purchase

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LittleGreenAvocado said:
Hi all,
Im interested in this car:

Used 2014 Toyota 4Runner SR5

but the mileage seems extremely high for something less than 1 year old :( Is that a deal breaker? If not, what should I look for when I check it out in person?
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Hi LGA,

As [MENTION=55317]jwhipple[/MENTION] has stated, run VIN through "Car-Fax" to see any accident history; that much you can do by yourself. However, before you get your hopes up... have a mechanic examine it; tell him just why you're concerned... you have cause to be: a vehicle with that much mileage on it in just one yr tends to get neglected wrt maintenance; especially rentals an leased vehicles! Have the mechanic check for sludge under the valve covers, test/smell the transmission fluid for burnt odor, gather oil samples from, engine, X-fer case, F & R Diff's... etc! Do your homework to decrease the risk factor... "BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING"! :thumb3: Rgds
 
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a quick warning about carfax...

often an accident history can take a few weeks to be reported on carfax.
we learned this the hard way when we bought our certified FJ. it showed a clean bill of health, as I never buy a vehical that has been in an accident.
last week when we went to trade it in to the same dealer that sold us the rig, we learned an accident had been reported, BEFORE we bought it.. now this was being used against the value of our car that was supposedly not in an accident when we bought it. the dealer explained that they see this often, and infact had just dealt with a car that was traded in and when they later were selling it and ran the carfax for the potential buyers it had been listed as totaled.
In the end, armed with that info.. we opted to spend 4 grand more and buy new.
 
few weeks? it takes longer than that. it was almost a year before mine showed up... beside carfax only reports what is reported to them via an insurance claim. My wifes car car had 3 repairs outside of insurance and the carfax to this day show clear
 
When we traded my wifes Saturn in for her Lexus, the dealer only "saw" 1 accident via their report when in fact it had been 3. She was the only owner of the car for 6yrs.
 
Stifler said:
few weeks? it takes longer than that. it was almost a year before mine showed up... beside carfax only reports what is reported to them via an insurance claim. My wifes car car had 3 repairs outside of insurance and the carfax to this day show clear
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Americas High Five said:
When we traded my wifes Saturn in for her Lexus, the dealer only "saw" 1 accident via their report when in fact it had been 3. She was the only owner of the car for 6yrs.
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just reinforcment to not buy used. :lookout:
 
jwhipple said:
we opted to spend 4 grand more and buy new.
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Exactly. With the way 4Runners hold their value, buying a 1 or 2 year old model just didn't make sense to me. There's risk involved with buying used, and with the 4Runners at least, not much benefit. I went with the SR5 over the limited to afford a new one -- and love it. Just my 2 cents.
 
and don't forget, the fine print on carfax, that pretty much clears them of any wrong doing if its not reported or reported late.
 
To add some counter point to all the negatives to getting a used 4R, I currently have a Gen 4 that we bought when it was 1 year old and had just over 18K on the odo. Having the 'high for the age' mileage wasn't a big deal since it's a secondary vehicle and we put on less than average each year. It's now at 85K and not a single problem.

At the time, the price difference to new was enough that it was worth it to go used. But as I'm looking for a Gen 5 now, I'm pretty sure I'm going for a new one. Given the specifics of what I want, I can't even find a new one in the area that has the colors and options that I want.
 
bpwwer said:
To add some counter point to all the negatives to getting a used 4R, I currently have a Gen 4 that we bought when it was 1 year old and had just over 18K on the odo. Having the 'high for the age' mileage wasn't a big deal since it's a secondary vehicle and we put on less than average each year. It's now at 85K and not a single problem.

At the time, the price difference to new was enough that it was worth it to go used. But as I'm looking for a Gen 5 now, I'm pretty sure I'm going for a new one. Given the specifics of what I want, I can't even find a new one in the area that has the colors and options that I want.
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the fact remains thaough,, that when you buy used.. you are rolling the dice at a $30 Grand table..
 
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