Buying a new tacoma with some mods

Im a first time poster but long time viewer of this board. I recently totaled my 06 tacoma, but had never really done anything to it, and I'm now looking at buying a new tacoma that has some stuff already done to it, I'm in contact with this guy and was wondering if you got any advice on stuff I should look for or ask when purchasing this truck.

http://cenla.craigslist.org/cto/5412742322.html

thanks in advance

 

Looks like a really nice truck at a reasonable price. If I were a betting man I would guess that most on here are going to say to get rid of the 6" inch lift and replace it with a 3", replace the grill, and ditch the bull bar. If you decide to pull the trigger and buy it, that is.

 

Not my cup of tea, but price is ok. I'd try and talk him down a bit. From what I've read, that lift would be on the cheaper end of the 6" lifts. What I would do is:

1) Make sure the engine is cold and check the oil. Look at the level, clarity, and color of the oil. Look under the truck and see if there is anything wet.
2) Make sure the radio is down or off and start it up. Listen to the motor for any loud knocks, vibrating, etc.
3) Check for cupping on the tires
5) if possible, lift the vehicle and check for play on the wheels. Simple try and "wiggle" them back and forth (side to side) by grabbing each side.
6) Look at the rear leafs. I'm guessing it is a block lift so make sure they don't have any hairline cracks or a negative arch on the leafs.
7) Look at the shocks, upper control arms, and coils for any signs of gouging.
8) Look at how the exhaust is hung and put together.
9) watch for wobble when driving as well as wondering.
........just a few things I'd check. I'm sure others will chime in.


Oh and make sure to engage both hi and low 4x4

 

Never buy a modified vehicle.

 

This.

And if you do don't pay for all their mods. Use the book price and if anything deduct for the changes.

 

Agreed

 

At the very least if you really have to have this particular truck with a 6" drop bracket lift, I'd probably inquire as to who did the actual install. Could have been some podunk shit reputation shop for all you know.

I understand the allure of a "pre-modded/lifted" truck and sometimes it is easy to justify it since you can pay very little for those added features over a stock used option as compared to if you did it yourself, but like others I'd probably opt to go for a relatively stock CLEAN vehicle unless for example the owner was really up to snuff and knew his shit and documented everything.

 

Which I feel the owner isn't. Look at how dirty the floor is in picture 7.
If I was selling my truck I'd make sure my truck was spotless.

Also OP the truck has been for sale for a month. If you decide you wanna go this route maybe you can use that to your advantage.

 

Yeah I'd definitely clean it up real nice if I was to sell a vehicle. Cleaning it up real nice shows more of a sense of pride in your belongings and that you take care of things.

For all I know maybe he took the pics when he had the time and has since cleaned it up for sale but who knows.

 

Personally I'd pass due to none of the mods being what I really wanted. If thats what you want, go for it, but I am sure there are plenty of trucks out there that would fit your needs.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I'm gonna talk to him some more about the price. I was looking forward to doing some of the stuff myself, but this looked like an alright deal. After all the feedback, might just go back to my original plan. I was wanting to do 3 inch not 6 inch lift anyway.

 

X's 100. I would never buy a Tacoma after someone has modified it, especially a 6" lift.