Warranty/Maintenance question

[Catfish]

I bought my '07 SR5 a year ago with 32k on the clock. After reading this forum for several months, I was curious if the spark plugs were changed at the 30k maintenance interval. So I registered at toyota.com/owners in order to access the service records for my truck. Found a few interesting things....

1. There is no record of the 30k service being performed, yet all of the rest of the maintenance records are there.
2. Around 24k, there's a paint/body repair record...turns out that the truck has been wrecked on the front right corner. The headlight and assembly, grill, bumper and bumper assemblies were all replaced...then brought back 7 months later (at 30k) due to the paint peeling. None of this information showed up on the Carfax report. Funny thing though...I recently blacked-out my headlights and noticed that the infamous "4th bolt" holding on the headlight housings was missing on both sides. Now I know why...
3. The last maintenance record before I bought the truck was simply an oil change done at 31k.

Which makes me wonder...was the 30k maintenance done and just not notated...and have my spark plugs been replaced? I'm just about to turn 50k (and will be taking the truck in for that maintenance)...but I don't really want to pay the dealer to replace the plugs, when I can do it myself. If I pull one of the plugs, should I be able to tell how old/worn they are? Or should I just go ahead and replace all six as a precaution?

I'm also kinda pissed about the fact that it has been wrecked and that information was not disclosed. Not that it would have been a deal-breaker, but....

 

[jlm6985]

Similar story here too. '07 SR5... which (in the end) I luckily bought Toyota Certified Used. About 9 months after buying it, the trunk window motor started leaving grease on the window... so, naturally, I took it in. When they opened the rear door (different dealership than the one I bought it from and certified it), it turned out the plastic that protects the motor from dirt when the window was down had been removed and replaced (apparently there is a tamper-evident glue they use and had clearly been replaced - I was shown this). The only reason for this, I was told, was that the vehicle had been in a wreck and had to have body work done.

As no wreck had shown on my CarFax, I was pissed. On top of that, it was Toyota Certified! After many calls between Toyota's national offices, the dealership I purchased from, and a lawyer... I lucked out. The dealership reimbursed me for all necessary repairs (quite expensive since the window mechanism and the glass had to be replaced since it had gotten scratched) and Toyota Financial knocked off a chunk of what I owed on the car, since it should have never been certified in the first place.

Good luck with the plugs!:hello:

 

[wombie]

I bought mine certified. Turned out way after the fact that it had had 3 plug repairs on the tires (only found this out because the tire pressure light kept coming on). The original dealership was shhhaaaaaddyyyyyy, but my local dealer told me what the problem was (confirmed by looking at the Toyota owernship records online) and replaced the two damaged tires for free.

Crazy though that the original dealership got away with selling it certified. I wish I had complained at the time, but I didn't know you could see the entire service records online. Scumbags.

 

[4RunnerFan]

Catfish, sorry to read the accident wasn't disclosed on CarFax, but they admit on their website they may not have all information on a given vehicle.

Regarding the 30k mike maintenance, I would recommend checking the service guide (printed version that came with vehicle or online at Toyota.com). Yes, you can pull a spark plug and tell if it needs replacing (be careful not to overtighten when replacing; check torque specs), but the 30k maintenance includes much more than just the plugs. Maybe you've already taken care of them since you bought your T4R, but they include changing out the gear oil in the rear differential along with the front diff and transfer case (last two if 4-wheel drive), lubricate prop shaft, engine oil and filter change, rotate tires (check brake wear while wheels are off), renew engine air filter element, renew cabin air filter element, and whatever else I may have forgotten.

As you probably discovered by now, there are some excellent posts on this forum on how you can perform these tasks yourself if you are so inclined. For example, I never saw myself changing differential fluid before until coming across this forum, but I ended up getting a Haynes manual and doing that and everything else in the 30k list myself. Saved a ton compared to having it done by dealer, and I KNOW everything is torqued according to spec.

Donated $100 of those savings to the American Red Cross Japan Relief Fund.

 

[jlm6985]

Catfish, sorry to read the accident wasn't disclosed on CarFax, but they admit on their website they may not have all information on a given vehicle.

Regarding the 30k mike maintenance, I would recommend checking the service guide (printed version that came with vehicle or online at Toyota.com). Yes, you can pull a spark plug and tell if it needs replacing (be careful not to overtighten when replacing; check torque specs), but the 30k maintenance includes much more than just the plugs. Maybe you've already taken care of them since you bought your T4R, but they include changing out the gear oil in the rear differential along with the front diff and transfer case (last two if 4-wheel drive), lubricate prop shaft, engine oil and filter change, rotate tires (check brake wear while wheels are off), renew engine air filter element, renew cabin air filter element, and whatever else I may have forgotten.

As you probably discovered by now, there are some excellent posts on this forum on how you can perform these tasks yourself if you are so inclined. For example, I never saw myself changing differential fluid before until coming across this forum, but I ended up getting a Haynes manual and doing that and everything else in the 30k list myself. Saved a ton compared to having it done by dealer, and I KNOW everything is torqued according to spec.

Donated $100 of those savings to the American Red Cross Japan Relief Fund.

Can't agree more. Dealer quoted me $300 for a plug change... no way I was paying for that when I know that I could get the parts for $56.