New to taco

Hey guys. I've always been interested in tacomas and I found one last week. Looks pretty good and the price seemed alright.(def will haggle, down to 8,500 - 9000) I heard about the frame rust issues with the 1st gen. I'm gonna go check it out in person tomorrow I was just wondering what else I should watch out for...??

https://www.kbb.com/cars-for-sale/5...listings=5&_=1558580127652&tab=vehiclehistory

Thanks for the help!!

 

I think we all have our own system of checking vehicles .

I start by looking to see if anything stands out as different the obvious puddles of fluids the sweet smells of coolant or gear oil

history of things like where the truck lived growing up Lower Ball Joints timing belt etc since it is at the dealer any codes are cleared that might trip again next test cycle

after the inspection if no points need addressed time for the road test make sure every thing works including the 4x4 I am sure some dirt can be found

I am a drive train person the cab and bed could be 5 different colors the interior could have 3 colors look at the things that are critical to you

 

are you from the St Louis area?

 

Yes. South county

 

nice!, I spent about a year in the Edwardsville area when I first got my taco, weekends spent cruising around St Louis county!

are you aware of the 'very thin line' there is when you cross the Mississippi to IL (as deemed by the Toyota Motor Corp)

in regards to the used truck you are looking at?

 

I always have a look at the CV boots, lower ball joints, and the rest of the drivetrain as mentioned above. When you take it for a test drive put it in 4L and make sure all is good to go. Exterior looks clean!

 

Oh cool! I haven't heard of the very thin line. Why do you ask?

 

Welcome to TW! Not to jack the thread but we got a thread for the STL area you should check out. We got a pretty good group of people.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacos-in-st-louis-area.22598/page-517

 

Right on man

 

you will need to find out where this truck originated from (where it was originally sold)
not all used dealers (imo) are forthcoming with this info or give a care
I have recently learned that MO,IA,KS and my state NE are not considered 'cold weather states' in regards to frame issues
yet IL is
... I am pretty sure that the winter weather in northern MO is the same as it is across the river
have you experienced anything different?

 

i need to move lol
only a few locals on TW in my locale

 

Welcome to Tacomaworld

 

Yeah winter here get pretty bad. N thanks man I didn't even think about that. Pretty impotant.

 

if it was like it was here, nobody that bot a taco in MO would get a recall/warranty notice in the mail and may have never heard of the goings on out there, my dealer sure did not know anything back then, I heard about it from someone in Indiana

 

Ah yeah. My buddy works for Toyota and I've asked him to look up the vin for me to find any dirt.

 

hopefully thats all that there is underneath there, is just dirt!

 

Right! I hope so too. I'll be checkin it out in a few hours. We'll see.

 

Yeah, you should definitely focus on the bones of the vehicle. Lots of people like shiny tires and paint, but don't think about what the frame or transmission looks like. As a result, shady dealers will give it a wash and a polish and park it over a puddle if they don't want you to look underneith.

Don't rely on just what has been reported to carfax or the dealer. You'll need to look at it yourself and/or have an independent mechanic give it a shakedown.

 

Right. I'm def checkin everything underneath.

 

take pics for us on TW if you want we can help evaluate from afar