Help buying a new (to me) truck.

Hello everyone this is my first post here and I am looking for some help in purchasing a used tacoma. I was unfortunately t boned last week in my 2003 2.4l camry...it was my first car that I worked my butt off for and honestly loved. Unfortunately it was deemed a total loss and im now on the hunt for a replacement vehicle. Even thought my car was great and had never let me down I constantly found myself needing the extra utility provided by owning a truck. I have found two 1st gen tacomas on craigslist for very reasonabe prices...(usually these things are priced through the roof) and I have arranged to meet up with them about the trucks but I would like to get some more input from experienced owners first. One of the trucks is a 2001 3.4l SR5 automatic with 170000 on the odometer and has been with one owner who has taken quite frankly great care of the vehicle. The other is a 2004 3.4l (not sure if they are all sr5?) automatic with 160000 miles but it has a salvage title..I asked the owner about the crash and he said it was an impact to the passenger side rear panel and said it runs perfect and it looks amazing.

Now here is my real question after all that rambling... my room mate previously owned a 2002 tundra that had the transmission destroy itself (planetary gear) well before 200000 miles... Looking into this online it seems to be more than a one time thing across 4 runners and tundra v8's but I havent been able to track down many instances of this failure happening on the tacomas but it appears they do share the same transmission(a340). Have any of you had this failure on your first gen tacomas? Should I be weary of purchasing one? This truck will be my DD so I have to make sure im making the right move before making the purchase...Thanks in advance everyone!

 

i've got a M/T, so don't know as much about the autos, but i think you'll find that these trucks are very reliable.

salvage titles should make you a little cautious, but given the value of these trucks, it's oven worth it to salvage them from a wreck rather than give them up to the bone yard. look at it closely, and have it checked out by a shop if you can.

 

hello and welcome to tacoma world!

the most important thing to look for in tacomas (and other toyota trucks) is for frame rust. The frame on these trucks are know to rust and rot pretty bad if not rustproofed properly, especially in cold weather states where they use salt and chemicals to de-ice roads during the winter

Even if the trucks you are looking at come from places where they don't use salt, it's always good to check the frame for rust anyway

 

The transmission issue you mention shouldn't be a problem for you.

The salvage title could be concerning, and if they're both equal mechanically, as best as you can tell, I'd go with non-salvage title. Salvage titles can affect resale value, but if you're keeping it for the long haul, more important would be the frame rust issue by Onakat above and being mechanically sound.
The one owner truck definitely sounds interesting. There were three packages offered with Tacoma; Base, SR5, and in later first gen years Limited. Keep in mind many of the options could be added to the different packages, while the VIN would still show what Toyota originally registered the truck as.
Clear as mud? Search the forums or ask away, great group here that enjoys helping.