New member needing buying tips for 08 Tacoma

Hello all! I am considering a Tacoma to replace my 2015 Honda Accord Sport. My wife and I run into far too many situations where we need to haul stuff around and I thought an economical smaller pickup truck would be great for us. I have my eyes on a 2008 Tacoma SR5 PreRunner that was just reduced by the local Mazda dealership here. It is in fantastic condition with only 69,000 miles. It has spent most of its life in Texas, then Iowa for the last couple of years and now Minnesota. I have read into all the recalls Toyota has issued for this truck and the carfax given to me by the dealer shows that a recall had been done on the truck but it was vague: I believe it was the one regarding the leaf springs. I can't figure out if the rusty frame recall pertains to this year truck or not but if there was ever any rust on the frame I can't see it because it has been sprayed with sticky rustproof stuff. I crawled under the truck and closely inspected the frame and noticed the top of the crossmember wasn't sprayed nor were the insides of the frame rails. I used the camera on my phone and ran it along the inside frame rails and found everything to be in great shape. I'm wondering if the A-arms were part of the rust recall because I saw that they had not been sprayed, but they had no rust so I'm not too concerned. I'm also wondering if any of you guys have run into the unintended acceleration/idle surge issues I've read about. I test drove it for about 25 minutes and never had any issues and everything worked as it should. I am very interested in this truck and am only wishing it was a 4wd but I've driven RWD v-8 cars in MN winters since I was 16 so I'm not super bummed about it. I'm basically looking for tips on anything else I should look for with this truck, problem-wise. I want to be sure that if there are any recall issues that weren't taken care of will indeed be covered by Toyota (I've read a million stories of people who got screwed by Toyota with the frame rust issues and became stuck with a truck that was unsafe to drive and worth nothing). Have you guys had any major problems with these trucks or can I hopefully expect many miles of trouble free driving? Thanks so much!

 

Ive owned Gen 1 and 2 without any major problems. I live in Cali so rust is not a major concern. There isn't a lot of weight over the rear wheels so a 2wd probably sucks in the snow unless you throw some weight in the bed. Sounds like Toyota may have already treated this trucks frame. See some other threads below dealing with the frame recal. If it were me, I'd hold out for the 4x4 since it will perform better in snow, but it does sound like a good deal and a solid truck. Good luck with your decision and welcome to TW!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-frame-recall.385020/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/what-to-do-frame-recall-on-my-tacoma.377414/

 

Thanks! Yeah, my first choice is a 2005 4x4 Extracab with a long bed. It has 97k on it and some nice black TRD 17" wheels. They want $18,000 but I'm gonna see how low I can get them. I won't do more than 15 or so.