First truck, first Tacoma, help!

Hi all - I'm new here and this is my first post, but I've been lurking over the past couple days as I look into buying my very first truck and you all have helped me a lot in the process, so I was hoping you could help me decide between two tacomas. Im hooked on the first gen in spite of the horrifying rust stories I can't stop reading about...I test drove one the other day and I'm in love, but I don't want to fall in love with a car that will rust away in two years along with my hard earned $10k+...

There's two in my area (Minnesota) that I'm considering, and I was hoping yall could help me sort out which one is the better deal and most importantly, which one I'm most likely to net another 100k or so miles out of. Any help will be really appreciated - I'm in a black hole of research and a little in over my head, but I just I want to get the best friggin small 4x4 truck I can get for the money. To that end, thanks to a helpful tip I learned on this site, I entered the VIN of both trucks on toyota.com/owners and got some nifty detailed service records that I was hoping you could help a mechanical novice like myself decode (thank you thank you!).

Ok here goes:

The first: this 2001 Xtracab 4-cyl 4x4 5-spd SR5 with 159k miles for $9,500

I test drove it last week, and I'm going to go back and get a better look + pictures of the frame tomorrow, and hopefully get a mechanic to check it out. According to toyota.com/owners, the frame was replaced in 2010, approx 35k miles ago, along with a whole bunch of other suspension related parts, many of which were specifically purchased by the customer at the time of replacement in addition to the warranty-covered stuff, which leads me to believe this may have been a savvy owner who took advantage of free labor. I attached the records for your viewing pleasure, because I'm sure it will make more sense to you.

The second: 2003 Xtracab 4-cyl 5-spd with about 112 or 118k miles, for $11,200. It was originally listed on craigslist for $9700 and it seems in good shape, but owner took it down to make some repairs, and will relist this week. He's been sending me some progress photos and photos of what he will try to fix - mostly rust related: http://imgur.com/a/tgmoZ

The current owner bought it at a dealer action and in addition to patching up all the rust he has replaced a bunch of parts. New fuel tank, exhaust, he's "spraying frame with some 3M stuff," fixing a bunch of little things. In the dealer service records however (also attached), the car has not had a frame replacement, was found to have no rust perforation in 2012, and was treated with a corrosive resistance kit and hole plug at the dealer.

Thats about all I know. At first I was leaning more towards the 03 for the low miles, but after finding these service records and reading up on the rust, I'm thinking a 40k mile frame is probably better than a patched up 110k+ mile frame, and all those newer suspension parts are a nice plus too.

What do yall think? Am I overthinking the rust issue? Which one is better? Most of all I'm worried that with either one, the frame may rust from the inside out in a year or two no matter how good I take care of it.

Thanks in advance for all your help! I hope to be a proud Tacoma owner one day soon, and you have already helped more than you know. Let me know if you have any questions for me or questions I should ask the dealer/owner.

 

If it was me and you lack the skills to do frame repair and need a mechanic to check things out

If your getting a Mechanic make sure they know Toyota`s to easy to miss things otherwise.

I would go with the first one and replaced frame.

While the jury is still out on how the new frames hold up.

Know going in these are not drive and forget vehicles the maintenance needs to be done

 

If I was shopping those two trucks for myself, I'd take the 2001 Tacoma with higher miles. It's got a new frame and some new suspension parts. Then I'd POR 15 the bejesus outta that shiny new frame. If it's got any cosmetic issues like holes in the carpet, those are a cheap and easy fix compared to holes in the frame. Even in a worst-case scenario of an engine or transmission failure, an inexperienced but somewhat intelligent person could figure out the swap themselves. But don't worry, the 1995-2004 4-cylinder 5 speed manual Tacomas are among the most durable and DIY-friendly vehicles any auto manufacturer has produced.

 

No brainer. The first one is the better deal. 159k is nothing for miles. New frame=another 200k to put on the thing.

I've repaired frames on these trucks. It is only a temporary fix.

 

I'm about as smart on this stuff as you are, and it looks like you've done your research pretty well. With that said, I'd go for the '01. Either way, for that year, the miles are still not that bad compared to some I've seen, and like you pointed out, it's already had the frame replaced.

Also, maybe you should set up a poll at the top of this thread just to get a quick at-a-glance view of what you should get. You can always read the comments for more insight, but if you want a quick idea that'd be the way to go.

 

Minnesota eh? Definitely the new frame, the miles are nothing for a Toyota.

 

Done - I set up a poll!

I'll do what I can as far as a Toyota-handy mechanic - maybe I should take it to a dealer? And yeah, I want to do as much preventative maintenance as I can, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of consensus on what that is as far as protecting the frame, besides getting the undercarriage washed every couple weeks in the winter. As far as spraying/treating the frame, I'd want to do that if I felt like it would for sure help.

The DIY friendly design is part of the reason I like these trucks! My goal is to learn how to do more of my own maintainance. However, as far as the frame goes I'm wayy over my head. Is POR 15 known to help? If I spray any coatings on my truck I'd want to make sure its done right.

Thanks for the responses everyone. This has been very helpful so far.

 

First one. A little general maintenance will go a long way in getting a few hundred thousand out of that truck. Mine is an 04DC with 165K. I've been on top of everything since the beginning and shes still solid as any new car out there. Just keep up with the little things and you'll be fine.

 

What sort of frame-specific maintenance would you recommend?

 

easiest. decision. ever dude!

good luck with your new 2001...

 

There's no need to go to the stealership. Just do the simple stuff first, spark plugs, fluids/filters, grease the drivelines, etc. There are a shit-ton of instructions here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-thread-compiled-list-of-helpful-links.95271/

There are lots of good-quality undercoatings out there. POR 15 and Fluid Film are just a few. I like POR 15 because you paint it on yourself with a few sizes of el-cheapo paint brushes. It's an easy yet messy and time-consuming job. Also if you're not sure how to do something, just ask. You may get a few dick responses but most people here are happy to help.

 

The best would be to move to Arizona.

Other than doing that, find a quality undercoating company that is not Toyota. They will need a couple days to do a complete undercoating.

 

I wish I could...unfortunately the dealer is a "priced to sell" dealer, so they sell at a fixed price. KBB says $7-8k for this truck, so its significantly more expensive than I'd like but such is the current market in Minnesota I guess. There aren't many tacos like this one here. The dealer is fairly reputable...they have been recommended it to me by locals, and it has good reviews. If the mechanic I'm taking it to later today finds any issues though, I'm definitely going to make sure those get taken care of for free.

haha yeah, moving to the south might actually be in the cards in the not so distant future. As far as an undercoating goes, Ziebart was recommended, so maybe I'll go with them. I hope its not crazy expensive.

DEFINITELY want to establish a good baseline once I purchase. Plugs, fluids, filters, grease driveshaft. I read that cleaning the throttle body and replacing the water pump and timing chain might also be good ideas. I'm hoping to start doing a lot of this stuff myself now, but maybe the first time I'll leave it to the pros (esp. for frame coating), as its kind of overwhelming to tackle all that at once. Also I hear changing the oil is a PITA on these guys. But yes, I certainly plan on consulting yall with any questions. You've all been so helpful already.

 

a full frame replacement i read somewhere on here will invoice at ~ $13,000 (correct me if I'm wrong). Seems like a fair price to me, but yea, others will deal hunt and get a better price. dOubt it will have a recent frame replacement. Dont sweat it if u can afford it, and this is the truck you wanted. my 0.02

 

I'd look around a bit more I picked this 2004 SR5 V6 4WD up for $6400 last year with a brand new frame done a few months prior. It came with every piece of paper since since new and both keys and remotes. This also was bought from a main line dealer in the cities.

 

Just for reference, how many miles on it? That price seems absolutely rock bottom. Great score.

 

She's no virgin in the miles dept at over 200k. Someone really took good care of this truck. At the same time Toyota replaced the frame the customer opted to have the clutch replacement and timing belt service done out of their own pocket. When I was sent the service history and pictures of the truck on a lift I could not wire the money fast enough. The underside was that nice. Even after I put leather in this truck I could sell it and the cost to own will have been next to nothing.

 

The frame replacement also includes pretty much all new suspension. Anything that touches the frame. I'd go new frame.

 

Killer deal. Great find. I'm a diehard Toyota guy (landcruisers), so I'm familiar with the mileage not being an issue. I tore down a corolla engine with 280k miles and I wouldn't have believed it myself unless I saw it, but the main bearings had very little wear and the cylinders were still showing the cross hatching!! Unbelievable. Very nice truck and price. Congrats.

 

depends on the rust, just make sure to check the '01 as well. But to have exhaust, gas tank and "other little things" needing replaced may say the PO did not take care of the vehicle other than oil changes

also you don't change the timing chain on the 2.7 , and water pump only if leaking.