Should I buy it?

Hey guys, new member here looking to buy my first Tacoma. I don't know if this is a good forum to ask this, but some buying advice from you guys would be awesome. I found a 2009 4x4 access cab Tacoma w/ 2.7l and 5 speed manual w/ 180,000 miles from a private seller on CL. It's the base model but in extremely good condition. No rust and very clean. They were asking $14,500, which seems ridiculous high and I was able to talk them down to $13,300. I've been looking for a 4cyl 5 speed man for months and there just isn't a lot for sale in the southwest. The price still seems high but I'm getting tired of searching the depths of CL and Facebook market place for the deal of the century and my current DD is falling apart (2000 f150 rust bucket w/ 250,000 miles). Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Post some pictures. Have you checked it out yet? Has the truck always been in SW? Asking because of the rotted out frames.

 

I'm not sure what the going sell price is for that (as it also depends on area), but you should check it out and see if it's what you want. To me, $13,300 isn't bad for a Tacoma you want in the condition (and maybe paint color) you desire. I know I probably paid a bit more than I should have for mine, but I couldn't pass up a near flawless Tacoma in the config I wanted.

 

I test drove last week and checked it out, crawled underneath and it has tiny amounts of surface rust in some spots. The current owner (2nd owner) bought it w/ 140,000 miles at dealer in Albuquerque, so I'm willing to bet it's lived in SW it's whole life. Still waiting for my mech to do an official inspection though.

 

Geezz I bought my 2010 2.7l 5spd Access cab 4x4 w/150k on it over 2 years ago for 11.5. That was at a dealer... That price is crazy..

 

That's the kind of deal I've been looking for! Seen some deals like this online from dealerships in the east. Haven seen anything this good within 1000 miles of me though.

 

Some photos from the ad. Owner is not a great photographer but the vehicle looks really nice in person.

 

people have too much sentimental attachments to vehicles, and they incorrectly factor that into the selling price. regardless of the price, i do have some tips, just in case you weren’t already aware....

there are some free online vin search websites to verify if the truck has ever been declared a total loss, or if it’s been stolen. do NOT rely on carfax.

call your insurance company and get a quote to add the truck to your policy. ask them if there’s anything suspicious in the truck’s history that would cause your insurance price to be higher than normal. i’m a licensed insurance agent direct with progressive and i can tell you we run many reports on vehicles most people don’t know about. if there’s anything shady in the vehicle history, you can pay extra. and your insurance company may not tell you upfront.

i searched for a year before i bought mine a couple weeks ago, and i saw prices all over the map. i would say $13k is still a little high. but go through the processes i just outlined because the results may be used as bargaining chips to get the price down.

 

Run the VIN through the VIN website below to see where it started out from. If you don’t see the website, turn your phone to landscape.

Check KBB and NADA for values in your area and come up w a price that makes sense to you and that you’re willing to live with.

Truck does look nice...

Good Luck!

 

I'm the 2nd owner of a 06 Trd Sport DCSB with less miles and I think I'd have a hard time selling it for $14.5k private party.

 

That seems pretty high to me for what you're getting. I'd work to get him down a bit or keep looking. Good luck!

 

That seems pretty high for all those miles.

 

Offer $10k

 

Thanks for the links! I checked the VIN here and on VINcheck.info and everything looks clean. No safety recalls. No info about the original sale, but it looks like the current owner bought it from a dealer in town for just under 13k w/ 40,000 less miles than it has now...

 

https://www.nicb.org/vincheck

https://www.iseecars.com/vin

 

The Toyota VIN site should have told you where it was first delivered to. Name of dealer, then just google it. It can give you an idea of where it started it’s life at...

Good info about the current owner’s deal....I’d bring $9,000 cash and waive it under his nose

Well, not really but I would attempt a cash deal not much more than that.

 

If the owner selling it only put 40k miles on it and wants to sell it again there may be something majorly wrong with it or it may have a intermittent problem.

 

That caught my attention too but, unless it was an elaborate story, the lady selling it claims that her husband bought it a few years ago, had a stroke that left him unable to drive and it's just been sitting ever since. I did the math and it looks like he did just under 15k miles/year, which makes sense given how far from town they live. Still you bring up a good point...

 

Most people don’t buy a car with that many miles on it intending you sell it right away. I mean I drive mine into the dirt.

 

Personally, I think the seller's completely nuts. For that year, miles, and price, you could get into a TRD OR.