Did I make a good purchase?

I have a 2000 Tacoma Xtra Cab Manual 5 speed with Manual locking hubs with approx. 188,000 miles. I purchased it last September for $6,200 with 185,000 miles otd. Since then I have put roughly $2,600 dollars in repairs: muffler, cat converter, O2 sensor, 4 tires, struts and shocks, rack and pinion, rack and pinion pressure hose and today getting the bubbled rust around my windshield repaired. Only known problem as of now is an oil leak around the oil pan (not severe at all but maybe a project in the future).

Maybe you can ease my conscience that these are common maintenance things and that I made a good purchase.

 

Can't say about price due to areas but yep those are just maintenance that the previous owner didn't do. I say good buy.

 

My 99 had 200k on it when I sold it. All I every had to fix was the exhaust manifold (which cracked), EGR system (which is shit, I just blocked it off), and put a clutch in it and rebuilt the trans. Everything else was just regular maintenance.

All of what you have is normal stuff. I would say it should be good to go for a while now. I would get that leak fixed sooner rather than later but I am cautious so I would get it fixed as soon as I knew about it.

 

I would say yes, just because $8,800 in total for a truck that is now in full working order is a damn site cheaper than buying new, and with proper maintenance, you could go another 100,000 or more miles before any major repairs.

 

I am fairly new to he Tacoma realm but I don't think thats bad. I would not count tires in your total for repairs, that should put you around $2K in repairs right? Then take away struts and shocks, those things wear out and even if they didn't, they are part of the upgrade process lol. And I think spending money on your exhaust, body work, and steering will justbe an investment that saves you time and headaches down the road. I once bought a Samurai for $250, I put about $4200 in it and sold it for $3800 2 years later. I woul say I got my moneys worth of trail rides out of it I think the same goes for any older 4X4, you get a good deal on it and you invest some money in it and enjoy it.

 

$8800 for a truck you now know is in decent shape, sounds good to me, especially seeing as how there are people asking for this or more for Tacoma that isnt in as good shape as yours, Hold your head high and wheel on my friend

 

I bought a 98 SC 5 spd in 2005 with 136K on it for $6700, it has 240K on it now. I have put tires (big shocker), 1 starter, 2 clutches (friend who can't mud, replacement because of friend had manufacturers defect, so it was warrantied 3 years later ), Rack and Pinion (leaking inner tie rods from nose dive into hole I couldn't see on a trail), 2 batteries (second one was because the truck sat for two years since it didn't fit both kids and the wife, I parked it at my moms until wife wrecked her car and she started driving my blazer. It fired right up after two years with a jump but wouldn't hold a charge.) I was driving my daughter to school 2 months ago and water pump/alternator belt broke. It overheated bad but, I thought it would be ok until this weekend it started running hot and using coolant. I ran compression and did a leak down looked good so maybe water pump wasn't circulating the coolant pulled the upper and got some mean little gas bubbles that confirmed bad head gasket. I haven't fixed it yet and it's the reason I ended up here. I saw some good stuff so decided to join. I think you made a good decision. I am ten years in and haven't babied the truck one bit, best truck I have ever owned.

 

Normal wear and tear my friend with that many miles. Toyotas aren't perfect and need to be loved nicely to stay healthy. I'd say your good for another 200k now. If it's a V6 you probably oughta look into replacing the timing belt if you haven't already just to be safe. Some people never do. I know a guy who has 450k on his '97 and only replaced the timing belt one time, he got lucky it never snapped on him. They're supposed to be replaced every 60k to 90k miles if you go by the book.

 

don't swear it, we all drop a good bit of money in our trucks because lets face it, they are 15 years old and will always need work but other then the rust it sounds like normal routine stuff.

I hope the rust isn't pervasive and can be remedied without too much work