- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 5 months ago by
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How much? how many miles? Any service records? Dealer or private owner? Have a qualified auto service individual THOROUGHLY check over and evaluate ANY vehicle before depositing any money or signing anything.
IF you belong to an Auto Club like AAA or Roadmaster etc. some of those plans offer a courtesy evaluation at an approved facility. Check it out.It has 138k miles on it. Clean interior. only 2 previous owners. Just wondering if its a reliable car or not.
At 138K miles and you not being the original owner reliability is a guess. These earlier Toyotas were good runners if maintained properly. Service records are a must see in my opinion. If you are good with cars and a mild risk taker then this is probably not a bad choice. If you depend on others to do all your car work then the risk and potential cost is greater at this mileage. My suggestion for purchasing used vehicles is to always take each car at its own merits and condition. no one has X-ray vision for some things that could fail and my personal crystal ball is still in the shop for repairs. 🙂 Without being able to see the car your reliability question is tough to comment on beyond what I’ve said. Best of luck to you and your girlfriend.
I know someone who has one of those cars and he has spent nothing on it other than brakes, tires, battery, spark plugs, valve cover gaskets and a timing belt/water pump. Normal maintenance items.
The car has over 200.000 on it and still looks and runs like new. You have to be careful however cuz the engines were sludge buckets if the oil wasn’t changed religiously when due.
I suggest to remove the oil filler cap and see how much gunk is built up there.
As suggested have someone you trust look it over.
Look at the VIN… Does it start with J? “If its a J, its OK!”…
The 3.0 liter had issues with sludge build up and needs to have the oil changed around every 3k miles is what I recommend. It is a strong engine, and those transmissions weren’t too bad. I have seen these engines still running strong at 250k miles (when taken care of). As stated, look at the service records. Also, find out when the last timing belt was put on… It is a non-interference engine if that helps…. A good way to check these engines out is to take off the valve cover completely… While the oil cap may give a somewhat of a good indication, the valvetrain should be nice and clean.. If you were to take this to a mechanic, I would ask him to pull the front cover and check that out.
Just my 2 cents.
Karl
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