Flipped 2006 Toyota Sequoia at Jacksonville, FL on auction today- so glad I paid for reports for multiple sources

GON

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2006 TOYOTA SEQUOIA LIMITED being auctioned today at Jacksonville, FL IAAI.

I was interested solely as a vehicle that could haul around my Wife, Daughter, and two Grandsons when they come from Denver to visit. Found this dealer maintained until one year ago Sequoia. 2WD so nobody wants it. 198k miles. The SUV was reported as repossessed and pictures show a damage driver door. A closer look showed hood damage, and the passenger side headlight not centered. TITLE SHOWS CLEAN.


The thing that most interested me in this SUV was an extensive Toyota Dealer preventative maintenance history.

Ran a Carfax this morning. Everything looked ok. At 330 this morning, I missed the hood damage. I also missed the driver door armrest was missing. But the ret of the interior looked good. Again, I want to mention carfax looked fantastic. I can handle a repo Toyota that the prior owner had less than one year, that was dealer maintained for the first 14 (of its 15) years of its life.

Started to set a price limit in my head. How was I going to pick up the car, drive with a trailer, or take a plane, or even Amtrak. Amtrak has a 0115AM departure to Jacksonville, FL, arrives 0630AM for $60. Take a Uber from the train station to IAAI lot, be first in line for a pickup... car just has to be drivable 450 miles....

Decided to run a supplemental history report called epicvin. It shows some of the carfax data, but also shows prior data like when a car was for sale at a car lot. Asking price as a one owner and 189k miles was $8995 in DEC 2019. It was for sale with all the damage in OCT 2021 for $4995.

Wow, what a surprise. The car, after being a one owner dealer maintained, was for sale on a low class used car lot. And then the pictures. They show the interior was swapped, and imply the front end had a lot of damage. Likely repaired worse than one can imagine. Actually shows this is the second auction for this SUV in the last 90 days, something Carfax did not catch.

Going to post a link to the SUV being auctioned, and also pictures from the used car lot, and then from the first auction. Lesson learned, if it seems to good to be true........ run multiple reports if one can't inspect or hire an inspector.

Somebody is likely going to be a Buyer on this today, and disappointed when they "peel back the onion".
 

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Shouldn't that be on blocks at a pick-a-part instead of an auction?
Would not surprise me if it sells today at auction well north of $5,000 USD before auction fees. Market is unique right now.

I was fooled until I did supplemental research. Not sure many do any research, let alone pay for reports from multiple sources.
 
You'd be surprised how many people won't even flinch when they come across the same info you did. Relatively cheap for a large SUV that looks presentable now, from 20 paces perhaps. A to B cargo hauler with a Toyota emblem on it, seemingly in great mechanical shape. It'll sell in no time flat, probably to a house painter. If you saw the train wrecks we have driving around in Dallas, you come to a quick understanding that cosmetics, and possible structure damage matters not to some folks.
 
Would not surprise me if it sells today at auction well north of $5,000 USD before auction fees. Market is unique right now.

I was fooled until I did supplemental research. Not sure many do any research, let alone pay for reports from multiple sources.
Thats totally insane considering the buyer most likely intends to markup and resell for more. I mean I bought a totally non damaged GMC Yukon XL 2wd equivalent of that for 3.5k, fully reconditioned and registered for 4k.
 
Thats totally insane considering the buyer most likely intends to markup and resell for more. I mean I bought a totally non damaged GMC Yukon XL 2wd equivalent of that for 3.5k, fully reconditioned and registered for 4k.
One advantage, if the Buyer is a flipper from Florida. Florida has a very positive influx of new residents every month. They often are in need of a vehicle, and may be more desperate than due diligent. Perfect conditions to sell a not nice vehicle to an uneducated person.
 
One advantage, if the Buyer is a flipper from Florida. Florida has a very positive influx of new residents every month. They often are in need of a vehicle, and may be more desperate than due diligent. Perfect conditions to sell a not nice vehicle to an uneducated person.
Buyer: "This is a total piece of junk!" Dealer: "It's a Toyota Piece of Junk, and we will finance you!"
 
One advantage, if the Buyer is a flipper from Florida. Florida has a very positive influx of new residents every month. They often are in need of a vehicle, and may be more desperate than due diligent. Perfect conditions to sell a not nice vehicle to an uneducated person.
That's exactly what i was thinking.
 
Carfax listed my old Subaru as being in an accident with damage. On a date I was out of town with another vehicle and it was parked inside the garage ... My fiance can't drive manual so it wasn't out for a joyride either.
If you have proof, you can submit your proof to CarFax, they will research their source, and remove the accident report if they find that it is in error. But, if your car was in a body shop for ANYTHING within a few months from the date they list, they will refuse to remove it. For example, my wife's CR-V was backed into in a parking lot (minor damage to the rear bumper cover, no police report). After taking it to a body shop to have the damage repaired, about 6 months later an accident report showed-up on CarFax that said "minor damage". I disputed the accident report but they refused to remove it.
Everyone should know that ALL of the corporate body shop chains sell information to CarFax. Now days most of the body shops, even many of them that you think are locally owned, are actually owned by a corporate chain. If a vehicle comes into one of these shops for ANY repair, the vehicle will show-up with an accident report on CarFax. Also, most law enforcement agencies and state DMVs report to CarFax, but insurance companies DO NOT report to them.
 
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yeah, I have found carfax to miss a lot. I use bumper, but even it is not that good. NMVTIS catches a lot, but only if states require it. Supposed to have identifiable information removed, but not always. Most people are not aware this system exists and have no idea how much info is there.
 
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Carfax listed my old Subaru as being in an accident with damage. On a date I was out of town with another vehicle and it was parked inside the garage ... My fiance can't drive manual so it wasn't out for a joyride either.
The dates aren’t accurate. On my 2014 Jeep I took it to the dealer once and they put the wrong date and a future mileage for the repairs.
 
The dates aren’t accurate. On my 2014 Jeep I took it to the dealer once and they put the wrong date and a future mileage for the repairs.
I never had any wreck in that car. Only thing I can think is maybe someone bumped it in a parking lot and reported it and I never heard back?
 
I would have to think whoever buys that vehicle is looking at it for parts only. I always get amused at ads that say"Ran when parked" even thought they don't say it on this advertisement.
 
Would not surprise me if it sells today at auction well north of $5,000 USD before auction fees. Market is unique right now.

I was fooled until I did supplemental research. Not sure many do any research, let alone pay for reports from multiple sources.
And you are experienced at it. If you are in WA, how can FL be 450 miles??
 
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