Purchasing a Tacoma

Hello! My Co-worker has a 1995 (I think) 5VZ-FE Tacoma that he has offered to sell to me.

He is selling it for $1500, which to me, seems like a steal. But I would like to get a few suggestions from you Tacoma-Know-It-Alls out there!

Firstly, I haven't inspected the truck thoroughly at all, I've only ever seen it in his driveway. But these are the things I know about it:

The Bad:

Missing a rear bumper (License and lights etc are securely in place, however)

Front right spring is Broken. But the truck is driveable. He said he has driven it around like this with no problem for the last few years, but this is something that needs fixed.

The valve cover gasket is a bit leaky.

No radio (stolen)

Just over 200k miles

The Good:

I trust him with his ability to take care of his things. I.E. Regular maintenance.

lifted with 33" tires

Runs like a champ

**It's an F-ing Tacoma!**

I would love to hear your opinions about this purchase, and if there are very common problems with this vehicle.

I should point out, that I do indeed feel confident in my ability to replace parts with this, as I have done so with my MR2, which has a MUCH tighter workspace!

Thanks for all your help,

Greg

 

Welcome to TW. Yeah that price is a steal.
The parts that need replacing are pretty easy to do yourself. You can find good used parts here on TW for it. Didn't notice where you are located though. Should definitely look at frame for rust holes near leaf spring mounts. Tacomas weakest links are rust,leaf springs. Haven't heard of to many broken coils. With a good frame you can't go wrong in my opinion.GL

 

If there's nothing wrong besides what you listed, I'd pick it up. 200,000 miles is nothing for a well taken care of v6 and you'd probably replace the suspension when you got it anyway. Before you replace the valve cover gasket, try just tightening the valve cover down a bit. It's kind of common for those bolts to loosen up a bit over time.

Now, let's see some pics.

 

Glad to see a fellow MR2 owner here Sounds like a great price, like was mentioned above be sure to check for rust!

 

DO IT! That sounds like a pretty damn good deal. Just replace the front shocks and springs. Pretty cheap and easy to do! For another $1000 in parts, you can have a pretty sweet little truck that will last many more miles with regular maintenance!

 

UPDATE:

I took a look at the truck, and drove it up the street yesterday. He hadn't started it in 6 months. She started up on the 2nd crank, with only about 5 seconds of smoke, and she ran like a champ. Fluids all looked level. A little rust here and there, but nothing too concerning, I think. Comes with a nice toolkit installed, with surprise goodies inside, apparently >_<.

Drove it up the street and it ran great. Shifting and steering were smooth as can be.

I checked the rear leaf springs, as someone suggested, and they look pretty good, but they could use replacing sometime down the line.

The front spring will need replacing, and of course to do this, I'm planning to just replace both struts and springs together. However I am a little confused on what exactly I'm supposed to be purchasing.

The truck has a 3" lift with 33" tires. And every spring and strut assembly I have looked for online, doesn't really detail lifting. Lift kits seem to contain other parts and not struts or springs. So, I must be missing something. My main concern is that if I purchase something like this Monroe Set from Partsgeek.com, will it retain the 3" lift, or will the front end sag back to stock height?

Thanks, everyone.

 

I would suggest checking out Toytec or Wheelers Off Road for lift kits. They'll usually have everything you need in the kits, and maybe some stuff you don't but will be good to have in case you do end up needing it.

You don't have to go with this kit, but this is just an example (and what I will be ordering pretty soon lol) :

 

Check the frame for rust. It is a big issue for these trucks.

The most vulnerable place is near the rear leaf hanger.

Here's an example of an obvious issue. But it can be more subtle than this. Take a hammer and hit the frame all around this area. If you put a hole in it, walk away slowly... then run.

 

ANOTHER UPDATE:

I have entered into the Tacoma world! I will be crawling and posting on these forums now in the future. Thanks to the above for your insight.

Pictures will be posted soon.

The truck isn't exactly pleasing to the eye, there's some body rust behind the cracked paint/bondo. However the frame is completely rust free. Apparently the Previous Owner used to work at a Ford Dealership, and after realizing they only use 3/4 of a bottle of "rust-prevention" chemical. He started collecting the other 1/4, and eventually had enough to just coat the shit out of the whole frame. So that's definitely a plus.

Got the strut assembly installed today, and did an oil change. Had to have a shop do it though, I realized I didn't have a jack that would raise it high enough! *facepalm*

A couple of months and I'll have her up pretty well on maintenance I think.

Things planned:

Tranny/Diff/TC Fluid change. (Redline MT90 and Redline 75-90 in the mail now)
Timing Belt/seals/drive belt/pulleys/Water Pump
Valve cover seal
brake/clutch fluid flush (Possibly cylinders too)
Plugs and Wires

For now I think that's all I can think of.

Debating a Flat Black Rattle-Can Plastidip paint to cover up some of the ugly shit on the body. But we'll see.

What are some popular mods people like to do to these models? (Besides the basics lifts/tires/wheels/bumpers yadada) I mean MODS not aftermarket bolt on parts.

 

I see a lot of deck plate mods (allows better airflow and sounds better), grey wire mods, and fog light mods. I've seen some other unique things such as adding LED lights under the hood for better visibility in low lighting if you're working on the truck. That's about it. Do some searching on here. You'll probably find lots more than I listed