I posted about the Tacoma I recently bought. Seemed to be too good to be true and guess what it was!!!!!!
The price was low bluebook and these things are tough to find. The truck is in Long Beach and I am in San Diego. I had my mechanic brother who lives near the guy check out the truck and he says it is good. Alright, I'll buy it I say. Let me get a cashiers check and meet you and we can close the deal. I arrive at his house a couple days later, since he was busy the next day. He seems like and up and up guy, has a decent job, etc, etc. House, kids wife is due any minute.
Seems odd he is selling his second car while his wife is days away from delivering, and he says so himself, but Oh well.
My brother had said that when he looked at the truck there were no leaks, nothing out of the ordinary, EXCEPT the overflow coolant tank was a third low and the oil dipstick was about a third a quart low. The guy said he changed the oil 6 months ago. Also, the guy said he had the timing belt replaced and he said he would give me the receipt. He told my brother he was told that the water pump was leaking at the time but he decided not to replace it and shrugged his shoulders.
I arrive there and the guy is great, real nice etc, etc. We drive to his bank where I give him the check and he pays it off and I get the title. Along the way to the bank the truck drives nice, really nice. I notice the temp gauge needle is in the horizontal position, in the middle and ask him about it, he says it always runs there in fact when I pull a trailer it runs cooler. That sounded strange but I figured the guy was kinda of a ding bat. On the other hand he seemed intelligent. Nothing to make me cancel the deal, however.
So, I buy the truck and take it to the DMV in Costa Mesa and visit my mom. I drive the thing home to San Diego and it runs fine, really nice. I am irritated by a ding in the front windshield that is right in my line of sight. I figure if it really bugs me I can replace the glass no biggie.
I get down to San Diego and it was a long, long drive, with lots of traffic. The truck drives excellent. I get off near my home to get all the fluids changed. I drive up a small hill and the truck heats up, it heats up a lot. I was going to pull over and the Jiffy Lube is right there. I figured, heck with an oil change and coolant change that should do the trick. However, I gotta sinking feeling in my stomach.
The next day I goof with the truck and glue the shell liner thing that was loose in the back. I fire up the truck in the driveway and let it idle with the AC on, then I rev it up to 3500 rpms and try to get the engine to heat up, which it does not.
Then Sunday, I take a drive out east up towards the mountains and give her all she has, the truck runs excellent, however it is starting to heat, which it continues to do. I keep pushing until the needle gets closer towards the red. I pull her over and pop the hood and the engine is hot and some coolant is bubbling over. I sit for about 15 minutes and it cools down. I continue up the hill and the car heats again, so I fire up the heater and it keeps the temp lower.
Anyway, I drive back down the hill and figure I will take her to my mechanic. I go over to the place and the owners are there. I drop it off and leave the keys and tell them what happened.
So, I get a call and they tell me the head gasket is shot, however it is not too terrible. Overall it will cost at least $2,500 to replace the gaskets and machine the heads and new oil and water pump, thermostat, etc to make it reliable.
I called the guy that sold me the truck and it rolls to voice mail. I call again and it rings, and rings. I called again and the same. Then I just called and left a pleasant message to call me regarding the car. I figure he will not call me.
To my surprise he calls me in the evening at his house and he is really irritated sounding. I tell him what happened and he proceeds to attack me on the phone, with lots of swearing. He does not call me names, though. I am taken back. Then I realize that this is how this piece of human waste handles his unpleasant tasks. I talk calmly and logically and this guy goes all over the place. Sounded like a histerical well, you get the picture.
I tell him the price tag and ask him to pay, of course he will not, then ask to split and he will not. He says he will notify his attorney. I kinda laughed and just listened to the guy go all over the place. He accused me of 4x4ing in baja and blowing the gasket and then he said how could I know he sold me a broken car and I told him there is no way I could ever know what he was or is thinking, just that the car was broken.
I figure he is a liar and when he says the car is perfect and has never overheated is BS. Also he said he towed a bunch of stuff in the last couple weeks and the truck did not over heat up hills. He goes back and forth between this and well you bought a used car.
So, we leave it that I will be suing him and he says go ahead.
Any suggestions???
Thanks
Bill
The price was low bluebook and these things are tough to find. The truck is in Long Beach and I am in San Diego. I had my mechanic brother who lives near the guy check out the truck and he says it is good. Alright, I'll buy it I say. Let me get a cashiers check and meet you and we can close the deal. I arrive at his house a couple days later, since he was busy the next day. He seems like and up and up guy, has a decent job, etc, etc. House, kids wife is due any minute.
Seems odd he is selling his second car while his wife is days away from delivering, and he says so himself, but Oh well.
My brother had said that when he looked at the truck there were no leaks, nothing out of the ordinary, EXCEPT the overflow coolant tank was a third low and the oil dipstick was about a third a quart low. The guy said he changed the oil 6 months ago. Also, the guy said he had the timing belt replaced and he said he would give me the receipt. He told my brother he was told that the water pump was leaking at the time but he decided not to replace it and shrugged his shoulders.
I arrive there and the guy is great, real nice etc, etc. We drive to his bank where I give him the check and he pays it off and I get the title. Along the way to the bank the truck drives nice, really nice. I notice the temp gauge needle is in the horizontal position, in the middle and ask him about it, he says it always runs there in fact when I pull a trailer it runs cooler. That sounded strange but I figured the guy was kinda of a ding bat. On the other hand he seemed intelligent. Nothing to make me cancel the deal, however.
So, I buy the truck and take it to the DMV in Costa Mesa and visit my mom. I drive the thing home to San Diego and it runs fine, really nice. I am irritated by a ding in the front windshield that is right in my line of sight. I figure if it really bugs me I can replace the glass no biggie.
I get down to San Diego and it was a long, long drive, with lots of traffic. The truck drives excellent. I get off near my home to get all the fluids changed. I drive up a small hill and the truck heats up, it heats up a lot. I was going to pull over and the Jiffy Lube is right there. I figured, heck with an oil change and coolant change that should do the trick. However, I gotta sinking feeling in my stomach.
The next day I goof with the truck and glue the shell liner thing that was loose in the back. I fire up the truck in the driveway and let it idle with the AC on, then I rev it up to 3500 rpms and try to get the engine to heat up, which it does not.
Then Sunday, I take a drive out east up towards the mountains and give her all she has, the truck runs excellent, however it is starting to heat, which it continues to do. I keep pushing until the needle gets closer towards the red. I pull her over and pop the hood and the engine is hot and some coolant is bubbling over. I sit for about 15 minutes and it cools down. I continue up the hill and the car heats again, so I fire up the heater and it keeps the temp lower.
Anyway, I drive back down the hill and figure I will take her to my mechanic. I go over to the place and the owners are there. I drop it off and leave the keys and tell them what happened.
So, I get a call and they tell me the head gasket is shot, however it is not too terrible. Overall it will cost at least $2,500 to replace the gaskets and machine the heads and new oil and water pump, thermostat, etc to make it reliable.
I called the guy that sold me the truck and it rolls to voice mail. I call again and it rings, and rings. I called again and the same. Then I just called and left a pleasant message to call me regarding the car. I figure he will not call me.
To my surprise he calls me in the evening at his house and he is really irritated sounding. I tell him what happened and he proceeds to attack me on the phone, with lots of swearing. He does not call me names, though. I am taken back. Then I realize that this is how this piece of human waste handles his unpleasant tasks. I talk calmly and logically and this guy goes all over the place. Sounded like a histerical well, you get the picture.
I tell him the price tag and ask him to pay, of course he will not, then ask to split and he will not. He says he will notify his attorney. I kinda laughed and just listened to the guy go all over the place. He accused me of 4x4ing in baja and blowing the gasket and then he said how could I know he sold me a broken car and I told him there is no way I could ever know what he was or is thinking, just that the car was broken.
I figure he is a liar and when he says the car is perfect and has never overheated is BS. Also he said he towed a bunch of stuff in the last couple weeks and the truck did not over heat up hills. He goes back and forth between this and well you bought a used car.
So, we leave it that I will be suing him and he says go ahead.
Any suggestions???
Thanks
Bill
Last edited:
unk03:
