Looked at an ‘01 at a Subaru Dealership Today

Walked into the shop, I found on car fax 2001 V8 4x4 and just felt like seeing even though no timing belt and a few oil changes were the only things listed. Inspections but no work actually. Just looking.

Honestly so little rust. I cannot figure how to add photos but looked inside the joints at all four corners like a bolt here, possibly new ball joints.

This man was impressed I did this. He got the old owner on the phone and I asked and he said I probably did it I took it to the dealership (no evidence on toyota website).

Definitely OG radiator. Clean but not necessarily cared for or kept up on. I bet sat in a garage a lot. 4x4 engaged clean.

Still. Wanted. It. So. Bad.

Debating not asking but just coming and jacking up the tire to see if there’s play. Maybe leave the hood unlatched and hope they don’t notice.

Probably a bad idea…..

That is all, assuming luck with good previous owner is all you need…

 

Click the "Upload a file" button, next to post a reply at the bottom right to upload a picture one at a time

I bet you could convince the salesman to get a mechanic to put it on a lift for you and have him check the ball joints for play while you watch

 

@The Black Mamba

 

I wouldn't buy a used vehicle from a dealer. "So little rust" means little until you have looked very closely at the frame laminations.

 

The only reason that a 2001 is still at a dealership is because used car inventory is very low across all foreign brands. New car sales on foreign vehicles have plummeted in the last few weeks. (Yes, it’s because of the tariffs. This is not a political post, I literally do this every day so I know what I’m talking about.) Dealerships are now holding onto trades that they would normally send to auction. Not that this particular vehicle is a wholesale worthy vehicle, but under normal circumstances something that old would not be a retail unit just based on age. Therefore, buying a used vehicle at a dealership would not scare me right now. Dealerships are hungry for any type of vehicle sale simply to boost sales numbers.

As far as adding photos, from your phone copy the photos in your photos app and then paste it in your reply thread. You can bypass adding media by doing it on your phone.

Edit: ask to see the used car inspection report. If their used car technician is any kind of decent, he would’ve done his due diligence to point out everything that he saw. That doesn’t mean that he looked for everything, it just means that he looked for the obvious.

 

How many miles are on it and what kind of service was it in... towing/grocery getter etc..? How much are they asking?

 

The Subaru dealership will have a shop. Get them to put it on a lift so you can get a good look underneath.
LBJ's, without evidence of being changed, will need to be changed regardless of any tests. Some of them go without much warning. An easy and not too expensive DIY job.
If you are going to have a shop do the timing belt and radiator, depending on where you are, you're getting close to $2k these days for a place that knows what it is doing.
You'll need to do all the fluids. I'd make that a condition of the sale, but would need to make sure they use the correct ATF, coolant etc.

Long story short, budget enough money to do some preventative maintenance after you buy it. The person who traded it in would not have spent the money and then sold it, so it's safer to assume they did not do the work and possibly traded it because that stuff needed doing.

 

These particular trucks are also in demand, and I can see dealers keeping these trades as it's going to be an easy flip. especially if the frame is clean.

 

Agreed

 

V8 4x4 140k asking 12k. I have a lead on one similar but 130k with records of timing belt done (would need to be done on purchase but $10k maybe could get them down on price).

photos mostly are of rust - looked inside the frame (some of those strange mostly grey pics). No delam under the bed where its layered. Front corners behind tires.

Really don’t want to do this dealership but cool to see so little rust.

 

12k is reasonable. You can't get anything new with a V8 and 4x4 for under $40,000. You can always shop around for a reasonable price on a timing belt and ball joints.

 

What's the brake fluid look like? Black coffee or beer? Hint: Beer is good. The lighter the better.

 

Framewise that looks generally great. Looks like a southern Colorado truck to me, or coastal California. At least from the parts I'm seeing. You'll need to do minimal work. 9/10 frame right there, based solely on the pics shared.