New first gen owner. Should I second guess myself?

First off, new here. I've enjoyed searching around the site. Wealth of info here. I looked for a crew 4x4 for about six weeks. I will primarily use it for hunting and light towing of duck boat and a ranger. I finally bought one this week so here goes.

2001 crew cab, v6 auto silver, only 110k miles. Clean title. Good carfax. Mostly stock. Aftermarket wheels and 31" MT tires, spacer in rear.
I drove five hours to get it and let's just say it wasn't all that I expected or was told. It's three owner, but two according to carfax. Initial buyer (10 years)>dealer>wholesale dealer ~4 years, and a teenager (~5 months) who is selling because he wants something bigger.
Pros: mileage, interior good shape, everything works for most part, no rust, frame looks great, 4x4 works,shifts good, born in south, feel like I got it for a good price.
Cons: body is a little rough. Rougher than told. This idiot spray painted his flares without taking them off so a ton of overspray on panels. There were a few stickers on side of door and instead of buffing the residue from sticker off they hit it with sandpaper and spray paint. Wth?!! Dent in driver door. Dent in front bumper from a hitch. The last owner just didn't take care of it. He obviously didn't know what he had. Both sides of the bed panels need repainted, minor valve seal leak which they knew nothing about, u joint needs replaced (I think), needs alignment, timing belt and water pump have not been replaced.
I'm not a perfectionist but the body really bothered me. I plan to get it taken care of. My first thought is/was what else did they neglect? I'm taking it to the shop Monday to have them look it over real good. In the meantime me and my brother in law are going to go through it.

Few questions: What are some things I should keep my eye on? Where should I spend my money first? I figure ~ $1000-1500 for repainting sides of bed. Should I have passed on the truck? Any DIY stuff I should look at over weekend? Got it for $8500. I've done some searching but I'm a little overwhelmed. These tacomas bring good money in my neck of the woods. Especially 4x4. Thanks everyone.

 

Do you have any maintenance records for it?

 

Sounds like you got it for a fare price, but not great. By the time you fix everything you will probably have close to 11-12000 in it. You should have a good reliable truck with low miles after everything is fixed.

 

Whew, posting at 3am, that is early. You in Arkansas hogfan? Razorback? If so, yes these do fetch a premium in this area, especially DC 4x4. If it makes you feel any better 2 years ago I paid 12,5 for my DC TRD OR prerunner, and 13 this week for my '04 DC 4x4 TRDOR single owner with records and 150k. Like above said, you got an ok deal it seems, but not great. It is frustrating that you drove all that way and it was not as represented. You have it now, if you aren't happy I would sell it for as much as you can, recoup and get a truck you feel you will be happy with. Important thing is to learn, and in the future don't feel obligated to buy if a vehicle is misrepresented, even if there is significant time already invested. Always better to wait it out if you are able for the one that you are truly happy with. This has come from hard experience on my part.

 

i've had my '01 since it was born and never really had any issues besides self-inflicted ones. i agree with the other guys here about the semi-fair price. besides the cosmetics i'd start with the standard service manual stuff, ie; oil change/filter, tranny fluid, coolent flush, etc. inspect the common stuff to for the taco's, spare tire carrier and frame related rust (sounds like you've already checked the frame), lower joints are notorious also. other than that i really can't think of much more to do before the cosmetic piece and tires. hope it all works out for you and welcome.

 

No maintenance records. Yes I'm in arkansas. Everything that I found was 200k+ miles and still over $10k or they were prerunners. I guess I gave up good cosmetics for the low miles. If I sink a couple thousand in it I think I could still get my money back if I wanted to sell it. I'll get some pics up.

 

If you think you want to sell it I would do it as is with as little money into it as possible and move on. If you think you can be happy with it with some dollars and time then just keep it. Low miles can be a plus but if it was not treated well those low miles could be high mileage equivelant

 

Check to make sure the valve cover bolts are tight, they often loosen up over time. I could literately turn mine by hand so I tightened mine up and they haven't leaked since. Not sure if the bolt is loosening up or the gasket shrinking over time.

 

Thanks for the replies and for being patient with a rookie. Here's some of the body. The side bed panels probably look a little worse in person. There's quite a bit of spray paint.

 

Looks like a pretty heavy leak, mine was pretty light. Might as well replace when you do the timing belt and water pump as well.

 

That doesn't look bad. If it truly is a limited that is in your favor too. Withthose miles I would keep it if it drives well and interior is in good shape. If the bed bothers you have it fixed eventually. Remember that acetone will take off spray paint but not automotive enamel if you don't rub too hard.

 

Thanks guys. What are your thoughts on frame?

 

From what I can tell the frame looks alright, she does need a bath though. The frame rot tends to start from the inside out. Frame looks the same as my 99 that was a SoCal except the last 2 years it has been an Indiana truck.

 

nothing looks too bad to me. The frame looked good. Only thing that looked rusty was the exhaust.

 

Front driver side control arm looks a little rusty but hard to tell from picture. I also noticed it looks like you don't have a skid plate.

 

Congrats man, you scored in my book! Try finding a low mileage 4x4 DC in SoCal - good luck! And when you do, trust me you'll be paying way more than that, with the cosmetic issues. As long as it's mechanically sound, you should be happy and feel lucky you found one at all.

 

It needs a little love. Can't wait to see what happens next.

 

I think it was a great buy, just the last owner was a kid who didn't know what the hell he was doing. Years ago I saw my cousin spray paint his rims while still on the car as well as his wiper blade arms with no prep. Teenagers do dumb stuff to try to modify their car. He probably thought matched paint would look the same so over spray wouldn't matter.