Having a pre purchase inspection of a 2006 3.0 VC...

[sheikyerbooty]

Ok had the car inspected, a couple of maintence issues, and a couple of question marks. Rear brakes need changing, and the dealer is willing to replace only the pads. My mech suggested just taking the pads and waiting till I decide to change the discs, as putting new discs, on rusted discs would be a waste. Transmision fluid needs changing, as does the air filter, which leads me to believe, I will have to do a tune up on the car ( I haven't checked the maintence sched, but it seems to me, some serious tune up work has to be done at 180000kms). Rear stabilzer links need to be replaced, I have requested the dealer does this. Now for the question marks. The car has been running on synthetic oil, the previous owner left his "next oil change" sticker in the window, which is 169,000kms. Actual kms are 163000. so assuming he changed the oil at 159,000, the oil was 1/2 a litre, thoughthe engine showed no leaks. I had a celica gts back in the late 80's that I ran on synth, and it too had "vanishing" oil, my mech said that he has seen this before, and it should not be a prob. 2nd question mark was a slight whinning/whirring noise upon road testing the car. My mechanic said it wasn't a tranny, but possibly a pulley, I have googled the issue, and have seen complaints about noisey power steering systems. Aside from tht the car was nice....drove perfectly nad was clean through out. Any commets would be appreciated, and I thank you in advance!

[cardoc]

Originally Posted by sheikyerbooty

Ok had the car inspected, a couple of maintence issues, and a couple of question marks. Rear brakes need changing, and the dealer is willing to replace only the pads. My mech suggested just taking the pads and waiting till I decide to change the discs, as putting new discs, on rusted discs would be a waste. Transmision fluid needs changing, as does the air filter, which leads me to believe, I will have to do a tune up on the car ( I haven't checked the maintence sched, but it seems to me, some serious tune up work has to be done at 180000kms). Rear stabilzer links need to be replaced, I have requested the dealer does this. Now for the question marks. The car has been running on synthetic oil, the previous owner left his "next oil change" sticker in the window, which is 169,000kms. Actual kms are 163000. so assuming he changed the oil at 159,000, the oil was 1/2 a litre, thoughthe engine showed no leaks. I had a celica gts back in the late 80's that I ran on synth, and it too had "vanishing" oil, my mech said that he has seen this before, and it should not be a prob. 2nd question mark was a slight whinning/whirring noise upon road testing the car. My mechanic said it wasn't a tranny, but possibly a pulley, I have googled the issue, and have seen complaints about noisey power steering systems. Aside from tht the car was nice....drove perfectly nad was clean through out. Any commets would be appreciated, and I thank you in advance!

Engines consume oil, usually a rate of 1/2 quart over 3000 miles, through the crankcase ventilation system. If this is all that the system is down, don't fret it.

The "whirring noise" is something that needs to be located. It could be a dry differential, wheel bearing, engine pulley or anything rotational. Does the tone change with speed of the vehicle? Does it alter pitch between shifts? Does turning the vehicle change the tone?

The rotors can either be replaced or refaced. Depends on the thickness now compared with minimal thickness specification.

[sheikyerbooty]

I drove the car myself before the inspection, and heard nothing. The mech didn't specify how the "sound" acted, his only comment was it wasn't coming from the tranny, and was not loud at all, he only heard once the climate control system was turned off, and even then, was dificult to hear. One other note, the fan on the climate control is a bit noisy, dealer mentioned this was a problem with the bearings in the fan, and is an issue with this model. It wasn't so loud that it was annoying, but he said it would probably get there with time, it's a $400.00+ dollar fix. Thanks for your reply cardoc!

[sheikyerbooty]

Oh, of course the differential, wheel bearing, engine pulley's were all verified, and were ok. I have to keep things in perspective as well, the car has over160,000, so it will make a squeek or 2 I'm guessing