Buy a new 3rd gen or used 2nd gen?

It's a head gasket, that's top end, not a whole new engine by a long shot, unless I'm missing something. Just watch your oil for milky deposits.

 

Oh I thought that usually by the time it's caught the engine has warped from heat and is totaled. Though I only have experience with head gasket failure in motorcycles personally so I could be wrong

 

New head gaskets are what, about a $3K job? Selling your truck and buying a new one (new/used or new), you’re pretty much guaranteed to spend more than $3K when that’s all said and done, especially with taxes... And if you get some other used truck, you don’t how it was treated before you, so you may end up spending another few grand fixing unknown problems you inherited, as you were trying to avoid losing money. Meanwhile, the guy who buys your current truck could go another 10 years before those head gaskets actually fail... They’re 16 years old and haven’t a problem yet. We sold our ‘06 Tundra 4.0 with about 175K miles and it still ran perfect.

 

Only if you allow it to actually overheat. If you see that temp gauge rising, kill it and let it cool immediately.

 

OG 80's pickups are the sexiest gen of them all though

 

no, not normally. Typically you are fine and worst case, the head warps. Motorcycles, mostly being air cooled have less time to catastrophic damage. I blew a head gasket on a dodge 3.6l engine at 90k miles and they repaired it.

 

very comforting to know. i'd def rather spend a few grand on fixing this if it ever happens than have to take out a loan for something new. now if i can also just keep this rust at bay too..

 

2nd gens are nice, but finance a nearly 10 year old truck with a 100k miles?? Uh ,,, no

 

I’m on the “keep your truck” team.

I wanted to buy a used Tacoma but I could only afford a new one. Yes, you read that right and I’m not being sarcastic. Prices are crazy these days and 2nd Gens are such great trucks.

 

No anything used I'd pay cash

 

Ahhh okay, I thought you were going to finance either a 2nd or 3rd, I'm a stupid dumb dumb today, sorry

Honestly I hopped on it, because I used to be that guy. I would finance old miled-out vehicles so I could get a nicer model, when in reality I should have bought a lower model/trim but newer. Of course every time I'd have myself stuck in a vehicle that's worth less than I owe. I spent years in that cycle and don't want to see others stuck in it. I'm a good a spot now, finally have a nearly new truck that's nearly paid off.

 

https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1988/toyota/pickup/101556867

 

I had to lol on this reply.

I bought a 2010 Mazda CX-9 after my 2003 Pilot's accident...which I got $4600 total loss. I added the difference to have $10K available and went searching for my used vehicle. That was Oct 2018.

Eventually I used that CX-9 that had 112K miles at time of purchase and traded it in for my 2021 Sport which I bought 1 year ago today!

Soooo, definitely only finance a NEW vehicle.

 

Unless you are replacing the head due to excessive warpage, you'll want to get your old ones shaved/milled down anyway. I haven't done the job on a car/truck in 20 years, so I can't even remember if I removed the valves, as it was an older car (Datsun 260Z). Back then, it wasn't as common to buy a whole new head with valves already in it. If you start to see a LOT of white smoke from your exhaust, or milky oil, it's probably your head gasket. As mentioned, regular antifreeze changes with quality AF will go a long way to avoiding issues, as will using distilled water. As a plus, if it does happen, your engine will never look as clean as after being steam cleaned from the inside.

 

Used market is crazy right now, be surprised what you could get for yours.

Buy new, just the piece of mind of it not breaking down is worth it.

 

Basing a truck purchase on MPGs seems very odd to me, but each to their own, truly all mileage will vary I guess, because a LOT of things factored into my truck purchase but not once did I have mileage even in the top 10 of wants. Of course people would like as good MPGs as they can get but seems odd to me to have MPGs be such a high priority.

 

How about keeping the 2006 for a couple more years? Roll the dice on the head gasket and see if you luck holds. Then see how you feel when the 4th Gens appear.

https://www.gearpatrol.com/cars/g37013271/future-toyota-tacoma/

 

Not sure where you're located, but I recently upgraded from a 2006 (260k on the clock) to a 2016 with less than 100k for less than $30k OTD. There are deals out there, even in this crazy market.

 

I agree with you.

I've owned two vehicles with at least a 3.5L engine and 19 gallon tanks.

NEW 2003 Honda Pilot (3.5L) 15 years of ownership
USED 2010 Mazda CX-9 (3.7L) 2.5 years of ownership

Setting the trip-meter and going to just about empty, I was averaging between 345-365 miles per tank full.

18.15
19.21

Numbers above are miles divided by tank size 19GL.

With my Sport having a 22 gallon tank and me reporting 375-385 miles per full-tank, these numbers change slightly.

17.05
17.50

Now, until I do a more scrutinized test...I'm not upset about these estimated numbers. It all depends on my driving habits, towing, and engaging 4H.

Since I am familiar with the expectation of a 3.5L engine, it was not a deal-breaker when I went looking for my Tacoma.

 

For sure, of course I'd want was good of MPGs as I could get but I knew exactly what I was getting into when I purchased a 3rd gen V6.