Is a 2013 totaled Tacoma worth $3,500??

There’s a Tacoma here in town, 2013 4x4, that hit a cow and bent the front of the frame and smashed the front end pretty bad. Engine looks unscathed, transmission and running gear good, interior okay, I need the engine to put in my 2006 TRDOR. Not sure the mileage yet? Owner wants $3500 for it… is it a good deal??

 

If they didn't lose coolant and overheat the engine, I'd say yes. Opinions will vary.

 

Mileage will play an important role in pricing, so let us know once you have that information. Online, they seem to range from about $1,900 for higher-mileage units (over 200,000 miles, a few leaks, etc.) to around $3,800 for very clean, low-mile examples. If it is in good condition and the mileage is around 150,000 but under 200,000, I would consider that a fair deal. eBay has many listings with mileage shown, and a quick search can give you a good idea of pricing and condition to help you decide if you are getting a solid deal. I'm sure you could always knock him down a $100 bucks or so, cash is king.

 

How many miles on your 06? Why are you looking to replace the engine?

 

Since it is local, I’d want the engine checked out before committing to buy.

 

If it would bring more than that in parts I'd think a junkyard would have already bought it.

But it's worth investigation.

Suspect you may need all the wiring harness and ECU as well.

 

Seems reasonable depending on the condition of the parts that are salvageable. You can probably drop it off at a junk yard after you take out what you need and get some of the money back as well.

 

Photos? What is front smashed pretty bad? Why your 2006 need new engine? I would pass!

 

Something I just thought of that’d be way more work but could be better in the end. What if you did the reverse and took stuff from your 06 to restore the 13? End up with a decent 2.5 gen at that point for pretty cheap.

 

Thanks for all the info guys! I’m checking the mileage tomorrow. Might buy it with a friend of mine that also has a 2nd gen and he needs the driver seat and tires and rims off it. My ‘06 has a slow head gasket weep into cylinder 4. So figured since LKQ wants nearly 4K$ for just the engine that this would be the easiest for me fix? All I have to do is delete the EAIS and cap the headers if I use this 2013 engine. We are 2.5 hours from the city

 

It still starts and runs I assume.
Do a compression test and leak down test on the motor.
If the owner won’t let you, I’d walk from the deal, but I’m wired that way lol.
What oil change intervals does he do? What oil does he run?

 

Seems like a lot of money to fix a head gasket leak

 

If I could get my head gaskets replaced for $3800 on my 05, I'd be there tomorrow. More like 2 X $3800.

 

Well just got back from looking over the 2013 Tacoma I was hoping to get. The plenum was broken just after the throttle body and the engine is seized. Has 156k miles. Back to square one

 

Oof yeah hard pass on that one. Have you looked for used motors on car-part?

 

Nope never heard of car-part, are they good? I did check the local LKQ and they want 4K$ for a used engine w little over 100k miles. At least with LKQ you get a 6 month 6k mile warranty and don’t have to worry about all the shipping. I might just go ahead and have a shop replace the head gaskets and do a timing kit on the 2006?

 

car-part is just a website that lists the stock of junk yards essentially.

 

Hollanderparts.com is another salvage yard search engine

 

Thinking his 3500 asking is a pipe dream.

Back to the first para of post 6.

Seems like proper insurance coverage would have paid more than that and taken it away.

 

Keep looking on Car-part.com

Get a few more quotes on HG replacement. If you do go that route don't go for the cheapest quote. Ask them what is included for the price