Possible First Tacoma Buy

Hello,

I've been browsing the forums for quite some time now, and decided to finally register and potentially purchase my first Tacoma!

I owned a 92 Camry in the past with 300,000 miles and it was hands down the best vehicle I've ever owned.

I recently sold my 06 Subaru WRX in order to buy a Tacoma. I wanted something more practical and something I essentially did not have to make payments on.

Here's the deal though. I found a particular Tacoma that I'm interested in. My potential first buy

The CARFAX shows 1-owner truck

I added it to the my Toyota website, and it shows routine maintenance and no recalls. The frame is super solid for the mileage and it drove like a dream on the test drive.

... but one issue did come up. The coolant started bubbling out of the reservoir. I immediately knew it was the head gasket. I attempted to run, but the dealership wanted to make it right.

They said if I put some money down to hold it they would completely rebuild the motor and provide documentation of the fix, and give me a 90 day warranty. If anything else went wrong they would fix it free of charge. I was able to talk to the technician and he said he had the same truck and would do whatever he could to make things right.

So my question is, should I take my down payment back and run or should I give them a chance?

tl;dr Should I buy this truck

 

Run. Seems to much of a hassle for that many miles.

 

The reason I'm asking on the forums today is that the truck will actually be done by tomorrow. I just want some reassurance that I should go through with this or not. It seems 1st gens are hard to come by at a decent price here in STL.

I also called up there today to check on it and they said they just got the head back from resurfacing. They would be installing a new heater core, thermostat, and water pump tomorrow as well tomorrow.

I want the truck but at the same time I'm unsure

Also the price is not final

 

Completely rebuild motor or just the head?

 

buy a new one from Toyota, you can get as good or better pricing and probably zero % interest. Used vehicle dealers cannot compete with new vehicle programs

 

Complete rebuild

I'd love a new tacoma, but having just bought a house it is not quite an option.

 

If its a full rebuild it might be worth.

 

Complete rebuild. As long as frame is good,looks like a decent deal. Pretty low mileage also for a tacoma. I wouldn't run.Try to get the price down and go with your gut.GL