Hi Scotty!
I'm currently in the market for a trusty reliable awd vehicle to drive in Illinois snow and inclement weather. I came across a listing from a private individual for a 2010 Toyota Highlander Sport SUV 4D automatic with 155k miles. Owner says he recently took it to a mechanic, put new tires and did a general tune-up and says the lowest he will go in price is 9.5k. The carfax of the vehicle came mostly clear with regular maintenance from all owners - with a single small accident that required the vehicle to be towed back in 2014 - but that did not deploy the airbags. I'm test driving it soon and would like to know what to watch for in that particular vehicle. I'll also obviously take it to a mechanic for pre-purchase inspection if the test drive goes ok. Was 2010 a good year for Highlanders? The vehicle has minor cosmetic damage to the front and the back - and this is within KBB's evaluation for the car.... What are your thoughts on this purchase?
Thank you very much for your help and attention - watching your channel helped educate me a bit on vehicles as I started looking for a used one. Not being a car, the information was overwhelming at first, but your videos helped demystify a lot of the problems!
The 2010 model year of the highlander wasn't bad overall. The price for that vehicle is not terrible. It's good that you taking that vehicle for a test drive before you make a final decision since you mention an accident. Make sure that it drives, shifts and handles smoothly. If it doesn't, then I would walk away and look at something else.
Thank you, @kesterpaul62!
I did the test drive today and will do the pre-purchase on Tuesday. The car accelerates smoothly, corners well, and shifts imperceptibly - it also idles without shaking. The only issue I noticed was a thumping noise when turning the steering wheel which seemed to happen at random. Upon researching a bit about it, it seems that Toyota Highlanders from 2008-2013 have this design flaw in the intermediate steering shaft that can produce these thumping noises (there's even a class action lawsuit to force this to become an official recall by Toyota). The noise was not particularly loud, but the thump was noticeable. What I could not find out is whether this is a serious red flag or serious problem - or if it is a minor fix (since there are OEM instructions to replace the part with an upgraded design that fixes the issue).
What are your thoughts on this? Should I pull the plug on the transaction or should I knock off a few hundred off of my offer to account for the repairs and go through with it?
I would to check to see if this car has the recall and if it's been fixed or not. If it wasn't then I would keep looking then.
NOPE!
