2nd gen common issues?

I’m looking to buy a 2nd gen (2010-2015) and was wondering if there were common issues I should ask about after 200k miles…for example; on my first Gen I knew to ask if they had done the timing belt after 120k miles or so.

 

Hey, my 2015 only ever had one issue early on and that was speaker going bad. Besides that it was a great truck and I had no complaints. I only had it up to around 70k miles so still young truck. But speakers are something that could be over looked when test driving. I'd just hate to buy one to then have to do new speakers right away.

 

depends where you live. If you are anywhere near the rustbelts of the US or winter areas the frame rots away pretty good.

Outside of that they are pretty solid. You will here varying things but many just keep going.

 

Refreshing to hear. Would you have any reservations about buying a 200k mile 2nd gen? Should I expect it to get 400k miles like a lot of 1st gens? Haha

 

depends what you are going to with it and how much it is. If It was dirt cheap I wouldn't have any issues. At 200k check to see if various stuff has been done. At that point shocks, bushings, ball joints, belts, u joints etc all will have wear and tear so not so much as bad just 200k miles.

Its all mostly easy to replace if your up to it.

 

2010 and up you are good
but please give any taco a good frame inspection, especially upfront near the cats

 

Frame rust

 

Something you might not know about until you get the truck in for an alignment is whether or not the cam bolts on the lower control arms are frozen in place. That often necessitates cutting the bolts out with a sawzall and replacing the control arms.

Seepage on the power steering rack is common, doesn’t mean you’re going to need to replace the rack necessarily, though. Mine had that, and after cleaning it up, flushing the power steering fluid, and putting in a couple of ounces of Lubegard, it has barely seeped at all in 10K miles.

As mentioned by others, stock shocks are common on older Tacoma‘s, and you should plan on replacing them if you see they are original. Probably need idler and tensioner pulleys if they’ve never been replaced.

Make sure the 4WD actuators are working properly. You want to see that the transitions to 4Hi and 4Lo aren’t problematic.

Good luck with your search!

 

I'm at 188k on my '15 and aside from typical maintenance (fluids, spark plugs, etc) the only thing I've had to do is change the u-joints on the rear drive shaft, which is to be expected.
I would mirror those that said frame rust, check that out thoroughly if you live somewhere they salt the roads.

 

2005 had head gasket issues also

 

If it's been abused, craked radiator core support amongst other things. I would suggest doing the rear diff breather mod if your planning on off-roading, it's cheap and could save you a few hundred $ down the road.

 

2012s had real Secondary Air Injection problems, improved in '13+, and some home brew fixes posted around here.

 

All good info above, no matter what you look at either look everything over closely yourself or if your not confident in doing so have a shop do a pre-purchase inspection before buying.

 

230k on an 07 here
Fan connector burns out
Fan resistors burn out but have since seen a new part # from Toyota
I have seen most of the issues mentioned here. She’s been beat on though

 

No issues with my '08 except the u-joints went out. Got new ones with zerk fittings. It has been a perfect vehicle

 

What state is the truck from? That's going to be the biggest issue...rust...

Look out for a sticky Lower Intermediate Steering Shaft if it's in a rust area..
Seized caliper pins, seized calipers - Rust
Brake cable issues/sticking Rust
Rear Drums "Stuck on the hub" Rust
Frame Rust
Exhaust system rust from the spring bolts off the manifold to the connection joints down the pipe...



Non-regional
Wheel bearings
Fan climate blower motor
A/C Clutch/Compressor/Charge
4wd
2.7L manifold crack (cold water from puddles splashes in the engine and physics takes care of metals cooling and cracking)
Headlights "aging and cracked"

 

^^^ This ^^^
Check the foam filter inside of the Secondary Air Injection pump. The procedure is in here and on YouTube. Search for "Toyota Tacoma "UniFilter". Order a new UniFilter ahead of time. (about $15 on Amazon) Remove the foam filter inside of the pump housing and install the UniFilter on the air intake of the pump. If the factory foam filter deteriorates bad enough, it will get sucked into the expensive air-induction valves and ruin them. Huge $$$ to fix. The one on my 2014 was fine when I removed the pump cover, but it's not really robust-looking and I could see how it could easily get sucked into the intake. I installed the new filter and the whole job took about 20 minutes.

Go easy on the plastic parts of the pump and intake covers when you remove them. They're stubborn but will let go with gentle persuasion.

 

Run a carfax. Make sure mileage matches the report. I have seen some 250k trucks with 89k in the dash.

 

Rust
Blown head gaskets if it’s an earlier year

 

If it has the subwoofer on the wall, it can develop intermittent coil whine. My solution was ripping it out and having more space, but no sub.