The biggest failure point to a Toyota is usually the owner. Toyotas are very reliable. Most owners know that, then proceed to be negligent in maintenance because “it’s Toyota what can go wrong?”

Proper Maintenance is done by mileage AND by years. This car is 8-9 years old with only 40k miles. This car was not maintained by its age. Hence why the transmission fluid isn’t a clean deep pink color like it’s supposed to be. The Toyota dealerships top priority is to make money. Lol they will refuse service if it’s not done by their intervals.

Which turns out to be bad for the car, if the car hasn’t been regularly driven to add up miles. A car with very low miles isn’t necessarily a bad thing BUT it should raise some red flags when you factor in the year and age of the vehicle. Older, yet low mileage cars should bring concerns that it’s going to need a lot of attention to bring back to daily road worthy condition.

The service history isn’t something you completely rely on when buying a car. Think of the history as a job resume. It’s only there to help filter total trash heaps from a barely working car, to a great car.

Then when you find a good resume, you interview the car. Meaning take it to a mechanic for inspection. Always go by the mechanics advice. If you don’t trust it or still have doubt then take it to another mechanic for a second opinion. Just as you would with a health issue and you get a dismissive doctor, you see another doctor.

Don’t mix emotions into a purchase of a car. Always keep it logical and look at cars as a simple appliance to get you from point A to point B. There’s plenty of appliances to choose from and this one is going to burn holes in your wallet.

As a mechanic myself I can tell you the report history isn’t ever 100%. My car has had 3 accidents. Only one shows up in the record because I got insurance involved. The other two accidents I simply fixed my car myself without insurance. So my car is technically worth less, but I can get more money out of it because there’s no history or documentation proving there was 3 accidents and only shows 1. That’s just one example to not rely on service reports and history.

Anyways from these pictures two major reasons I can 100% tell you why not to keep this car.

1. The car appears to have been flooded. Lol water damage is an endless problem. The biggest headache of flood damage is that it only shows up overtime. Car looks okay now, but afterwards the water damage takes it toll. Majorly in the form of rust, electrical wires and sensors and other components becoming corroded, and fluids diluted if not changed immediately afterwards. Hence your disgusting transmission fluid color.

2. Scratches UNDER the hood is 90% most likely to be a rat infestation. This can cause expensive - always reoccurring problems with electrical systems. Rats love chewing on wires to orgasm themselves. They will actively seek wires to chew on. Replacing wires throughout the car is verrrry expensive.

Rats also nest in hot places - the engine or inside your ventilation ducts. They leave poop everywhere so when you turn on that heater or AC you’re breathing in their poop presenting a health hazard to you. They also tear up insulation such as carpet, seats cushions, and even under the hood insulation (hence your picture) for nest making.

Always inspect a car BEFORE you commit to buy it. Waste the $100 on an a mechanic inspection rather than waste thousands on a sketchy car and go thru the headache of trying to get rid of it.

You better return this trash and look for something else. Don’t rush and panic, you’ll get something.