Thinking of becoming a Tacoma Owner

Hey Everyone. Prospective new member here, posting out of San Diego, California. I've been sort of lurking through the forum and taking in as much of the details as possible. Especially the first Gen forum.

I've got a pretty decent background in auto repair, it was one of my first jobs and I have a pretty good history with purchasing vehicles. My most recent vehicle, a Pontiac Grand Prix, is starting to get considerably long in the tooth, and I'm starting to reach a phase in my life where I'm picking up and moving every 2 or so years. I need a truck in my life. That 2 year ding is coming up, and I decided on a Tacoma for my immediate future.

After some considerable looking (and considerable gutting of what I can spend on a teaching salary...) I decided to find a higher mileage Tacoma that was still in relatively good condition. I think I've narrowed the selection down to a particular Tacoma, but it's that reason that's brought me to this post.

I've been looking at a 1999 Tacoma Xtracab V6 Sr5 4x4 Package with the Manual Transmission With 197,200 miles. Asking price of 9994.00 (yeah right...) The mileage surprises me. my current car just hit 121k miles and my wife's 97 sentra just hit around 130

Aside from not having full service records (just the Carfax) They're not really sure of the status of a couple of things. I'm following up in the next few days with their "service department"

1.They're not sure of the age and last change of the timing belt.
2.They're not sure if the vehicle has been checked for rust during regular service (records for which do exist of standard maintenance like oil changes so maybe the rust has already been checked?) and the vin does fall within the official factory notice for rust buyback
3. There are some strange dents in the bodywork that I can't seem to attribute to a collision. The dealer says that the vehicle is accident/event free but that the previous owner may have had a Rack on it. The dents are pictured below, poorly touched up/covered and some of the paint has pulled away and there's visible surface rust.
4. Small things like scratches on the interior plastic, the center console seemingly loose, and dents on the body as well as chipped and exposed window trim.
5. Seatbelts look like their edges are frayed and retract slowly, cosmetic, and a slew of other minor issues. Missing cap on the fan switch, Broken center console. She shows her age.
6. No word on whether it's an original clutch either.

I'm scheduled to take her on a road test on Friday. Where I'll go through and crawl underneath her, I was in my teaching stuff so I couldn't exactly crawl underneath her today, but given her history and her mileage. I was going to offer the dealer a solid 5,000 dollars for it on the assumption that the road test went well. I think it's reasonable given that they can't explain the service records. The amount of mileage on the vehicle, and a few other things. I did start it, seems to start okay but I'll have a better assessment on the road test.

I suppose I'm asking for the community's feedback and input for this. The local dealers are either in league with each other or the prices for Tacomas are unnaturally high down here. Most dealers are looking at anywhere from 7-11k for higher mileage tacomas, so I have the distinct feeling I'm going to get stonewalled on the price.

I'm just looking for a dependable truck that I can maybe take up to Big Bear in the winter months, but drive dependably as a DD. Somehow I'm a bit torn on whether I should just forgo my 4wd dreams and go with a better mileage prerunner and avoid potential heartaches. 200k miles is around the age on some vehicles where... things just start to wear out if they've not been taken care of. Part of me is saying to take it if they give me a great deal, and the other is telling me to just walk away. Maybe I should offer them less? 10 grand for this truck seems highway robbery.

If you were me, what would you do?

I'll let you folks be the judge, here's a photo of the truck.



Here's that weird damage I mentioned. Rear end? Or did someone really badly want to get a truck rack on this thing?




Center console is old and cracked, and the rear part where the arm rest is attached to the console from is split about 40% of the way through. It needs replacing.



Missing side cover. Cosmetic but annoying



Well hidden in the photos but here's a pretty big lump. About 10 inches across. light paint damage by the tail light and pulling it is going to be a pain.



Here's the plastic chipping around the window. Likely cosmetic.



And a broken/missing bumper step/cover. likely comes as one piece? Might need a replacement.


I'll update this as I figure out whether or not I'll dive in. Thank you everyone for reading.

 

You won't be disappointed with a Tacoma. I am on my 3rd right now.
My most recent Tacoma search took me far and wide.
A few things that helped me when I was looking:
- "They aren't the only show in town." There are many dealers around. Find one that feels best.
- "It's your $$ to spend." Don't let them pressure you into buying when you don't want to.
- "Do your research well before hand." And once you do that, have a price in your mind before you go and don't budge. You will walk out feeling good about your purchase.

It could take some time before you have your new truck. But it will be worth it in the end.

Hope this helps. Good luck. Hope to see you soon.
Oh yeah...save some $$ for mods!! hahahaha
You'll need it, seeing that you already know about this site.

 

My op would be to search more. Think you should be able to find something with better vehicle history and care. Big purchase for sketchy info. Seemed to not be very well taken care of. GL

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas-sale/

 

This seems considerably expensive for what your getting. Dont get me wrong this truck has a LOT of life left and with some elbow grease it would be a real looker, but for almost 10K i feel there are better tacomas out there... Just my .02! Good luck on your search!

 

Just got a call from the dealer telling me that Friday was off. I think we both forgot that it was the 4th and they'll get back with me on monday.

I'll update this when I take her out for a spin.

 

First pics look like really crappy bondo work.

Carfax makes really bad toilet paper. Unless you're in the woods and don't have any socks handy it's completely worthless.

I didn't see what engine it has, if its the 2.7 it has a timing chain and not belts. belts are 100k replacement I think. Chains get replaced a week after the sun turns into a black husk.

I see both sr5 and trd on the truck, someone that knows more than me should chime in, I thought they were mutually exclusive packages. You may be able to add 1 to the other though.

An early first gen with 100k on it books about 5k. $ 10k for 200k with damage, needing an interior repair, that's a bad joke. But knowing its on a dealers lot, taking the time to test drive and offer 5k is wasting your time.

 

Imo, it's not worth 10k because of the damages, however you will not take it home for 5k. If you do, you're pretty lucky. I would keep looking tho.

 

Yes you can find better first gens for the price, if I were you I'd keep looking.

 

Where I live the 4th is a big day for auto dealers! Even if it drives nice it's at least 3000 to much.lol

 

couple of things, first being that you are in SD, prices for used Tacos are $$$$$$$$. you can probably go cheaper if you look on CL but being that you are at a dealer they will be more money, i have also found that dealers dont seem to want to budge much on prices as they know they will sell it for that. the bed damage is kinda odd but i dont think thats from a accident.

as for rust, just get under and look, being that its here 99% sure it wont have any rust. thats just from the folks that live in bad areas that salt the roads.

i will say that the price does seem kinda high for the issues we see.

edit, is this from the siri group? if so find a better place, those guys are criminals lol. unless you are paying cash, it might not be worth it. stupid high interest rates from them.

 

Wow, are our trucks really going for this much these days? It might be time to put mine up for sale.

To me it's priced too high based on condition, year, mileage, really everything about it. The only thing I like is the manual transmission (sometimes I wish mine was a stick and not an auto).

I say keep searching. I'm sure someone out there wants a more comfortable car/truck that gets better mpg than our Tacomas. I've certainly thought about it.

I'm with paranoid56, heard/read nothing but bad things from the SIRY group.

 

If the test drive and closer inspection check out, I'd tell them I'll take it for $6500 if they replace the timing belt and water pump. Otherwise there are much better deals to be had, it may just take a while.

 

Relative good condition you said? Relative bad condition to me