I've come to the Dark Side (Former Jeep Owner with Tacoma Questions)

Hello! Name's Battle but people sometimes call me Logan in real life. I'm a Jeep guy who just sold a fairly modded trail Cherokee due to it being way too clean for Western New York where I now live. I love that truck but couldn't see it get destroyed by the metric ton of salt New York decides to use during the winter. I had way too much sentimental investment in that thing.

Anyways, I'm now looking at Tacoma's. I'm from Tennessee and the off-road club I was in before I moved up to the frozen north was filled with Toyota guys. I've always been impressed by the trucks, and I'm getting ready to move into a new house, so I figured a Tacoma is the next logical replacement for the Jeep.

I think I found one I'm interested in. It's a 2003 TRD 4x4 3.4 liter 5sp. 171K miles and runs and drives great. But, there's a lot of buts. It's a northern truck through and through. The body is clean but the bumpers are trashed. The frame was recalled, but the seller told me the dealer that did the work didn't swap over his old man emu parts (which I would have been furious about) so he sort of lost interest and is looking for a four door wagon for his new kiddo.

After driving it, I feel in love. It's so rough and tumble but has a ton of character and seems to have a lot of life left in it. Anyways, here are the problems I've identified from my short test drive.

-It has a CEL. I'm pretty sure it's an EVAP code as he told me there's corrosion on the fuel sending unit cap and it's letting vapor run past (seems legit, still need to pull the exact code).

-While the frame was replaced and is fairly clean, it has rust. The bumpers are bad (the rear is almost trashed) and the suspension looks to have a decent amount of surface rust.

-Fourth gear has a slight grind. It engages just fine, it's more of a noise but you can still feel some notchiness. I guess the synchro is worn out.

-There's a weird vibration/sensation at super low speeds. Its with the clutch disengaged and engaged. It goes away after say 3 mph. It's almost like there's some low speed rolling resistance.

-He said he had the "grey wire" mod done on the factory e-locker. Not sure what that is as this would be my first Toyota, but I guess it allows you to engage the locker in 4hi? He wasn't sure about the lockers operation though and I didn't want to engage it on dry pavement. 4 low definitely engages though.

-The clutch pedal makes a squeaking noise.

I'm going to have a dealer look at it before I make a final decision, but I offered the guy $5k and he accepted. Does anyone have any thoughts about the problems I pointed out? Should I just stay away?

Here's the truck: https://rochester.craigslist.org/cto/6160978032.html

 

I love my truck but I wouldn't own one in NY, for the exact same reason you couldn't own your Jeep up there. It would be painful to watch it rust away.

 

The frame replacement is a good deal wouldn't touch one with out it
NNot sure about mechanical problems but also I think it has a timing belt, would ask about that
II'm on my 4 taco. First 3 frames rusted but all the body's where perfect
TThat price seems pretty good but as you know may need some cash to fix problems