To all the guys looking at overpriced rusted trucks

It Seems that lately there have been a lot of threads about guys looking at high priced rusty trucks.

I figured I would give you a friendly reminder of what may be heading your way after you pay the $10k to $16k some of these rusty trucks are selling for.

Check out my thread about my rusted out third member on my 2002 single cab 2.7/5 speed truck.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/third-member-rusting-through.577114/

In 2017 a Jeep dealer offered the original owner $800 for this truck as a trade in. The owner sold it to me for that price, so I bought it as a winter beater.

This truck grew in me so I kept it around. 5 years later and another 110k miles on it and it's still going strong (279k on it now).

Toyota replaced the frame on this truck before I got it. Toyota also replaced the brake lines & rear springs at the same time. That doesn't mean all of the rust issues were resolved.

To make a long story even longer, the rear axle developed a gear oil leak. On a California truck, it would probably be caused by a pinion seal. On my New England truck, it was a rotted out 3rd member.

I ended up spending around $2,000 fixing the rear axle housing. The cost of fixing rusted parts adds up quickly.

I bought a junkyard rear end for $450 to get the third member out of ( the junkyard wouldnt sell just the third member). Toyota ubolts and backing plated were another $450. At this point I was deep enough in the project I figured I would have a trusted mechanic check the wear pattern on the junkyard third member, swap everything into my axle housing, and replace the wheel bearings while it was all apart.. The shop charged me a few hours labor to go through the rear end, install new bearings, and install it in the truck.

All said & done, It cost me $2,000 to fix a gear oil leak caused by rust. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, I bought this truck for cheap money.

Do you really want to do repairs like this to a $16k truck?

 

"Nah man, it will be fine" then proceeds to spend several weekends trying to remove two rusted and seized bolts before pulling out the oxy-acetylene torch…

 

I am quite happy with my $500.00 Tacoma I know just what I was buying the Tires and Wheels the rest was extra.

Those that do not do research pay a step price to learn after the fact. Prices for everything are crazy now.

Then it all comes down to being able to perform 98% of the work yourself.

It comes down to how bad you want a Tacoma

The last rusted out rear axle I fixed was 250.00 not counting the all new brake parts .

 

I originally planned just to toss a used rear axle in mine myself.

I've yet to see a Tacoma in a "pick a part" junk yard near me to score a cheap axle. At that point things started to get expensive quickly.

The only axles I could find were at the yards where they pull the parts for you and charge you big $$ for them.

The best axle i could find locally was the axle I bought for $450. It was actually in worse shape then the 1 I had, but the third member was nice on it. $450 is way to much for used third member. I looked into buying a third member from East Coast Gear, but I'm sure my rusty 1 wouldn't qualify as a core.

At that point I decided that I was gonna try and get the truck ready for its next 200k
Miles, and do every thing I could (within reason) to get the axle ready for that task.

In my years of playing around with lifted 73-87 chevys I was always told to never reuse U bolts. The u bolts/nuts/washers cost me $225 at the local Toyot dealer. at that point, I knew it wouldn't be a cheap repair, so I decided to replace the backing plates to for another $225 a pr.

I went as far as ordering the Barnes off road pumpkin cover, but it turned out I didn't need it.

I don't regret spending the $2k on it, but Bivouac is right, I could have fixed it a lot cheaper than the route I took.

 

Tons of good ones around. Just got to be patient and wait for the one.
24 months isnt uncommon here......

Probably better if you buy a cheaper one knowing what you're getting into.

On the buyer side......the bad ones are going down...sooner than later...
just make sure you dont get one of those...

These were nice economical trucks to own and operate.....25 yrs ago...

Now a lot are needing damn near everything replaced if they didn't stay on it....

And Toyota parts.......every time my boss buys anything outragedly expensive.....
ongoing joke......I ask him if its got Toyota written on it.....

 

i keep buying rusty trucks...
02 for $1350.. im swapping the frame. got a free frame from utah waiting on time to paint it and get ready to swap it.. likely selling the 02 onto another person once finished.

98 with 94k miles and a supercharger for 4500... its also getting a frame.. ordered the last 4x4 v6 manual frame from toyota.. waiting on delivery for it

07 for 1500 bucks... again... getting a frame.. but i had a 2021 frame laying around (dont ask)


then i buy the rust free 95.. oh my god. what a glorious thing when bolts come free without heat!

i love these trucks.. i just like keeping them out of the junkyard.. the 02 will get a second chance at life. but not overdone

the 98 will be borderline getting restored..
the 95. just fixed.

my original 01? frame off resto.. but that was my first car
the other 01 i bought? eh... farm truck

 

Pretty simple, inspect the truck. If you don't have the skills than pay a 3rd party to take a look. Educate yourself.

 

All down to how bad you want it, why you want it, how much you're willing to work/spend to fix/upkeep it, and whether or not all of that is within your means. I bought mine last spring, spent almost as much as I paid for it to fix it up. Almost finished. It's come a long way. No regerts, but that's me. Could have been a disaster for others.

 

If your new to working on vehicles a 20 plus year old vehicle would not be my first choice.

Unless you know going in it will be a long and expensive learning project .

If you decide on a third party to inspect a possible purchase find one that lives for that era Toyota 4x4 rather then a person that might see only a few in a year if any.

 

I bought an old work truck off a church that was just going to scrap it for $200 . It was a rusted out piece of junk but it ran like a raped ape! It was a mid 90s GMC SIERRA with a v8. A real hunk of junk. You could see the road underneath your feet. No AC, headlights didn’t work seats were F’d up. But it also drove like a Lincoln on a cloud. Used it here and there for about a year and sold it for $1500 without putting a dime into it

 

My current Taco is rusty and was when I bought it. I promised myself and my wife that will absolutely never do that again. So much time and money just to have something still rusty and not how I want it. I will never try to save a few bucks with a less than ideal vehicle

 

I don’t regret buying a rusty one, but that’s because I like to weld. If i had paid for Labor on the repairs, it would have been crazy expensive.


I also didn’t pay a whole lot for it to begin with.

 

I guess I should of clarified.....4x4's not so plentiful....
at least the ones that dont need a ton of stuff replaced....
the 2nd and 3rd owners are not so kind to these...

Reason we see a 4x4 conversion here about once a month...
availability is waited towards the rwd 5lugs, and pre-runners....

After they pass 300K, we hardy see the 4x4's, unless they've had some serious cash spent on them.....

And those replacement frames......yeah they rust just as fast as the first one.......maybe faster.....


Seems they dropped the serious toxic frame coating...... zinc chromate primers.......about the same time they switched to the pink slime they call asian coolant......

 

These are not economy vehicles......these are 'its running today' vehicles...

'Paint your wagon'.....

 

These are not rinse and wear........fair amount of maintenace on em....


.....however after every snow/ice event here.....I alway get the undercarriage rinsed off.....
that way its easy to see the three coats of paint on the frame.......

when its nicely painted it drives u crazy to see all the white road treatment all over it.....

I always have a loaded garden hose at work.....



If you want rinse and wear.....get a corolla, camry, civic,,,,early 2000's chevy 1500.....

5yrs ago one of my bosses bought a 2003 chevy 1500 for $700....
only cost him a starter so far......and since it didnt say denso on it...didnt cost arm/leg....

Thats what I mean.......

My other family members have almost new rav4's, prius, ridgelines, .....
and those are garbage to me.......cant work on those.....
have to take them to the stealership and pray for competence and honesty.....
Things that are in short supply today....
These mechanics are paid by flat labor rates as per fsm......not the best incentive to go slow and do it right......

 

You don't by chance have a manual transmission Tacoma you're trying to sell do you?

 

At $10 a can.....I always shoot frame insides once a year during the dry summer months......for a extend cab two cans is overkill dripping out everywhere.....so about 1 and half is right.....$15 lousy dollars to save your truck.....

Once the frame is wet.....it wont penetrate....

IF you've got an iffy frame......thru out the year retreat around all the weld-on's attached to the frame........all the ones I've blasted with rattle can 5 or 6 times....rust is the 'Walking dead'.......and it loves welds and cheap non oem parts....

And differentials....



Fluid Film Powerful Rust & Corrosion Protection Aerosol Spray 11.75oz (autozone.com)

 

And dont just paint over rust.....abate best as possible..
and then buy a specific rust converter....

Kylon makes this silver converter that's bad to the bone.....

And then spring for real auto chassis paint.....not the wally special....

The differential I've really gone nuts over......probably 5 coats over the years...
sanding between each year a part....same on the leaf's.....drum dust sheilds...

 

I’ll add to the woes of rusty trucks and why for a Tacoma without rust is best. My truck had the frame cancer and Toyota swapped out the frame. Great for me, but the drag-on $$$ for the systemic rust just kept coming.

Here are examples of how rust piles on the repair and maintenance costs of things I had to replace out of my pocket.

E-Brake cable, shift cable from the lever to the transmission, Front steering knuckles had to be replaced when heat/pounding/beating could not extract the failed bearings, power steering hardline rusted out, exhaust (not a huge surprise, but still $$), brake calipers failed due to piston rust and pitting, gas tank strap failure. Trailer hitch rusted out and had to be replaced and is not a covered part of the frame replacement.

Many hours and hours of penetrating oil/heat/rounded nuts/bolts to try to extract and replace a part.

As those who are too late for a frame replacement it’s a $15K (minimum) bill if you can’t do the frame swap yourself.

Check for rust, if there is significant rust on the frame and/or ANY de-laminating frame your are buying a life-limited truck.

Adjust your offer price down significantly and be fully aware your repair cost or even truck scrapping risk.

Love Tacoma’s, love the high resale, but not all Tacomas deserve that premium.

 

That I do not. Only the double cab and the 07 in the near future. The 98 and 95 are staying. As well as my 01.. the other wrecked 01 is beyond saving. But I’ll keep it fit a farm truck.