Need advice on searching. Do I have too high of an expectation?

to add to @Blue92 line,
what's your reasoning for being dead set on something over model year 2000?
the very early Tacoma's have a distinct mean and aggressive look that is hard to beat!

just wait until they are 20k, more insanity

i beg to differ, my relative had a '98 single cab i4 MT 4wd and was a total slug of a log compared to my peppy little truck

perhaps they changed a few things between '98 and your model year?

 

That's the right mindset, you'll find something nice.

 

Id rather take my time and find a reasonably priced truck that I'll cherish and appreciate. Part of ownership is wanting something really bad and the joy you feel when you finally find it.

I dont want that joy to be ruined by paying a shit ton of money or buying something im not totally stoked on. A casual search in the bay area tells me these are worth $15,000 with 230k miles and anything less than $10,000 is a salvage title

 

if that is the case half a country away from me then I certainly do see the 1st gens overtaking most every 2nd gen that is out for sale on resale value
insane it is!

 

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/d/windsor-1999-toyota-tacoma-4x4/6936538011.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/pts/d/stockton-1995-tacoma-v6-4x4-automatic/6936401125.html

These were the two most decent looking tacomas that I thought were a deal. I contacted both within hours of being posted.

Red Taco--carfax showed Had a odometer roll back when it had 300k miles--seller claims he bought it from a friend and the friend put a new engine in and didnt tell him before he sold it to him.

95 SR5--carfax showed 7 owners Odometer roll back at around 300k, stolen in 2018 and crashed with airbags deployed. Seller claims it was stolen and the thief also stole the airbags.

Those were the only two decently priced ones I could find

 

that is insane!

@Running Man

you need to swap your 4runner?? get back into a Tacoma!?

 

looks like blue gray vinyl
i looked closer at the pics, its dirty and needs work!

 

It looks so clean that I do believe he got the airbag stolen and it wasnt crashed.

Problem is when you couple that omission of history with the odometer roll back that the seller didnt know about along with 7 owners things get a little more interesting

 

no doubt about that! ... you could be lucky #8

 

If you can't find what you're looking for locally, widen your search. I live In florida, if I found a vehicle I wanted in california, I could fly out and back for a couple hundred bucks. I could then have the vehicle shipped to my door for $700-$900. That sounds like a lot of monoey. But when staying local is going to cost me an extra $9000... its saving me thousands.

If I look 4 hours away instead if 40 minutes, and a days drive sucks but saves me $4k.... long story short, with today's access there is no reason to limit my search to 2 where I can go on my lunch break.

 

This might be harsh but I feel it’s needed

Issue is:

You find truck then,




You post about it, then




They go fast and Sellers often have buyers lining up.

Your eventually guna have to take a risk.

To help mitigate the risk do as much research and you can do you can understand basic issues like rust and it’s locations, what’s cancer and was just surface.

 

i noticed that listing was deleted as well, I thought something was fishy as it was gone not more than an hour or two after the link was posted here with no copy/paste pics to gawk at.

some of the times this 'cancer' is treatable like a doctor would treat it? and it seems anymore that some die-hard 'wanna get me a 1st gen or nothing else are going to have to figure this extra cost into their buying decision

 

This ones interesting... extended cab/sidestep
You don’t see these two often, but gotta deal with the stealer ship

Also meets @WestCoastBestCoast basic needs/wants

@jtakeda

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/ctd/d/auburn-2002-toyota-tacoma-xtracab-v6/6932574038.html

 

Thanks for the heads up, I need an automatic though! My girlfriend has to be able to drive it, especially with our ruthless 2x a week street sweeping. ~$82 every violation!

 

You're not one of those 2nd gen guys that complains when they find out 1st gens hold their value better than their truck, are you? lol

But depending on your location, $16k isn't as insane as you might think. At that price, it should be very low miles and in immaculate condition. I mean, KBB, which is notorious for undervaluing Tacomas, values a low mileage version of my truck at $13,500, and I'm not even in a high rent area (relative to other places in CA).

 

too bad it's a stepside.

 

does KBB factor in zip codes to come up with their values?

I have experimented with the NADA tables and it did not seem to make any difference what zip code i plugged in ... I tried to use the ritziest one in CA

 

Yes, they do. So they are at least making an attempt at regional differences, but I've always seen that they still undervalue most trucks because it's impossible to factor in that certain je ne sais quoi that comes with the cult of 1st gens.

 

Ok so your looking for an auto is a double cab out of the equation?

 

When I bought my truck back in like 2005, the only thing I was willing to compromise on was if it was an extracab or doublecab and maybe the color.

I'm so glad that the truck I ended up finding was a doublecab. Fitting a dog, and eventually kids in the doublecab was so much easier. Yes, the bed is smaller, but it's not like I was going to be hauling 2 tons of rock in the bed anyway.