New member seeking advice on used tacoma.

Hello Tacoma World! Frequent lurker turned member here with a few questions about the truck i've come across in my long search for a reliable taco to daily drive to replace my last DD, a 1986 bmw that has turned into more headache the fun fixer upper haha.

My goals, with time and money of course haha, are a reliable truck to drive every day that i can also use when i go surfing/fishing as well as doing some offroading here and there. I would like to purchase(hopefully!) the truck im currently test driving from a toyota dealer about an hour away in NJ.

The truck itself is a 2002 Lunar Mist Metallic TRD/Sr5 Xtra cab. Has the v6 5Spd with 169,000 on the clock for $9,000 "with MSRP of $11,200". Power everything. Includes a bed extender. No warranty but Clean 1 owner carfax with full maintenance/service records(40+) including belts at 85+90k (nothing about water pump though) 1 small random dent thats damn near invisible, the truck looks brand new basically all around. Either the previous owner or the dealer definitely gave this thing one hell of a cleaning head to toe inside and out undercarriage and all.

I just got the car back from a PPI by a mechanic in town who has had 3 or 4 tacos, including his current one, with nothing but good things to say about the trucks themselves. He informed me the one i brought in is a solid car in great shape all around. There were 2 oil leaks found though and he also said he would replace the belts, wires(OE!!), and plugs.

The leaks are coming from the rear main seal as well as the oil cooler. Seeing as the repairs are above my DIY comfort level i would have to have the repairs done at a shop and have asked for quotes from the dealership i plan to buy it from as well as the mechanic who inspected the truck.



My questions are:

1. What would be a reasonable repair cost for the leaks?
2. Does 9k sound like a fair price knowing the car needs repairs?
3. Can i expect her to be a reliable daily driver that will see 300k+ after repairs? (with routine maintenance of course)
4.Does this sound like a good taco to purchase with my intended uses?



Sorry for such a long first post but i wanted to try to help you guys help me as much as i could! I hope to get some feedback that'll put my mind at ease and get me into my toyota adventures!

 

Truck looks really clean, inside and out. It will probably cost around $1,000 to fix the leaks. $9,000 seems like a fair price, you might be able to work the price down a few hundred since it will require repairs. Other than that I'd bet she'll treat you good for years to come. Nice find!

 

Clean Tacoma!I'd try negotiate another $500 of the price because it most likely will cost you $500 or as much as $1k to do the repairs.Sounds like a reliable truck for what your plan of driving is for.