Looking to buy an 05+ Tacoma

Hello! First off, sorry if this is the wrong place to post. I did a little bit of browsing on the forum and figured this is the best place.

My 2002 VW Jetta was stolen from my apartment complex two nights ago. Considering I live in Phoenix, and had quite a bit of valuables on the car I don't think I will ever see it again. With that being said, I am interested in picking up a 2005 or newer Tacoma. I would like to stay under $15,000, and have found a few double cab Prerunners with around 110,000 miles on them in my price range.

I will be using the truck for commuting, carrying mountain bikes, fly fishing, camping, and getting off the grid.

This will be the first truck I have purchased so I am curious if the v6 RWD Prerunner will be a good truck for driving through the desert and up dirt roads in the mountains.

What kind of problems should I look for when test driving these trucks? Coming from a VW, I encountered problem after problem after problem once I crossed the 100k mile marker; should I expect the same for Tacomas?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

For the area you live in, the prerunner should be fine. I'm not sure how far up a mountain it'll get you since it's only 2 wheel drive, but I'm sure there's a few prerunner owners on here that can chime in on that.
As for problems, this truck should be night and day compared to the VW. These things hold their resale value for a reason, and at 110k miles it's barely broken in. Look for maintenance records to make sure the fluids have been changed as needed. Look around the engine bay for leaks. Good luck in your search!

PS. The first gen tacomas are great trucks too. Some would argue that they're better than the 2nd gens, so don't count them out of your search.

 

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