Oil change disaster advice needed

Joke’s on you, all dealers are shady

 

That's helpful!

Thanks.

 

Don't laugh, its happen before. Buyer beware.

 

I rescued my Tacoma from the auction truck in October...

I was looking for an Inferno, and had found one. I phoned the dealer (it was a Jeep dealer). They told me they still had it, and asked if I'd like to come down and see it. I said, "Not tonight. I don't want to see it in the dark. It was after 7pm in October. I told them I'd be there first thing in the morning.

So, in the morning, I show up. I don't see the truck on the lot. OK. Maybe they pulled it from celebrity row and cleaned it up. I finally meet the salesperson I made an appointment with, and he advised that he couldn't find it. OK. The bells and whistles start going off. I am thinking bait and switch. After he made some calls, it was found in an off-site lot getting readied to be auctioned. Apparently it sat too long for their tastes. I will admit, Inferno is an acquired taste, but if it was like 80% of trucks and made for Pleasantville, I am sure it would have been gone long ago. This was October 2021, and the truck only had 21k miles on it. It was a lease that was turned in to the Jeep dealer, and I bet it just sat for most of the pandemic. Someone else's loss is my gain.

They bring the truck over. I take it for a test drive. I open the center console, and low and behold it's full of keys (to maybe three dozen other vehicles...). So I am convinced I wasn't being shell-gamed, and they were actually going to bring this thing to auction.

Maybe the market has changed in the 6+ months since I got my ride, but I don't think one can assume that a dealer won't auction off a Taco.. There are instances, like mine, where it just won't move, and they feel they can do better elsewhere. Dwell time is money..

 

The dealers I attend auctions with wouldn't fall into that trap. Auctions are typically "dealer-only" unless you are speaking about public accessible ones which I would bet anything this doesn't show up there.

 

The situation we are talking about, OPs, is interesting because would the dealership "Green-Light" it meaning he'd be stating everything is good to go and is warrantied. Any dealer who would do that is simply someone who shouldn't be in business and I bet there's not only dealers out there who would do that I also suspect there are many of you who would expect some dealers to do that. In your case, it seems like the truck would have been "Green-Lighted"- different situation here it seems.

For those of you who may not know, dealers who buy from auctions are protected fairly well providing they purchase "Green-Light" vehicles. I recall purchasing one vehicle and when I got the car back home I noticed the navigation dvds were not included despite it being identified in the listing. A quick call back to the auction company immediately generated a check back to me for $2,000. Pretty good right?

 

If this was to play out and blow up, I can see Toyota investigating and denying the the warranty for it per internal damage from running with low-no oil. Then it becomes the new owner says it never happened on his watch. He would fight but loose in the end.

Its just like the coolant pipe at the back of the motor. I've read that people get this leak under the certified warranty period but toyota will not cover it. However, if you were to run the truck anyway and blow it up, would toyota cover it or say it was neglected?

 

I do wonder what the outcome would’ve been from a complaint to corporate. Would more a more thorough examination of the engine have taken place? Would damage had been found?

If no damage was found by a detailed examination, would the collective be satisfied? Or is it not possible to examine the engine in enough detail to determine the true extent of the damage without totally tearing it down.

 

It’s not possible to determine what damage occurred without taking all the bearing caps off and inspecting every bearing surface

 

How many hours is that job including assembly post inspection?

 

I haven’t a clue. It would take me weeks because I’m half-stupid

 

I understand the POV made by your response, but there ARE instances where a dealer may wish to send a "green-light" vehicle to auction. 1) It's been sitting too long, and the space is needed for other vehicles, 2) No bites locally, 3) Need some quick capital / cash. 2 and 3 are essentially different ways to tackle the same problem. So the response that something MUST be wrong with the car for it to be sent to auction in this climate may not be true.

 

I’m just wondering if it would’ve been reasonable to ask for this level of inspection.

 

It would take a couple full days to do this if the engine was out of the truck. ( not counting the time it takes to remove the engine )But I have seen a full engine inspection performed with the engine still in the vehicle.

 

I graduated with a friend thats still in the used car sales business. Once in awhile i stop by to see how he's doing as i hear from other people he sells some really good cars. Every week he goes to a local action in the state to buy these cars, and trucks, then brings them back to his shop where they prep, and service them. He's showed some nice jeeps, and toyotas along with other late model vehicles in the past, saying the toyota's are money in the bank.

 

Absolutely. They let the fucking thing run without oil. Literally any amount of inspection to make sure it’s right is reasonable

 

Well, I think it would be really hard to get any dealership to do a $2000 inspection just to see if the engine might be damaged without any signs otherwise…

 

agreed but any half ass mechanic knows an engine that runs without oil is damaged.

 

I agree with you but I don't agree that the dealer should send this truck to an auction as "Green-Lit". Again, two different scenarios we are talking.

 

1) It's been sitting too long, and the space is needed for other vehicles, Really? No dealer in the country has space issues right now.
2) No bites locally, Low inventory means there are plenty of fish.
3) Need some quick capital / cash. A Toyota dealer with no Tacoma inventory is NEVER sending a 7K good Tacoma to the auction. NEVER. This type of truck MAKES cash for the dealer.