I recently bought a 2007 Rav4 with a 2GR-FE V6 motor and 5 speed auto transmission that claimed to have an alleged 90,000 miles on it. I learned after the fact that it actually has somewhere around 310K miles as of now... I had a relative who has been an auto mechanic for over 30 years inspect it before purchasing and everything looked good. I learned about the actual mileage by registering it on the Toyota owners website to check for recalls, and ended up seeing the service history. Cosmetically it's in excellent shape with a really clean paint and interior, and doesn't show any signs of being abused.
Here's my question; I'm gonna be serving the guy I bought it from in court either way, but not sure what I should try to get out of it. Here's what I'm thinking.
1) Make him take the car back and try to get a full refund
2) Make him pay me a difference in value for what the value is worth with 300k miles
So far, I've driven it daily for about 5,000 miles with only some minor issues.
- Misfire on Cylinder 6, but repaired it with a new ignition coil (changed all the spark plugs at the same time anyway; they actually looked pretty good)
- Changed the rear shocks because I was hearing a random clank on potholes (this fixed it)
- Replaced the PCV valve (could tell it was old and bad)
Other than these two things, it's got plenty of motor power and the transmission still shifts smooth. I've been checking the oil religiously and it's not burning any.
I have done extensive research of this car once I learned the true history of it. Here's what I've learned...
- The original owner (actually made contact with) had the car up to 300k miles, and he went to the Toyota dealership religiously for all the maintenance and repairs. I actually have his entire bible of service history from Toyota. It has almost exclusively highway miles on it, because he lived way out in the boonies. Always kept it garaged and even used a seat cover (that's why we was fooled by it's cosmetics). He ended up donating the car, and it was sold from an auction yard to a mystery criminal who rolled it back and sold it under the original owners name.
- Next, the owner before me replaced the front struts, tie rods, brake pads, resurfaced rotors and changed the transmission fluid. This is the owner I bought it form, he didn't have it long, and was the original person to have been scammed. This court case is going to work like a 3 car pile up...
Should I still keep the car? Should I try to have him take it back? All my research has told me that the Toyota 2GR motor and 5 speed auto trans is extremely reliable, but how reliable can I expect it to be after 300k miles? Do you think it's going to end up becoming a money pit of replacing parts? I don't mind doing some auto repairs, as I'm somewhat comfortable doing my own repair work. I ideally wanted a car that would take me at least another 100k miles without any major issues.
Sorry it's somewhat of a long read. Thanks!
This is why I always check the recall status of a car before I buy it.
If I were you I would shoot for him taking the whole car back and FULL refund. You would most likely start having more problems soon I wouldn't put any money into it get a FULL refund is my stance.
Like mountainmanjoe said, you should be looking through service records and recall work BEFORE you buy it.
You should get him to take the car back and a full refund and file criminal charges. This is a CRIME. Check your local statutes please. Perhaps some actual jail time will curtail this activity.
Just ask for the difference in money, because he most likely won't give you the whole refund and threaten to call the police if he doesn't give you back the difference. After that, try to resell the car and you will probably lose some money on it anyway. The most important thing you can do is check the car's service and ownership history.
