Certified Pre-Owned seems to have issues, but dealers disagree. Thoughts?

Toyota created a TRD Sport trim in recent years, kinda like a SR5 with the wheels, skirts, and XREAS from the Limited. Historically, 4th gens had a Sport trim with XREAS. The system is good for on-pavement handling during the warranty period.

 

Those warranties don't actually matter. 2023 with 30k miles is still under the Toyota basic warranty. Go to any dealer and fix one complaint at a time. If the mechanic can't duplicate the fault, go on a ridealong and point it out.

Dealers lose money on warranty work and the mechanic doesn't get paid for diagnostic time on warranty work, so if you give them a laundry list, they'll do their best to send you away.

Steering shimmy at 60 mph is very common on this platform. Tire balance helps.

 

I never drove X-REAS but I think it should be better than regular suspension, what you described seems to be very strange for a 1 year old 4Runner. It's a truck of course and drives differently than a passenger car but not as bad as you described. 4Hi by the way is only for slippery conditions, driving in 4hi on dry pavement is not a good thing for a transfer case. The fact that all 4 tires were unbalanced is very suspicious to me, there shouldn't be any bad sounds going over potholes if you don't have loose stuff in trunk, loose spare wheel or loose tire change kit. Engine dies on start - that's definitely an issue, but I can hardly imagine what could be done with 4Runner in 1 year to cause all that. 30K miles is nothing for a 4Runner - it should drive like a new. Since truck is under warranty dealerships shouldn't charge you even if they can't find anything, I mean if engine died just once on a start - it's a valid reason to get it fixed. 13mpg is theoretically possible if you drive it as racing car, but normally that sort of mpg get people who has heavily modified truck for off-road with steel bumpers, lifts etc. Stock 4Runners should get 20-15mpg depending on driving and tires. If you have trusted mechanic I would rather pay him to check is there anything pointing that truck was in a bad accident, such as some strange bents, not OEM parts, paint a little bit off in some places etc.

 

Sorry for your troubles. I had an opposite experience with a 2019 SR5 4WD 50,000 miles I found on Toyota's Certified Used vehicle web site 8 months ago. We test drove it around town and freeway. I combed the Car Fax report and it seemed good. I crawled under it looking carefully at everything. I saw no clues of off road use on dirt or beach. It was first sold in Florida then came to California. No signs of flooding water penetration. No rust anywhere.
First stop after purchase was a mechanic friend that checked for codes-all good. A few days later all lubes were changed-both diffs, Transfer case, tranny. We pulled samples from all first and just looked like old lube. Drive shafts got first lube ever it seemed.
Only issue was noisey brakes which selling dealer fixed by turning rotors.
Now it has 56,000 miles with freeway, city and highway usage. All seems good. We wanted a pre 2020 4runner to avoid all the new mandated safety electronic gizmos. After reading your troubles we were blessed.

 

Ok buying a certified pre own is great and all. But you could have bought a rental. And I wouldn't want to buy a rental that I rented(beat the snot outta them)

I'm not familiar with the sport model but isn't it awd like the limited model?

Also doesn't it come with a "so many day" buy it back? If so, give it back and get your money back. Life's to short to be unhappy with a $40k+ vechile.

 

No defense should be given to this kind of predatory thievery. I like the idea of having a brief conversation with the GM to state that the information the dealer gave you before purchase grossly misrepresented the car they sold you. Offer them an opportunity to amicably and quickly resolve this situation by refunding your purchase completely, including title, and licensing fees. If he can’t read between the lines, remind him it will be easier to not involve toyota or lawyers.

Besides laws that prohibit fraud, it sounds like the Toyota certified vehicle rules will be another option for you seek relief. Don’t waste more time with the GM than needed. If he doesn’t respond, start something with toyota certified program people right away.

If you have clear documentation that this was indeed misrepresented before your purchase. I’d prefer to play out the fraud angle first, before wasting time with warranty claims. Warranty claims don’t cover damage due to accidents. (Although, it would be lovely and convenient if they would confirm accident damage to justify a rejected warranty claim).

 

Sport is basically an SR5 with XREAS suspension and the same body panels as a Limited, but no full-time 4wd.

 

Cheers. Apologies for the uncharitable read- I’m incredibly bitter about all of this and it’s coloring my vision

 

Do you need a vehicle history report to spot a previous accident on a vehicle? Did you check the gaps between the body panels? Inconsistent color shades? Maybe a $50 paint thickness gauge? Buy the gauge and check every body panel. You’ll find out if it was painted. Check the bolts and screws under the hood and wherever you can see them. If they aren’t the same or look original you can start digging deeper.
It’s very expensive and time consuming to repair a car with factory technology.

“2023 TRD Sport, X-REAS, 30k miles” how much did you pay for it? Was it too good to be true price?

 

Not to mention the obvious, but did you purchase a CarFax Vehicle History report? They sell individual reports and for more$ you can get 3 different vehicles. Shows Title History, registered owner history, vehicle service and mileage performed. The VIN and a cc payment gets you the report(s).
Although not perfect you may find evidence of damage?