The new owner of my old Tacoma tracked me down today, 2 years later.

I got an email from him yesterday asking me more questions about the info that I sent him. Quite honestly I don't mind at all. He's not what you would call a gear head liked me therefore he needed help understanding some things like why someone would need to change drive hubs.

 

If someone were to call me about the Nissan frontier I owned when I lived in Alaska I would have to tell them run away from that truck. Haha. Not that it was a bad truck, it was actually pretty reliable considering how I treated it. I beat the piss out of it on trails. The only problem I had with it was a power steering line blew up when the fluid turned almost solid because of -60 degree temperatures. Out of the 60,000 miles I put on it about 90% of them were very hard miles. There is no telling how much longer that truck is going to last.

This is how it looked regularly.

 

The guy who bought my Audi texts me all the time......mostly because he doesn't know how to read a manual......

 

Lol

 

Update, found out today that the ol girl got a new steering rack and then off to the Toyota dealer. They are going to replace the rear springs under warranty and either coat or replace the frame. That really says something when Toyota still stands behind a truck with 205,000 miles on it.

 

I called the new owner of my old Tacoma to try and buy it back. He said no.

 

I have never sold a car... still have my first one. I only have donated one car that had no usable life left in it and would never pass smog ever, and I lent a friend my car one day and it was totaled by 3PM the same day, but that paid half of my Tacoma off in one day. I get too attached. My insurance guy loves me. I do wonder who owns my Ducati 999 though. I got it from a freind, traded it to another friend and some cash for a Centurion Wakesurf boat. Then my buddy sells it to get a Porsche 911. I told him if he ever sold it I would buy it back off him. Probably better I didn't as I have 2 other bikes I rarely ride.

 

Here's my story. Two years and two months ago I totaled my 2009 DCLB 4x4 Sport. Here is my thread with the details on that:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/yesterdays-commuting-carnage-sad-times-for-my-2009.309866/

As for the rest of the story. After not buying back the wrecked truck I followed it online as it went to the auction yard and eventually got resold. I was wondering if it would be rebuilt or parted out. The trail went cold for a while after the auction and I was starting to think it was disassembled. I had cleaned it out thoroughly before turning over the title so there wouldn't be much for the buyer to go on. Every few months I'd google the VIN for the hell of it. Last summer in addition to all the old links to auction listings was one for an international Bill of Lading. In the description was the VIN for my truck taking a boat ride from the US to Chile. I googled the listed consignee. When a facebook page was among the results I clicked on it and boom, the cover photo included "my" truck posing on salt flat somewhere in the Andes Mountains. My truck had been rebuilt with the cap yet and had a new owner in Cochabamba Bolivia! I may never get to visit South America (although I hope to some day) but my old truck has a new life there. Thinking about this again I decided to try and friend the guy in Bolivia. Time will tell if there is a language barrier to any further communication but there are some old pictures of the truck in my photos that he may get a kick out of.

 

I always try and track down the old owner before I buy a used car. Just ask 1 question, if I was your son would you recommend making the purchase? Most have said yes but a few said no. I bought a 1971 corvette from the 2nd owner in 2008. I tracked down the first owner, he was stoked and wanted pictures.

 

I turned a Corolla in on lease and the new owner tracked me down somehow and called me to ask if I had "done the maint". I was a dick to him because one has to be true to one's nature. Also, I was pissed that some stealership had given him my cell phone number.

 

I traded a Chrysler minivan in on a new Honda for my wife. The reason I traded was because the Chrysler was a piece of crap and although only 3 years old I did not trust it on road trips. The dealer gave my name to a lady who was interested in buying it. I told her exactly how I felt about the van and that I would not recommend that she buy it, unless she buys a really good extended warranty with it. She really appreciated my honesty and the dealer did not give my number to any more prospective buyers.

 

I sold my first truck to a high school senior who had just received a 4 year Army ROTC scholarship. I would assume he is still driving it. Honestly, being an Army guy myself, I'm more interested in how college and ROTC is working out for him than how the truck is doing.

 

I sold a 93 Mustang Coupe to a fellow military guy about 7-8 years ago here in Florida. About a year later I saw it when I was TDY at Ft Bragg but couldn't locate the guy. The good thing is it still looked pristine.

 

Similar story: I had a 82 Camaro that I rebuilt from the ground up. Everything from bumper to bumper was new. I built the 350 with Vortec heads and knew every inch of that car. I had finally done all that I could and decided to sell it to finance another project car.

A year later I see my old Camaro in Cragslist, missing the motor. I had a friend contact the owner...he sais the 'engine overheated and he lost 2 cylinders'. He kept the intake and carb, scrapped the rest of the engine and was selling it as a rolling chassis. Broke my heart.

 

I wish the guy who bought my 95.5 Taco would call me. I'd love to buy that truck back

 

That's awesome! I've never sold a vehicle, because I haven't had many, and I drive them until they won't drive any more, fix em, and drive em some more, but I do still keep in contact with the guy I bought my truck from. Small world- when my new neighbors moved in two or three years ago, I learned that they were very good friends with the guy I got my truck from, so I started seeing him all the time. He was so happy to see it on the road, and running as flawlessly as it does- he got really excited when he saw it for the first time after I painted it!
And the guy I bought my two $300 4runners from is gonna be in for a surprise when he sees how good I'm gonna fix em up. I'll come driving up to his house when I get the finished product on the road like "What's up? Remember this truck back when it was rough and heavily abused? Look now!" I know, I'm mean. But the guy is a friend of mine, he'll laugh.

 

I think that is cool to hear back....

I sold My 07 FJ Cruiser to my stepson and purchased my current Taco! I still love that FJ. Well he still contacts me all the time to go wheeling ! lol!
It is awesome to still see that FJ in my driveway and in my rear view mirror!

 

This thread inspired me to try and find my old 2003 Tacoma that was totaled back in 2010. It appears the truck was purchased by someone in Minnesota then fixed, modified and then sold again in 2011. I sent an email to the guy who bought to see where it ended up.

RJM

 

I don't have a stalker...I have *two*...

 

Talk about odd....I grew up around the same area where I now live. After High School I bolted and moved in with a buddy right outside of Boston. All these years later I bought a house in the the next Town over from where I grew up. So naturally i've been bumping into people I grew up with and the first thing they ask is... "I bet you wish you saved that '69 Z/28 you had in High School". Ummm, I did. It's now in my garage. Here's a pic of it when I took it out of storage from the early 80's. I registered it and drove it here and there. It still has the original 302 (Chevy) 4-spd. Yes....'67, '68, and '69 *real* Z/28's only came with one engine... a 302. You couldn't get one with any other size engine. And they were all 4-spd's. Like this one... and the funny thing is that the original owner who ordered it, bought it then died in 'Nam, had the white stripes painted gold at the local body shop. I have the receipts. My two favorite colors are black/gold.