Would you Pull the trigger in this situation?

I

IWANT12

New member
Here's the Deal

1999 4Runner, Automatic. Auto locks windows, (SR5? Not sure), it is 4wd. I drove it today, price is right 6,995. The catch is that he won't let me take it to a dealer. He got it from a dealer in Ohio. It has SOME rust I can see, but looks ok from what I can tell. The inspection neglect is a big problem for me but the price is good @ 100,000 miles...Opinions Please don't hold back, let's hear it! Thanks in advance...

:lookout:
 
Register to hide this ad
Why won't he let you take it to the dealer? If its because he just doesn't want you to, then no.
 
if he wont let you take it to the dealer thats a huge red flag. if he says no there could be something really bad with it in some way. if he doesnt let you pass 100%.
 
So he wont let you take it to the dealer

is that the same thing as him not letting you take it to a mechanic? If you get the VIN number you can call the dealer and get the vehicle history...
 
A seller that won't let you have a pre-purchase inspection done by a mechanic is a huge red flag. Either the truck has issues that he know knows about or he is just not a very smart person. I would personally pass on that deal.
 
In my opinion, how the owner is decides how the car would be. If you don't feel comfortable how the owner treated you, you can assume he has treated the car the same way. As a buyer, if any of your reasonable request being turned down, either he doesn't want to sell it, or he's hiding something.
 
thorridder said:
if he wont let you take it to the dealer thats a huge red flag. if he says no there could be something really bad with it in some way. if he doesnt let you pass 100%.
Click to expand...

I did get the VIN Number and Toyota ran it for me. It doesn't show anything out of line but I really am not sure anyways. I can get more on this later tonight after 10 or so EST. Briefly, the body looks very clean, I drove it, I did NOT engage 4wd (wish I would have) and the V6 ? seems a bit lacking in power. Other than that I will say it looks nice, the miles are low. Is this price a lot? I thought it may be a good deal w/ the low mileage but I guess that is what has me concerned...60K miles major service done, timing belt, Left rear axle leaking, replaced axle seal, brake shoes, ABS Rotor and bearings...it is about all except for the battery they just did. This is the Service from the Factory (Toyota dealer)...I will see again if he has a problem with me taking it to a dealer, but I don't think he will want it checked out, if that is what he says I will ask why...too bad though, nice looking truck. I will say inspections (150 dollars for two) have saved me literally thousands...I agree with what you folks are sayin..I don't get it...ok...Peace..
 
You can ask about getting a mechanic to look at it again, but if he says no just walk away. Sounds too sketchy to me regardess of price, miles or appearance.
 
I agree

RunninInGA said:
X2. Red flags are going up in my mind. There's others out there. Keep looking.
Click to expand...

yes I agree...ok folks..I thank you for your input...on a side note does a 1999 V6 ..I mean I know power is NOT a V8, but should it be sluggish at all? Seemed when I drove it when I stepped on it, tires spun a little, but not a lot...wish I knew better how it should respond...
 
IWANT12 said:
yes I agree...ok folks..I thank you for your input...on a side note does a 1999 V6 ..I mean I know power is NOT a V8, but should it be sluggish at all? Seemed when I drove it when I stepped on it, tires spun a little, but not a lot...wish I knew better how it should respond...
Click to expand...

That'll be hard to describe. My suggestion is to drive as many as you reasonably can.
 
How powerful it feels to you is too relative for us to comment on. They arent rockets from light to light but they dont feel underpowered to me.

Does the guy just not want you to take it to a dealer shop or is he against you having anyone check it out? Unless he came up with a very believable reason, i would walk away. They arent as easy to find as a used civic, but there are others out there.
 
People are weird as hell. Probably a red flag but might just be a weird dude. $7,000 at 100K isn't a steal though. It's good, but not a steal. Look it over, are you car savvy? If you are, give it a good look, low ball him for not letting you take it to a dealer and then go from there. At some point it's a good enough deal to take a chance on. You're not buying a BMW with no history, it's a 3rd Gen 4Runner which is pretty much bullit proof.
 
T4R_Finally said:
How powerful it feels to you is too relative for us to comment on. They arent rockets from light to light but they dont feel underpowered to me.

Does the guy just not want you to take it to a dealer shop or is he against you having anyone check it out? Unless he came up with a very believable reason, i would walk away. They arent as easy to find as a used civic, but there are others out there.
Click to expand...

Not sure to be honest. I have been driving by this place and seeing the truck for literally weeks. Well I mentioned it to his helper that I wanted it inspected, and he didn't think it would be a problem. But then the story changed when I talked with the owner (it's a private dealer w/ 3 lots). To be honest I would already have walked but I like the damn thing, I am going to walk If he doesn't let me get it checked which at this point it don't look like he will...
 
Last edited:
Good 4Runners got picked up quick, so having one linger for many weeks doesn't look good. Don't get tunnel vision on thisT4R, there will be others.

Check Craigslist daily, thats a good source for private sellers.

But walk away from this one.
 
What others said. When I sell a vehicle I will ENCOURAGE people to take my vehicles to a mechanic; and furthermore I tell them that if they find something I'm unaware of, we'll work on the price.
 
DC runner said:
Walk away. No one refuses to let you have a vehicle inspected unless they are hiding something.
Click to expand...

IWANT12 said:
Not sure to be honest. I have been driving by this place and seeing the truck for literally weeks. Well I mentioned it to his helper that I wanted it inspected, and he didn't think it would be a problem. But then the story changed when I talked with the owner (it's a private dealer w/ 3 lots). To be honest I would already have walked but I like the damn thing, I am going to walk If he doesn't let me get it checked which at this point it don't look like he will...
Click to expand...

Yeah, this dude sounds sketchy.

BTW, learn from my mistake, don't trust the dealer's mechanic either. He may tell you it's been inspected, but it NEEDS to be a 3rd party inspection. The dealer I bought mine from straight up lied to me about the inspection; he gave me a report that said the only issue was a CEL for a bad O2 sensor, well turned out it had a leaky rear axle witch takes about 1/2 a second to diagnose because the whole thing smelled of gear oil, a distinct smell I now recognize (didn't when I bought it), and easy for any mechanic to pick up. And that CEL wasn't for a bad O2 sensor, it was for bad CAT's.

Anyway, no matter how good it looks, walk. I paid just a little more than that for a fully loaded SR5 with the 100k miles and tons of rust. I have currently dumped probably 2-3k more into to get it rehabilitated, and I am not even done fixing it. I should have walked.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 399 (members: 4, guests: 395)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,308
Messages
3,554,057
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top