Looking for my dream truck

I'm a guy who has never had a truck but I want a tacoma and I want to off road with my friends. I don't have alot of money so I'm only looking to spend around $7,000 to $8,000. I'm looking for a 4x4 with good suspension any color good condition 4 doors and automatic if anyone can help me or give me leads please let me know

 

Welcome to tw.

These things tend to hold their value.
It was almost cheaper for me to buy a 20k mile truck from toyota dealership than it was a 120k mile truck anywhere lol.
No joke

 

oh man so what should I do?

 

Dont give up

 

I'm willing to drive anywhere haha like as far as I have to, to get my truck. do u think it's better to buy a already modified truck or a base and mod it myself

 

When I was a bit younger, I was looking for my dream truck and dream girl and found them both together, so I married them - her and her '95 Toyota 4x4!

Fast forward - I just sold my 2002 4x4 (as seen on my avatar) for $7000 (clean, but with lots of miles). I suggest getting a 1st gen from California, as mine had no rust whatsoever. Also, get one as close to stock as possible - why buy someone's off-road beater?

Good luck, and may your search go as well!

 

Well.....

A modded truck may have been a pavement princess

Or beat on

Then again, even a stock yota coulda been worked hard.

Its gunna be a case by case basis really.

Some owners know a modded truck does NOT usually bring in more money.
Others may insist their mods make their truck worth more.

Is this going to be a daily driver or a weekend warrior?

You want an $8k 2nd gen 4x4 truck tho, im not positive but id think its gunna be really high miles for that cash.

Srry ive had mine since 2008, and our last purchase was a camry. I havent been looking at used trucks much. I just know they hold their value very well.

 

See post #6 up there, thats a good example of what i meant. That was a 2002 and he got 7 grand.

 

Id also get a manual if thats feasable for you.
Id rather replace a clutch for a few hundred, rather than get an auto rebuilt for 2 or 3 grand

 

How old are you?

The only thing about purchasing a modified vehicle is that you need to be fairly educated on modifications and understand what each one does to the longevity of the vehicle. Also how to determine the right way from doing something vs. the wrong way.

It can very convenient to buy a truck with a lot of expensive modifications on it you like, but just know if someone messed up on installation or installed a shitty lift kit, you eventually will pay the price and it can be grossly expensive.

 

Save for a few more years and buy a better condition newer one for more money. Yes you can find a lump of gold in a pile of manure occasionally but more often, you'll just find lumps of poo.

Saving money on a cheaper high mileage truck usually turns out costly, people don't often sell reliable old trucks unless they don't have a place to keep them, they do sell them when they start nickle and dimeing them and then the dimes turn to $100 bills. Just look at the tires, if the tires are shot, then everything else has been let go also. Never trust when someone tells you it's just tires, they'll cost you a couple hundred to replace them. [because tires don't cost ''a couple hundred'' anymore for decent rubber.

 

I think you need to budget at least 12 to 13 grand to get a decent truck, it isnt just toyota, look at the prices of 4 -wheel drive trucks in general they are all bringing premium prices now since the cost of a new one is high

 

$8k probably won't get you a decent Tacoma.

Mine is 7 years old with 130k on it and even at that mileage I could probably get over $15k private for it.

 

Doubt you’ll get a 2nd gen 4x4 for $8k unless it’s a salvage, and even those are more expensive than that.


Look for a 1st gen. Or go with a Frontier. Their values go down faster than a hooker with rent to pay.

 

Even a first gen will be hard to find at that price.

 

A 4x4 auto 4 door with below 250,000 miles is going to be pretty dang hard to find for your price range wont lie, nearly impossible if you want one in good shape. If i were you i would start looking at the access cabs. You are going to sacrifice 1 of 2 things, get a 4x4 access cab or get a 2x4 crew cab. Also look at the 1st gens as they are alittle less mean to the wallet

 

2nd gen trucks in my area with 150,000 miles or less are selling like mad for up to 20k in my area. I just got my 07 with 99,000 on it for 18k.

 

I sold my 02, with 200k for $8000.00. Sold it to the first guy that called, had 4 back up offers. You are going to have to do a lot of R+D and be ready to jump on the right one.

 

I would suggest bumping the price up. Just picked up a 08 mt ac fot 13k with 175k miles. Get the toyota app every truck u look at run the vin. Its free n will tell you alot about the history if any. And if any recalls have been done dont fall for the carfax scam

 

Could you sell the Malibu and scratch up a couple more Ks but even at 10k it may still be a stretch for a quad cab 4x4. I know @EatSleepTacos bought a nice access cab 4x4 for under 10k recently.