Suspicious (oily?) transfer case condition on used 2018 SR5

Hi everyone,

New here, looking for some advice before I jump in and buy my first 4runner.

Ive been eyeballing a used 2018 SR5 Premium with 108k miles, asking $28,000 at a stealership. Crazy prices for used vehicles, blah blah blah. I would be willing to pay that if it was in Good-Great condition as it initially appeared, considering that I intend to keep this rig until I run it into the ground hopefully well over 300k miles. I did a little after hours recon at the lot so I could could get a good look at it without having to deal with salespeople.

I noticed right away that it wasn't as clean as the ad pictures showed. A few scratches, small ding on the hatch, surface rust on the hitch receiver, one tail lite and associated quarter panel slightly jarred. Whatever, maybe some points to negotiate the price down. The interior looks super clean.

I crawled under it and noticed some patches of surface rust on the frame rails around welds, the plate under the fuel tank had surface rust. Most of the bolt heads were rusted too, but not rotten or pitted out. Is this a normal level of rust for a 6 year old runner that lives in a place with real winters but not so much road salt?

What really stood out was the back facing cover of the transfer case (see photos). At first I thought it was all rusted, but it was coated with a reddish clay dust. Probably a sticky oily substance holding the dust on, but it didn't seem particularly wet. No drips anywhere. The small plate under the case was dry and clean. is this concerning? What could cause this, I would think a serious leak would still be dripping. The rest of the underbody was fairly clean besides a couple deposits of sandy dirt.

So what do you think? Is this a hard pass stealership lemon, or worth messing with? I have never bought an even newish car before (minimum 15+ years old, usually more), so any advice is appreciated.

Thanks for your time with any comments, looking forward to learning more about these rigs and joining conversations on this fine forum.

A little additional background, since this is my first post. We currently own a 2000 Tacoma 2wd 2.4L 175K, the commuter car, and a 2000 Tundra 4wd 275K for more serious trips and towing. We live in Wyoming, take winter road trips, and spend a good amount of miles on desert/forest 2 tracks. I love our old jalopy toyotas and will probably never sell them. We have a baby on the way which has pushed me towards a newer, safer vehicle, more oriented towards passenger comfort than utility. I have always admired 4runners and I think it will fill a great gap our other vehicles don't cover.

 

I would drive it and put in 4WD and see how it does, keep all ears on it, if nothing, then you should be ok. It looks like dust or mud just melted around it and if you can remove it with a brush (carefully) and just see around it well, then that should give you comfort. That's what I would do. Good luck.

 

Wash it down and watch for leaks.

 

Looks like a coating to me (like dirt covered fluid film that the dealership didn’t wash off).

The surface rust doesn’t look terrible - if you go with this one, just make sure to pay attention to it going forward/ treat it.

would suggest putting it in 4wd and making sure there are no issues shifting.

I would also look to see if the trans fluid was changed around 60k miles - 108k on the “it last forever/ just your warrant” Toyota ws fluid will still be fine, but can be an issue later on if not changed soon.

with the hatch rust and panel damage, I would try to use that to get it down at least a couple thousand. Also look for signs of an accident (whether reported or not)

 

The fact that there is similar reddish dirt stuck to the driveshaft tunnel where the yoke slings grease, would lead me to believe there is a leak(s) on either the input or output shaft seals on the t-case. If they would have been repaired, any good mechanic would have cleaned it up. Unless you can do a full shakedown in and out of 4WD HI and LOW, AND have it inspected by an independent mechanic, I would walk away from that one.

 

I’d wanna try to rub some of that off to feel what it’s like. It looks like it might be mud stuck to woolwax/fluid film, but hard to tell.

At least it looks like they took care of greasing the driveshafts. Could be a sign they took care of it.

 

Just as a compairson, I found a Toyota Certified 2019 SR5 with 50,000 miles and a gold extended warranty 100,000 miles for $34,000. No rust CA car. Super clean inside & out. My daughter is happy with it for her young family. It was listed on Toyota's certified used vehicle website.