New Gen 2 Buyer Help!

Hello Everyone! Thanks for the add. Not sure what happened to my first post. It wouldn’t ler me reply. I'm currently in the market for a 4x4 V6 Gen 2 Tacoma. I'm been looking over the past few months and the main concern I'm running into is rust. I live in the Northeast so asking a lot of the sellers about the frame recall and what was performed. I recently came across this 2008 that seems to be a good deal if it checks out. The owner does not know if the frame was replaced, but I dug into the service records and in 2014 found this:

11/14 "TECH DID NOT FIND ANY RUST PERFORATION..ADVISED CUSTOMER HE HAS TO GET VEHICLE ~|~E0D LIMITED SERVICE CAMPAIGN E0D (SPECIFIC 20 COLD CLIMATE STATES ONL ~|~ ~|~TECH DID NOT FIND ANY RUST PERFORATION..ADVISED CUSTOMER HE HAS TO GET VEHICLE UNDERCOATED FOR THE FOR RUST PERFORATION"

Seems like it may have been remedied before the recall. Thoughts? He sent me some pictures of the frame. Looks to have some coating on it but can't really tell if this is new and covering up anything.

There's also some rust on the engine bay that concerns me. Attached pictures below.

Truck is a 2008 and has 90k miles. Interior looks immaculate and exterior very good as well. Please let me know your thoughts on if you see any cause for concern.

 

Rust in the engine bay? Has it been in a flood area? Are you close to salt water?

 

What kind of weatherproofing is on that frame, let’s hope it is not rubberized, and it is an oil based

 

He’s located on the east coast in NY. Not really near the ocean, but a lot of snow and salt I’m sure.

 

Please stay away from that truck OP, having rubberized undercoat is worst than having nothing at all because it traps moister and you can’t even get to the rust before it’s too late. Look at the engine bay even has rust, I think the seller also sprayed rubberized undercoat over what Toyota did. You can tell that has hidden rust, I would not buy.

it’s better to go on auto trader and do a nationwide search and just pick up a truck or even get a truck delivered to you. That’s what I did I got a truck from Florida and live in NC, I don’t even have a speck of rust anywhere.

I know the mileage is tempting to buy that truck but these 2nd gen Tacomas are bullet proof and will last a very long time even with low maintenance. Only thing I would worry about is rust especially where you live. Get a clean rust free truck from the south without rubberized undercoat sprayed on it and Fluid Film it every year. That truck above will rust so fast and trap moister in the northeast real quick.

 

Re-posting from your first thread...it's also possible they may be limiting your activity until they review your new account or something.

I've been looking as well. Between Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. I had to open my search area up. I think you will find there is a reason people like buying vehicles from the west side of the US. I'm in Texas, so it's a tad closer, but I am flying to go purchase one this Friday and drive it back. Was worth it to me to make sure the foundation was good...especially for a 200k mile truck. I went to look at one in Texas that spent most of its life in Kansas and the frame was a disaster. I am glad I went to look in person.

Good luck with the search.

 

Thanks for the replies. Definitely agree now that I should stay away from that first truck. I've come across another that seems to be a good deal. Thoughts?

2008 Dual Cab Long Bed: 119,xxx miles

Frame looks much better than previous example I believe. Checked the vin and found this:

RECALL # 6 ~|~CUSTOMER STATES CHECK AND PERFORM OPEN RECALL AS PER TOYOTA GUIDLINES ~|~PERFROM INSPECTION FOUND NO SIGNFICANT PERFORATION ~|~TECH PERFORMED RECALL ACORDING TO TOYOTA GUIDLINES

Seems like a conflicting note. What do you think?

 

Looks pretty from the outside and frame looks good. Are you ok with a Sport? (no electronic locking rear diff) You ok with the mileage? Whether it's an auto or manual?

 

For the price mileage seems great. Was looking for something with 125k or less so it checks out and auto trans which is also what I was looking for. What’s the benefit of locking diff?

My only other concern is dual cab with long bed. Not sure if it will be too long for me but will need to see in person. Was going back and forth between access cab + long bed or dual cab + short bed, but maybe this will suit me so I don’t have to choose now.

 

I think it's all personal based on how you plan to use it. For me, I absolutely wanted 4 full doors, I will infrequently use the bed but want that utility when I need it, and will likely do some light/medium trails. So for me the short bed and the locking diff were things that fit my expected use.

Maybe you plan to camp or haul stuff all the time and the extra bed length is important to you.

Curious on price. The one I'm buying tomorrow is a 2008 DCSB Off-road 6 speed manual 200K miles, been in Nevada it's whole life so frame looks immaculate. It also has $2K worth of fresh lift goodies on it which is maybe exactly the decisions I would make for the lift. I'm getting it for $15K.

 

That’s your truck. Get off the couch.

 

Just a small point -- I think the word "HELP" in post titles is supposed to be reserved for actual emergencies, i.e. people whose trucks have broken down while deep off-road, etc. You might consider editing your post title to remove that word.

 

Ugh..Was hoping so but maybe not. Just checked the CarFax and found this. It’s strange, no accidents reported and the title is clean, but the last record shows this: