hi all,

i've been looking for a 4runner in the $8000 range for quite a while now, had one checked out at the mechanic but it was close to being a lemon.

found another great one weeks later, today in fact, and quickly acted and brought it to my local, well recognized independent mechanic (oceanworks in berkeley in case anybody is from the bay ;-)) the car is parked on a INDEPENDENT lot, and the guys taking care of showing the cars get NO commission, they just rent out lots for cars to be sold. the sale is completely private to private.

the specs of the car:
$7950
- 99 runner SR5, 4WD
- 112550 miles
- 1 owner
- complete package (tow, roof rack, even leather)
- exterior/interior excellent
- major service at 90.000
- timing belt replaced at 100.000

the mechanic that has been taking care of the car is the owners uncle

MY mechanic said there was no sticker on the timing belt, and found a couple of other things:

- A/T transmission fluid discolored
- air filter filthy (owner said yes he's aware of that)
- original radiator, green coolant (was red) what does that mean??
- no timing belt sticker
- brake fluid dirty
- LF & RF tires 1/8"
- Brake lining: F 70%, R 80%
- aftermarket rear brake shoes, squeaky (i noticed that too, but just a little bit squeaky, just replace the pads??)
- truck pulls to the right (i noticed that too, can be easily fixed with aligning the tires?)

now i have to say my mechanic has, as i said, a GREAT reputation and i absolutely believe his opinion. he said that all those fluids should be in perfect and clean condition, and his major concern was that the timing place was done by somebody who uses cheap parts, and that other things at the car are a bit behind of where they should be, like the car should have clean oil and such.
he said the owner might have gone shopping around for the cheapest repairs and the car *might* cause trouble in the future because of that etc etc.

when i confronted the seller with all that above, he was a bit shocked to hear all that, and he said oil has always been replaced regularly, and yes the air filter is dirty, BUT HIS UNCLE is a certified mechanic (he even gave me his number to call him and talk to him), and the uncle never puts stickers on timing belts (which i find strange), and his uncle would never give him crappy parts. he understands my position and said he called his uncle to ask what all this thing would cost to fix, and he would go down to $7200 (from$7950).

i think it's a great price, and i LOVE the car. i am sick of the hassle of taking days off from work to drive far away, find a mechanic, have it checked out etc etc.

this all seemed so great, and i DO believe the owner of the car that he has been taken care of it and got his fluids changed based on need, especially since his uncle is the mechanic.

so now it's not really a matter of believing anymore, i have to make a decision based on the facts i have.

for $7200 or maybe even $7000, would you get the car??? is the missing sticker on the timing belt an indicator that the uncle has no clue and uses cheap parts that might cause trouble in the future?

PLEASE HELP!!! i want to talk to my mechanic early in the morning (friday morning, june 19, 2009), so maybe somebody here reads this tonight (thurdsday june 18) and gives me an outside opinion.

sorry for the long text, i am a woman after all ;-)

a.

 

for a 10 year old car it sounds like it is in great shape to me. i don't think i would be too worried about a missing sticker and some dirty fluids. the fluids are easily replaced and the brakes are probably fine, just might need some lube. the only thing to potentially be concerned about is the potential alignment problem. it could just need aligned but it could be much more serious. it seems odd to me that your mechanic didn't inspect the cause of the most serious problem, the truck pulling to the right.

 

thank you wheatus for reading my essay and responding to it.

the reason my mechanic didn't check any further because this is not part of the standard pre-buyers inspection.

he didn't find anything else that was major, no accidents and such, so i have reason to believe it is a minor problem and can be fixed with aligning/rotating or getting a new set of tires soon.

i'm gonna meet up with the owner in a couple of hours and get the deal done, and i am very excited about my first toyota. i am really sick of my ford exploder.

i'm probably going to be back for further questions in the future.

first thing i'm gonna do with it is build a nice bed in the back :-)

thanks
anna

 

it will be a great truck. welcome to yotatech!

 

Good luck with your purchase. My impression is the previous owner reacted to problems rather than maintaining the vehicle per the factory schedule.

Not necessarily a terrible thing, but I encourage you to get "ahead of the repair curve" as I call it.

For example-the power steering fluid should be flushed, but I would doubt yours has had it done. The owner should be keeping excellent records of the date the work was performed, copies of the parts and labor receipts and so on. Lack of such records is a tell tale sign of unorganized maintenance patterns.


Green radiator fluid means "Prestone" or another commercial product instead of the recommended Toyota red antifreeze. Opinions vary if this is a real 'issue'.

The water pump is typically done at the same time as the timing belt, also the tensioner and some bearings. Good time to do the belts and hoses as well.

Truck likely needs an alignment, tires balanced or both. Alignment guys are good guys to become friends with. They see more front ends than the average Joe, err Jane and they can frequently spot a number of issues that affect steering, road feel in the butt and through the steering wheel. I use Firestone as they still sell 'lifetime alignments' so you pay once and can have it aligned regularly. Every 6 months is a good schedule and more often certainly does not hurt and will not cost you a dime more.

For that age of vehicle you may need some : tie rod inners, ball joints, even a steering rack. The steering rack bushings may have worn and this is typically felt as shaking through the steering wheel. However- unbalanced tires often cause a similar feel.

T4R.org is a Runner specific forum that is also helpful.

 

Ron Helmuth, this is awesome! Great details. I started a list of things that I want to have checked at the mechanic.

Another thing I noticed AFTER I bought the car: When driving over potholes and extreme bumps (have lots of them here in Berkeley), there is a rattling noise coming from under the car.

I had this exact same noise with my Ford Explorer, and after looking at the service records from the Ford, it says "adjust left front wheel bearing pre-load, was very loose".

Wondering if it could be the same for the 4runner, as it really sounds the same.

The tip to use Firestone is great!

Thank you!

 

yeah well gee shucks you got me blushing now.

It would be really tough to confirm or deny something like a front wheel bearing when you describe the sound as rattling. You seem pretty techy savvy so maybe you could get us a sound clip and the real mechanics will chime in.



This is something your friendly mechanics will advise you of, you sort of describe it to them and they drive it down the street maybe even with you in the Runner to point out -"Hit that pothole and let's hear how it sounds" and then they crawl under there while doing your alignment for example and they tug and pull on the front wheels and poke around the various body and exhaust/muffler mounts.

And yes if you texted all that young lady u are just a little more obsessive than most of the rest of us.

I am teasing there....so when do we get to see a pic of this fine new to you ride?