possible buy

hi guys. i currently own a 2000 dodge ram and am goin to sell soon because of gas. i found a little yota at a local dealer and i want someone with tacoma experience to tell me what they think.

its a 1995 tacoma, 2.7l, 4x4, single cab, 5 speed. its basic, manual windows n such. it has 171k miles. things ive noticed, the flip up sun roof, the latch broke and its been syliconed shut, doesnt leak though cause ive looked at it right after it rained and there wasnt any wet inside. the bottom part of the driver seat has been replaced with a all vynal one that doesnt match the others, my guess is its been town up. the emergency brake doesnt work, idk why, but it rolls. one major concern is the gears seem very loose, almost like the "shift guide(?)" is bad or somethin. its got a body lift (2in) um the back sliding winda the latch is broke. its never pulled a trailer. the air i dont think works, i havent driven it just cranked and sat in it. i have a hunch it may have been midly wrecked because it has a new paint job and the passenger marker light is one off of (my guess at least) a 98-01 tacoma, it sorta fits but doesnt quiet, and the top screw mount point isnt close to the where it should be (based on my observasion of the driver marker light which i know is oem).

i am hopefully gonna meet with the dealer and then maybe get it checked out real good. but this guy will give me 4k for my truck and i know i couldnt get anywhere near that anywhere else. but i wanted to pop in here and see what some yota guys thought, and i wanna know based on my vage details how much some of that could be to get fixed.

thanks guys

 

trust anything is better than that ram hahaha do you have tranny problems in that beast

 

no i dont. its a single cab v6 ram with the nv3500 5speed, and from what ive heard that was a good tranny. only has 83k on it. and bad ball joints, thats the only problem. and 13mpg.

i forgot to mention the yota has one more problem. the ignition, where you insert the key, that hole peice is like hanging down out of the hole. and i have no idea why

 

If you're doing it solely for gas mileage, what are you getting now? Check out some of the gas mileage posts (many), and you'll see that you'll probably be getting low-mid 20s at best at highway speeds. Just something to think about if you're doing it only for gas mileage.

It sounds like you know what you're getting into as far as what is broken, etc. I wouldn't trade the truck straight across, as a 95 with that many miles and condition, I dont think I'd pay more than $2k for, and maybe not even that much. I would think you could get one in a lot better condition and probably a few years newer for $4k.

For the parking brake, common problem with Tacoma's. The bell housing is probably rusted. If it is rusted closed, your rear brakes may be pretty worn out depending on when it froze. Since the parking brake is what causes the rear brakes to adjust, the rear brakes probably haven't been used much. New bell housings are lots of money (few hundred), but its not a difficult process disassemble, clean off the rust, repaint, and grease up. Of course it could also be the wire that is seized up, which I'm sure isn't cheap to replace. Having a manual trans though, a parking brake really isn't all that necessary as long as you leave it in gear when you park. Just depends if your state has safety inspections and requires it to be functional.

On that year, make sure to check the frame out for rust. Surface rust is normal, but if there are holes in the frame due to rust, just move on and recommend they get Toyota to inspect it and maybe buy it back (unless you want to try to get Toyota to buy it back, but I think they frown upon flips like that and you'll be lucky to get what you paid for it). Make sure to check in front of the rear wheel on the bottom, and all around the rear leaf spring mounts, as that seems to be places that get it the worst.

I cant really help you much on the transmission stuff, but it sounds like the majority of the other issues are cosmetic. As long as you're ok with them, then thats what counts. Of course AC is a complicated thing to even think about diagnosing. I'm not sure what to tell you about the ignition. Sounds like someone maybe replaced it and didn't put it back together right. Maybe its the wrong one for your year or something.

It really does sound a lot like the truck isn't in that great of condition though, so unless you're looking for a cheap beater, I think I'd keep looking.

 

I'd walk away from that one. Sounds like a money pit. Everything you mentioned can be repaired (anything is repairable for a price) but you could end up chasing problems out of that truck the entire time you own it. Unless you don't mind having a lot of little projects, I'd leave it alone. If you do buy it though, I'd try to get it around $1,500. For the 4k they'll give you for your truck, I'd look for a Tacoma around the same year as yours with similar mileage. Might be tough to find but deals pop up.

 

& this POS is sitting on a dealers lot ?? Toyota or not I'd pass on this & what is YOUR opinion on it ? seems with this many potential issues I wouldn't even bother asking about it unless its just dirt cheap price wise...

 

Keep the Ram and look around for something thats in better shape.

 

Thanks guys im probbaly gonna keep lookin