2005 to 2011 Trade Up - Yessah!

Howdy fellaz!

After some thought, over the weekend I decided to trade my 2005 TRD Off Road SR5 double cab in for a 2011 TRD Off Road SR5 double cab. I really didn't need to, I loved my 05 but the millage was getting up there to the point where every few months I would have to do some work (front wheel bearings, CV axle, breaks, was planning on doing rear axle seals and bearings right off, etc...) nothing huge, just the stuff you would usually expect to do on a vehicle with almost 140k.

The thing that I was mostly concerned about was the frame on my 05. I have been watching it turn into a Pillsbury Flaky Layer Buttermilk Biscuit over the last few years, to the point that I’m under the truck doing something and you can see layers lifting off in places...

I kept getting these flyers in the mail from my local Toyota dealership raving about the Vehicle Exchange Program clamming that they would give you "top dollar - above average" for your used Tacoma trade in due to the shortage of used Tacomas in the local market. I don’t know how much of that I believe, but I thought to myself, Ah what the hey, let’s see what they have to say.

Long story short, I traded in my 05 for figures that were better than what KBB and NADA indicate for “good” condition of my trade, got into a Toyota Certified 2011 with 35k miles with a power train warranty good to 100k, plus I got to keep all my add ons to move over to the new truck (TRD cat-back exhaust and CAI, roof rack, satoshi grill, running boards, rims and tires, Pioneer DVD head unit), and best of all, the 2011 is a 6 speed

Makes me wonder if Toyota is poising to have another go-around with frames on certain 2005-2006 Tacoma models, similar to the issues they had with the 1st gens? Perhaps that’s why they had no problem with me taking all the additions off my 05 upon trading it in as it’s destined for auction or scrap???

I dunno, probably thinking too much into it, but I thought I would share.

Pretty pumped, get to pick the 2011 up after work today!

Woot woot!

 

Update:

So I went back into the dealership yesterday to get a part for my head unit I forgot t remove before trading the truck in and I got to talking to my salesman.

It turns out that my 05 needed a frame. That’s not something I would have wanted to contend with (along with the other work it needed) so I’m very happy with my decision. I thought I would share in case there are any other folks with 05-06 Tacomas that might be curious about their frame too.

Something to think about anyway!

 

Thanks for sharing...I have an 05 tacoma and it has some rusts on the frame too. I'm hoping for a recall