Carmax - or NOT?

***BEWARE*** Went to look at a 2022 Tacoma 4x4. Crawled underneath the truck & saw ROAD SALT RESIDUE all over the underbody. Same residue under the hood, on the engine block, door jambs...everywhere! Carmax is trying to "pull a fast-one" on CA buyers (who don't know what road salts are...). The vehicle was a previous "fleet" vehicle (probably from Minnesota or Oklahoma - or somewhere that heavily salt their road ways). Needless to say, I PASSED on that one! You should too!

 

Oh, the humanity!

You should really plan a protest in front of their main offices. Maybe consider a strongly worded letter afterwards.

Looks like a really clean truck to me.

 

Welcome! But I gotta say, those pics look pretty ok to me. I've seen trucks on lots that look exponentially worse. But then again, what the hell do I know!

 

Really clean? Carmax pressure washed & the exposed surfaces were free of the residues - look at the door jamb; the interior was another story, along with the deformities of the skid-plate up front, & the oily stains on the seating surfaces… I do admit the exterior photos present a clean looking truck…

 

No I have had nothing but bad time with them. Twice they screwed me

 

Road salt residue? That's dust.

You aren't "exposing" carmax at all, just showing the world that you've never actually seen a salt-belt vehicle.

It's a used 4x4 vehicle with 44k miles. It's been (gasp!) driven in dusty conditions. Carmax is allowed to wash their vehicles before they list them for sale

Relax

 

Being from the Midwest, I’ve got more experience with salt and brine than I’d like. Other than the battery bracket…
I cant tell what you’re referring to. I guess you’re right, some buyers don’t know what road salt looks like.

 

Don't get all salty about it....

 

That truck was a lease out of Nevada and went to auction and ended up in California. As someone who lives in the salt belt, that ain't salt. More of dirt road grime than anything. The rusted battery hold down is from the battery leaking acid. That will corrode that bracket in no time.

 

Yep, no sign of salt. Lots of dirt.

 

I'd be more worried about the white paint.

 

Really outed yourself there newb. Welcome to TW.

 

I’d be more concerned if it’s cleaned up and hiding stuff. Leaving as is lets you know what you’re getting IMO.

And here’s some road salt residue for comparison.

 

That looks like sand/dirt roads to me more than salt.

However, anything " fleet " I would turn down. Its like buying a car that was used for uber but worse because fleet is commercial and they prob went with 10 k oil changes and all that bs to save money. On top of that, probably carrying loads or fat chicks

 

You sound better suited buying new.

 

Someone else is going to buy that, replace the leaking battery, paint the tie down, and have a mint truck lol.

 

This!
Or at the very least, shopping local.

 

And as someone who lives in Cali, with two white 22's knows ….that is dust.

 

25 years in Cleveland, aka rust belt. That ain’t no salt on that truck, just normal dust/dirt/grime and normal underbody rusting from Toyota.

 

That truck looks nearly mint from those pics.

Signed, a guy who has seen real rust