next event is 9/12 (RA), so i've got some time. dont think i'll be trailering for that though

 

sorry minor bump on my end. there's a sequoia i'm interested in that had a rear ending accident with "functional damage reported" - according to car fax, that means that it was functional to drive, not that a functional bit had been damaged.

regardless, how worried should i be regarding the tow hitch and such for towing from a car that has been rear ended? The pictures looked fine but just want to be sure.

 

Fairly worried. If the rear frame was damaged then all of the hitch bolt locations could have crumpled or twisted out of alignment. If it was just the bumper and hatch you're looking at all of the mechanisms hidden on the driver C pillar that raise and lower the hatch that get twisted because they're all connected. Adds up quick.

 

My Suburban was rear ended last year. The hatch was pushed in but the bumper and everything looked fine. I told the body shop I did heavy towing and as part of the repair, they replaced a lot of structural components just in case. I would be concerned with a used car if a body shop didn’t bless the repair for me before purchasing.

 

thanks guys. decided to go with a really high mileage sequoia (223k mi) that just had its transfer case replaced. otherwise a 1-owner, no-accident 2011. dealer said they probably drove the car in 4hi too much.

surface rust on tow hitch is nto too big of a deal right? i would clean it and prep surface ovb

 

As long as the frame underneath is solid, surface rust isn’t going to matter. Did you check the frame out generally underneath?

 

will this work as a starter kit for my sequoia?

 

Thats just the hitch.

Honestly, I'd order the setup from the Uhaul website if the truck doesn't have a receiver on it. Uhaul's stuff is meant to be simple to install and set up the trailer wiring so the average person can throw it on their SUV when renting a trailer. I just ut one of their kits on my friends Land Rover, it was nice that it just came with everything.

 

sequoias all come with a tow hitch though

 

Then you just need the ball mount.

 

yeah i believe what I linked goes into to the receiver on the car? I'll figure it out. hopefully closing the deal on the Sequoia today.

 

Whew. picked up the car and finally arrived home. a bit of an ordeal...

i'm in the STL area, and the dealer is in the Cincy area. I had been in contact with a few and hadn't made any decisions as of yesterday (30th). On the 30th (sun) about noon, the dealer texts me and says they can do the price I want if I am able to come in by the 31st, so they can hit some month end targets. I agree, but there's a minor catch - this car, for whatever reason, had been waiting to get it's t-case replaced. Something about prev owner maybe staying in 4Hi too long or something. I said fair enough, get it fixed and I will be there. Took today (Mon, 31st) off and drove up. Test drove the car fine, and since they replaced the t-case, decided to try out the 4hi and 4lo.

There's a specific process to get into 4hi and 4lo, but I was trying it in park, neutral, drive, etc. Very, very finicky - probably didn't work half the time. I brought it up to the sales manager and sure enough - they did not replace the t-case. So I'm 6+ hours out and trying to decide if I want to drive back home and start the search again or what. They suggested cutting $2k off the price and coming back to replace the t-case, or $4k off to take the car as is and deal with it at a home dealership. I said cut $2k off then and I will come back once you get a t-case ready to get it taken care of. They said ok, and brought the paperwork back - not for 2k off, but for the original price.. I said the price was wrong, it was supposed to be $2k off, and the sales manager proceeded to YELL at me about how it should be the original price since I am getting the t-case replaced by them.

At this point I'm starting to get pretty ticked. I said yes, but I will be taking another vacation day and another 12 hour round trip to get this taken care of, to which he basically shrugged. He actually lied to my face and said I never offered you $2k off. He did, however, offer $4k off to take it as is. I said **** it, I'll do that, and drove it home. It probably needs a new t-case and new shocks as well, the whole car seems to tremble over high speed bumps. A sequoia I test drove earlier didn't do this, so I don't think it's a body-on-frame thing.

Will take it easy and post some pics tomorrow. Car seems to have an aftermarket trailer brake controller from the previous owner, which is nice. I'll look through documentation and such closer tomorrow.

 

That's basically why the wife and I got into dealing, because nobody else does it right lol.

 

you have any ideas on how to source some shocks?

i assume it's not safe to trailer with bad shocks/jiggling suspension

 

We can look up anything, just need to know what. You also have airbags so are those working or busted or?