2006 any common problems?

Yo guys. So my neighbor is selling his 2006 Tacoma. I'm seriously considering buying it. I can use it as my daily until my son starts to drive in 4 years... I would've killed for a Tacoma as my first vehicle, instead I got a 1970 Ford Maverick.

What if any are the common problems I should be looking for before pulling the trigger? He already told me he's going to want top dollar for it. He owns a used car dealership so I'm sure it'll sell once its cleaned up. KBB says 8-10K

Here's what I know-
-92,000ish miles
-4cyl 5 speed manual trans
-Work truck no power windows or locks. With AC
-New head and tail lights will be installed.

Thanks for all the help in advance!

 

From the pictures it looks like it's been parked and neglected. The Eastern Washington location for preservation is a big plus for you if it's been living there for a while. Look at the FRAME closely for rust! Concentrate on the maintenance this little truck has had in the recent past. Examine ANY documentation on the truck. Take it for a through test drive.

 

frame, looks blacker than normal on the rear wheel pic. might just be cosmetic paint, might be hiding cancer
looks to have a lift on it, might want to look at how well it was done
Pre Purchase inspection if you have a mechanic you trust

 

Ball peen hammer to the frame all over looking for rusted through.

 

It has been sitting parked for a while. Truck has been on eastern WA it's entire life. I have a good relationship with a salesmen at the local Toyota dealership who is going to have one of the techs call me to have me look at a few things and possibly come help me inspect it as well. Thanks for the input!

 

Must just be the lighting, it's not painted, looks original in person. I think it does have a slight lift or level. I'll look closer. Thanks for your help!

 

Sounds like you have a good resource there with the dealer - maybe have them run the VIN for service history and open recalls/service programs.

Others have mentioned checking the frame but let me be very specific -

You're going to want to pay particular attention to the boxed in front portions where they face the cats, and on the rest of the frame look closely at the inside edges of the "C" channel of the frame - there are several locations where the frame is made of overlapping sections of channel, and once the rust starts in there, you're only buying time no matter what you do. Look for ANY bulging or flaking in those overlaps.

Also give the front and rear of the front body mounts the same whacks with a ball peen hammer that you should with those front boxed sections. The hammer and even punch treatment was how the infamous frame service inspection was supposed to be done originally, before Toyota made it "visual only" later in the program.

Do not rely on it "looking good" - the rot starts inside and there could very well only be a sheet of tinfoil and some paint there.

 

18 yr old truck will require owner willing and able to troubleshoot find and fix problems. Things just wear out from age and use. How’s your AC skills.

 

Sounds good thank you! Sounds like I'll be crawling all over it looking for rust and weak spots.

 

AC skills??? Like Air conditioning? They're shit...lol. As far as finding and fixing problems I'm ok at. When it comes to electrical I'm completely ignorant...

 

Common failures for these trucks is usually wheel bearings/hubs, Center Support Bearing & U-Joints on the driveshaft, ball joints on the upper & lower control arms as well as the bushings for those. Check out the carfax or autocheck history and see what kind of maintenance it has had. If none of those parts have been replaced, expect to have to do them in the future and include that in your decision making. Frame looks pretty good from the rear wheel well but definitely look under the floor pans and the undercarriage underneath the cab for rust. If they will let you, pull out one of the spark plugs and inspect it for gunk or unusual wear. IMO if this is 2wd, it's worth less than $10k but more than $7k. If it were 4x4, I'd say it's worth a little more than $10k. Good luck! Let us know what happens

 

Is your neighbor the original owner? Knowing your neighbor and hopefully trusting him is a nice thing to being able to know the history of the truck, of course a thorough inspection is still the best option

 

I’ve got the identical vehicle except 08 with 210k on the clock.

Maintenance - spark plugs, water bypass tube - this will be a plastic tube on an 06 and will need to be replaced (better now than waiting until it breaks an leaks all your coolant and overheats the engine), my cat fell apart and there’s a recall but it’s for 2010+. With such low miles your cat may not have any issues. 2TR’s tend to burn oil later in life but you can use chemtool to unstick the rings as I’ve seen a thread in the 4 Cyl forum on here.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_co....com/&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo

 

Awesome thanks! With him being my neighbor and knowing it's for my kid, I think I'll be able to look and inspect whatever I want...

 

Second owner. He bought it from a buddy that was the original owner. Im not positive but i think it was like a company work truck...My neighbor originally bought it for his to drive, but couldn't figure out the MT and had zero interest to try. Thanks for the input!

 

Noting that there’s no center support bearing on a prerunner regular cab - 1 piece DS with a slip yoke at the output of the transmission.

 

Where us the water bypass tube? Can the cat be deleted without throwing a code? Thanks for the input! What does 2TR stand for engine code? Never used chemtool...thanks for the help!

 

Watch the video I posted.

 

Oh jeez...I didn't see it in your earlier post...thanks

 

No worries - I added it after I originally made the post. Dorman and other aftermarket brands all make steel pipes now.