Looking at a 2006 DCSB TRD this weekend to purchase

Hello TW (first post),

Been lurking here for a bit while I've been on the hunt for a dual cab manual Tacoma to purchase. Found one I'm going to look at this weekend and curious if anyone has tips on things to look at or check out to make sure I'm making a good purchase. The idea for this truck is I will drive it around for the next couple of years and get it looking cool and then my son will take it over when he starts driving. Hoping for a fun truck for us to wrench on together and for him to learn to drive a standard.

It's a 2006 DCSB TRD Off-Road 6-sp manual. It's got 220K miles and spent most of its life in Kansas. The Carfax I ran doesn't have many entries in the way of maintenance...so I am hoping the person either did their own maintenance or just took it somewhere that didn't report to whatever databases Carfax pulls from. The interior is in great shape, so I am hoping that means they took care of the rest of it.

There were two minor accidents on the Carfax. The first was in 2007 and there isn't much info on it, but I figure whatever issues happened from that have been worked out by now. The second was hitting an animal on the front left corner, which I will be look at for any major issues. There is also a recall on the rear springs that maybe hasn't been done? Haven't seen anything about recalls while reading here.

Anyway, would appreciate any specific Tacoma advice. I will test drive it, but not sure I will tell any clutch issues outside of something obvious. I'm driving to see it, so I can bring whatever tools make sense. If all goes well, hopefully I will be doing an intro post after the weekend.

Thanks in advance,
JP

 

That year had head gasket issues.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Is there a way I could see this when I look at it? I'd hope at 200K+ miles if it had the issue it would have been addressed by now. Maybe a false hope?

 

I thought the 2005’s had the gasket issue

 

They both do

 

I believe later model 2006 1GRFE's had the gasket issue resolved. Mine is a 2006 built in 08/06 with 230,000 miles and supercharged (7psi) with no issues.

 

It appears this one was an 05/2006 model...that is the first entry on the Carfax.

Is there anyway to tell if it is having that issue without pulling the head and inspecting/replacing the gasket?

 

At some point in late 06 they are supposed to be a different material head gasket but I do also see a few 07 head gasket threads every now and then

 

Water noise in the dash, overheating, coolant reservoir overflowing, I had put new clean white spark plugs into my engine with a blown head gasket and a few hundred miles later took them all out. Most were still white while one was bright pink

 

Opening the radiator cap and check for milky residue or pull the dipstick and check that it doesn't look like chocolate pudding. Right way to check is a leakdown test.

 

Much appreciated.

Any other tips? Long time Jeep guy here, but this will be my first Toyota truck.

 

I’d think if it made it to 220k and runs well that HG is not blown.

carfax is useless. They don’t report everything. I’ve inspected a truck I was looking at that had sketchy looking stuff despite clean carfax and passed on it.

 

Don't forget to look for rust on the frame, leaks, damage, etc.

If it's 4wd make sure that works.

True TRD OffRoads will have a rear electronic locking differential, if that's not present it isn't a TRD OffRoad.

 

That's a good tip about actually trying the 4WD. I assume it's similar to other 4X4 vehicles - put it in neutral, shift the Transfer Case, then drive? Any other relevant buttons? Without jacking up the rear pumpkin and turning the rear wheels and seeing if they turn together, any way to know for sure the rear locker is working? I guess I could try to get off-camber enough where one wheel is in the air and make sure the one with traction gets power? Not sure what the seller is going to allow by way of testing like that.

 

2H-4H-2H shift can be made at any time as long as your under 55 mph, to get in and out of 4L you must be under 3 MPH and have the clutch fully depressed. If conditions are not correct for a shift the system will beep and you will have to return the switch to the previous position and try again.

The locker only works in 4L so you have to be in 4L to engage it.

 

That year also had motor mount issues.

 

Look inside the frame by the cats that's where the rust is bad,
at 220k I wouldn't worry about the HG, they usually blow by 100k'
spring recall is for replacing the three leaf with a four leaf,
while there check for spiral cable recall,

on gravel 4H to 4L once engaged push the locker button when lite flashes turn steering wheel one way and move forward until it locks, once verified unlock it so you don't tear it up.

 

The head gasket issue is grossly exaggerated on the internet. The problem exists, but it's not near as bad as the internet claims it is. Somewhere on TW there's a thread asking 2005 and 2006 owners if they had head gasket issues. I don't recall the exact percentage, but I believe it was less than 15% that had a head gasket problem. The issue was resolved by Toyota in November 2005.

Technically the 2005 and 2006 didn't have engine mount issues, it had frame issues where the engine mount brackets were welded to the frame, the frame is known to collapse in that area. It's another grossly exaggerated issue on the internet. The issue was resolved by Toyota in November 2005.

A much more common issue is frame rust, it affects all years, and comments above posted by other members describe it well.

 

to get it in 4-lo you have to be stopped and in neutral with the clutch fully engaged, I believe.