Used Dealer sold me a 2012 with only 3000 miles but old tires. Advice

Good experiences by friends doesn't mean that will continue with him now that he's already raised the issue.

Same thing at a coffee shop. I don't have a problem eating at a place where a friend got a "loogie burger" because I tip well and I'm not in the habit of pissing off my servers.

Manager doesn't feel that the dealership did anything wrong.
Customer keeps pushing the issue, and demands free maintenance for the next 20,000 miles.
At 25,000 miles, he's going to have a truck with the same oil and filter as when he "made the deal".

It's bad enough that we constantly read reports of people who go in for the "free" ToyotaCare service and find that the oil filter was not changed after they begin marking their filters.


So the options suggested:
1 - Making a deal for service that will likely not be performed?
2 - Try to get 50% value of the tires in cash out of the dealer? That ain't gonna happen.
3 - Buy the tires that he wants and move on with his life?

Or, if he's not ready to buy tires yet, the option more likely to be successful than option #2 would be to get the dealer to replace the tires.
Getting a pro-rated value on the tires would require the dealer to pull cash out of the system.
Getting him to replace the tires would not cost him much more (he's not paying retail), and it's simply another set of tires on the account with his supplier.

But it sounds like the manager is not going to be receptive to that if he already told the OP that 50% was legal.

That leaves option #3.

 

A filter?

Only one?

Grab a box of 20 from Camelback or Titus-Will for under $90 shipped and you'll be set for the next 100,000 miles.

If you sell and buy an FJ or another Toyota that uses the cartridge filter, you'll be able to sell them here for what you paid.

 

How big is your stocking?

 

I didn't suggest he demand anything, those are your words. Only tried to suggest a compromise as I do not think he will get new tires. Pretty paranoid to think that a Sales Manager is going to lay in wait to screw you out of an LOF, but if thats the kind of thing that goes on at the dealers you have visited I understand where you are coming from.

TC

 

My point is he's already raised the issue and been told by the manager that the dealership did nothing wrong.

He's likely already reached the "pain in the ass" stage with the dealership and they'll likely say anything to get him to go away.
And they aren't going to want to do anything for him.

And not just dealers that I've visited... this forum is full of threads where people all over the country have experienced services not performed but written up as completed... usually the "free" services.

 

The OP didn't come across as a pain in the ass here, but I guess maybe he did with them. If that is the case you are right and he is already screwed.

TC

 

If you bought a car with 100,000 miles, would you expect the tires
to have 100,000 miles on them? It sucks, but you really should have
looked at it closer.... tires at 50% wear are NOT going to look like
3000 mile tires.

 

The previous owner could very well be the one that switched the tires before trading in?

 

Repo... and yes... if I knew my truck was going to be repossessed, I'd be the party guilty of swapping the tires and rims onto my new/old car.

 

May have some luck explaining the liability issue having the speedo off a full 6 miles. FWIW doesn't hurt to give it a try

 

I would just leave it alone...

 

My suggestion when buying used is to research and know ahead of time. Shop more than one seller. Compare and consider what fits your needs best before you begin to bargain. Don't buy on impulse. Maybe take a friend who's objective and knowledgeable. I know that's late advice at this point for you, but maybe it helps someone else.

As for the tires, they were there in plain view. If you had checked them out closely and saw they're sub-par, then you'd have had something to bargain with. IMO, the dealer isn't at fault as they didn't tell you the tires were new or otherwise. They just clean em up and price em.

Personally I wouldn't bother with talking to the dealer at this point. They may have the Christmas spirit, but don't count on it in this case, as they're not in the wrong.

As others suggested, sounds like it's time for a tire/wheel upgrade. ;-)

 

Did you not look around the truck before you bought the vehicle? Bald to rotted tires are pretty obvious....

I also don't see you state if you bought it from a Toyota dealership or just some random used car dealership.

Is the vehicle a "Certified Used Toyota". If so, they are suppose to come with whatever is stock. If not, time to buy some new tires, and maybe even wheels...

PS, no pics yet?

 

I am a mechanic at a Honda Dealer, we also sell used cars. If we are Honda certifying a vehicle we have a standard of 6/32 on the tires or else they need replacing. On our other used vehicles including Honda vehicles the standard is set by our used car salesmanager and corporate, it is 4/32. A standard that is set by the company could be anything they set.
I would aadvise that you explain to them in a calm way of you having the tire store look at them and then getting a second oppinion from the Toyota Dealer. After having them look at your vehicle you think that the Used Vehicle Store you bought the truck from could at least help out in setting it right. Over the phone is not going to get it. You need to be there in person and be calm. Regardless of the outcome stay calm. Do not get down in the gutter with them if it is a bad outcome. Negotiate for some part of the bill for new tires to a tire store for the correct size tires. Do not let them put on the tires. Look in the phone book or google search tire stores in the area. If they low ball you try to get a little more. Take what you get add to it and then get the tires you want. If you get nothing you could contact the BBB but you will probably just be spinning your wheels.

This may just be one of those learning lessons in Life that sucks but overall it doesn't suck too bad.

Don't let some of the previous posts deter you. Stand up for your self and what you think is right and then deal with what you get.

vince

 

6mph at what speed is important.

Federal standards allow for the speedo to read 15% faster than actual speed, which translates to 7.5mph at 50mph.

If he's off by 6mph at 20mph, that's not legal.
If he's off by 6mph at 50 or more, it's legal.

Every modern Japanese motorcycle runs about 10-12% fast, the odometer runs at about 5%.

 

Damn thats shady of the manufactures. Makes that warranty go by faster.

 

Honda got spanked in a civil class action suit and ended up having to extend a bunch of warranties over it.

But as I mentioned... the odometer is not off by the same percentage as the speedo. The odo on my Vulcan was off by 5%, speedo off by 10%.
Tacoma is similar, but the error is smaller (3%/6% or so).

Even if it were off by a full 10%, that isn't much.
36000 mile warranty, 10% error, warranty is over at 33,400.
Less than one oil change difference.
100,000 mile extended warranty? 90,000... bummer, but not tragic.

It's just not that often that issues just happen to pop up within 5,000 miles after the warranty is gone.
Used sale value? There's no difference in resale on a vehicle with 120k vs one with 108k.

 

Mostly true. But with technology we have today their isnt a good reason for it not to be near perfect. After thing it does is allow companies to claim beter mpg then what is really gainef. Not a big deal for us, but a huge deal for manufactures having to comply with mpg laws concerning "the fleet".

 

Blame it on the Europeans.
CE standards have harsh penalties for a speedo that reads LOWER than the actual speed. By intentionally erring on the high side, they are allowing for a wide variance in tire manufacturer specifications and owner-installed oversized tires without getting into a negative error.

Correct.

It used to be done at 55mph on a test track. Today, it's done on a chassis dyno and the body's drag coefficient is factored in to the final result.

Surprisingly, this results in more accurate published numbers. Still slightly optimistic, but at least in the attainable range, where the old numbers were solidly "grandma" range.