Was this a good buy?

Wow, sorry OP. I'd run that as a farm truck but that's unsafe for road use. Your "mechanic" is anything but...

 

Let me take you back in time to when I was 16 years old. My father offered to gift me his old 1983 FJ60 cruiser for the bargain price of $4500. I had worked a bunch of odd jobs and had enough money to buy the truck , I was also looking at a 1990 FJ62 in Florida that was going for $10,000.

My dad‘s truck was a rustbucket because it had seen BC Canada and Oregon and California snow, the Florida truck was pristine.

I decided that since I had money to spare, I would buy dad‘s truck and fix it up.

I wound up spending $10,000 and had a rust bucket truck that I unloaded when I went to college two years later, meanwhile, one of my buddies bought the 62 and still has it.

 

Do you have any pics of the repaired parts of the frame?

 

The frame looked like this when the welder was done with it and it passed inspection.

 

Define "fixed" for us. Sorry, but that frame is totally shot.

 

It’s really hard to tell because I often refer to that as a “smear job.”

You weld over the holes in the frame, and you just smear a lot of paint and undercoating on it to try to cover up the damage and hope whoever is doing inspection won’t bother to look too hard.

Id you’re buying online, eBay, bring a trailer, etc., that is a surefire sign the vehicle is from the rust belt and the seller is trying to cover up serious frame damage.

 

I have bad pictures of it but holes were cut out and the inspector I brought it too said the welder did a great job. Am I still able to drive this or will I have to get a new truck do you think? It drives fine otherwise.

 

"Good enough to pass inspection" and "as structurally sound as a new frame" are generally two very different things when it comes to rust repair. Yes, it is sometimes possible to repair a corroded structural member in such a way as to have it almost as good as new. The biggest problem is always finding enough good metal to weld the patch panel(s) to. Without looking at and laying hands on your particular frame, it's hard to say which you got with your repair.

Having lived in the heart of the rust belt for my whole life, I can tell you with great certainty that you're far better off in the long run to sell that truck and get something else. Trust me on that one.

 

Your “mechanic”, eh?
So that’s what Stevie Wonder has been doing lately.

 

I would drive it for a couple years as long as you have $5,000. invested. But I would stay close to home, stay off of rough roads, and do not let anyone else drive that truck.

 

I'd suggest you sell it, you've done your due diligence and improved it over what you received and it sounds like you don't have allot into the repair. Take what you get and look for something that's not going to give you problems and expense down the road. Also get a new mechanic, you would have never been in this situation if he was honest and/or competent.

 

There needs to be a PSA to not buy any Tacoma (especially an older one) that is attractively priced. I feel like they're all salvage titles or rusted out.

My dad helped me avoid buying a 2009 that was rusted to shit in 2012. It was hard to believe it was ruined that fast, but some of these trucks take a bad turn, especially up north.

 

I'm guessing your "mechanic" was good friends with the guy who sold you the truck. I can't think of any other reason he'd have said it was a good purchase.

 

Anybody notice the patch that's already been added by somebody in the first pic?

 

Take the Mechanic to get his vision checked....he may not have any

 

Sorry for your troubles...Your mechanic needs to have his head candled.

 

I wonder how many will understand what that means. LOL

 

You got taken to the cleaners,a rotted out almost 19 year old truck.