Buyer's Remorse - worrying about condition

[SwampYankee88]

So I just plunked down $25k for an '03 with 59k miles. Appears to be in very good condition inside and out. Did a thorouhg test drive and reviewed all service records performed by reputable local Toy dealer - all on schedule and no issues.

The sellers seem reasonable and honest. It was a very wealthly suburban mom's DD. (Their garage was full of Mercs and Range Rovers for the whole family - must be nice!)

However... after signing all the docs (title, bill of sale), we went out the vehicle and as I'm getting in, he says; "Oh, by the way, watch out for that button [points to the center diff lock], I've hit that button with my knees a bunch of times and it's hard to disengage. My wife hit it inadvertantly once and she thought she broke the car."

Needless to say, this commentary freaked me out a bit - to the point where I didn't dare ask whether this had happened while the vehicle was in motion.

He claims he doesn't know what the button does - I explained to him it was for offroading/loss of traction. He said they've never taken it offroad.

Sorry for the noob question, but what kind of possible damage are we taking about if this is engaged on a dry road while moving? Is there something I should have checked out?

[Campfire]

If they "bumped" that button and locked the CDL, it would bind and chirp the tires around corners and make it hard to steer on dry pavement. With those symptoms, they probably thought they broke something.

I would just have the fluids changed for peace of mind.

Have fun with it.

[Herky]

I'm sure there will be a bunch of more reputable responses than mine, but I'll give it a shot. If the guy truly isn't that familiar than it could be very difficult for him to disengage the CDL. What does your manual say about being in gear and moving to engage? My 99 manual doesn't say you have to be stationary to use the CDL, although that's the only way I would use it. It does however tell you to not be moving to transfer from H to L so maybe it isn't imperative that you be stopped to use the CDL.

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by SwampYankee88

Sorry for the noob question, but what kind of possible damage are we taking about if this is engaged on a dry road while moving? Is there something I should have checked out?

If its working now its probably ok. Its difficult to say if its taken some life out of it without knowing how long they drove it for.

[Topmounter]

On one hand stories like that make me cringe, because obviously the Toyota dealer did nothing but sell a fashion accessory when they should have just sent them to the Lincoln dealership.

On the other hand, having recently benefited from similar plunder of asphalt royalty, it's a small price to pay for getting nice kit at reasonable prices.

I concur with the other posters, obviously they realized something wasn't right and didn't drive it with the diff lock on for very long. For piece of mind, I'd take it to a Toyota dealership, explain to them the situation and have them check it out. As I understand it, you still have another 40k (or 1-2 years) on the powertrain warranty so even in the worst case you should be fine be fine.

[SwampYankee88]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, guys.

For peace (and piece) of mind, I'll mention it to the Toy dealer when I bring it in for the 60k maintenance.

In any event, very excited to officially join the 100 series club.

[Elijah]

Originally Posted by SwampYankee88

Thanks for the words of encouragement, guys.

For peace (and piece) of mind, I'll mention it to the Toy dealer when I bring it in for the 60k maintenance.

In any event, very excited to officially join the 100 series club.

You'll be fine regarding this issue. On dirt roads I've engaged and disengaged mine many times. On regular roads I wouldn't do it but I wouldn't think they've caused any "long term damage" by doing it. Our hundred is so refined ad nice driving, it's difficult to believe that it such an off-road oriented vehicle. I love it.

[Topmounter]

Originally Posted by SwampYankee88

For peace (and piece) of mind

peace / piece... same thing, just slightly different spelling and completely different definitions

[scottm]

Sounds like he knew he had to disengage it when he bumped it, and his wife tried once to drive on pavement with it engaged. If it didn't break something, there's no problem, nothing is damaged.

I bought my '03 with same mileage this Winter from a dealer. It also came from a wealthy family, and they seem to have taken great care of it. Great truck!

[9toys]

If it works, don't fix it. Don't give a dealership the opportunity to "find something wrong with it" I've engaged mine before at speeds up to 30 or 40mph off road and on slick wet pavement with no problem. I have 134k miles and it still works fine.

[ShottsUZJ100]

If the truck drives fine and the CDL locks and unlocked normally....no worries. Enjoy!

[SwampYankee88]

Sweet! Thanks for the reassurance, guys.

It definitely drives fine. I haven't had a chance yet try out the locking differential (in appropriate conditions), but likely will in the next few weeks while on vacation.

[dnp]

I concur with what I believe 9toys posted: don't expect the dealership to shoot straight with you. If you want to spend some money, mention it to the dealer, and see how much a "non-broken" part/system will cost you. I suspect dealerships LOVE to sell these high end vehicles to people (a) they know have no idea how everything works, and (b) they know are wealthy enough to "fix" it if it breaks.

I took my wifes Lexus GX in to have a recall item corrected, and while it was in there (and the dealership/mechanic was about to make no money to speak of), they "noticed that her transfer case was leaking"....in their words "enough to be concerned." When she called to ask if she should have it "repaired" to the tune of $450, I told her to let me look at it first. When she got home, I took a look at everything, and if there was even fluid residue on anything, I couldn't find it. Furthermore, out of an abundance of caution (and to guard against possible dealership sabotage - you know, the "I told you you shouldn't have left here without us fixing it...."), I checked all of the fluids......everything was full and clean.

In a nutshell, and a
s a general rule, the dealership is no place to expect your car will be repaired when you take it there. I hate to say that, but that's been my observation personally from owning vehicles and from having worked at Porsche, Audi, M-B, Chevrolet, and Ferrari dealerships many years ago (Actually, the Ferrari dealership DID repair the vehicles, but at the prices the owners were paying, the dealership really didn't care if they ever saw the customer again or not.......$20,000+ repair bills were not at all uncommon)

Drive and maintain your 100 until something breaks. Chances are, everything's fine, regardless of what the prior owner did........but if you take it to a dealership, my guess is that they'll take the opportunity to "fix" something that didn't need it.

[SwampYankee88]

Fair enough, especially on the point of bringing it in for the dealer to "check it out". That'll turn into exploratory surgery, and likely a hefty bill for them to say; "we checked it out, everthing's fine, that'll be $450, please."

Not all dealerships are Stealerships, but I do know that the closest Toy dealer to me has a terrible reputation, so I'll likely avoid them. I have a local independent mechanic who is incredibly honest (interesting side story - he's a Born-again Christian, and takes his honesty as a deeply religious/spiritual obligation), so I'll likely take it to him for regular maintanence and any issues that arise.

I'll finally get a chance to test it out next week when I'm on vacation on the beach.