Did I make a mistake buying a 2011 Tacoma?

need one of every generation at that age!!

 

I look at it this way. We are all going to be dead a long time . So no matter how old you are , do everything and anything you enjoy if you have the means. Obviously certain family obligations come first , but if you enjoy stuff like this and feel good why not . 80… 90 ….

 

Nice truck ! Maintain it and coat the frame and you will be golden !

 

I was noticing the 2011 have a rear spring issue. They say if you notice 3 leaf pack clamps it is still the suspect spring. There was a recall for one of the leafs braking and pivoting into the brake line or gas tank. If you notice 4 clamps it is the replacement spring. I looked up my VIN # on the Toyota recall sight and it showed no open recalls but in the pictures of my truck I see 3 spring clamps not the 4 there is supposed to be.I also see conflicting information about the number of clamps indicating a replacement spring.

 

Congrats on the new truck! Here's my 2011 ACLB. 173k miles, so far the rust is manageable.

 

It looks great! Can you carry much of a load without the rear end sagging? On my 2001 4WD I had to get some off road springs that when added to the stock springs lifted it about 1.5" or so and I was then able to load the bed up with as much as I wanted without it sagging. What brand of cap do you have on the back? What state are you located in? That looks like a Wisconsin "work Zone" sign!

 

I have air bags for any extra load, it doesn't do too bad though. I've heard it's worth upgrading rear leafs if you plan on carrying any load. The topper is a Unicover Legend, it's great but the clear coat is starting to peel in some places. I really like having it because it makes the bed storage more secure. That pic was taken in Michigan's UP, I just moved to the northern Lower Peninsula from Marquette last month.

 

Well I took delivery of the truck. It cost $1000 but it was the easiest 1200 mile trip I never took It would have easily cost that much for the plane ticket and gas for the drive home. But I admit buying without seeing it in person was a gamble.I had all the pictures plus pictures of the under carriage.I had the Carfax which showed this truck was well taken care of and this dealer usually only offers vehicles in nicer shape but you pay for that. The frame is spotless. I ran it through the car wash and barely even light dust remained inside the frame rails. Very light surface rust on the original exhaust was the only corrosion.
I believe the roof was repainted as someone here mentioned the sun is a paint killer in NM. The tops of the fender flairs have clear coat degradation a bit also. If it bothers me I have a friend who could touch up that.
The delivery driver mentioned he has never transported a Tacoma with a 6 speed manual transmission before. It's a lot of fun to drive and the clutch was replaced at 110k. The Carfax shows the owner was meticulous about changing the oil every 5k miles.
There is a Toyota guy on You Tube ,"The Car Care Nut", who is a certified Toyota tech who points out on the 4.0 ltr V6 it is worth it to change the oil every 5k . Something about how the VVT system works best with clean oil. That and proper coolant maintenance make it the 500k motor. So I might preemptively change the water pump and all the serpentine idlers and all the stuff that goes along with that. Also going to change out all the trans and differential oils with synthetic and replace the filler plugs with stainless for the Wisconsin winters before getting the under coating sprayed on before winter.
I was looking at taking it to a NHOU under coating place. They look like they do a pretty thorough job.
I was lucky enough to have a corn field across the road from me since 1990 when I built my house.2 years ago that ended!

 

Congrats on the new truck!