I am seeking a Tundra Reg/Access Cab as a service truck for a company (my first) that we are starting. I found what appears to be a pretty good deal on a 2002 Tundra Access Cab with 16,500 on the odometer. This seems very low to me due to the price and the year of truck. No problem said I will pull a CarFax on it and hopefully gain some further insight into the vehicle.
Carfax shows the truck titled in Beaumont Texas at 340 miles as a commercial vehicle but that is the only record they show. Now my unease is due to the Hurricanes we had come through Katrina and Rita which Beaumont Texas is very near to both.
How can I check for say flood damage or is it even possible these days with the new vehicle electronics to roll back the odometer? Overall the truck was dirty had not been detailed but appeared in pretty good condition. The only mechanical issue I found was when slightly engaging the brakes the truck shudders a bit.
Advice and Help would be greatly appreciated. Oh yes has anyone ever had any luck asking and having a Toyota dealer pull records on a vehicle? Could I provide the service department of a local dealer the VIN and could they pull up service history even if never serviced at that dealership?
I think your best bet is to have someone with a trained eye look the car over for paintwork, frame and flood damage. If you go to a Toyota dealer ask for the technician that handles the certifications for the used car program to do an inspection on the truck. He probably spends a lot of time determining which cars are eligible for Toyotas Certified Car program based on condidition and should be good at spotting the kind of damage you are concerned about. The dealer I work for charges about $80.00 for the inspection, including a test drive. The dealer can only pull a service history of warranty repairs on a vehicle. There is no database of general service.
A commercial vehicle with only16.5K on the odometer would be rare. Look at the wear areas, scuffs from driver getting in out around the door. Look at the brake pedal - any wear or new pads. You said it was dirty - not good. How much wear on the seat. Look under the vehicle for damage. What about the bed - look for wear. Sounds really strange to me - would have a dealer check it out. Who is selling this truck - is it a used vehicle dealer - that's bad but worse is some independent repair place - they are experts at hiding problems.
This sounds like trouble to me. Good luck in your business venture - am probably going to buy a new Tundra for a new venture - can not be bothered with hassling with a used vehicle - too many crooks out there.
where they are trying toflag all the vehicles being scrapped for flood damage. If it's on thelist it may not have been badly damaged - but it will give you addedreasons to check the truck over even closer. The dealers will only have the truck's VIN in their computers if it was serviced at a dealership - but it can't hurt to check. And if it wasn't serviced at a dealer, the seller should know where it was done
- you can always call up independent shops and have them check their computer or pull their service tickets on the car.
And if this is at a used car lot, they should know the name of the last registered owner, because they have in their possession a signed-over Title Slip for the truck. If the seller won't share this basic information, it's almost certainly because they have something to hide. If they start citing "Privacy Issues" ask them to show you the relevant laws.
Any good mechanic can find and document flood damage if they know where to look - the crooks can wash and wax the outside, and clean the carpets and freshen up the inside, but there are too many hidden cavities inside and under the body where the evidence of a flood will remain long after the event.
You might have to unscrew a fender liner to look inside, but you can. And if you see a clear 'high water mark' with a big "ring around the bathtub" of scum below it, perhaps with ridges as the water went down in steps...
Even if it was not in a flood, unscrupulous car sellers have been rolling back odometers and lying about vehicle histories to increase resale values ever since they were invented. "It was owned by a 'Little Old Lady From Pasadena' who only drove it to the market on Wednesdays and to church on Sundays." Yeah. Right. Suuuure...
Is the truck is on it's second set of tires, and how is the wear? (Check the brand of the spare versus the ones on the road - if it's a full-service spare they will all be matching Dunlop's.)
Factory front brake pads? How much wear on the factory back brake shoes? (Should still have factory pads (even if worn) and the rear shoes should show well under 50% wear.)
How much wear on the fan belt? (At 16,5K you should still be able to read the printing on the back/smooth side of a serpentine belt.)
Still on the factory windshield? Does all the glass match? (Check the glass maker brand and type on the "bug" in the corner.)
I can guarantee that if they've gone through a set of front brakes, most of the rears, or a set of tires, either that indicated 16,500 miles is not accurate or they really drove it hard. Again, a good mechanic can tell.
Hell, the truth might be shown by something as esoteric as looking inside the gas filler neck for damage. At that mileage, the truck has been filled with gas about 50 - 60 times (at 300 miles a tank) and it should be the factory cap. If the inside of the filler neck hole has been beat to death, like it's been filled several hundred times...
Or spark plugs, rotor, cap wear. At 16,5K all should still look new. Factory air cleaner should show a little crud.
Thank you so much for all of your advice. Obviously starting a new business and first business my wife and I are trying to get a good truck (Toyota) at a reasonable dare I say great price. However I have found from shopping yesterday and today Sunday that Toyota Truck owners are very very close to their trucks and hardly ever get rid of them.
I myself have a 1991 Toyota 4Runner that runs better then most new cars with
170k on the clock. Great truck and fun to drive in a certain kind of way. We showed up to a Chevy dealer yesterday after talking to one of the sales guys a couple times that day as we were headed south searching for location when we got back up to North Houston the 2000 RegCab Tundra with just over 100k sold for $5,900 only because the sales guy pulled it up front to have ready for us and not more then 5min before we showed up another parked his vehicle walked right over and ended up purchasing it. I looked the truck over as they were going back and forth and it was in great shape and I am sad to have missed that deal.
Ok I will try and let you all know what I end up with but if anyone reading this knows of a good Tundra or even a T100 for sale please let me know. Regards,
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