Used Cars: used truck buying, carfax report, toyota warranty

Question
Hi Jay,

My question is in regards to buying a used 2006 Toyota Tacoma.  I have been looking for one now for about 4 weeks and came across an '06 Tacoma with 71K miles being sold by a dealership.  My concern is that there have been two previous owners.  The first owner leased it for 3 years and put around 56K miles on it.  Then in 2009, the lease was up I suppose and it was sold at an auto auction.  The second owner had it for 7 months, put 14K miles on it and then traded it to a dealership.  Carfax looks clean right now.  No apparent wrecks, mechanical problems, etc.  Should I be suspicious at all about this?  The truck looks great (means very little I know), and the dealership said it has gone through a 120 point inspection with no problems found.  How can I really know if this is a sound purchase?  What further questions should I ask?  Thanks so much, Jay.  I appreciate your help.

Grady Maddox

Answer
Well the next thing I would want to know is what is the reputation of the dealership who has this truck?  The next thing I would do is take the Vin#, or truck, to a Toyota Dealership, and ask them to run a warranty history on this truck.  Basically that is a report showing all what was fixed on this truck, while it was under the Toyota Warranty.  The next thing is just make sure there are no recalls for sticky accelerator.  Make sure the Carfax Report is legit, and is the same vin#.  If all of this checks out, feel comfortable with your purchase.  It is not uncommon to have 2 owners on a vehicle that is 4 to 5 years old.  Obviously the first owner had no issues or he would not have had it that long, on a lease.  I actually think 2 owners for that year model is about average.  You never know what the situations were with the second owner, and with the economy the way it has been for the last couple of years, it could have been a financial reason, and nothing related to something about the truck.  I have been in this business a long time, and I can not even count, or remember all the reasons somebody needs to get out of a vehicle after a very short time, crap happens.  Toyotas are really good trucks, I hope everything checks out well for you, and you purchase this vehicle.
I hope this is helpful, good luck.