Looking to be a new Tacoma owner

Hi I'm from Ontario, Canada and looking to buy a Toyota truck this spring or summer. I've had several Toyotas in my life, wouldn't consider anything else, but this would be my first vehicle in over 10 years.

I'm looking for a first generation Tacoma or '89-'94 pickup. I want a basic 2WD, 4 cylinder manual truck and I like the look of the older compact pickups. Most of these are rusted out in Canada, most of the survivors are 4x4s and most Tacomas are automatics, so what I'm looking for is kind of hard to find.

I came across this on Kijiji https://www.kijijiautos.ca/cars/toyota/tacoma/#vip=19635921
It's originally from Las Vegas and rust free. Is this a good deal? I would have to arrange shipping as we're in lockdown right now but at least it's in Canada. It's kind of hard to judge pricing as there are so many variables with these and I know SR5's, 6 cylinders and 4x4s command more. On the other hand I see rustbuckets listed for $5k.

The other route I'm considering is importing one from the southern US. I've been looking on Marketplace in areas like North Carolina and Georgia and see deals as low as $3500US, these typically aren't in as nice shape as the one above but they aren't rusty. Is shipping and importing ever worth the cost and hassle or should I just wait out the pandemic?

Any advice for how to score a first gen Tacoma in good shape in Canada would be much appreciated!

 

There is a “Canada” forum. Try this post there.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld
Good luck finding your dream Taco.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to the TW forum eclectric

Have you consider looking in the desert, I really don't know what the pre
owned 2WD market is but I see quite a few of them

 

Thanks for the replies folks! I ended up finding one in reasonable shape near me, owned by a retired Toyota mechanic. Look forward to taking care of it and improving it. I'll get some pics and introduce myself properly.