Did I make a huge mistake?

Use the regional forum to ask for help too. Many people are happy to lend a hand or tools to their neighbors.

Good luck with the truck and like others have said, enjoy it and work on the issues as they arise.

 

Preach it. Well said

 

It doesn’t hurt to ask fellow Taco drivers you see around town who they use to service their truck.. I’m sure anyone would be glad to help. And hey you may run into someone that has rebuilt their Tacoma from the ground up themselves. That kind of person would most likely have already done those repairs before!

Look at it this way- you just saved a stray that needs some love and care. This truck is in “nurse it back to health” shape, not “put ‘er down” shape. Most vehicles will take care of You if you give them the love they need.

Congrats

 

Yeah, she'll treat u right after a little tlc

 

Well said and you are 100% correct.
OP, it is pretty crazy the community that’s out there for Tacoma drivers (really a lot of Toyota’s. My son has a 92 land cruiser and is ALWAYS getting stopped and asked questions) and how helpful they can be. I’ve had people wait in parking lots by my truck just to ask questions about mods on it and I have done the same (not waiting by their trucks, I’m a drive slowly around creepily and act like it’s coincidence they show up at the exact moment I pull up next to them Kinda guy). Most are very willing and love talking about what they have done and freely give advice about questions you may have. This was my first Tacoma and I was blown away by the Toyota community no matter where I travel to. I was a Ram truck driver for 10 years. Had 3 new ones and there was no Ram community. There is Toyota community and then there is everything else. Don’t be shy, ask around. I’m just north of you in Wyoming. if you are ever up my way I’d gladly help out

 

This! My valve covers have been leaking alittle since my truck was 1 year old (I have a 2010). I’m installing upgraded cam gears this spring so I’m finally going to replace the seals but only because I’ll already be in there. If I were you I’d watch your oil level. If it’s not going down between oil changes I wouldn’t worry about rushing to fix it - I put mine off for 9 years and am super OCD about maintenance.

doing the wheel bearing and CV yourself it sounds like you already finished most of the hardest repairs yourself.

Maybe get a second opinion on the ball joints. Never heard of the drive in circles test.

I think you should give the truck alittle TLC and keep it! Tacoma prices are insane right now and you got a pretty decent deal.

 

There's a great group of guys in the CO BS thread. Be careful with @johntoyota he's a bitch

@Littles @deadpocketss @WarFab Armor just to name a few

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/colorado-b-s-thread.131441/

 

Times two on what WreeklessAbandon just said. So many good dudes on Tacoma World that wrenches on their own vehicles.
Many will help with just some beer and cigs and a little bit of money. Most of your issues are minor things. Fix them and enjoy
that long bed. Cause Tacoma long beds rule.

 

It’s a 14 year old truck, as long as there aren’t any major issues like transmission, then you’re good. Just deal with repairs as they come. The valve cover isn’t a major issue, just monitor it and yes you can do it yourself if you feel adventurous if you research and prep yourself. Maybe try to get a helping hand from someone on this forum that has done it before.

You’ll be fine

 

If you get a chance I would have a Toyo dealer inspect frame before warranty or what ever they call it runs out.
!5 years from original purchase date.
Nice truck - Good Luck

 

Chin up. Some of us have made worse mistakes. If you don't DIY, spend some time finding a quality mechanic that fits your budget and fix things as you go. Great looking truck.

 

I read your whole post. It seems like an impulse purchase. You had to make the buy to see how you would actually feel and now it’s stressing you out. Check it off bucket list and move on who cares. Your Subie is fine and your are stressing a what if. The Tacoma looks cool but has already been a 14k money hole. Easy to sit back and say how awesome it is, hell we all have one. If I was super strapped I wouldn’t drop 14k and endless nights of zero sleep worrying. Drive it for a a few months and sell it like you got a free rental. A truck with 140k will never be perfect and 14k goes a long way for quality of life. Especially if your other car is just fine. Enjoy it like you know it will be gone in under a year.

good thing is the truck more or less will retain its full value, you might even be able to flip a profit, it’s not like you drove a new one off a lot and immediately lost 5k.be prepared to fiddle endlessly with the thing in meantime.

you won’t get a fully rational balanced opinion coming to a car forum tho.

 

X2 on having Toyota look at the frame soon. Mine was replaced on my 09 in the last year or two. Also, I think you got your truck for a great price, my 09 with 130k got me 22k (some mods, but not major) from insurance. Good luck with the truck, you’ll love it

 

I agree with the others. If you already did the cv and ecgs you can do the rest. Also I'm sure there are some local TW members that would be happy to give your truck a once over and lend a hand. The 'back country guide' caught my attention -- there's gotta be some people in your area that would barter some back country activity for a day working in the garage.

 

I have a slightly different perspective on cars. I prefer to buy newer cars in order to buy down risk of being inconvenienced with something breaking at the most inconvenient time or leaving me stranded. Depending on the price range and car, my first preference is to buy one that's a year old, it's basically like getting a brand new car but letting someone else take the big first year depreciation hit. If I can't afford that, I'll get something 3 years old (30k miles), like off a lease because the car will almost be half off at that point and still plenty of life left on the car.

I don't know your financial situation or what you can afford, but I don't consider the actual price of the car when I ask myself is this affordable. I consider the ownership cost of the car in my budgeting. For example, Tacos have amazing resale value, if I buy an almost new one (1-2 years old) for say $35k and 3 years latter can sell it for $30k I only spent $5k and odds are all I paid for is a few oil changes. Now, if I got a 10 year old truck for $15k and 3 years latter sold it for $12k but had to spend $4k in maintenance I ended up spending $7k which is way more than if I bought the newer truck, plus I would have had less headaches/worries and got to drive a newer nicer truck!

If you plan to keep the truck for 5-10 years, my suggestion would be to get something newer where you can afford the payments for a 60mo loan. After that's paid off you can now keep repeating this process because Tacos don't depreciate a ton so each time you upgrade you'll only have to pay a few thousand bucks to get a "new" truck.

 

Bitch

 

I hear you and your math is solid but one point fwiw is the only way this model works is if you’re buying a new truck every few years.

So in your model you only “spent” 5k on the 3 year old truck but spent 7k on the decade old one. Makes sense (if you’re paying cash for the $35,000 truck and not taking a loan and paying interest every single payment for the rest of your life).

But if you keep buying a truck every 3 years and “only” pay 5k every 3 years and instead got a used truck and spent 7k in the first year or three getting it reliable and then rarely spent anything for the next ten or more years... well it only takes a couple cycles to be way more expensive to buy newer.

Certainly enjoy the newer car if you’d like to. No one can tell you how to enjoy what You get with Your money and I’m happy for ya if you’re happy. Just pointing out the further math. It doesn’t add up unless both ways you’re buying a new truck every few years.

We had a 22 year old and 28 year old Toyota, one with 305,000 miles and the other with 113,000 miles.

Have had the older one for a decade. We kept saying when they start to die we will finally upgrade. Someday. Someday they’ll die on us. Then we can get something newer. Just need something newer here, please break already... haha We needed more space so we just bought two 15 year old Toyotas to replace them. Cost 5 grand each (the old ones were agite 3,500 each).

Yeah, we’ve replaced a few parts over the years. But we spent about 7 grand a decade ago and just spent about 10 grand this month on cars. If these are as reliable as those then for 17k we will have driven our cars for two decades. That’s $850 a YEAR haha.

sorry for the long story time. Just fwiw, it Can pay off to spend less and fix a few things here and there. We’ve been to 16 States and lived out of the 300,000 miles 4Runner for a month at a time. Pretty reliable for us! Peace

 

good for you on your financial situation to be able to afford new vehicles and upgrade every few years but the OP said that she’s a wilderness guide and doesn’t make a lot of money. She got what she could afford.

 

Word. I’d recommend the OP and whoever start making “car payments” to themselves starting this month. That way next time something breaks you already have a few hundred (or thousand) set aside, ready to go. And in 5-10-15 years you’ll have enough to shop smart and pass on anything that’s not a good deal.

We got our 2006 Tundra for $5000 only because we searched for almost a year and were able to say no to anything rusty or ridiculous ones being sold for $18k+ ha.

Now our car fund is depleted... so... we start making car payments back to ourselves so if something breaks we’re all set.

Shutting up now haha.

 

I agree with many on here about the valve covers. If it's just a slow seep and you're not losing any measurable oil between changes, or not leaving any spots on the ground, I wouldn't sweat it. You won't spontaneously sprout a squirter and suffer catastrophic engine failure.
When you get a chance, post a few pictures of the frame, especially inside, up near the catalytic converters.
Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the club!