Hello
I have a red 2010 Toyota Rav4 basic model, 169,000 thousand miles, automatic. I bought this from a private mom and pop dealer thinking i was getting a good deal and it was a lemon, I cannot return it as dealer owner wont take it back. Washington State has no lemon laws. I bought it for $9,500 plus tax so i got screwed. I have already put about $5000.00 in repairs. My current mechanic who is honest and i think very good, has looked at this car thoroughly many times and unable to detect what exactly this noise is. I have already replaced wheel bearings, all the brakes and parts, got new tires, suspensions are in great shape. This car only had 1 previous owner from Vermont. The car is rusted but my mechanic states its not super bad, he did replace a lot of bolts and parts that were falling apart. Like i said, he is a good mechanic but its been a huge issue that we cannot find exactly where the issue is to be able to fix. I have been online trying to find out about these older Rav4's and unable to find clear answers. I don't feel safe driving the car even though it runs smoothly, i don't have another vehicle and cannot afford to buy another one not even a used one, if i try to trade this in, i keep being told its only worth between $2-4 grand....Please help!
I bought this from a private mom and pop dealer thinking i was getting a good deal
Those kind of car lots tend to be bottom feeders selling lemons at inflated prices. (Worst are the "buy here pay here" lots.) Most dealers are professional ripoff artists. You have to be really careful if buying a vehicle from them.
I bought it for $9,500
Case in point. Kelley Blue Book (which tends to have inflated prices) shows the value of that car to be a couple of thousand less and that's in good condition. A rusted car is not "good condition", so it would be worth even less.
This car only had 1 previous owner from Vermont.
That is a huge red flag, 15-year-old car coming from a state with heavily salted winter roads.
Scotty, as he mentioned, has demonstrated devices that can be used to find car noises. If you mechanic does not have such a tool he should get one, they are not terribly expensive:
A lot is going to depend on how bad the rust really is. Any photos?
Although it does not help your current situation, In the future do not trust dealers. (In particular, small used car lots buy cars from auctions without knowing their history and sell them at inflated prices.) Always have any prospective used car purchase thoroughly checked out by a good mechanic before purchase.
Well, if it's all rusted you certainly got taken for a ride and that's what seems to be the case. Once they get rusted you're going to get all kinds and noise on the suspension system and from my experience it's often control arms in the back where they bolt to the frame of the car. Now if you watch my video. finding the source of car noises, Scotty. It's on YouTube. You can use a device like that to find the source of any noise. Obviously your mechanic doesn't have such equipment because with that equipment you can pinpoint any noise. And like I said I would guess it has something to do. It'd be an old and Rusty and then all the joints will start making noises. But you really have to have a guy with such a machine road tested to find exactly where the noise is
