I BOUGHT A CHEAP TOYOTA RAV4 FOR £1,350!

Alright guys, how's it going? Welcome back. Well, I've just agreed to buy a 2011 Toyota RAV4 for the very low price of £1350. That's £1350 Great British Pounds. Sounds very cheap, doesn't it? Well, it's cheap for a reason. I believe the previous owner was either Buzz Aldrin or Neil Armstrong, or maybe Tim Peake. I don't know this for sure, but I'm just guessing this based on the mileage. The mileage is, well, it's kind of galactic, really. I haven't actually seen this car yet, but I know it's a 2011, it's done over 180,000 miles and I know it's black. And that's all I know at this point. Everyone always bangs on about how reliable Toyotas are, but I'm a little bit sceptical. I've not had a great track record with diesel RAV4s, to be honest. I've had my fair share of issues with them over the years, so I just don't believe they're as reliable as everyone makes out. Actually, that reminds me of something. I was reading an article the other day, and apparently the Toyota RAV4 is now the best-selling car in the USA. For many, many years it used to be the Ford F-150, which technically isn't really a car, is it? But now it's been overtaken for the first time ever, apparently, by the Toyota RAV4. They sold nearly half a million of them last year, so they must be doing something right. Anyway, whether there's any profit in my 2011 RAV4 remains to be seen, but I suppose we'd better go and see it, hadn't we? See what it's like. I'll see you there. Well, we're here. Apart from needing a very good clean, it actually looks alright. There are no reg plates on it, but in fairness I was told it was undergoing a plate change, so that makes sense. It looks alright, actually. Ooh, there's a bit of a dent on the passenger front door and sill. Someone's whacked something there, haven't they? Bit of a dent on the passenger rear door as well. I think with a very good clean, though, in fact, to be honest, even with a £15 Mini Valet, I think that would look tonnes better. That's not too bad, really, then. I think for £1,350, I know the mileage is high, but for £1,350, that doesn't look too bad, really. There's a seat cover on the driver's seat, though, which is a bit unusual. Unless it's had a damp seat, I don't know. Why would you have a damp seat? Right, then, before we go any further, let's do a vehicle history check. Now, I always use a company called CarVertical, and it's really important that you do this before you hand over any cash for a used car or motorbike. All you do then is go to carvertical.com and type in the reg or the VIN. Now, in this case, obviously, we don't know the reg. It's undergoing a plate change, so we need the VIN. Now, I can get this from the text message I had from the dealer who sent it to me. Let's copy and paste this, then. By the way, this doesn't take long, and it isn't expensive, and it's cheaper still if you use my promo code, HYPEAK. That's HYPEAK, all one word, H-I-G-H-P-E-A-K, and you'll save yourself 20% off each and every check that you do. Copy and paste the VIN. Check vehicle. Right, it's just loading the report now. What this does is it checks databases in 35 different countries, so it isn't just a UK thing. So, if it's had a bump in Bruges or a knock in Norway, this'll tell us. It'll tell us whether it's ever been stolen, written off, had a mileage rollback, or has outstanding finance on it. In addition to that, it shows you the mileage, the MOT history, all that sort of stuff. Sometimes, as well, which is quite a handy feature, it'll show you photographs from the last time it was advertised, so at least you can compare pictures and see what the condition was like. If it has been involved in an accident, sometimes it even shows photographs of the recorded damage, so you know exactly what you're buying. It's a really thorough check. As we can see, then, the report's ready. Fuel report. Toyota RAV4 diesel from 2011. It's never been clocked. No outstanding finance. No recorded accident damage. That's good. It's had three owners, and it's never been stolen. So, that's good. The last known mileage, then, at its last MOT was 165,000 miles. Right. It was Buzz Aldrin's, wasn't it? 165,000, and it's done around 185,000 right now, so I'm told. So, 20k a year. I suppose it's not the end of the world, that, is it? It's a 14-year-old car. We'll scroll down a bit. We've got the CO2 emissions here. We've got the spec. It's a manual 2.2 D4D, which isn't that reliable, in my opinion. First owner, second owner, third owner. So, it's timeline here, then. Let's check the MOT history. Right. So, that's all good. Right. So, it's got quite a short MOT. It runs out in a couple of months' time, so we'll have to get that sorted. But, weirdly, no advisory items on the last two MOTs. 180,000 miles. Hmm. Bit fishy, that. Let's go and have a look around it, then, shall we? Right. Let's go and have a look, then. Sadly, we've only got the Juan key there, just the one. Still, it's a very high mileage car. I don't suppose we can be too fussy, can we? I mean, it looks all right. This is its better side, isn't it, to be fair? It's got a UK sticker on the back and a tow bar. Someone's been abroad. Not a bad-looking car, actually, is it? You can see why they're so popular. Tyre-wise, we've got a Ginoux. Ginoux. The brake discs look a little bit ropey, and it's only on about 3mm of tread, I suppose. It's not brilliant. Some rust there. Could do with a good buff. It's very dull. We've got rear privacy glass. Moving up front, we've got a Bridgestone, which looks okay, I suppose. That's on about 3mm, as well. A bit of corrosion there on the spring, but you'd expect that, wouldn't you? So, that side's quite tidy. Headlamps could do with a buff. Obviously, it is crying out for a set of reg plates, because there aren't any. Some damage here to the front corner. I think most of that would buff off, actually. We could carefully buff that and touch it in. It's had a bit of a knock here, hasn't it? Unrecorded, obviously. What else can I tell you, then? We've got a matching Bridgestone up front. Brake discs on the front look okay, actually. A bit of cracking on the edge of the tyre there. See the cracking just on the edge, sort of here? The worst damage, then, is that door. The sill down below, and obviously the door. Scraped something, hasn't it? A bit around the back. Have we got a matching Ginyu? Oh, we don't, actually. We've got a triangle. A triangle circle tyre. Right. So, we've got some odd tyres, a damaged door, a high mileage car. Great. Great stuff. A tow bar, so the clutch is probably at the end of its life. It's been pulling a big caravan or something hefty. Well, it's a car, isn't it, I suppose. I just want to know why there's a seat cover on the... I don't even think it's a seat cover. It's a bin bag. It's dirty. It's very dirty, actually. Oh, there's a lot of mould. Can you see all the mould on the passenger seat there? And on the headrest there. It's got a lot of mould here that I shouldn't be breathing in. What about the back? Is that the same? Yes. I think we'll just open the doors, then let it air out. We've got dog hairs everywhere and mould. What a treat. Who lets the car get to this state, honestly? It's disgusting. Look at the dog hairs everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. Let's get this open, then. I'm not driving it stinking like this. Oh, yeah. Even more on this side. Now, I'm a fan of dogs. I'm a big, big dog lover, but just clean your car out. It's not difficult, is it? More dogs up front. Got a six-speed manual. It's just mould everywhere. Got an auxiliary, though. That's good. Not all bad, is it? I always quite liked how this opened and closed. Anyone else, or is it just me? I quite like that. In here, we've got an owner's manual and some leaves. Some touch-up paint there. That's handy. An ashtray. Very good. We've got original mats. You know, the lads down at the car wash are going to curse me in a minute, but after it's had its car wash, after it's had its mini valet, this will look quite tidy, I suppose. No doubt they'll want to charge me a bit more for it. Oh, dear. Right, this stinks. Wish you could smell this. In fact, you're probably fortunate you can't. Some sort of contraption here. I think it's a dog guard. We've got a boot liner here, which hasn't really done the job properly, has it? Got a gilet jaune there, look. A little yellow vest. This is gross. Absolutely gross. Oh, dear. Right, we'll just leave the door open. We'll let it air out, I think. Let's have a look under the bonnet, then, at the old D4D engine. I think these are belt-driven, so it'll have needed a cam belt, won't it? Did I see a service book in the back seat? There we go, right. There's plenty of paperwork with it, by the looks of it. I hope it's only two-wheel drive. That's unusual. It's come from Boston, Lincolnshire, originally. Very good. Has it got full history, then, or not? Well, it's got six, all done by Toyota, up to 2017. That's good. We've got a few more. Another one in 19, 22, so a bit of a gap. 23, 23, and then 24. Okay, last done a year ago, at 164 when it was MOT'd. That's not too bad, then, is it? Where's Earl's Barton? Never heard of that. NN, or is it NN? No idea. Somebody in the comments could tell me, maybe, educate me. So it's got some history, reasonable. A reasonable amount of history. Let's have a look under the bonnet, then. Right, yeah, well, there's an engine there. No cam belt sticker. They might be chain-driven, for all I know. It's been years since I've had one of these. I just always thought they were belts. I know the earlier ones were belts. I took one to Spain once. Bought one for about £1,000 and just drove it to Spain. Chassis legs are quite straight. No signs of any damage there. That's all good. It's actually cleaner in here than it is in the interior. Right, where's my bonnet stay? There's my bonnet stay, then, right. So, coolant's all right. That's pretty good. Brake fluid's okay. Got a platinum battery. Shall we fire this up? See how it sounds. It'll be clunky and horrible, won't it, being a D4D? Seems to, as well, suffer with, like, pinking, as well. Pinking injectors. Who's got that noise? I don't know who's been sitting in this, either, but the seat's very upright. Like a librarian position. Okay, then. Well, that's not encouraging, is it? This seat is damp, actually. Very damp. Right, we've got a flat battery here. Lovely, the joys. What a reliable Toyota product. Okay, leave this with me. Let me just pop back to the garage and get my little booster pack. My little jump box, as the Americans call it. See you in a sec. Okay, then, right. I've got my little booster pack here. Negative to a negative. Positive to the positive. Hang on a second. Twist it up into a knot, here. You ready? Right, let's fire this up, then. We've already got some beeps, then. That's encouraging. Door's open, yes, I know, because it's full of doghairs. Wait for the little glow plug light to go out. Initial check. 180. The Dart score, isn't it? 180.455 is the mileage, in case you're wondering. Clutch feels all right, I suppose. Oh, yes. That actually sounds all right, you know, for a diesel. It's very low on fuel. Let's get this heater on. Oh, it's a bit smoky, actually. Look at this, hang on. Lovely. I need to get some diesel fuel in this, then, before it dies. I just don't really want to go too far in it. All right, well, she's fired up, so I suppose, then, we need to get this out on the road, don't we? It's crying out for fuel, but I don't really want to drive it while it's covered in mould like this. I'm going to catch something. Sadly, I think we're going to have to, aren't we? Could always leave it running at the petrol station, so we don't get a flat battery again. Pop the fuel door. Oh, trade plates, that's what I need. We've got no number plates on at all here, so let me just stick some trade plates in the window. Well, this looks disgusting. Still, might as well drive it. Just lower the windows, get a bit of a through draft. Right, turn on my heater, because it's freezing. We are very low on fuel, sadly, very low. I think, you know, I was going to go for fuel first, because it's very low. However, I don't want to be in this car longer than I need to be. It's full of mould, it stinks, so I'm going to catch something without sounding too soft. I just don't want to be in it, so we're going to go to the car wash first, leave it there for a mini valet, and then run off before they shout at me, and I'm going to go to the fuel station with a jerry can, do it the old-fashioned way. It actually drives all right, though. Pulls all right, feels quite solid over the bumps. Clutch feels okay, gearbox feels okay. Oh, the car wash is rammed as well. Lovely. They're going to hate me for this. Ah, that's perfect. I've got a Honda CR-V there that's ready to collect, so I can make a very swift exit, can't I? I just need them to move around a little bit. Mirrors work, that's good. It's actually not too bad, this car, apart from the condition and the smell. Radio 2, obviously. The beeping, of course, is my lack of seatbelt, but the seatbelt's covered in mould. Right, anyway, without wasting any more of your time, let me get this cleaned, and then we'll take it down to my mechanics from there. We'll get it inspected, and we'll see if there's any life left in this. I think there could be, you know, once we get it all cleaned up, there could be a little bit more life left in this. Give it a service, give it a clean MOT, and just advertise it cheaply, maybe. Somebody might be looking for a cheap dog car or a cheap workhorse. This would do the job, wouldn't it? I think we need to put a new battery on it as well. I daren't turn it off. Oh, have I gone deaf? The beeping stopped. Now we're moving, right. I shall see you in a bit. Wish me luck. And we're back in the cheap RAV4, which happily is no longer like a petri dish. And I've got my seatbelt on, officer. The people at the carwash have done a really good job with this. It was definitely £40 well spent. When I got the call to say it was ready at the carwash, I picked it up from there and I took it down to my mechanics for a service and an MOT. I wasn't quite sure what they'd find, to be honest, although having said that, the service history was quite good. That did kind of give me a bit more confidence, to be honest, and after it was washed, it did clean up really well. In between all that, I called up Harrods, my local car spares shop, and ordered some new reg plates for it. So I fitted those and now it looks a whole lot better. A couple of days later, my mechanic called me to say, right, this RAV4 needs a battery. We put it on charge and yet every time we go out to it, it's still flat as a pancake. So they put a new battery on it for me. Then they did a pre-MOT on it just to see if it would pass. And it turns out it didn't need an awful lot of work. It needed one tyre and two droplinks. And that was it. On a 180,000 mile car owned by Buzz Aldrin. And all that sadly means I've got a bit of egg on my face. I'm forced to eat humble pie here and swallow my words about Toyota. Turns out they can make a decent car. Well, there's one now, look. They are popular, aren't they? After they'd fitted the tyre and the droplinks, it passed its MOT with not a single, not a single advisory item. Look at that. It's now got a clean MOT until March 2026. Oh, there was some sort of dust cover needed as well. That's been done. A dust cover on the anti-roll ball joint. So yeah, not a serious job really. So that's been done. Then they got it off the MOT ramp and gave it a service. So a few hours later, it was ready for me to go and collect. Now from there, I got it back to work and the lads from Dents were doing, you know, the paintless dent removal. They were there on the forecourt doing some other cars. So I said, oh, while you're here, could you have a look at this RAV4? And he went, yeah, yeah, sure, yeah. Anyway, as soon as he walked over to it, he went, not a chance. That needs paint. It really does need paint, to be honest, on that passenger door. But I thought, with 180,000 miles on the clock, I'm really not prepared to spend any more money on it. I think it's a decent, solid, quite clean workhorse now for somebody. It'd make a good dog car, really, wouldn't it, for somebody? So I thought, rather than massively overspend, I'll just keep it simple. Now, bear in mind, I paid £1,350 for this car. I've had my bill from my mechanic. There's £15 or £18 worth of reg plates fitted to it, and £40 worth of mini valet. So I haven't spent a fortune, really. Oh, and the battery. New battery as well. But yeah, I just thought I'd be sensible on this occasion. I've now got a car that's had a service, fresh MOT. Yes, it's not the prettiest, but it's all right. It's quite a presentable-ish looking car. So what I'm going to do is sell it as it is. I've taken some photographs of this and I put it on the website for £2,495, which I think is quite a lot of car, really, for two and a half grand, don't you think? What we're going to do now, then, is park up somewhere nice and scenic. It's a bit of a miserable day today. It's quite mild, but it's wet and windy. I hate the wind. Sorry, this is turning into a weather report, isn't it? What we're going to do is park up somewhere scenic and I'll talk you through my costs and see if I can sell it for £2,495. Let's see if there's any profit in it for me. I'm hoping there's maybe still £500, £600 maybe, in which case it was worth the risk. Wow, it is windy up here today. I don't know what it is about the wind, but it always spooks me. It makes me very ratty. It does drive very well, this, you know. It's all right. Oh no, somebody's parked in my lay-by. Right, I really do need to resurface this. It's terrible. Okay, then. So let me get my calculator out. So £1,350. Listen to that wind howling. The bill of my mechanics was MOT test fee, oil filter, oil, one tyre, drop links, dust cover, labour. The total there was £429.76. On top of that, we've got the reg plates, which are £15 plus VAT, so £18. What else? Oh, battery. Miata, right. That was £141.67. Plus we've got the cost of the mini valet, that was £40. What was it? Don't think I've spent anything else on this. Oh, an Airvidox bomb, because it smelled a bit doggy. I let off one of those Airvidox odour eliminator things, which you can pick up from eBay, by the way. Not eBay, Amazon. They're £20. You get two little pots. You mix one with water and then mix them together, shake it, leave it in the car. Don't inhale it or get it on your clothes because it's toxic stuff. Then all you do is leave it overnight. The next morning, it's nice and neutral. That was £20. Ah, right. My grand total on this old RAV4, then, is £1,999.43. So if we can sell it for £2,495, I'll have made just shy of £500 profit. And I'm fairly confident I can get two and a half grand for this, really. I think it's all right. So I think that's about it, lads and ladettes. I'm going to head back to work now, then, and crack on with the rest of my day. So thank you once again for watching. Make sure you give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Make sure you subscribe if you haven't already. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. I'll leave the links below. Yeah, cheers, guys. See you next time.