who owned my truck?

Yes, I hesitated for a long time before calling him, felt kinda weird (never did anything like that before). I told him how I tracked him down and he was cool with it. He was very understanding and liked knowing where his truck went. He told me he would of kept it and driven it till the wheels fell off but needed more space for his family. Now I am glad that I took the chance because of the extra key and remote he sent plus he said if I am ever up in his town let him know so I can meet his family and see his new Tacoma. The Tacoma extended family grows even more.

 

That is a cool story! It's always nice to know the true story of any previously-owned vehicle.

 

You might want to get to the bottom of that issue. The last thing you want is for it to decide to start on it's own while your farting around with something under the hood!

 

+1

I traded a '91 Escort for my '94 Toyota PU. About 3 weeks later, I get a phone call from a guy asking where the stereo faceplate was.
Told him I gave it to the guy at MK Smith.
He had bought the car from some used car lot in Fontana, so Smith had flipped it probably the day after I traded it (135k, they only gave me $2,500 for it, it wasn't worth that much, trans was going out, oil pan was cracked).

But I did feel kinda creeped out at the call.

 

Some lunatic leased my truck, drove the wheels almost off of it... Changed the oil meticulously, kept all fluids in check, but waited on all the major stuff like diff bearing and wheel bearings... You know.. The hard stuff...

Then they put like $4 grand in brakes, bearings, bushings, wheels, tires, sensors, lift kit, bumper and steps...

Oh wait... That lunatic was me!!!!!

1 owner foe life for this taco... Unless an identical color, wheel, tire, lift combo truck pops up with 4 doors and less mileage... Lol


John

 

Mine was owned by an old man who bought it new. He traded it in, and I bought it the same day. They had to clean it up and inspect it before I took it home. I checked it pretty good at the dealer, but after I got home, I noticed about 5" of paint missing on the bottom of the back bumper where he backed into something. I'll get some touch up paint later.

I've been keeping a running list of all the things I've done to it with the dates for the next owner and for my own records.

 

This one is new, had 149 miles on it before I bought it though, IDK where it went in that time. Not worried though, my previous truck was brand new and had 200 miles on it from dealer trades.

I try to keep meticulous records on my stuff, I've never bought anything with meticulous records kept on it though. I've had some interesting "mods" by previous owners on past vehicles though. Some high(low)lights:

The best was my buddy's K-5 Blazer, he was having intermittent taillight problems and nonfunctional reverse lights, I took a look at it and proceeded to rip about 30 feet worth of wiring out of the undercarriage and rear end of his truck (much to his alarm, LOL!), do some cutting, and put in some nice heat shrink connectors and such, and then, his taillights, blinkers, reverse lights and all worked perfectly. (much to his surprise!) The PO and maybe the PO before that PO, had spliced in 3 different trailer connectors to varying degrees of failure. (You should have seen under the dash! I told him I was having no part of that spaghetti bowl, YIKES!!!) Scary wiring!!!

On mine, I have mostly had PO's that loved Bondo. My 1969 Bronco had all its body seams Bondo'ed smooth (PO thought it looked sleek I guess but, it cracked out), and the bottom of the rear fender was hanging on by Bondo alone, LOL! My 1990 CRX was a salvage title with the passenger side made to look fixed with (in some areas) up to half an inch of Bondo, LOL!

 

Nah, he dented HIS tailgate....lol... You just bought a truck with a dented tailgate...lol..

Should have invited him to join TW!

 

I did. I sent him the link. Told him this was the place to get the best info on our trucks and I let him know about the T-SB for vibration if it occurs.

 

bought mine new but i hope if i ever decide to sell the new owner doesn't track me down.

 

Same here. The prior owner of mine was the first owner and her name, address and phone number were in the service manual. She did all of her maintenance at the dealership as well, so other than a small ding in the tailgate I have no worries about her brief tenure with the vehicle. Dealership said she swapped it for a brand new Tundra.

 

So she liked/owned your truck and upgraded to a bigger truck? You might want to see if she's single. I'm sure it's fine if you just call and ask.

 

How is it any different when you sell one to a private party? Both individuals get to discuss the vehicle at length and can pass on what has been done and what needs to be done the soonest. It was a little awkward for about a minute on the phone for both of us but once we started discussing the truck it was like we had known each other for a while. Very nice young man with a great family and life ahead of him. Plus he bought a new Tacoma, so he has to be a good guy.

 

Cool thread. I was wondering the same thing. Bought my 2010 MGM 6 spd Off Road from a Nissan dealer in Raleigh. De-badged sides, dipped emblems and rear bumper, tailgate theft mod. Just sounds like a TW member. Anyone?

 

I'm the 2nd owner too, bought it from a Subaru dealer in Redwood City, SF Bay Area. It came with the original window stickers and options info and whatnot in the documentation folder, I thought this was pretty cool (or is it common to get this stuff with a used truck?). Anyway, the dealer salesperson said the first owner was one of their service employees who bought it to run supplies and food for his family's Italian restaurant up in SF. The restaurant closed a couple years later so he sold the truck to his employer for retail re-sale (to me). I didn't feel compelled to meet the original owner so I did not ask. I'm just glad the cab didn't smell like Guido's Pizza & Pasta! LOL. In fact it was exceptionally clean except for the minor rear bumper ding. Now it looks letigimately used.

Off-topic: Price: I live in the Sacramento area and in summer 2009 I was looking for a white 2wd 2.7L Access Cab 2nd gen Tacoma. The *best* I could find in Sac was an '06 with 80k for $15k. Then I widened the search radius and found a silver '06 with 40k for $14.5k in Redwood City. I thought, "really"? It was kind of a no-brainer because I saved $500 and got a truck with 40k fewer miles, only not in the color I wanted. Big deal. I am happy.

 

Lol. Dealership said her husband's new Mercedes pushed her out of the garage anyway so she wanted to go big.

I didn't quite buy the story. My fiancée did though.