Good buy?

I found a '02 V6 SR5 4x4 w 5sp and 153k miles for 7600. Stated that it has a rear locker.

It appears to be in pretty good condition in the photos - body and paint look great. The guy doesn't speak great English so I'm going to take a look after work to get a better gauge of the condition and maintenance history.

Sound like it might be worth buying? What should I look for?Thanks!

 

Rust.

Sounds like it could be a good deal.

 

Clean title?

 

Thanks, yeah definitely looking for rust, plan to check cv boots, driveshaft play, gear shifter play in first gear, look for leaks, see how dirty the oil looks, fluids, etc.


I don't have the vin number. He barely speaks English and doesn't text or email. I'm just going to go look at it and search the vin while there I guess....

 

Sounds like you have a good game plan.

 

Would you recommend dropping 40 bucks on the carfax? Or what's the best way to check that out?

 

yes

especially for a non english speaking owner

 

Check 4-low when you test drive it. Either find a dirt parking lot or drive in a straight line on pavement.

I would get a carfax. If the truck is from the rust belt, inspect the frame and undercarriage very carefully.

 

Bring an ODBII scanner.

 

Never would have thought of that. I'll have to buy one before I go

 

So here's the news. Frame looks great. No leaks. Body looks great. Interior a little beat. But bad news from carfax, looks like odometer was rolled back a couple hundred thousand miles in January this year.

I've never encountered this before. Should I walk away? Is it worth anything? Low ball offer? No major accidents, 1 minor. seems to run great

 

Run

 

Yeah figured as much. It's a nice truck bummer. The frame looks perfect. I didn't see any rust.

 

Report him to the police.

But offer him $2500 first.

 

Haha this ^^^

The seller is a fraud and he's trying to scam you, plain and simple. In fact, I'd tell him he'd better give me the truck for a dollar or I'm headed to the police. Odometer rollback is a felony (so is blackmail...but who's keeping track)

 

He probably had the cluster replace, or does the ecu hold that info?

 

Good question....pretty sure with the digital odometers it's held in the ECU. The old fashioned analogue odometers may have been otherwise.

 

So maybe the ecu was swapped. I'd suggest asking the guy about any major repairs done lately?

 

Off topic, noticed in your sig you have the TRD headers and exhaust and was wondering if you by chance have the part # to the TRD exhaust and headers for the 1st gen?