Kid wants to buy a 2014 Tacoma with 82,000 miles

FWIW, I have a 2014 Tacoma Sport with 72k miles, bought new in June 2014. I have done the fluids and replaceable items as listed above. Great pickup, good luck.

For the Uni-Filter mod, get this for $21

$22 Uni Filter UP-107 1" Clamp-On Breather

https://www.amazon.com/Uni-Filter-UP-107-Clamp-Breather/dp/B003CJOTSA

Google "Tacoma secondary air injection uni filter mod". Easy job.

 

I just bought a similar truck for a similar price.

You are doing a good job having people look at it. We get very uptight about rust because it's basically The One Thing you have to worry about, and frankly it's kinda inevitable if you live in a salt state. I think we obsess a little about rust and that makes people afraid

BUT

You will probably know very quickly from an inspection whether or not there is a rust problem that is bad enough that you shouldn't buy the truck. It probably has some, but some is not a lot, and some rust doesn't mean it's a bad deal..

Because! These trucks are very reliable, easy to work on, and durable. They're also pretty great all around for truck stuff, 4x4 is pretty useful, and there are tons of different ways for a young guy to personalize and upgrade if he wants to.

Yeah, you could save and buy new, but for a first vehicle it's actually a great choice if you want a truck instead of a Civic or Corolla or whatever. 82K miles isn't a lot, he could run that truck for 10 years or just keep it in good shape and sell it for a good price in less time than that. I would rather have a kid making mistakes in a used truck than a new one for sure.

The other option that he might not like is to spend half the money on a truck with cost to me

If you have a good mechanic or body shop tech inspect it, and they think it's a good deal, it's probably a good deal, especially as a beginner truck for a young guy. They're really durable and reliable. Tacoma owners obsess about rust a bit much because it's basically the only thing that can really hurt these trucks, and Toyota didn't do a great job on the frame treatments, so there's a lot of ink spilled over it.

If you take it to a good shop and a good tech says the rust isn't a problem, and it's mechanically sound, you have a good deal on your hands. I don't think the price is a red flag, I just bought a very similar truck with similar milage for a similar price in January, that seems maybe a bit high but only by 1500 or so? Pretty reasonable in my opinion.

If it passes your inspection, I don't think you should worry about it, just make sure he knows to wash the under side thoroughly and often, consider a FluidFilm or Wool Wax (take your pick of national Brands) coating before winter, and learn how to change the oil. That truck will probably go another 100K easy peasy. Great first vehicle for a much better value than most new vehicles in the 'first car' price range.

 

Pennsylvania you say? Look at the frame, look at the frame, then look at it again. Pay particular attention up inside the frame rails. Nothing else matters if the frame is shot.

 

As others have said rust is the killer. I lived in NE Pennsylvania in the late 70’s and the richest guy in town was the dude with the Ziebart franchise. The rust was unreal.

Live in New Mexico now and I’ve seen a 1958 De Soto on blocks with the original paint and no rust through.

Location, location, location.

 

TLDR walk away if it’s a rusty piece of shit.

Also $20k for a used truck at a dealer that’s over 11 years old is too much.

Did the kid save for this or are you buying it? I don’t care the answer, both are wrong because the kid should have a family handed down car or truck with 160,000+ and some quirks like the passenger window doesn’t roll down all the way and the radio always comes on at 50% volume and can only be increased.

 

Make sure every piece of glass is toyota glass. run the vin through the toyota owners app. Add the truck and look it up

 

Been a while since you priced used trucks?

If you had taken the time to read you would know it’s not his first ride…

 

Used trucks are stupidly priced, and some people are paying those prices.

 

Yeah…people who need to buy a used truck.

 

If it's not rusty I'd say it's a solid deal. Sure there will be maintenance coming up between 100-120k or so but nothing screamingly urgent and there's so much DIY support for these that it's a great opportunity for him to learn to wrench and save some money.

2013-15 are great years in terms of balance of some nice minimal tech while still being quite simple. They've shown to hold value extremely well too if that has any bearing.

 

He's been driving a 2010 CRV that was handed down to him, no air conditioning, 230,000 miles, needs to keep Cataclean in it to keep the check engine light off to pass inspections, put a hitch on it to lug his lawnmower around to make money, drives it to his part time job at the public works to spread mulch and clean bathrooms.

He's a good, hard-working kid who saved much of the money for the truck. I might help with an "in house" loan to make up the difference. He's my fishing buddy and the bass fishing kayak tournaments will be easier with a pick-up truck, so I do have a bit of skin in the game with this purchase.

That said, he wants to offer $2000 less.

 

Nice. And, as everyone should well know, when first introduced to the US, the Toyota Hilux quickly earned the reputation of the best lawnmower hauler on the continent. This is now your son's torch to carry into the future!































If it isn't a rusted out POS.

 

UPDATE: Took to the body shop/mechanic. Told him the concerns about rust, asked him to be brutally thorough looking at frame/rust as well as mechanicals, and to keep in mind this is a kid spending hard-earned cash on a truck he wants to keep a while and keep moving. Verdict was surface rust. No frame or other damage evident from previous fender benders. The kid drove the truck and put it through its paces testing suspension and 4WD. Mechanic said to offer $2000 less and kid told that to the dealer. We're going to talk tonight about it.

 

I haven’t even met him and I like your kid…if he ever brings his taco to Texas let me know and me and my kid will take him bay fishing. My kid put an offer in on a 2012 about an hour ago…we are waiting to hear back.

 

Hell yeah! Can't hurt to make an offer. I'm glad you got a good result from the inspection, nice work.