Found out my odometer was rolled back, looking for advice

Hello,

Haven’t been on here in a while but looking for advice as to how I should go about selling my truck and for how much. I found out the previous owner to my first Gen Tacoma rolled back the odometer. About 6 months before POS that sold me truck, he bought it from an exterminator company out in CA with about 205k miles. I bought it with supposedly 72.5k miles.

I now live in CO and was quoted $8.5k to fix various things on it so that prompted me to buy a new Tacoma since I’m out of school and was able to afford one. That’s how I found out my 2004 was rolled back.

How I know the first owner was an exterminator company is because in the right light you can see where the paint is less faded. It wasn’t obvious when I first saw the truck and didn’t notice it until 2 year after I bought it.

I really don’t know the value of this truck but as it stands currently it has the old man emu heavy duty lift kit, a newer transmission installed about 40k miles ago, about halfway through the current timing belt’s life, a rebuilt engine from a cracked head about 40k miles ago. Currently sitting on general grabber ATxs with about 10k miles, probably less. Oh and the odometer is currently around 145k miles so I’m guessing there’s really 280k miles on the truck.

The shop that quoted me $8.5k said I needed various leaks fixed which I’m not convinced I have, replace a squeaky bearing in the rear end, repair a wire to fix the AC compressor (some how was severed), replace the leaky steering rack, and replace the power steering pump. The truck honestly drives fine and I’m pretty sure they were just trying to take advantage of young guy.

Any advice or recommendations as what I should do with this truck would be great. I currently do not have the capacity to own two vehicles. Thank you in advance

 

Sell it as is and be honest about the mileage.

 

8.5k to fix a truck that's worth less than that is a no go. Someone would likely buy it for some purpose or another but as a DD. Nah...

 

When signing over the title you’ll just need to mark not actual mileage and explain to the buyer what happened. Hopefully you can find a buyer that will do a lot of the work on the truck him or herself, just be honest and fair.

BTW, OP I’m sorry you had that bad experience of purchasing a vehicle, I’ve heard of people rolling back odometers but as far as I know I never experienced that myself

 

you have a trans am too?

speaking of mileage... my trans am has ~340k miles on the original engine. Still runs fine and was mostly restored about 20ish years ago. has driven maybe 10k miles in the past 15ish years

 

I wish. It’s my dream car.

 

It’s beautiful car!

 

I’m just glad the POS is in prison, the unfortunate part is he only plead guilty for sales between 2017 and 2021…
He sold it to me in 2016 so no dough for me :/

Screw it ill name drop, Seymur Khalilov, you should be able to find the story on Google if you Google that name with odometer roll back

I have a brand new 2023 now, I like the old truck better in a lot of ways

 

It’s a drag you didn’t get any compensation for the fraudulent sale, unfortunately that’s the way it goes sometimes, but I do think you’ll do okay with the sale of your truck as they’re still in demand and prices are still up. My neighbor totaled his 04 and the insurance gave him 15 grand for it, he couldn’t believe it!

As for you liking the 04, I can’t blame you, in many ways I prefer my 1986 over my 2009

 

Her in Arizona everytime the vehicle is emmision tested they record the mileage. Shows up on carfax and DMV will pick it up when you do a title transfer.

 

In your situation, if you are mechanically inclined and have a shop you could do it yourself. Second option would be to try and find a trusted shop or specialty Toyota shop that may be able to prioritize the repairs and give you a better price. Research all the repairs to get a better understanding of what’s all involved so you know what they are talking about. Third, as others have suggested be honest and sell it. Another enthusiast that is handy may purchase it.

 

My dad being a tool hoarder I would be able to do all the repairs myself, however, he still lives in CA. I’m going into Carmax tomorrow just to see how much they will offer. Do any of you know if I have to get a special title?

 

Where things Get interesting it has to be proved that it was done with criminal intent

 

Is the 04 a manual or auto transmission?

 

if everything is in acceptable mechanical condition it won't be a huge knock against the price if you're honest that you think it's a 300k mi truck and price it like comparable ones. The Toyota 4wd market in CO is pretty good and I'm sure someone would pick it up with the intent to fix

 

it’s an auto

 

Why do you want to sell the truck? Most of your issues can be neglected for plenty of time. It sounds like you like your truck. Keep it and enjoy it and do the repairs yourself when funds and time allow.

 

I don’t have a house nor the tools myself, and I’m currently in the process of joining the military. I want to reduce the amount of items I own. You are right, I do like this first Gen Tacoma however I am trying to buy a house after Officer candidate school

 

I don't think the shop is trying to take advantage of you. If you brought the truck in and said go over it, and let me know what needs to be addressed, it sounds like they did a thorough job. Just because you have various things wrong doesn't mean they all need to be addressed immediately. You should prioritize the work list and see what you can chip away at as money allows. Certain jobs are easier than others, and if you have access to an ample tool supply at your dads, then try to tackle of some of the work you can do on your own. Depending on which bearing in the rear end is toast, you might have to have the shop do the work. You can absolutely do rear wheel bearings (with the right tools), but leave the 3rd member / diff bearings to a gear shop. You could save lots of money by removing the 3rd member yourself though.

 

So the way I see it, you have 3 primary options [assuming you absolutely don't want to keep it]:
1.) Sell it as is. Easiest option, but with a lot of looming repairs and its less-than-ideal history, you almost certainly lose money this way.
2.) Find a better shop and fix any urgent repairs, then sell. You still probably lose money.
3.) Fix it up yourself, cutting out all the shop labor costs, and then sell it and you might break even or even make a small profit.