I'm new to Tacomas, Is this one a good buy?

I confirmed it's a 3.4 v6. I'm confident in my abilities to touch, bang, feel and inspect the frame myself, and it's solid. Ya know, a little surface rust here and there obviously, but nothing major at all. Better than I expected it to be.

 

did you take a magnet to check for body damage?

 

Magnet? Actually i did. I have one of those paint thickness gauges. I don't see any evidence of body work. The tailgate has some rust at the lower corners, but that's expected imo.

 

well heres my .02. i wouldnt pay more than 3k either. yea toyotas run a long time but that time is near with 270k on the clock. id keep looking....

 

yeah if it hasnt had it already, its coming up due for some motor work, so i would factor that into your price, mine was at the max miles i wanted on it.

i think im gonna need to take it in soon for some head work, sounds like i have an exhaust leak too...

did you get the truck?

 

good luck with the sale, but i agree 5k, i wouldnt do it, maybe 4k but even then i doubt i would buy it unless, i knew who drove it and it was 1 owner. i bought myself a 97 camry with 150k miles, and only 1 owner (my friend's mom) 2100$ best deal of my life

 

its a little pricey in my opinion, mines a 98 and i got it with 150k miles for $5,000 with a supercharger. if you live close to Utah i would recommend looking on ksl car classifieds and searching there. Lately I've seen Tacoma's for as low as $2,000 to $5,000 with lower miles and great condition. mainly because people want a smaller car or they need more space for the family. and there just wanting to get rid of it. check it out when you can.
here's the link to KSL car classifieds. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=443
Good luck with your search.

 

The owner is local, he's the only owner too. I don't know him, but after talking with him we have mutual friends. He's a stand up guy. Hey, i'm with you all, i'd rather pay $4,000 for it than $5,000. We'll see how my negotiating skills are today.

 

Not yet, but maybe by the end of the day if he can come down a little more.

 

i would pay 4k MAX.

i got my 97 with 133k for 4500 with a shell etc. perfect condition

 

i prob wouldnt pay more than 4 just for the work that gonna be coming up on it

 

dont rush into anything, i had to refrain from doing that myself, took me 7 months to find my truck

 

Grab it for $4700.....

 

I do this all the time! Even though I'm not Jewish.

This is an asinine comment on several points.

It's old, but who cares? The OP is still going to spend a considerable amount of money on it...who cares if it is 2 days old or 20 years old...it's still several thousand dollars...

As far as your jab at Toyota techs/dealerships, I know several Toyota techs, one of them is on this board, who take pride in what they do and are extremely knowledgeable.

Derp?

My recommendation about getting it inspected was more than just frame-related. You seem very knowledgeable, but my only point was for them to get it up on a lift and really check it out for you. I do this with every vehicle I purchase.

Being local and the only owner is a big plus, so definitely take that into consideration.

But with the info on the water pump and timing belt...I would say go back with $4,000 in cash and tell him you have $3,500 in cash and you feel that is fair with the amount of work you will need to put into the truck to get it up to spec on maintenance.

If he doesn't bite, and you still feel confident in the purchase, then see if he will take the $4k in cash.

Good luck!

Fink

 

Well, I had to bite the bullet and paid $4,900. So far I've found that the truck is really solid. No complaints or surprises yet. After further inspection of the frame, there's only some surface rust, nothing penetrating though. Some of the spray-on coating is coming off. Anyone know how much it should typically cost to have the whole under carriage sprayed? Perhaps I can do it myself.

Thanks for everyone's feedback.

 

Congrats on the new truck!!

I have no experience with professional undercoatings, but I always try and remove as much of it with a wire brush, clean it and then POR-15 it.

Good luck and let's see some more pics!

Fink

 

I'm going to compound it, polish and wax it hopefully this weekend to prepare it for the winter. So I'll post some pictures after that.

 

My Tacoma is for sale...

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacoma-marketplace/182381-2001-toyota-tacoma-sr5-4x4-v6-189k-miles.html

Edit: Oh I just seen that you had already bought one lol

 

Sounds good - let me know when you want to make the trip down here and you can do mine while you're at it!

Fink

 

freeway miles? what is that? you still do city driving, thats a total gimmick.

wouldnt pay that much, even if it was in the shape as described. maybe 5k