A few choices for my first tacoma.

Hey guys, I was looking for some advise here. I am in the process of looking for a tacoma. I am looking for an 01-04, preferably the 03-04, cause of my banks finance rates.

So I have checked a few out. I looked at an 03 yesterday. Dealer wants 13600 out the door for it. Its an 03,xtracab, sr5,4wd, auto, 82k. The truck was in pretty good shape, the only thing that turned me off from it was the tach wasnt working. The dealer is supposed to fix it for me, then call me back.

Is 13600 a bad deal for an 03 with 82k?
http://autos.yahoo.com/used-cars/toy...a&distance=200

I have also just found an 04 doublecab. It only has 61k on it. Dealer is wanting 16975, right now, Im gonna try to get it knocked down.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...e&aff=national

My question is, which deal would you go for? I am having a hard time trying to decide. I know the tacoma's are pretty much bulletproof, but I was looking for a tacoma under 100k at least.

Thanks in advance,
Anthony

 

I would personally go with the xtracab. Not too many less miles, TRD package (make sure its actually TRD!!) and a few grand cheaper. I dont sit in the back so I dont care about double cabs though, hahaha

 

I spent 12.5k on my 02 with 83k miles. I don't think 13k is unreasonable.

 

What actually does the TRD package include? Any ideas on why the tach would have shot? As long as its fixed, I guess its not a big deal.

I originally was wanting the doublecab, but, I dont know, I think the longer bed on the xtracab would be nicer.

 

Yea, I think the truck is priced fairly. I have gotten them to agree on $13.6k out the door.

 

I paid 10k for my '04 xtracab little over a month ago with 82k miles.

For the TRD package check for a rear locker (button is left of the steering wheel)
I've always used the bed of my truck more than I care about people who sit in the back seat. haha

 

Hell of a deal on the Extra cab. I paid 14.5 for the same truck. See if you can get them to change the timing belt for you.

 

ok, yea, its got the rear locker button on it.

I could, but I can do a timing job. I am an old dsm guy at heart, I know how to do timing jobs lol. And the timing jobs on a dsm are a pain, with the 4g63t.

I drove the extra cab. It drives nice. Its got new Hercules tires on it. They seem to be kinda noisy, but im not used to a/t tires lol. A/C blows ice cold. Only thing I noticed, the tailgate has been replaced once and painted. Its a little banged up. It needs some adjustment too. Its a pain to latch it closed sometimes.

At first I am telling myself, the truck is too rough, but I kinda need to realize, buying used truck is different than a car. If its been used for a truck, its not gonna be gorgeous lol.

 

What do you guys think of the 2wd sr5's. Are they worth a shit, lol? Here in central illinois, we dont get tons of snow, but I was just thinking its enough to have a 4wd truck. lol

 

if you're gonna spend that much get a 4x4.

 

agreed! never know when you'll need it.

 

Resale too. Around here 2wds dont get nearly as much in resale. Sometimes only like 60% of an equally optioned 4wd!

 

I haven't read the other posts so this might be an old idea, but I would get a TRD offroad Double Cab. I regret not getting the offroad because of the locker (which would've helped a lot when i got stuck a few times) and the double cab is nice not to squish the passangers in the back. Of course, this would be a good idea only if you want to go offroading. Otherwise, just go with what you really want to do (offroad or not)

 

Well, I had a buddy, that works for toyota here in town, check on the recall for the truck. When i had gotten to the dealer on Sat. the salesman had told me that toyota had taken the truck in for the recall check. He said the frame passed inspection, so toyota undercoated it.

Well, my buddy who works for toyota put the vin in his computer. There is not a record as of yet, saying that toyota has looked and passed the frame on as being fine. So either the dealership sprayed it down just for an easier sell, or the process of putting the check of the frame in the system takes forever. lol

The salesman said the truck was picked up early last week and inspected.

 

The previous owner had my frame treated (gave me the paperwork) but I called my local dealer and they had no history of it....so I had them do it again haha. I heard it has to be done by the end of this month.

 

Hmm, I am gonna find out. I know the carfax show it was serviced at a toyota dealership last week. Maybe thats it, idk, im gonna do some calling around tonight.

 

For me, it would be an easy decision... the double cab. I've owned both 1st gens (access and double cab - would never even remotely consider the standard cab) and I cannot stand the access cab compared to the double cab. With the double cab, you have the best of both worlds. And even when I needed to carry something that didn't quite fit in the short-bed, it was never a big deal to figure out how to make it fit.

My only concern is the price is a tad high on the double cab, which is to be expected. I'd hope you could get it down a bit...

 

I called on the doublecab today. They seem like they wont budge on the price. I was just looking for 16 out the door. He said they price everything fairly and wont budge on the price unless the truck sits on the lot for a few months. So after tax, title and license, im looking at almost 18500, forget that! lol

On the extracab, I called the dealer that carfax had listed where it was serviced. Talked to the service manager. he said he remembers the truck. They did check the frame, he said it checked out fine,so they undercoated it and sprayed the rust prevention stuff inside the rails. He said it was a real nice truck. He couldnt give me an answer as to why the tach wasnt working, but I guess ill just wait to hear back from the dealership when they have it fixed.

 

Agreed... I have regretted getting a 2wd even with the amount of snow we get here, plus I can't go play in the dirt with all the big kids

 

I think those prices seem a bit high (like dealer prices, that should be able to come down a grand or two when properly pressed).

Not sure if you've looked on the Chicago Craigslist, but there has been some seemingly good deals on there the past couple weeks. There's a 2001 double cab with trd supercharger and 95k miles for $10,500. http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/1999975117.html

The dealers around here are nut jobs with the prices they ask. I'd be a little patient and keep checking Craigslist or ebay local classifieds.

I have a friend that got a 2wd Tacoma about a year ago and he really regrets not getting 4wd. I love my 4wd double cab.