Should I be worrying about the tacoma I bought?

Worry about a 1st gen? Nah. They never die. The only worry you'd have is why didn't I get one?

 

FYI rust doesn't work that way .rust is cancer.it only gets worse once you get it.I has to be treed with a rust killer (ospho)seem to be the best.

 

Very true about the nature of rust. I guess I should have said: Your truck won't have continued exposure to the environment that caused Tacoma frames to suffer extreme and premature rust. If you treat existing rust and maintain your vehicle in Texas it should be fine.

 

Never take a dealer's word 100% on anything...they're trying to sell it to you after all. That being said, there's always an inherent risk involved in buying a 15 year old vehicle and you should plan on having to drop some $$$ in preventative maintenance and possibly repairs on anything that might require it or need it soon. I bought my 04 last year and while it was in pristine condition with only 24k miles, I still had to do some work to it.

Rust would be my biggest concern given that it's from that area and I'd check real close to be certain the previous owner or dealer didn't try to hide or cover up any rust spots. If the frame checks out and it drives well, you're off to a great start.

 

Truck looks super clean... almost too clean; if that makes sense. To me, that frame looks like it's been painted/treated recently. (Also looks like they did a pretty good job w/ detailing it - carpets look clean, etc.) So they are either trying to put lipstick on a pig, or it's a very well maintained vehicle. I'm a pretty skeptical guy, so take that into consideration. I wouldn't even buy a brand new truck w/ less thank 15 miles on it (they wanted a non-refundable deposit) sight-unseen.

Edit - combed through those picture again - even if they detailed the crap out of this to get it ready to sell... I don't see any stains on the carpet/seats, or significant wear, chrome on the bumpers looks like-new, finish on the alloy wheels looks great. I'd be surprised if this truck had any significant issues (but, I'm far from an expert).

Hope it works out for you!

 

"Dealer" and "honest" are words not often found in subsequent sentences. Well played Sir.

On another note: don't listen to "the lady from WV" but not seeing the truck before purchase: Dayam!

Yoda sums up this truck's future:

 

First thing I'm doing is taking it to a shop lol

Damn, that would be evil lol but it was basically a 1 person owned truck (whom was an older man that garaged the vehicle), second owner had it for 6 months before trading it in (because he wanted a larger truck), and the truck was on the market for only a day before I called in about it. So that's all according to the dealer. The truck went on market the day after he acquired it so unless all of that was a big lie, your scenario would be a bit unlikely. Who knows though, I just think it was well maintained but I am trying to remain optimistic

 

don't stress on it, its done and over with at this point, everyone remembers bad stories about buying used vehicles so you are going to hear more negative then possative support at this point until you can provide actual hands on feedback from seeing it yourself.

I just cant believe you felt it was necessary to jump on something so fast, I had to go 2 hours away to buy my taco but it was for a great deal on a truck I wanted in a specific year and color. in fact I just took a 5 hour drive to buy my v8 4runner because it too isn't an easy one to find but cross country is a bit too much in my opinion, and if you are going to do it, then do like I just did to buy my 4runner and put a deposit on it to lock it in so its yours if you want it (most times it is fully refundable if you don't buy it) and then go see it in person like I just did with my 4runner.

if you are in texas there are many truck around you so im not sure why you had any trouble at all finding one.

its way too late now but just look at an example of what was right next door to you. https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inven...=false&filtersModified=true#listing=168262023

hopefully it works out for you but I think you rushed into something far too quickly in a part of the country (northern states) where you should avoid buying vehicles from because of the rust issues they all have from road salt

 

Idk if I agree; even after I purchased this truck I've been checking cargurus out of curiosity and there hasn't been one tacoma near me like the one I purchased (assuming it is in good condition, etc). And before that I was searching for about 2-3 weeks, and there wasn't one near me. My criteria was 4x4, TRD OR, ~150k or less miles, and silver. I saw the one you linked plenty of times but even so that truck doesn't really stand out to me, and I'm not gonna buy a truck that doesn't stand out or give me a "that's the one" feeling. Also that's a 4 hour drive just to look at it

 

Being satisfied with your purchase is very important. Tacoma World members are just trying to give you individual anecdotes and advice and the cumulative nature of members with different backgrounds and experiences can be overwhelming. You have to take it all in and step back and sort through it.

I bought a truck from the rust belt...it's a risk, just like every used vehicle, or new vehicle for that matter. Machines break, or they run forever. If you wait too long looking for the right truck there won't be any 1st gens left.

I had to borrow money for my truck and I sure wasn't spending a ton of money on something that I wasn't going to be excited to turn the key everyday!

Post some pics when the truck arrives and then drive that thing all over town with a big ol' grin on your face knowing you have a coveted truck.

 

my point was it may have been better to travel left or right rather then go north for one.

bottom line, as you say, it needs to be "the one" for you, so that is always worth traveling for if need be, hell I drove from new Orleans to Houston and back, that's 10 hours driving plus 4 at the dealership with the paperwork and service dept BS so I totally understand the level of commitment in getting "just what you want" in a truck

 

If u want to read my history and quemicals I usef to tuckle the RUST issue , be my guess, link below with 60 pictures before and after the frame treatment, like faith , all have their own favorite fluid and way to treat rust , imho the eastwood website teach a lot, i took from them some of the products but the external coating i rather Chassis Saver since is not sticky like fluid film, again a matter of opinion and also RUST converter badass couple a days before painting to allow drying, hope the link i did helps to easy your worries