Odometer died after test drive ...

[pondious]

Hello everyone,
I am trying to jump into the LC world. Saw a good 1997 with 102k miles and got interested. Test drove it and liked it. Found this very helpful forum and read as much as I could. Went back 2nd time around with a check list and did my best. Someone from this forum was also kind enough to run me a CARFAX. Found out it had lockers (didn't know what that was until yesterday). Seller wants $10K for it.

However, today I took my buddy/brother to look at the truck before making my offer and noticed that the odometer was not working anymore. I am sure it worked yesterday because I took it on a 1 hr drive. Went back to seller immediately and he said he would fix thinking it was simple since it was electronic.

Both odometer and trip odometer do not work, speedo does not work BUT tach works perfectly. Seller has been told that probelm as described by his mecahnic cost about $700 to fix. Seller's mechanic does not think it's speed sensor but is not 100%. He thinks problem is up in the dashboard and it would have to be removed, sent to dealer (then Toyota) for fixing - three weeks wait.

Does all this sound right. I read many posts here and all I see are bad speed sensors, nothing about dash. Seller's mechanic admits he is no LC expert but specializes in electronics and speedos for local autos only but sounds knowledgeable.

Any help would be appreciated. Seller, does not have $700 right now and i will not but it with broken odo.

Thanks.

 

[landtank]

is it a stock truck or has there been mods added?

 

[Bryan062087]

that makes me wonder if the 102k miles are correct.

 

[pondious]

Stock truck.
Very clean.
Mileage seems accurate as far as CARFAX can be "see".

 

[RAYJON]

Remember these vehicles will amaze you on how many miles they can go and still look and drive like a low mile vehicle... very hard to tell if they have been maintained how many miles are on them... My guess is someone rolled the odometer back.... Not a bad deal at 10k if the 102 is right ...

 

[pondious]

Seller will work with me. Are there any easy ways to check if odometer has been tempered with. I am going to try and check if I can tell if dash has ever been removed. Seller's mechanic has not removed dash yet so this he is saying is all "deductive reasoning" right now, no evidence yet. He did not want to remove the dash if he was not going to fix it. He wanted the dealer or who ever will do it to do that, that way they are less suspecious.

 

[robjam]

The Feberal Government requires an odometer (mileage) statement be filled out and signed upon transfer of vehicle ownership. Should you or your mechanic believe that other tell-tale signs of odometer fraud exist, I would be very wary of buying this vehicle, as the seller may be intentionally misleading you concerning other hidden issues. However, it could be that it did just stop working and then you could be fairly safe in accepting it, knowing that it is required to be fixed.

See the following link for odometer information. You may find similar information if you google odometer and your state.

http://dmv.utah.gov/buyingodometerfraud.html

Good luck and just my 2 cents. I'd say you are a cautious buyer, just from your post here. Use your head and atleast have a mechanic look at it to see if they believe the odometer is not representative of something close to actual miles.

Good luck,

Rob

 

[Sno bored]

I would buy it, and have the seller knock the $ 700 off the price. It could be some type of easy fix that you could take care of for less than $ 700.

 

[Beowulf]

Me too. Locked '97 w/102k in good condition for $9,300 with possibly a bad speed sensor.... That's a good deal. Grab it and someone will help you get the speedo/odo fixed.

-B-

 

[pondious]

Well, we will find out what's going on pretty soon. Apparently, seller buys and sells cars to raise extra cash. I have no problem with that and he was not dishonest to me about it.

He bought this specific car from CARMAX about a month ago he says and wife and sone have been driving it on/off between the "for sales" signs. He thinks his wife would told him about the problem if it existed.

I told him that I would like to see the paperwork/title from CARMAX showing how many miles it had when he bought it. If I am happy with what I see, I would offer him $9.5K, have him take the
truck to the dealer and have it fixed and I would pay him. If dealer is not going to fix it, I would want to know who is going to fix it so I can check on their reputation before agreeing to anything.

If he's OK with all this, I'd "buy" the truck. That is, sign some paperwork saying I purchsed it on conditions above and that money would ONLY exchange hands after the speedo and odo are fixed. I want him to be sure that I will buy the truck after it's repaired.

I'll let you all know what happens.

 

[lacruiser]

The guy is a curbstoner, an illegal and unlicensed dealer.

Typically, they will tell you anything you want to hear in order to entice you to purchase the car. Be very careful here.

There are many excellent reasons why all the states require dealers to be licensed!!!

I'd bet a good meal that this truck had an intermittent odo long before he bought the truck. Carfax source data is somewhat delayed getting into their database, so it may be of limited use.

Carefully look over the title and look specifically for "not actual mileage" indications on the odometer declarations. Closely question exactly where he bought the car, and contact them for whatever they may know about the odo issue.

Technically and legally, AT THIS TIME, the car must be declared "Not actual Miles", and the title would so reflect that fact from this point on. In other words, when the odo problem first shows, the law requires that from that point on, the odometer declarations reflect the fact that the miles are not actual. It's a big negative, as most banks won't finance these vehicles. It is a form of title branding, just like a salvaged title.

However, in practice, most people will fix the problem, and continue to represent the vehcile as "actual miles", especially if they're prompt about fixing it. Not a big deal in that case.

WAY more important that what the odometer says, is the condition of the vehicle. People rely too much on the odo for a representation of vehicle condition. I've seen cars with 40,000 miles on them that needed new engines because the oil was never changed and the owner drove them like they were at Le Mans. I've seen cars with 300,000 miles on them that purred like new because they were carefully driven and maintained.

Overall this sounds like a good truck for a good price, if the rest of the truck is nice. Just be extra careful when dealing with any curbstoner.

 

[CJF]

I want him to be sure that I will buy the truck after it's repaired.

Why? You don't owe him anything; he needs to get it fixed anyway. Are you absolutely sure you're not under the thrall of buying a new vehicle? E.g., "He wants to work with me", etc.?

I'm with Sno bored, Beo, and lacruiser. Buy it if you want it, or don't. But DO NOT trust this guy or think he's your friend.

Good luck,

Curtis

 

[pondious]

Here's how it went ...
Seller speedo and called me to check if I would still be interested in the truck. Oil change sticker was still on the windshield so I called the number. They did not want to say but confirmed the date and miles in sticker were correct and that previous owner had gone there for oil changes for quite some time truck for quite some time. Looked at the speedo repair paperwork and I was good with it ...

Having said that , I would like to thank you all for the information and knowledge you constantly add to this forum. Reading through HG posts saved me from a potential buy. Maybe I got paranoid from all the GH posts I saw here but here is what I saw and concluded it was HG problem:
1. Oil cap had thin film of milky stuff. Looked at it more and the small chunks of black stuff (carbon maybe??)

2. Oil level was low but still within range. Took the truck home and drained a little into a glass jar and it looked dirty. After looking into it more closes it looked more like a brownish suspension of some sort but not mikly. It cleary did not look like just dirty oil. Funny thing was if you checked the oil through the dip stick, it looked cleaner than what what was in the jar.

3. Coolant was supposed to be green but you could clearly see brownish stuff in there.

4. Sucked out some stuff from the radiator into another glass jar and got same brown / green stuff but with quite a few black little "things" floating around and finally settling @ the bottom of the jar.

5. Exhaust smell was gas on start up but after that, you could not tell it ran on gas. Smelt like water vapor to me. I do not know how
coolant smells. Looked like a definite HG to me so I walked away.
Suprisingly, truck ran VERY good.

Now I can understand how peole run these trucks until the HG actually blows. Unless you check, you can never tell. I test drove this truck for 90 miles @ 75 mph and it did not overheat. I had heat on because it was very cold outside and everything went OK.
The last 10 or so miles I had OverDrive turned of to kick RPMs up a bit and it still ran like good.

A thought crossed my mind to buy it and have the HG changed then right away, since this is something I might need to do with any other 80 I find anyway. Here, I have a chance to factor that into my price negotiation.

I've decided to pass on this one and keep looking for now.