Buying first Prado - super low kms.. But no service since 2012. Please help

[agdavies Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close agdavies]

Hello,
Hoping someone can please help me.
Tomorrow I am getting an independent mechanic to look at a 2009 GRJ120R GXL auto V6 Prado I am wanting to buy. I don't know the mechanic (if reliable/thorough etc).. I don't know if he will pick up problems with the car that could possibly be hidden and I am feeling uneasy about the sale at this point in time.
This is my first Prado (or 4x4 of any sort.. I am female.) It's immaculate inside and out. Even smells new. Has had sheepskin covers on. Appears to be very well looked after inside and only small blemish on the outside paint. 18,500 kms on the odometer. Serviced pretty well from purchase (one owner.. appears to be bought as a Fleet vehicle and registered in the name of a local air conditioning business) in 09 up until May 2012 and then NO service history in the log book since. Last service done at 12,500 kms. Car has travelled a very low 6000 kms in the last 2 years and my concern is that there could be something wrong with the vehicle due to lack of driving it (Why wasn't it driven etc etc..) and I don't know if oil was changed (could that pose a problem?) or any issues with the car were covered up by the original owner or dealer. I need opinions and advice.. I am financing the vehicle (40k) and the sale will go through pending an inspection tomorrow. Do you think the Prado should be fine mechanically with the lack of servicing and little kilometres driven since May 12?? Other than that it looks new, drives beautifully (only drove for 20 mins though) and just seems like the perfect Prado. I've looked at many other vehicles and not one has been in such amazing looking condition. I am just feeling uneasy since I saw the log book.. I am taking out Toyota 3 year factory warranty with the car and the dealer said the gap in the log book wont affect any future claims and they are servicing the car before sale. Advice from others on the lack of servicing and driving since 2012 would be much appreciated! Cheers

[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

Welcome to the forum Agdavies. $40k seems a lot for a 5 yo gxl. Who is the dealer? Someone on here may know his reputation. 6000kms between services on it's own shouldn't be a problem. Does the dealer not know the reason. Maybe the a/c mob went into receivership and the car was held until insolvency was settled.

Cheers Jim

[Ian Reid Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Reid]

Its fine for the dealer to say the gap in servicing wont affect your extended warranty but get it in writing.


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[spikegorman Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close spikegorman]

paid 40k for 2012 GX Prado diesel 3700km last month

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Get the log books and ring the original owner (company) I have done this before many times and try and track down who drove the vehicle. You may find it was driven by the owners wife and was a tax thing so he didn't actually drive it hence the low klms, heaps of people have their wife on the books and do this for tax reasons. Maybe she drove the kids to school n back then home hence the low klms ?? Super low klms to myself isn't always a good thing. I bought a commodore with really low klms for its age (years ago) I actually new the bloke but I had troubles with certain things due to lack of use eg aircon pump, electric windows etc. I would definately agree with above and get that written down about not affecting warranty in the future. Some times if it doesn't feel right then go with your gut feeling, it's normally correct. The gap in oil change wouldn't bother me personally more the lack of driving. As I mentioned above I'd be tracking down who drove it and ask why such low klms over that period. My wife only does 10 a year and if didn't drive to work would probably be the same 6 thou a year ..... Cheers Steve

[agdavies Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close agdavies]

Thanks for the replies. I am buying it through a Toyota dealership on the north side of Brisbane. Seem to be very big and reputable. Will definitely get everything in writing regarding the warranty and past servicing. I did think it seemed a little expensive but after looking at other Prados of the same age, condition, low kms etc.. they call came up in the late 30-thousand price bracket and I also traded in a car that still had finance owing on it so I thought it seemed reasonable providing the Prado is going to be a reliable family car and will still have a decent re sale value in a few years time. No other history about the Prado was provided. They told me it was sold to the dealership and not traded in. I had thought about calling the company who previously owned the vehicle but didn't know if I should or if anyone would talk to me about it anyway. I will try to find their details on Google or should I call the dealer and get their details? Would they mind me calling them (both dealer and company)?
If the mechanical inspection goes well then I think I will need to go through with the sale as I have signed contracts and left a small deposit. Does anyone know if I could pull out if the check goes ok? If I do some ringing around about the car and it doesn't seem right then I wont want to go through with the sale.
Thanks again for all your help

[agdavies Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close agdavies]

Toyota north side of Brisbane Jim. Tracked down the original owner of the company who purchased the vehicle. Little hard to understand his English but he said he bought it to use as a personal vehicle for himself, wife and 2 children. Never been off road and just driven locally. Serviced for 3 years at Toyota as part of the new car warranty. Says it was serviced since (from my understanding) but Toyota didn't fill out his log book on a couple of occasions? Not sure if that's entirely true or not.. Maybe he did not service it as it wasn't driven much. He said it sat in his garage for the better part of 5 years and that they also traded a 3 year old Corolla in at the same time as the Prado for a Kluger. Maybe the Prado was heavy on petrol so they used the Corolla from then on and traded both at the same time for the Kluger? As I said he was a little hard to understand. Price does seems a lot but after looking at other Prados of the same age, condition, kms etc.. it wasn't too far from that price and I also traded in a small car with finance still owing on it so it seemed to even itself out to me.

[macaroon1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close macaroon1]

They told me it was sold to the dealership and not traded in.

He said it sat in his garage for the better part of 5 years and that they also traded a 3 year old Corolla in at the same time as the Prado for a Kluger.

Just get everything in writing, someone's not telling the correct story here??? I'd also recommend doing a REVS check. I think it's called something else now? Wish I could help..hope it all goes well...

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Yea totally agree with revs check (or what ever it's called up there) get a full history on it. Go to the dealer yourself and get the details from the service/log books. It will be printed inside the cover who owned it and company name. You can PM me if you like with the company details and I will ring for you and see if I can find out the owner history. Cheers Steve

[gspy4u Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gspy4u]

If it's the one at chermside and has 18,500 written on the windscreen then I think you will find it actually has 185,000k's on it. Was looking at another car in there yard and noticed that an thought the price was pretty low but read the blue slip and realised it was the k's not the price and they missed a 0 at the end. May be a different car. Bu tif it has that low k's then i would change ALL the fluides in it. Get the aircon checked out as well as any leaks. Sitting still for that long and not travelling too much is not really good for an engine. That being said, the V6 is pretty robust and should last 100's of thousands of k's.
Make sure it's not a repairable writeoff as well as may have issues with insurance.

As others have said, get everything in writing from the dealer if they are promising things.

[agdavies Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close agdavies]

Which yard was this? Toyota? What colour was it? They provided me with a check through carhistory.com.au... is that the revs check people are talking about? The document from them states the vehicle has 18524 on the odometer

[agdavies Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close agdavies]

Had the mechanic look over the Prado. He has lots of experience with Toyota and worked for them a few years ago. He said the car looks brand new and all seems well with filters, oil etc.. Did a check under the bonnet, under the car and started it up. Also checked the log books and other things on the car. He did note that there is an "Oil weep evident on RHS of engine timing cover"... He said it doesn't cause mechanical problems or issues with road worthy but could get worse (messy) over time and is very fiddly and expensive (due to labour) to fix.. He's seen it on Prado's but mostly Camrys before.. Anyone know anything about this??

[Guest Close Guest]

I have the same oil weep. Same spot. No big deal.
My Toyota mate reckons it's also an easy fix. I wouldn't be worried about it..

[Guest Close Guest]

As the v6 has 10k service intervals it seems strange it was serviced elsewhere?? Maybe by time period but seems odd the book not filled out.. Though could be because it hadn't reached the Kms due for service..
40k seems a bit high IMO

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

At least one of the non genuine mechanic franchises seem loathe to stamp the book. I have no idea why. The C-ute I recently bought had a number of 'missed' services in its 80k life. Owner had receipts filled out to her with the service done but the service guys wouldn't stamp the book. Whether the book wasn't in the car or what the reason was I don't know. A bit of research suggested this is fairly common. I had a full mechanical check and clearly services were done. Weird. If the weep is visible it will be a fail on a safety certificate. Does just sound like a rocker cover gasket though.