Odometer rollback- now what?

I literally went through this a few weeks ago with a 2004 DC. The guy had it advertised at 140k and when I pulled the car fax the maintenance was showing over 289k. Fortunately i was able to get out of the deal, through a lot of fighting and threats. But yeah always pull the car fax before hand, and there’s a few videos to look on YouTube for checking a vehicle. Check for wear on the seatbelts and pedals, it will give you how it was driven highway vs city. Also the pitting on the windshield, bumper and hood. If its been repainted then possibly been in an accident or worse. I would also look at the dash and see if there was anything out of place or crooked. You can see if its been worked on before and that should give a red flag.

If you cant sell it or get out of it. I would get it checked out. Run a head gasket block test and drive the car hard in the mountains. See if it overheats or have any issues. Hook up a scan gauge, or purchase a copy of tech stream. Run the ecu’s verify if there is any codes. ABS, SRS, Drivetrain ECU etc.

In addition to that do a complete baseline of the vehicle. Trans, Diff, engine, radiator, power steering etc. Pull it out and refill. Swap the radiator out, run the AC/Heater if its not cold as ice. Change or get it refilled. Check the suspension if anything is torn or ripped swap it out. I would pull the ft shocks and rears and swap them out.


New battery, filter and hoses if you can. You want to be proactive since you wont be up there to address if anything goes wrong. But due to the age it might still go out in a 100k-150k so if you can afford it I would save up for an engine swap in the future.

 

My post was for you

 

OK a slight break in the case. The truck had two stickers on it from a nearby mom-and-pop auto repair place. The internet said the shop was still in business so I stopped by there today. Talked to the owner who came out of the garage in an oil-stained mechanic jump suit (good). I explained that I just bought the truck locally from the second owner (Peter), that I had no history of the truck but that it looked like it may have been serviced at his shop. He said "oh, yeah i know that truck. I took care of that truck when Ann (apparently the original owner for the first 300K+ miles) owned it, then after pete bought it from her too. I've got a folder an inch thick of all I've done. If I told Ann something needed to be done, she got it done"

So I told him the rest of my sad story and how the truck was intended to go to Alaska and asked if he would be willing to take a look the truck and tell me what he thinks needs to be done. He said sure so I have an appointment for Tues Aug 4, and he said that while I wait i could go over all the repair files for both Ann and Pete, which essentially covers the entire repair and maintenance history of the car.

I did get a brief look at the Ann file and it was indeed thick with oil changes as well as other things including a new alternator, radiator, shocks, heater core, and presumably some timing belts in there too. The garage owner also said the motor and tranny are original, never replaced.

I had two additional thoughts:
1. what are the chances that two people exclusively used one mechanic for nearly 20 years and that the shop is still in business?
2. Not to be sexist but how many women do you know that would drive one truck for over 300K miles? Ann is my kind of woman. She must have also had a lot of faith in her mechanic as well as really liked the truck

So anyway, bad news is I still own a very high-mileage Tacoma, but the good news is that the truck has been very well cared for and will get what it needs. I'd also note that I've now driven it through two tankfulls of gas and its doing really really well, no surprises, 22 MPG mostly highway at 75mph so fingers crossed.

Also thanks for all your comments and helping me walk my way through this . Will let you know more next week

 

i agree

many during the very coldest winter months have issues (with global warming NOT as long or as cold )

some never turn their vehicles off leaving them simply idling ( Not Good for the engine )

even plugging them in to 120 electric heaters sometime does not work
sometimes they get sooooo cold they wont turn over or crank

with cold temps + chill factors !!!!

dont know what she does

how long she will stay

or what her expectations are ..............

her best guide people / colleagues she already knows in Alaska

good luck

 

It’s actually so easy to change the odometer mileage on these trucks that it’s scary. You just swap the cluster, or even easier, two screws and a ribbon cable for the odometer screen which has all the logic for the instrument cluster. It takes 5 minutes.

 

Let me correct it for you: bad news is you paid high price for 300+ miles Tacoma. That is the end of bad news. The good news is you own 300+ miles Tacoma that was well cared of. 300+ may be very high mileage by Ford, Chevy or Dodge truck standards. By Toyota standard it is just broken in.

That comes from a guy who owns 25 years old 320k+ miles Tacoma.

 

Meh on carfax. My 01 Durango supposedly was in a T/A in 2009 in California. Only problem is, it was in Michigan stored in the garage at the time and had never seen california in it's life. I've seen plenty of issues with incorrect and completely false info from Carfax.

 

In the case of this Tacoma, I absolutely agree with you on this.
OP, it's nice to know your purchase was well cared for by someone who cares. On that end of things you lucked out

 

Sir, finding a mechanic who has taken care of a truck for years, and knows the truck, you are in good shape.

 

I wouldn't feel comfortable with it unless maybe I was the original owner and knew I had taking good care of it.

Any vehicle with 350k miles is on borrowed time. I know dudes will chime in saying that so and so on the internet has a Tacoma with a million miles on it and that Tacomas will last at least a zillion miles.

 

Good Mechanics are hard to find I can see the second buyer asking questions where the Truck was serviced and if practical keeping the same shop .

As to the mileage who can say mechanical things fail at anytime any place .

The thing about the mileage change proving it was of criminal intent would be interesting.

Best of luck

 

If you mean "can break any time" as a matter to the fact any vehicle is on borrowed time regardless of the mileage or age. If not, mechanic would know how to repair only old high mileage cars .
Old Tacoma does not explode after odometer turns 350k, so there is no such thing as "borrowed time".
And if you mean the "cost of owning" there is nothing in an old well maintained Tacoma that that would cost more than few payments on a sparkling brand new truck. Luckily first gen Tacoma was built to last, unlike majority of new cars that are built to be a consumables.

 

Sure

 

Update:
Had the mechanic who had taken care of the truck do an inspection while I went through the repair records he had. The repair records were indeed extensive and over the nearly complete 342K miles indicated oil changes every 5K, regular fluid services (brakes, ATF, radiator) at the recommended intervals, along with the usual brake pads, rotors, air filters, batteries, bulbs, muffler, etc. Larger original equipment that had been replaced included:

timing belts and water pump: 89 and 181K
AC evaporator: 127K
shocks all around: 181K
ABS pump: 208K (not replaced and I'm not going to deal with it either given the lack of love for first gen Tacoma ABS)
starter: 226K
rear brake cylinders: 246K
front brake calipers: 250K
brake vacuum booster: 255K
alternator: 275K
power brake booster: 280K
radiator: 288K
leaky valve cover gasket: 316K (not yet done)
catalytic converter: 320K

Might be more that was missed in the record but if you're wondering how long original equipment lasts on a first gen Tacoma, there's some data.

After a drive and lengthy inspection the mechanic said the car was in excellent shape, drove well, brakes solid, shocks not soft or leaky, all fluids inc differentials very clean, drivetrain great , no issues with CV or u joints, no codes or pending codes (not sure what a pending code is). Oil seepage from the valve cover gasket and that's about it.

Anyway a clean bill of health pending the valve cover gasket replacement and a timing belt (confirmed with second owner that it was not changed after 181K so 160K on current one)

So, lotta miles and about $1600 of deferred maintenence but i'm inclined to spend the money

 

i would drive same truck lower 48 same $$

while winter aint as bad as it used to be.........................not consistently

my daughter in Alaska = No

basis for a great adventure tho

make sure she owns a good pistol & keeps a journal

 

Where is Alaska is she going? I live in Anchorage and I drove a mini cooper last winter with no problems. That Tacoma will be great up here.

 

it is Anchorage and from what she says the winters in Anchorage are no worse than say Milwaukee or Toronto. I think the need for the truck is more driven by getting places to hike and bike than by severe winter conditions.

 

Winters really are not that bad, 100 inches or so of snow every year. The "bad" part of winter for me is the 4 to 5 hours a day of daylight. My vote is make sure she has a couple gas cans, some basic tools, and a mile post https://www.themilepost.com/ and send her on her way. I have driven from the lower 48 to Alaska and back then back to Alaska again. It is a beautiful drive and would recommend it to everyone.

 

Sounds like a good rig, the icing on the cake is that you found the mechanic who worked on it the whole time and he's saying its a good rig too

Look at it this way, if you made a mistake and overpaid for a truck, at least its a clean Tacoma!

Definately a glass half full type of situation

 

I would definitely have the frame coated with por-15 to slow down rust damage that it will incur in Alaska.