Buying privately.

We had the same the problem when we were looking for ours. One was advertised with a 2 inch lift kit which was blocks of wood. Another with snorkel which was pvc pipe tec screwed to the body. All with road worthy, yeah right. The problem I have with dealers is they know all the tricks to cover up the little problems.

Josh

The nature of the game. Private sales are as much as 3 to 5 grand cheaper but you take the risk on the vehicles condition. While a dealer will give you some sort of warrenty don't think for a moment that there aren't a few out there that will cover up the same defects you've discovered.
Cheers Craig...............

Buying from a dealer would probably be a wise idea, to begin with you get a warranty, and I would suggest ex gov't, I got my ex Telstra 1994 Troopy from a dealer on Beaudesert Rd Coopers Plains with 106,000 K's, it's now showing 760,000 K's. Still on original Diff's, Exhaust, and engine. I had the gearbox done up in Mt Isa about 5 years ago and transfer case at Gossnells Toyota WA 4 years ago, I think maybe towing 84 Tonne in reverse might not have done the gearbox a favour.

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There are some great deals to be had private but you have to be very very patient and thorough.

We had the opposite story RacinRob.

A few weeks ago we got an HSV VZ Maloo ute for the kids.

Fairly rare beast with a 6 speed manual and 300kw V8, anyway the only one
close to our price range was from a holden dealer, we are in Vic and the cars history showed in came from Qld and making this short I felt that the car might have been 1/2 under water from floods and cleaned up to flog it.

Then we closely followed Ebay/Carsales etc for a few weeks, one came up and we dealt direct and it was a much better car, in the end turns out our offer
was 2K more than owner was offered as a trade in so he was happy and many k less than dealers sell price so we were very happy.
Basically I felt the owner wanted to move on, and made him a low end offer, the kids were sweating , but my offer was accepted without arguement.

We saved a lot by organizing our own roadworthy etc and all has turned out well.

Only after we got the car home did we realize it came with 6 pot brakes a $6k optional extra.

You could have found the same vehicle in a dealer all tarted up and you would have been none the wiser.
In a way the seller is doing the potential buyer a favour by letting you see how it is.
Do other states offer a warranty on 4wds?
In WA they dont,unless the dealer thinks it wont cost him anything.
I cant remember ever seeing a car in a yard with a full tank.
Last time I did take a car for test drive(1989)the thing ran out of fuel on the freeway 2klms from the dealer
Ive been buying private for 30 years and Ill keep doing it that way.
There are lots of honest private sellers out there.
My privately bought 75 series hasnt cost me a cent except for normally maintenance issues in 7 years and it was a good $4K cheaper that a dealer.

As a previous private seller, from country NSW, of an immaculate late 2005 100 Series landcruiser TD wagon, I am happy to advise that my buyer, who was fromDarwin, took my word and bought my vehicle, relying only upon my word and lots of photo's, and a servicing dealer contact number.

This was for a deal of around $63,000 and when it arrived after ten days and thousands of kilometres later, on a transporter, his wife thanked me, because they both reckoned it was even better than described.

Not all private offerings are suspect, and as a buyer, I have bought three vehicles now, one privately which was as described, and two from dealers, both exactly as described. Just be aware and I reckon you might have been very unlucky to come across some one who has no concept of truth in advertising.

Robert

We purchased our Toyota 2005 GXL 4.2TD 100 series privately and absolutely no complaints. Oils, tyres and under the car was in excellent nick. No slack anywhere. Steering was spot on and the little bit of slap you get from the tail shaft was almost non existent. Normally I would get a mechanic to look it over but not this time and we hit pay dirt.

Our son purchased a Toyota 2003 GXL 4.2TD 100 series which was also in top condition. He took a mechanic with him to check it out and they were both happy. That was an ebay one and like us couldn't be happier.

But I would not say that all private sales are like ours. Take time, take a mechanic and be wary.

There are still a lot of honest people around. We met two couples who are honest. Best of luck.

Phil

Dont forget guys if you buy through a dealer you have the right to ring the previous owner,Like i did,They gave the vehicle the thumbs up and said whoever bought it will get a great deal..She wasnt too impressed what they wanted for it after the lousy trade in they received for it...

Its been a brilliant 4by for me...

Some dealers are not much better - they usually buy that same quality vehicle from auction for 7 k less than the sale price - give it a " budget service " and detail - then sell

so works both ways.. often the warranty ( if any ) is not much chop either - they usually fix it in shop or get you to go to there mate Gwido to get fixed ( and as cheap as possible - often using second hand dodgey parts )

this has been MY experience in the past


BB