the Rescue Runner build thread

[the great him]

sorry guys i have been sick the last couple of days and been slacking on the pictures. ill work on that tomorrow on my day off.

 

[TCMach]

This thing is sweeeet! :bravo:

 

[fightman80]

Not saying you made a bad move... just wondering what made you sell the 4Runner all of a sudden? I was reading through your posts, you were just talking about adding more mods... and then... whammo! Someone is driving away with the Rescue Runner??

 

[LittleCaesar]

Very nice, quite jealous. Heal up.

 

[the great him]

Well let's not be so quick to be jealous...

The computer just dumped all the coding for the transponder/master key (the only key we have)... So now we don't even have a master key

 

[the great him]

Now I have a giant paper weight that looks pretty

 

[MyHigh]

[MENTION=60147]the great him[/MENTION] ,

Hey Isaac, I have Premium AAA. I can get up too 100 off the programming and new key if you'd like. I just have to come over long enough to sign the paperwork. Just let me know and I will make a few phone calls and see if AAA local locksmith has the right equipment for those Lexus's

Give me a call if you still have my number
Tim

 

[the great him]

[MENTION=60147]the great him[/MENTION] ,

Hey Isaac, I have Premium AAA. I can get up too 100 off the programming and new key if you'd like. I just have to come over long enough to sign the paperwork. Just let me know and I will make a few phone calls and see if AAA local locksmith has the right equipment for those Lexus's

Give me a call if you still have my number
Tim

i might take you up on that... though i dont have your number anymore -no offence lol

 

[MyHigh]

Haha I dont have yours as well,

Give me a call (edit number) not that I don't trust people, but I don't lol

 

[the great him]

so the coding was not dropped but the ECU lost power enough time consecutively that it thought it was stolen so it populated a b2799 code, basically immobilizing the vehicle -one of the few codes that requires a dealer only clearing. so we had it towed to the local Lexus dealer where they cleared the code and reset the ECU, and were able to start and drive the truck no issued repeatedly. then i had them trace the electrical draw/drain in the system as electrical is not my strong point. turns out to be in the EFI system. from there it was a mater of what and where -bad ground? shorted wire? bad connection? bad ECU?... well turns out to be a bad connection at the ECU in the harness as well as a bad ECU. anyhow turns out to be from water damage to the wire harness. the dealer was able to clean/save/salvage the harness but the ECU is shorted, anytime there is power applied to it there is a consistent 2amp draw... needs a new ECU/M. so for a grand total of $1780 i will have a new ECU/M installed and programmed and water leak sourced i will have my rig back on monday. i might end up having Lexus go ahead and replace the windshield if that turns out to be where the leak is coming from(i highly suspect this is the case).

at that point i will be taking that to the dealer we bought it from and asking for them to cover half. if they hesitate i will just go after them for the full amount and disrupt a large portion of their customer base... -they are right of a military post and i will do everything in my power to make sure none of my soldiers ever buys a vehicle from them(ill let all of you know the name of the dealer as well and you guys i know will help spread the word amount your "joes") and if i have to post flyers on every bulletin board on post i will. -the dealer admitted that thats where at least 1/3 of the customers are from. and JAG is always big about soldiers being ripped off by businesses around posts. there is no way this dealer could not have known about the water leak. i had the car for one day and had a water leak in a light rain... they knew it had a electrical draw/drain, and told me it was someplace no where near that. i even told the Lexus dealer what the other dealer told me when i bought it, they checked and double checked their claim and could not find anything. i think the first dealer was just full of it and knew it.

 

[infamousRNR]

because it sounds like this can potentially be a common issue... I'm wondering if it's in a consumer's best interest to buy a car while it's raining.... dealer or private owner... thoughts?

bring the rescue runner back! but in all seriousness this thing looks BAD AF with those tundra rims on it

 

[the great him]

because it sounds like this can potentially be a common issue... I'm wondering if it's in a consumer's best interest to buy a car while it's raining.... dealer or private owner... thoughts?

bring the rescue runner back! but in all seriousness this thing looks BAD AF with those tundra rims on it

we bought the truck in the rain... it was raining pretty good when we got there... but they had pulled the truck into their detail bay as per my request -it was going to be dark by the time we got there and i wanted as much light as possible to inspect the vehicle in -street lamps would not have cut it.

it rained the entire way home and i did not notice anything, but again it was also 2230 and dark. i wasnt expecting any leaks so not looking for them and i had rolled down my window to talk to my wife in their parking lot before leaving so any water drips would have been masked by the rain that came in when i did that... it was not till the next morning that i came out and noticed the wet A-pillar. i just chalked that up to the previous night in the rainstorm talking to my wife from car to car for a couple min -just thought it was residual no big deal, dried it and figured done....


as far as buying a car in the rain or not, i dont think really matters one way or the other. typically if the seller is honest they will disclose that. there would also be other signs -the carpet was wet under the floor mats again something i did not inspect closely as everything looked clean -you just simply cant check everything every time... it is what it is. what bothers me is the blatant dishonesty and misleading on their part. i probably would not have bought the vehicle had i know it had a water leak... -too much electronic stuff in a vehicle like this to mess around with a water leak like that. -this is the stuff of nightmares. thankfully i got this figured out quickly. i have seen things like this go on and on and on for months costing people 3x what we are paying... sometimes it pays to go to the dealer who has all the right tools to immediately work on the vehicle. sure i could have found this issue on my own, but it would have taken me weeks, and the stress accompanied with it would not have been worth it.

everything i had seen and read about these vehicles is they are super reliable and long lasting. they have a couple little quirks (so do our beloved 4runners) but other than that they provide their owners with a very happy driving and owning experience -something i was looking for. so after this i believe i will have a very solid vehicle, and thats what i was looking for. something with lower miles that i could just drive and feel confidant with.

 

[infamousRNR]

understood...

after buying my vehicle from a private owner i had a similar experience....

not knowing what to look for but as they say you live and you learn...

love your build and hoping you stick around this forum to update us with your latest acquisition...

toyota & lexus.... i don't think i would consider any other vehicle.. well maybe a saturn.. better yet... a kia... but my favorite is hyundai... lol

 

[the great him]

i wouldnt touch a saturn with a 10' pole... not a fan of most GM stuff...

kia or hyundai... well if you are looking for a cheap reliable well built car(considering what you are paying for them) i think its hard to go wrong with either of them... they are leading the pack when it comes to manufacture/dealer warranties and i dont hear too many of their owners complaining about them, nor do i see them on the backs of many tow trucks or the side of the road... so either they are dissolving into thin air or they are just good little cars -probably the later

 

[MyHigh]

Man Isaac that sucks!
After talking to you I was hoping it wasn't that involved, and so expensive! But I guess everything they did to resolve the problem it's not too bad. I just hate spending money on stuff I can't see.

I'm right there with you on the seller knowing about it before they sold it, nobody deserves to be taken advantage of especially those who serve our country.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out. I know not much can be done but we can get a couple two-three hell 10 people out there bombarding the lot wasting there time taking everything for a test drive just trying to piss them off or something like that.

 

[the great him]

welp i have been driving the GX around now for about a month now after getting it back from the dealer($2400 later -new ECU/ECM, new windshield, and repaired wire harness), and i love it. drives so nice, smooth, powerful and overall very reliable. i drove it out to the coast the other weekend with the family and got 19.6mpg so i cant complain. either later this week or early next week i should have a full set of weathertech floor liners for it. already did a HID upgrade with morimoto XB35 kit 4500k, great kit. i am gonna really enjoy this vehicle, although i do miss the 4runner, but the difference is night and day, this drives 100x better.

 

[GSPRunner]

welp i have been driving the GX around now for about a month now after getting it back from the dealer($2400 later -new ECU/ECM, new windshield, and repaired wire harness), and i love it. drives so nice, smooth, powerful and overall very reliable. i drove it out to the coast the other weekend with the family and got 19.6mpg so i cant complain. either later this week or early next week i should have a full set of weathertech floor liners for it. already did a HID upgrade with morimoto XB35 kit 4500k, great kit. i am gonna really enjoy this vehicle, although i do miss the 4runner, but the difference is night and day, this drives 100x better.

Isn't there a GX forum you could hang out on...

:laugh::laugh:

 

[the great him]

Isn't there a GX forum you could hang out on...

:laugh::laugh:

nope, at least not with cool people like you guys. ive been hanging out over in the 4th gen section recently here

 

[the great him]

I need a name for the GX and the build, if anyone has any ideas...

 

[Unner]

Are you still going to be doing search and rescue stuff with the GX?