1st Gen Blown Head Gasket...

I didn't even get 250k miles on it. Damn. I loved this truck and I took great care of it. Thought I'd drive it for at least another five years. That being said I've gotten a 2013 and it'll be super fun too. 3rd Tacoma. Anyway, how much is my 1998 v6, automatic, extra cab, 4x4, 3.4 liter, with 249,000 miles worth now! I'm in the bay area in California. I've got it on Craigslist and gotten a bunch of offers all over the map but nobody has actually shown up to see it yet. I have all my maintenance paperwork. It was always maintenanced on time and when it blew I was careful to park it immediately after the diagnosis. It never overheated, never used oil, never used coolant. Should be good to be fixed and keep going for a good amount of time. Some body damage from the previous owner. Clean inside. I bought it with 60k on it and drove it for 16 years. Love to get what it's worth out of it but not sure where to draw that line. Let me know what you think.
Thanks in advance!

 

Pshhhhh, fix that head gasket and keep it for another 250k

side note, I wonder why it would have blown if it’s never overheated. That seems strange to me. If you haven't overheated(or don’t have a cracked head), generally the head gasket wont go. (At least that’s my understanding)

sorry to hear anyhow.

And welcome to TW, sorry it’s not under better circumstances

 

With a blown HG and pretty extensive body damage...probably not very much.

There's a lot of guys out there with 2wd 1st gens looking to convert to 4wd, your truck would make for a great donor truck for that.

Or, fix the HG and install some armor and wheel the piss out of it

 

Seems super strange to me too! I really thought about fixing it but I think someone else will be better for that. I'm a get in it and drive guy. Not a think about whether it's ok guy.

Thanks for the welcome. The 2013 I just bought is the better circumstances I guess!

 

Not very much like $500 or $2500? I had a guy who I trust say he could give me $2000 but it was worth more. I was hoping that was true.

 

Hard for me to say, I haven't seen many parts trucks priced out to sell or blown HG ones... If the body were in great shape and all it needed were the head gasket you could probably ask for quite a bit more than $2k but the body damage is going to limit your buyers to mostly guys looking for a parts truck. At least I would think so

I'd say $2k at minimum but you could probably hold out for more

 

Someone looking for a 4wd to swap parts over and convert would likely pay more than that for the ease of having everything they need on one truck, instead of having to source it out piece by piece from all over the place

 

With the first gen market right now it’s hard to say what someone will pay for it. But I would bet you could get at least 3k out of it. It’s not a hard fix for someone who is mechanically inclined, I’d probe around 5k and see what kind of offers you get

 

Cool. That's decent. I haven't seen much in this shape either. There was one in Portland for sale with a blown head gasket for $3200 but no body damage.

 

Yeah a lot of people hear blown head gasket and get turned off because it's an expensive repair if you rely on a shop to do it. Not many DIY'ers that will take on that kind of job on a new/used vehicle unless they get it for a steal.

 

Haven't gotten much in the way of reliable peeps so far but maybe I'll wait till after Christmas. Would love to get up to $3k for it. I know it's been well cared for despite the body damage.

 

Ohhhh ya I should’ve looked closer at the picture at first glance I thought it was just the dent at the extend cab, but now I see you’ve got some nice body damage along that whole passenger side. How’s the driver side?

unfortunately that will drive the price down, but, like @eon_blue said, the best price will probably come from a fellow Tacoma nerd who is looking for a donor to make a prerunner, a....postrunner?

or at least a person who really wants a first gen and is a DIYer, because a shop will just cost too much.

 

Drivers side is clean. The paint is doing the typical Toyota thing on the hood. Clear coat is faded. Inside is clean. Only a tiny rip in the drivers seat.

 

That’s good, but it sucks because that big dent is not in great spot. that is part of the cab right?

Read the buy/sell/trade rules, stick around and when you’re allowed, maybe you’ll find the perfect buyer match for your truck

 

Yeah. It’s part of the cab. That’s why I never bothered to fix it. Always worked great for me however it looked. I’ll definitely check out how to post it here.

 

if the old school (green) coolant isnt changed out periodically it turns acidic. In addition, there is a small voltage that is generated with the coolant/water moving when the coolant gets old. These 2 things will eat the aluminum off the heads and start to eat the steel in the head gaskets.

 

Not surprised, my old 96 blew the HG but it ran another 2 years as it was just a tiny leak at startup and sealed itself up.

I'm in the Sierra Foothills East of you, got a 99 with no body damage and the HG had already been done with 290K miles on it (V6, 4WD, TRD locker) for 5K even. If you just had body damage, OR HG damage, I think you could get 3K...but with both going against it, unless you want to pay somebody to do the HG you aren't going to get more than 1500 for it I think (though wait around long enough and you might be able to find a "dumb" buyer).

 

Oh yes I forgot about that

OP were you running green or red coolant?

edit your buddy might not have been far off when he offered you 2000. That might be the way to go

 

"some body damage"

Was expecting like, maybe a scratch or small dent on the tailgate or something. Nope. That thing is really banged up!

As a potential buyer, I see: beat to hell, and blown head gasket, I don't care about maintenance records - those are indicators, true or not, that this truck was beat on and abused. I wouldn't spend more than 5k on that - I don't care about KBB, etc, it's still a blown-gasket-dented-to-hell-truck.

Good luck with the sale, if I were you I would do the gasket - DIY, they're surprisingly not as difficult as you would expect. As for why it blew.....it's 250k/about 22 years old....things degrade over time, it happens. I would replace it, and keep on rolling.