Are early 2nd gen. Tacomas worth buying?

So it's a done deal. Sitting in my driveway now. I know I paid too much, but I think overall I did good.
I thank all of you for your input.

 

@Moto521 , looks clean...congratulations!

 

Absolutely it's worth buying.

 

She's a beauty. Congratulations!

 

That red looks so sexy. My favorite color (although mine is white).

 

Nice ride ya got there! Congratulations!!

 

Make sure the rear locker works and hasn't seized...

 

Did a full system check on the initial test drive. It did act up at first going into 4lo and locking the rear diff. But after a few tries both would function right away.
Guy I bought it from had it for 3 years. And was born in the late 1940's. And only put 10k miles on it.
Original owner was a Ford dealer tech. Full service records were provided. Judging from the exterior/interior wear this thing wasn't beat on.

 

I had the same experience w/ intial unreliable activation, while testing 4WD, 4LO, and rear diff lock, when I was test-driving the used 62K mile 2014 4.0L TRD-OR I'm now driving.

Almost certain that what's going on here is the actuator motors in the transfer case & the diffs work fine, but the wiper arm electrical contact points don't make complete contact on the first few tries. It takes switching things back and forth several times for the wiper arms to wear through a thin layer of surface oxides on the seldom-used contacts, at which point they eventually start making full contact & the various 4WD functions start engaging normally.

 

you got any more details on that thing?

Looks good

 

That's why I asked. The rear locker actuator can seize if not used regularly, more likely to happen if the truck has been mostly street driven.

Check the thin breather lines going to the rear locker actuator, transfer case actuator, and front diff (ADD) actuator are in good condition. They are just rubber hoses similar to the type used for the windshield washer nozzles, and can definitely crack and fall off after 18 years.

 

Well it isn't all sunshine and lollipops.
I still need to hit up the Dept. of motor vehicles(tomorrow, I promise).
California $$$. The sun visors have about 2" of play. That's going to drive my OCD nuts, so those will be replaced. Brake pedal/parking brake is low. Will pull rear drums for adjustment/inspection asap. Brake fluid needs a full on bleeding.
I'll probably do a full on service just because the retired career technician in me won't feel satisfied until I do everything myself.

 

One month followup
Finally got a chance to take a long drive.
Mpg is what was expected. 21.5 @ just below the speed limit.
Drivers seat !!! Has tons of adjustment range, but the steering wheel feels too far away if I go to far back. Going to try the seat risers.
Sun visors suck. Found online it was a common failure. Honda had that exact same issue around the same time. Probably the same supplier.
Compass display lights up but seems to only show NW
Speedo is about 3 mph fast at hwy speed
Still trying to "adjust" to the 5 foot bed.
Rear brakes were probably original, and at the service limit.Replaced drums/wheel cylinders/shoes with oem. Full manual brake bleed. Brake operation is much better , but still lacking. Common on this model?

Overall, I think it's a nice upgrade from my 1gen Tundra (2wd)