buying a 1st gen Tacoma question

Okay, I'm in the market for a good 1st gen Tacoma. Most of them I find in my price range have 120-175,000 miles. I guess I'm old school, but trucks with that many miles scares me. Are those still safe to buy with that many miles, assuming that they have done all the routine maintenance? thanks for any advise.

 

One of mine has just over 163,000 and the other has just hit 170,000. Great trucks! The key is how well they are maintained.

Check these threads out.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/281583-how-much-too-many-miles-tacoma.html


http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/197187-highest-mileage-first-gen.html

 

I'm not as familiar with the tacomas, but the previous models regularly went over 300k miles.

I had a buddy that couldn't kill his. he wanted to buy a new truck and kept hoping his old toyota would break down, but it never did!

 

Bought my 2002 4x4 TRD SR5 extended cab with 94,000 miles on it. If you don't know about cars/truck take someone who knows what to look for. For a 1st Gen I have seen them with 250,000 and still going strong.

 

I have an 01 SR5 XCab 4cyl 5 sp, 120K. I haven't fixed a thing on it yet. It's rock solid. The only thing you want to be careful with is the frame. I would make sure the previous owner took the truck in when they had the recall for frame rot. Mine was inspected and found to be okay. They also sprayed it. If the frame was not okay, the recall would have covered frame replacement. The dealer told me had had to replace a few frames but not many. Make sure you keep it clean underneath especially where they apply road salt.

 

its nowhere unreasonable to see a 1st gen make it to 500k and beyond so long as regular maintenance was performed at the recommended intervals. with these trucks its usually other components like water pumps, alternators, radiators, or transmissions that go out before the engine does. theres a reason people call them bulletproof.

and dont worry about purchasing one with those kinds of miles. i've seen guys pick up tacos at 225k, slap a supercharger in em, and run em like hell. plus its a little unreasonable to ask a vehicle have under 100k miles when the last produced pickups of that generation are approaching their 10th anniversary. most of the 1st gens are at least ten years old now, so its honestly gonna be difficult to locate one with low, low miles.

 

'96 Tacoma with 600,000 Miles. Pretty damn impressive, if these trucks are taken care of and well maintained it seems as if they go forever...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OemiomXcclA

I wouldn't be scared of buying one of these trucks with 170,000 Miles, but make sure it's been loved and not beat on.

 

my 95 has 223,xxx and doesn't bun a drop of oil, starts every time, still has a little pep, and still turns heads.

I was just like you and extremely skeptical about buying a truck with 150k plus on it.. but the reliability of these trucks is just nuts! The resale value of these first gens are proof of that.

If you are still skeptical (which is reasonable) have a PPI done.

 

Thanks for all the advise. Yes, finding anything under 100,000 is hard to find. Will start considering one with more miles I guess, or I might nit ever find one. LOL

 

If you are worried look into a second gen one

 

A second gen. would be nice too. I'll just have to save longer to pay for it..

 

My 04 3.4 has over 200K with zero issues.

My old 2.4 95.5 had over 350k when it sold.

 

I'm turboed with 253k still running strong don't burn a drop of oil. Runs like it did from day one.

 

I can only hope my 2nd gen runs for 200K lol. My friend has a tacoma with 300k miles on it now!

 

My old truck had 306k when I sold it. The Guy is still driven it now. Original motor an trans.