4Runner Odometer Rollback

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Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Maddog1337
We settled on a purchase price of $4,000, which honestly is pretty good at 155K or 200K+. The vehicle drove great, no leaks, and minimal rust. However, I can't trust anything else that guy said, so I might be looking at large repairs down the road.


It's a 16 year old SUV with certainly over 155K so you might be looking at large repairs down the road anyway. Would you buy without hesitation if it didn't have the odometer issue? Either take it to mechanic for a quickie $60 ppi and or inform the seller about what you found out about the mileage and ask for a $500 price cut.


I nominate Atikovi as the resident expert in sniffing out questionable car sales. Not kidding- I think he (she?) has a lot of practical experience in this area. Personally I would pay for a Carfax to see what it says if you intend on going through with the deal. If your walking away, then omit it. I have a contact who is an auto insurance adjuster, and he can run a Carfax for me, but only gives me a verbal Yes-No if he thinks its worth a follow up. If Yes, then I go get my own copy.

Also re: Atikovi - I am not trying to be sarcastic- I bet you have a lot of secrets in spotting red-flags on used cars.
 
If the truck was as-is, but with 155k actual miles, and registered in my name without error, then I wouldn't really care about the curbstoning

Then you deserve every bad thing that would happen regarding rolled back mileage, inability or difficulty to register this vehicle, etc. By crubstoning the seller is illegally circumventing state and or local laws and taxes due!

But hey, if you can get a "good" deal, go for it!
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Maddog1337
We settled on a purchase price of $4,000, which honestly is pretty good at 155K or 200K+. The vehicle drove great, no leaks, and minimal rust. However, I can't trust anything else that guy said, so I might be looking at large repairs down the road.


It's a 16 year old SUV with certainly over 155K so you might be looking at large repairs down the road anyway.


While a record indicating otherwise is definitely a cause for concern, you cannot assume an SUV is over 155K mi merely because it's 16 years old. I'm the original owner of an SUV over 20 years old with only 100K mi on it.

They're great for off-road, hauling something large in the rear, snowy winter days, etc, but also a gas guzzler and more suspension maintenance needed per mile than a car, so it's not a daily driver year round so it's easy to put few miles per year on it.

As far as the larger tires and rims on the one being discussed, they aren't that big, I wouldn't worry that much about it except that the off road tread pattern is going to cause a drone noise and vibration. Could it need suspension or drivetrain work done soon? Of course, it's a 16 year old SUV. It will nickle and dime the owner with a $75 CV axle here, a $120 hub there, but you can buy a heck of a lot of $100 range parts, DIY repair so no labor cost, and still end up at a lower cost per year ownership than buying something newer.

I would contact the local DMV (dept motor vehicles) to see what they think. It's not just whether you're getting screwed out of somewhere over 45K mi or the principle but also that if the odometer is wrong, you could have trouble if/when you try to sell it yourself.
 
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Follow up:

Presented the free Carfax service history report along side the official Toyota maintenance history written up by the dealership's service writer. Both sources paint a pretty convincing picture of the odometer being rolled back. Referenced the title, sold to this guy on 10/2018. Title was in the dealership's name, and signed for by the seller after the lien was released. The seller never bothered to register it in his name.

The seller put those wheels and tires on the car, so I highly doubt they were up to anything malicious given the large investment. The seller is retired Chicago Police, and I believe he just didn't do his due diligence. Money was refunded without question, guy was apologetic, kept the hard copies of my research, and is now seeking to make restitution with the dealership, who had the car listed with 140K on 10/2018. Again as a reminder Toyota had the car at 130K in 2011.

For any future Google searches, the used car dealership is:

JBA Auto Sales, Inc.
3913 W Lake St
Stone Park, IL, 60165


On to the next one. If anyone is selling a 3rd gen 4Runner, please let me know.
 
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Seriously: You might want to see if your state has a "finder's fee" for odometer fraud.

This extra cash might help you upgrade to a better vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by Maddog1337
Title was in the dealership's name, and signed for by the seller after the lien was released. The seller never bothered to register it in his name.


So how was he driving it around if he didn't register it? What tags did it have on it? Is that why none of the pictures show a tag?
 
A fun side note, when I sold my 1995 Integra it had 217k miles on it. It had a lot of cosmetic flaws/rust/etc. and I didn't sell it for much. I eventually saw the car for sale again on Craigslist, but it magically now had 150k on it. I started asking questions about it and its miles and VIN number, and he stopped replying. Not sure why someone would try to rollback the odometer (or replace the cluster) on a car just to try to sell it for a couple hundred dollars more than what I sold it for a year or two prior. I tried doing some research into whether or not law enforcement would even do something about it, and I was under the impression that they probably wouldn't bother unless it was a huge operation.
 
Originally Posted by David2431
Seriously: You might want to see if your state has a "finder's fee" for odometer fraud.

This extra cash might help you upgrade to a better vehicle.


This is Illinois friend, the most corrupt state in the Union. Not worth exploring - unfortunately passing the ball to the next guy in line.

Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Maddog1337
Title was in the dealership's name, and signed for by the seller after the lien was released. The seller never bothered to register it in his name.


So how was he driving it around if he didn't register it? What tags did it have on it? Is that why none of the pictures show a tag?


Tags were current to 5/2019. In IL, you have until the end of the month, so they were still valid. Said the guy didn't want to pay the extra money (~$100) to register it in his name.


The CL posting was updated BTW, indicating the odometer fraud.
 
Sounds like too much nonsense over a 4k car? Does carfax or service records really matter?

A true inspection would matter most to me.

155k or 200k matters not when we get into this. You are going to spend quite a bit on this car, and probably throw a hundred dollars a week in gas at it.

To each his own..
 
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