Guidance on buying first Tacoma...

I could see 15k being a reasonable price on both ends. Tell him at 15k he can keep the fire extinguisher too! I googled the extinguisher expecting it to be some weird over landing thing. It's a normal ass fire extinguisher...what's the point in advertising that?

Side note, if it were me paying the 15k premium, I would inspect all work he mentioned including the wiring to make sure it isnt some hackjob with tons of issues you will be inheriting.

 

If he gets a loan. They have to go to the bank and seller gets a check for the amount From the bank and hands over title to bank since it would be collateral. So In that sense it’s a hassle for the seller. Cash in hand would be seller gets cash and buyer gets title in hand. I agree 15k max

 

Thank you everyone who has chimed in today. It has been EXTREMELY helpful! Hopefully I can post back here soon with good news that I've finally found my first taco!

 

Anytime man, we are all watching the thread, any questions just ask.

 

BAHA I love it. Mod'd out but "never really used it to do any off-roading." I'm really not trying to hate, but I love driving around the Midwest and seeing all the snorkels, as an example. "Planning on a lot of river crossings on your way to the mall?" I used to take work trips to the middle of the Australian outback. Those guys are no-nonsense bushwackers, true overlanders worthy of outfitting their intakes with a snorkel because they no shit throw their vehicles (Hilux, Rovers) in the pop-up rivers following a torrential downpour. I digress...

Oh, and don't pay $20k for that truck.

 

Or the TRD Pros...who is taking 45k truck full of electronics through 3'+ water?

 

Nobody. Just like Raptor owners, majority never see anything besides pavement.

 

Dude, I paid 26.2k about 5 months ago for my mostly-stock Sport DCLB with just under 31k on the odo. I'll be honest, buying Certified contributed to the cost, but it's well worth the peace of mind.

 

Guy sold that truck today before I left to go check it out. I’m sure he got his full asking price too.

 

Win some lose some. There will always be another.

 

Bummer! But, unfortunately, this doesn't surprise me at all. Hopefully you're not in too much of a rush and can just keep looking and jump on the right one when it comes along.

 

I’ll mail you my 2009 with 145k miles, single owner, for 20k. I’ll also mail you my house, wife, clothes etc. just tell me what you think is California fair price. I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff to sell you.

 

Reminds me of this guy (Ian Usher) who reached his breaking point and sold his entire life on eBay for ~$260,000... house, job, cars, etc. Moved to a deserted island with 10 chickens haha. What a badass! I'm sure we all dream of a simpler life... this guy just pulled the trigger and went for it.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...nama-no-electricity-10-resident-chickens.html

 

So I just drove this 2010 DCLB TRD sport 4x4 with 117k miles. really liked it. The guy put air bags in the rear so he could level out the back while towing. Anything you guys could inform me about air bags? thinking of going with this one. He wants $18k pretty sure we can settle on $17k. Will also throw in the soft topper he has as well.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...e1=TOYOTA&modelCode1=TACOMA&clickType=listing

 

This is the suspension he put in, along with the rear air bags. Leafs are stock.

https://camburg.com/shop/suspension/camburg-toyota-tacoma-05-performance-balljoint-upper-arm-kit/

https://www.bilstein.com/us/en/blog/toyota-tacoma-6112/

 

^Jump on it ASAP if it's clean, that's a good deal. It's Sport pkg with JBL and tow pkg. There was some "damage" reported in Feb 2016 to the rear and roof so you should inquire about that. Pics are shitty and not enough of them so hard to say what the condition is but that suspension is good, softopper is a great add-on and you could sell for $400-500 as long as it's in good condition if you don't want to keep it...etc.

 

The only issue I saw was some rusting because they live near the coast out here. Was going to get it checked out by a Toyota dealership or mechanic. Need to check into that damage though. I didn’t see anything about that.

 

Looks like maybe a minor dent to the left rear part of the bedside and maybe some dings to the rear bumper but very hard to tell in his photos. I'll shoot you a PM in a minute with the Carfax report (that's how I found out about the damage).

 

I bought a used Tacoma in SOCAL in February. Shopped for two months through all of California, Nevada and Arizona. All the trucks are in CA. I had to have the 6' bed for camping and didn't want the 14" wheelbase penalty of a DC. There are not that many Access cabs listed, but I found a 2010 4x4 TRD Sport all stock except for wheels (which came off a later gen Tacoma) and LED headlamps. 105k, excellent condition, one owner, all dealer maintained with records, tires rotated every 5k, first new tires were at 85k(!). The owner was an editor/writer for motorcycle mags that appreciated mechanics and used this to haul bikes around.

KBB in San Diego was around 17.5k (I don't remember exactly). He was asking 19.5. There were some ~150k-175k 2008-2012 DC long beds for 16k-17k but not with the "story" and one owner. I negotiated to $18.5 cash. He was not about to go below that.

I'm not proud of that price and don't share it with my buddies (ha ha!), but that's what it cost in the SW. I'm really, really happy with this truck. I am far more attached to this truck than my previous Frontier or the 2019 Frontier rental I had for 6 weeks.

California is a very different kind of place. I also live in a 1200sq ft home that was recently valued at $465k. As my wife says "We live with the gardeners and maids." The good news is we are in SOCAL and 7 miles from the coast! And the things one can do within a two hour drive is phenomenal.