First gen salvage, what should I take?

Even @$1200, that sucker would disappear within hours of being on CL...

Heck, I put my wrecked Tacoma (not wrecked real bad, still drivable) on Craig's list and was fielding calls within 30 minutes, it became a bidding war....it was gone by 10AM the next morning, I got another Tacoma just before selling, was able to grab some of the aftermarket stuff before it left the driveway...

 

http://www.lkqpickyourpart.com/locations/LKQ_Pick_Your_Part_-_Jessup-206/prices/

sorry about the blurry screenshot. My computer was acting weird, but here you go. Their prices pretty much doubled when they got bought out last year...

 

Again, that is generic pricing, not a long block with all the accessories, and as you stated, they never have Toyota stuff, so...........

Although righteous pricing, it has nothing to do with the transaction the OP is talking about presently...

 

Just in case you think the above website posted by me is sketchy or a fake deal or something, here's a 5vz for sale on ebay: $1000 + shipping. Yes, $1000 is more than $550, but it's ebay, what do you expect? Ebay sellers pretty much multiply their prices by 1.5x or 2x because they can. I'm sure the JDM importer is selling theirs for $550 because they don't even want it. Pretty much occupying valuable warehouse space that could be used to store a 2jz TT or some other more valuable, higher demand motor.

The JDM guys probably opened their shipping container and said "ewww. 5vz? WTF are we supposed to do with these??"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-Toyota-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item43c4bbdd90&vxp=mtr

but getting back to the point. $800 ain't no steal. It skirts the edge of a fair deal. Like I said..the JY probably got the truck for $400 or less and is going to make profit hand over first anyway. I woudn't give them more than $600 on principle. If it was gramps himself selling the motor, I'd gladly give him $800 just to hear some life stories from him and maybe get some maint records.

 

Junkyards are in business to MAKE $$$....

I doubt seriously you have had to SPECIFICALLY look for a righteous 3.4L motor....pick and pulls get the bottom of the pile when it comes to wrecks, the better salvage yards pay more and also get the better wrecks to part out....

$800 is a steal, obviously, you haven't been to the West Coast, pricing varies from region to region....

Listen to BamaToy1997, he has more insight on these matters than you, he does it for a living......

I have been yanking, tweaking, racing all sorts of cars and motorcycles for over 45 years, yes, you can find ridiculous low pricing, almost everytime I went the cheap route I was paying more eventually to get the mess right....and, again, you can not trust anything a wrecking yard employee tells you, especially if you are a first timer at their yard....

I wouldn't think twice about getting this motor, but that is me....

 

^What he said. I paid $3500 for my wife's B18C swap when I could have gotten a local motor for $550. BUT, I god a motor with less than 50k miles (verified) that had the trans, shifter, axles and linkage that came from the manufacturer with that motor. 50,000 miles later, I've never had a problem and it was money well spent. There are a lot of cheap and beat up motors out there. You need to choose wisely.

As for the second link, why post a motor that costs more than the OP's $800, local (not $350 for shipping), verified motor?

 

Matt, why dont you STFU, as you are wasting our time with your bullshit rants.

 

I posted it to show that there are other motors with similar prices out there. That his deal of $800 is not some deal of the century rare find.

$3500 for a b18c swap... eh, yeah. Probably the cheapest you were going to get one about 5 years ago. No way in hell you'd ever get one for $550 lmfao. Not even in 10 years. Trans alone sells for $500 in unknown condition with unknown mileage. I'm also a Honda guy.
B18C swaps sell for ~$2700 ish nowadays (in my area at least) from an importer. Hard to find them for less than $2000 on CL unless they have issues.

But, those b18c motors are very very very very very very veryyyyyy high in demand and pretty low in supply. the B18C is THE motor to swap into your Civic.

Back to the OP. Get the motor if you think you need it. but I wouldn't drive 2 hours each way or get into a fight with my wife over it or anything.

 

Um... I just looked up that listing you have above.


If you look closely your posting for the item at $550 is for the TRANSMISSION only. Look at the part in blue. EXACT wording is:"You are buying a used imported JDM Toyota Tundra Tacoma 4Runner T100 Pickup 5VZ-FE 3.4 Liter V6 Auto RWD (2WD) Trans with estimated mileage of....."

That is Just the transmission! If you look up an ENGINE with the same company you find they have no current 3.4L engines in stock. However to get an idea on price, the 2.7L engine is $1584 and the old 3.0L V-6 is $1699.

So your engine at $550 doesn't exist there. And in case you want to dispute it, I just got off the phone with JDM because they are my supplier of many used engines and transmissions. He verified that the listing is for a transmission only.

 

Interesting. I'll delete that. On second look, it appears you're right, but it's still very vague. The word 'only' should be on there. Especially since they mention "3.4l 5vz-fe' so many times. I understand this is to describe what the trans mates so, but it seems like the engine is for sale. Also, the phrase "includes auto RWD 2WD transmission" makes it seem very vague.

You guys may be more right than I thought when using this link as a source, but motors can still be had regularly for ~$1000.
Shows you guys you should have checked my sources better

 

I was just thinking the same thing. Upon reading the fine print, the quote is for a RWD Transmission ONLY, something that I doubt has a high demand. As for the 3.4, I personally priced them out at one point and had trouble finding a long block for $1800, which didn't include shipping.

OP- People will have their comments and opinions, but know that if you do pull the trigger on this motor, you aren't the only one who would do so... Good luck!

 

I looked back and that particular listing does not have the words "includes auto RWD 2WD transmission", HOWEVER they do have some engines that DO state that the transmission is included. Just not that one.

When talking to JDM they said that they can't get the 3.4L engines in fast enough. They disappear just as fast! He wouldn't lock in a number because he said prices are based on mileage, but when I mentioned on at 50k, he said most likely if they had one of those it would cost about $1700-$2000. I buy used engines and transmissions on a reasonably regular basis, so I get wholesale pricing most of the time, as long as the demand is not high. I get better prices also on ones that have been sitting in the warehouse for a while. They are not my only vendor from my units. I have priced them all over. Of course I have to pay shipping where if you guys are looking local, you can just pick them up. I suggest going to the smaller town yards for these engines, IF you were going to go look for one. You get a better price than you do in bigger cities. Large yards have higher prices. Smaller yards have fewer to pick from, but usually have better prices.

To the OP, I wish I was near you. I would offer right now to buy that engine from you for $1200. I know I could sell it here for a profit.

 

Thanks for all your input!

I'm going to snag it up.
Ill try and get a bulk deal

I would want to build it up and install when my current 3.4 goes out!

You all got me motivated!!!

 

"Shows you guys you should have checked my sources better"


I agree with that statement, bear in mind you were the one that posted the bad information initially and didn't check it either...

I think you now understand that a complete, running 3.4L Toyota engine with only 50,000 is not going to sell for $300 to $550...

I dread the day I'll have to replace mine.....hopefully another 200,000 is in it, I take real good care of her...

Toyota stuff is well built and not cheap..

 

damn, got my 2RZ for 500 hundo, looks like I made out like a bandit, as I thought.

No, I just knew you were talking out of your ass. No worries, I ignored your comments

 

Around here you're lucky if you can even find a Tacoma or 4Runner to pull parts from. People come in and buy the whole truck as soon as they get them in at the yards.

 

Yea, that's a good deal for such low mileage. I highly doubt a 3.4 would go from 200k to 400k without needing around $800 in maintenance, (minus fluids).

If I found a 2.7 with 50k at that price, I'd probably snag it.

The only question is wether to put it in now and have a refreshed truck, or wait until the current one needs work.

 

This guy has 5 3.4L engines. $1199. Does not state the mileage.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ptd/4251539674.html

 

"talking out of my ass" and yet....here you are, supporting my claim.
"talking out of my ass" because, of course, a Toyota engine could NEVER be had for $500 or anything, that's outrageous.
Thanks for validating my point. Such a valuable tool you've been

 

I proved that you had, scratch that, have no clue as to what you are talking about.

A) you are comparing a 4cyl to a 6cyl
B) I proved that they can be had for cheap, but not a regular basis
C) No one ever said they couldn, however your dumb fucking mind is under the assumption that you can have them regularly for less than 800.
D) go home you dumb drunk fuck, you're wasting my bandwidth.