Mac62
SILVER Star
So I will try not to make this too long. Been on the hunt hard for last couple months for replacement LC after selling my 2014 to a great guy on this forum couple months back. Narrowed it down to 2016-2018 black over terra. Found what appeared to be a nice one this past week at a reputable dealership according to reviews in Dallas. Fly out Friday prepared to drive back home to north Florida on Saturday. Dealership conducted a pre purchase inspection which included a 7 day limited warranty. Cruiser looked good in pics and videos. New steering wheel. Had pretty extensive maintenance records on Toyota owners site and car fax. Three owners. Serviced at Toyota/small local shop/bmw dealership throughout history. No mention of radiator replacement but pics showed new type radiator installed. Flew out Friday armed with bore scope/ tools and flashlights to inspect. Once arriving truck appeared well taken care of. Exterior and interior showed well. Undercarriage in above avg condition with slight surface rust on some welds. My inspection revealed cam towers looked dry, no evidence of valley plate leak, no water intrusion in kick panel…but upon close inspection there was visible dried pink coolant under water pump and although cleaned up very well some slight evidence of a radiator bust. Old pink stains on different areas. Took truck for test drive. Rode great. Everything checked out on ride however on returning to dealership truck was parked for few minutes while I discussed the leaking water pump with service manager. According to service manager the leak was insignificant and chalked up the dried coolant to the radiator busting but agreed to drive it to the back for the service tech to inspect once again since I was going to be driving 12 hours home and was concerned about a leaking water pump. As I watched the service advisor start the truck I immediately noticed white smoke coming from exhaust as he drove to back. I confronted the advisor who attempted to recreate the smoke while in the shop during repeated starts in which the truck did not show any signs of white smoke. At this point I was not confident going through with the sale due to information gained on this site regarding overheating due to radiator failing and subsequent engine block warping allowing coolant leak into cylinders. Fortunately I was able to take the truck to Lone Star Toyota where a leak down compression test was done showing compression issues/ smoke upon start up and low oil pressure. I decided to walk away from this cruiser due to the results from pre purchase inspection done by Toyota. Lesson learned to pay for leak down test on any cruiser where radiator was replaced and possibly was overheated causing failure. Wish I would have sent it to Toyota prior to flying out but it is what it is. Can’t hit a home run without taking a swing. So the hunt continues. 2016. 153k miles. Sorry for long post but have not seen many 2016 plus with less than 200k with engine issues during my search
