Buying a fleet Tacoma?!

Hello, I am currently looking at used fleet vehicles as they are so much cheaper and some have decent packages. Currently, the one that has caught my eye is a 2021 Tacoma 4x2 V6 with the Xp package. It has side steps and TRD wheels with a black-tipped exhaust. I went and test-drove it and it felt great with no noise, however, It has 150,000 miles on it. Is this a major red flag or would it still be a reliable everyday truck?

 

Lots of info missing.....

Where are you from?
Whats the price?
Will you ever need 4WD?
Will it be a daily driver or weekend fun truck?
How has it been maintained?

Fill in the missing info and I'm sure many of the resident gurus will be along to help.
Oh....and BTW....welcome to TW

 

No, 150k miles on a Toyota is not a “major red flag”. It’s just a flag that indicates it’s been driven a lot, with (probably) mostly Highway miles.

As long as it’s been maintained properly and not dogged, go for it if the price is right.

 

Wow that’s a lot of miles especially for the year, in general I prefer to buy vehicles with lower mileage than that

 

That's a lot of highway miles. Not bad considering most of the wear comes before the engine reaches operating temperature. The million mile vehicles all got there via long highway miles.

That being said, take a look around for leaks. One place to look is near the power steering pump for signs of oil from the timing cover. I believe this was mainly an issue with earlier models, but it doesn't hurt to check anyway. Check other areas too such as around the rear diff, transmission, radiator, etc. Again, not saying these are necessary prone to leaking. They're just good things to check anyway.

What is the price? Do you have any photos?

 

Fleet vehicle? Did you see that attractive young woman from NC who wanted to buy a Tacoma for her business? Anyway I'd look at buying a new SR or SR5 and let the dealer handle any problems that might come up, but there probably would not be any.

 

It could be a construction vehicle which means he traveled all over the towns for house construction or remodeling... Maybe road construction. That's why lot of miles on the truck. It could be other reasons as well such as Doctor travels, etc.

A guy I know that had same year as mine.. he passed 100,000 miles which I was under 30K that time before he sold it.

There is a guy who drove Tacoma all over place and got over 1 million miles on his truck:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8glWcEuxw3U

 

I do understand that there can definitely be different reasons for all the miles, I think the problem I have is that we don’t really know how they were driven, I’m sure they’ll have maintenance records but I’m always somewhat suspect on that. These trucks are big investments and I’d just rather spend a little more and get a few less miles.

 

Thanks for all the reply’s this is exactly the kind of assurance I was looking for. I’ve done a car fax report on it and it has about 17 service records which puts it at an oil change every 8000 miles. Kind of concerning for me but I’m also wondering about a timing chain replacement. Should I be worried about timing chain at all?

 

If anyone has owned a fleet vehicle I would really love to hear what you have to say about it.

 

I worked for Companies that bought several off lease vehicles. No problems just regular maintenance.

Vehicles Come off lease when the time is up.

It all depends on price and location was the service done in house or by the leasing company?

Western states mileage adds up fast .

Is this a sealed Bid auction?

Each vehicle should be inspected on it`s own merits

 

You can take a look at the truck in person and see how it looks and/or sounds. If it runs good, then don't worry about the timing chain. If you are not sure about it, then get it fixed before you leave the lot or you fix it on your own for peace of mind.

Oil change interval is vary... 8,000 interval is fine.

 

8k is actually sooner than Toyota recommends so I wouldn't be concerned about that. If you'd prefer to do 5k, there's no reason you can't change to those intervals.

As for timing chain, I wouldn't be too concerned about that. The only way the timing chain would be an issue is overheating or lack of oil changes. But you're going to have drivability issues and it doesn't sound like you found any.

 

No way for me. I've seen how most rentals and fleet vehicles are driven. They aren't treated nicely. You might get lucky. Only way I'd buy one is if it's still under warranty, low miles, and I know the company that owned it.

 

i think you need to have it independently inspected if possible.

never trust the carfax. there is no law requiring anyone to deal with them, so any record they report is entirely voluntary. and when was the last time anyone volunteered to tell the nice police officer they were speeding yesterday?

 

A lot of miles can be a red flag, depending on where it was driven.

 

CARFAX is a godsend

 

is it?

this is just a few documented cases. i had a car that was similar-- clean carfax, but my body guy easily found rear end damage from early on in it's life.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/tru...s-clean-carfax/story?id=18731208#.UbOr4_nrxyU