what to check when buying a 4x4

Hey I am a newbie here, but have read threads on here quite a bit. I currently own a 2008 Prerunner that I purchased new, but was going to look at a 2006 TRD tomorrow. The truck has about 50000 miles on it and has had 2 owners. I have done all of the maintenance on my 2008 myself, but am not as familiar with 4x4s as I have never owned one. I was curious if anyone could tell me what to look for etc. to see how it was treated. I apologize if there is already a thread similar to this. I briefly searched, but didn't see one and wanted to get this out there early enough where I could maybe get a couple of responses. Thanks again.

Also does anyone else feel like they are 16 again when they are about to maybe get a new truck (I guess you wouldnt call it a new truck when its older, but hey its new to me.)

 

I bought my '06 TRD Sport with 40k miles on it. Check Carfax first. Then crawl all over it. Mine was a virgin for 4X4 with no signs of off road use. Even the transfer case oil was clean (changed it anyway). My '06 now has close to 50k miles and rides like a dream.

Bottom line, look for off-road abuse, signs of repainting on the body, engine/drivetrain leaks. An '06 with 50k miles has been around the block a few times. Check it out carefully. Have an independant mechanic look it over.

Let the buyer beware.

 

I do not know anything about 4x4 but you would still have 10k miles left under the drivetrain warranty, it should be transferable amongst new owners. hopefully there are records for everything that has happened to the truck, service log- maintenance log, etc