Question about buying a newer tacoma

Ive been looking at the newer tacomas with under 10K miles on them. I look at the carfax reports and have noticed a trend in some of them. Ive noticed that a number of them were purchased, brought in for service a number of times after a thousand or so miles. During these services it was written that the dealer was checking alignment or tires. I even saw one where they put new tires on, buyer brought truck back after 50 miles, and alignment was checked. On almost all these trucks, the vehicle seemed to be traded or sold back to the dealer right after this service. Does anyone know what this issue may be? Should I avoid these trucks with this type carfax?
Thanks.

 

M'am they sell 25K Tacomas a month. Some could have alignment problems but after reading posts for years, it is not a big deal.

 

Buy a brand new one and don’t worry about it. There are still a ton of 2019’s leftover you can probably get for the same price or even less than a used.

 

Prob a good idea Ted since I love Cavalry blue.

 

I heard about some being sold with warped axles...that may explain them trying to fix suspension issues

 

This

 

Yes I would avoid buying any specific vehicle with long carfax history of complaints and services chasing a bunch of related issues.

No there is nothing inherently wrong with the 3rd gen Tacoma as far as suspension and alignments, at least so far as I’ve seen on this forum or in my 50k miles with the truck.

 

The factory specs don’t have any corss-caster so they’ll get pulled around by road crown. Another lovely “it’s normal” from Toyota (in other words, poorly designed)

 

My 2020 pulls to the right a bit. They/I believe it’s just a simple alignment issue and not super worried about it. I would think the replacing of the tires after the alignment would be a result of the owner claiming tire wear or tire pull. Don’t think too much into it. But I will say, shopping around for new/used Tacoma’s, you’re really not saving much on a used one. Personally if you’re looking for less than 10k just buy a new one.

 

TW members bringing their beloved trucks in, because they heard there was an issue, and read someone on instanetz heard it too.

 

I wish you would start a thread on this. I'm sort of with you on this. Caster is the most misunderstood alignment term out there, and the majority of the folks here think it's adjustable, even with modified upper control arms that move the caster.....it's just crazy. When you take a very light truck, and add 10 ply tires, over sized at that, lift it 2-4 inches with shims and drops/blocks and expect it to drive like a Mercedes, you're delusional. Lol
Thanks for the input.
Zim

 

If I was buying a 3g right now, I’d get a new one. Won’t be that much more and financing is usually a better deal over one a couple years old

 

No point in buying a used Tacoma unless you can't get financing on a new one. Tacomas, Wranglers, and Subaru's are two cars you shouldn't buy used unless it's over 8 years old and really cheap.

 

Especially since you can get a new one for cheaper than a used one with 10k miles on it. Crazy how much they want for used CPO Tacomas.

 

Probably mall crawlers that need air or simply factory tires are never top quality. Car companies have for years put Walmart quality tires on new cars that just meet specs if they are lucky. Sometimes you get four good ones.

 

I test drove a 2016 Quicksand and it was perfect, the alignment was dead on the truck was great the dealer just wouldn't negotiate at all on the price. They want like $26k and it had 26,000 miles. I went with a new SR5, same trim as the Quicksand I tested. And got it for 28k. It just didn't make sense to skip new for that little savings.

I have had alignment issues. Been to the dealer twice and it came back just the same. Wheel is slightly cocked left when going straight. Drives me nuts. So I took it to an alignment specialist and it's much better but I don't know what they did - all they said was "made an adjustment". A little unnerving but the steering wheel is straight now.

I get the impression these young mechanics and dealer mechanics are taught to just get the numbers on the track green and call it a day. Whether it drives straight or the steering wheel is straight is an afterthought to them. Fucking annoying.

 

These are sold to people who can't get Financing for a new one. If your credit is bad I'd recommend driving a cheaper car until you get your life in order.

 

Yeah because a lot of Tacoma’s vibrate and have seats shake with stock OEM wheels and suspension and people are wondering why a brand new vehicle reacts like this and dealers just say “normal ride quality for tacos” or “oh everyone’s does that”

This has been my experience when buying mine and I test drove other new ones that are the same. I don’t get why a brand new $40,000 truck can’t ride smooth across any of the trim lines

 

Not being a smart ass, but it may be "because it's a truck".
Zim

Oh, and a GMC 3500 duel goes for 100 stacks....just sayin.

 

You are being a smart ass lol. Yeah it’s a truck, other brands don’t seem to have a problem and they don’t have to charge 100k

look I’m it’s not like I would trade mine in over it but I am explaining to him why he sees so many complaints

riding hard is understandable because it’s a truck, but I also understand when people don’t like it shaking like the tires are way out of balance when they’re not