2nd Gen Tacoma Rebuild

2011 Tacoma long bed, crew cab, 4wd, 108,000miles, clean.


I purchased this truck from KY from the original owner in August. While en route for delivery the driver rear-ended another and State Farm deemed it a total loss. The truck is very well maintained and clean. State Farm will sell it back to me with a salvage title for $8,000.


I intend to retain the truck and repair the damages. I’m looking for advise on if you guys think it is feasible. I have a local company that I have worked with in the past that can certify and assist in the retitling inspection process.


The truck is drivable. The impact damaged the front clip(fenders, bumper, hood, AC coil, steering column air bag). The radiator wasn’t punctured, but most likely will need replacement. I say that to say it didn’t get into the belt & pulleys too bad. The truck does crank and drive.. you can hear the belt rubbing the fan shroud. The suspension seems fine as well as the frame.


Could someone point me in the right direction? Do you guys think it would be cost prohibitive to do myself? State Farm paid me 22,500. So, 22,500-8,000 gives me $14,500 to budget. I feel I can come in below budget.. i just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.


I’ve never posted here before. I’m going to be posting and updating the process as go along. I’ve tried searching for others in the forum similar and can’t seem to type the “magic” words to find anything similar.


Thanks for any help or advise.

 

Other pics

 

What’d you pay for it?

 

I’d buy an off lease Corolla with a sunroof but do what you like. Anything is fixable with enough cash. Good luck!

 

21k is what I paid. The cc lb 4wd convo is tough to find in white.

the Corolla sounds tempting.. not my bag

 

@koditten
Help this guy out with info

 

let me catch up on the thread. brb

 

Geez! That's a no brainer. Spend some time and fix it. Start removing stuff and replacing the parts you will need.

All my vehicles were similar or worse. That is a pretty easy fix.

You most likely have ot have a shop weld in the radiator support. The rest is bolt on parts.

 

so, conservatively,…

-2100+22500 = +1500

1500-8000 = -6500 (+ wrecked truck)

-6500-10000(parts) = -16500 (+wrecked truck)

-16500-8000(100hrs @$80/hr) = -24500 (+fixed salvage truck)


Would you spend $24500 on a salvaged truck?

What’s your time worth?

Can you really fix it all yourself?

Right now you’re up $1500.

 

@MNMLST

do you feel it will take 10k in parts and 100hrs in labor?

i’m fairly skilled. I’ve done it once before on an 06 silverado. Similar damage/situation. Definitely nowhere near the same free time I had then.

Do you have any past experience with rebuilding a tacoma?

 

@koditten

what do you expect a rough estimate of parts cost would be?

Have you ever rebuilt a tacoma?

 

I've rebuilt 3 Tacoma's and 2 Tundra's and used them all for daily drivers.

I really is nothing more than a big, but not hard puzzle. Most parts only fit one way.

Parts will be less than $2k, a bit more if you go for an aftermarket bumper. Installing an ARB actually can save you some money. The individual factory bumper parts will add up to more money than an aftermarket bumper.

Think about taking to reputable repair shop to have the support iron replaced. Foe example, the radiator core support will have to fitted and welded in pretty close to ensure hood and fender lines are true. It will save you a bit of effort going this route. I usually do this if I know I will be busy.

The process takes time. So don't get discouraged if the shop seems slow. They have insurance paying jobs that will get put ahead of you. It happens.

I always tip the body techs ahead of time. I Buy lunch when we talk about the job and leave cash on the work bench when done.

I've never paid more than $800 for a frame pull and a core support install. That was 4 years ago, so things might be different, but I don't think it will be much.

 

Even with a salvage title, that truck will sell after fixed north of $13k.

I can't see how you can lose.

Go to Copart and look at some of their auctions. You will see similar Tacoma's with more damage selling for more than you will have to pay.

No one is stuck with a Tacoma. They always sell for stupid high money even with salvage titles.

 

Just simplify:

You will have spent $8k for the wrecked truck?

I estimate that you will have $2k in parts.

You will have $2k in labor, less if you paint the parts yourself.

We're there any airbag deployments?

Still a pretty nice ride for some low$.

 

With this market, I'd probably pocket the cash and wait until prices go down a bit.

Unless you want to spend your free time rebuilding, dealing with understaffed body shops and other shops you'll be using for various fixes, wait for another one to pop up.

Unless you fix and flip it in the next year, you'll likely not make much money back on it - I'm guessing that once the chip shortage starts to lighten up, Ford is going to be dumping their huge quantity of inventory onto the market for CHEAP since it's been sitting on the lot waiting for just a few chips to finish the trucks.

If you do decide to fix it, it's a great time to do the 2.5 gen front end upgrade.

 

I'm guessing that anyone that thinks you should pass on the project, has never done their own body work.

Once you do it yourself, you will say to yourself, " this wasn't so bad".

You aren't going to find another dclb without a lot of work. Why not just fix this one.

Salvage title sell just fine.

Just remember, insuring it for "clear" title value doesn't work. If you wreck it again, you only get the "salvage" title value pay out.

I do like driving low mile vehicles with no payments for a lot of years.

Keeping it and driving it for a good while will insure that you will make money in the future.

A salvage title truck with 250k miles sells for the same as a clear title truck with 250k miles.

 

Normally I avoid salvage titles, but this guy is right. Salvage or not, Tacoma's sell for more than you would think. I've attended more than a few auctions and almost all the Tacoma's I've seen go through have been in worse condition than this and sold for startling amounts.