Would you buy a 2005 Taco DC with 80k miles?

It's not a bad price, but try to negotiate anyway (given the amount of miles). Make sure it is a certified used vehicle....Toyota will cover the powertrain to 100k miles if this is the case.

It looks in good shape. The leather still looks intact on the steering and the shift knob. If I buy used, I'd make sure the vehicle doesn't have an annoying scent...pets, cigarettes, etc.

 

I bought an 05 TRD Doublecab with 56000 miles on it for $16800 back when oil was ~$140/barrel.

It's got a tad over 58k now and I have no regrets.

I got it off of craigslist if you can believe that.

 

The truck looks very clean for the year and miles. I would look at all the fluids to make sure it appears everything was kept up. I have an 05 and I am a little over 60,000, biggest issue is the gas prices. I would have to talk them down on price with the mileage and it being a truck and they probably aren't moving that well right now.

 

Like others have said, just check it over real good. It's a lot of miles in a short time. I put 40k on in less than 2 years driving 50 miles one way to work, then another 100 occasionally on service calls. Mileage accumulation slowed when we bought a house closer, but still 25 miles one way. I'm up over 50k now and everything's good.

I guess you have to decide if potentially buying someone else's problem(s) is worth saving $10k. Then again, if you can pay it off in a couple years before wanting to get rid of it that's another option.

I've had 2 used cars, and, quite frankly, won't buy used again. Always some small or large quirk caused by the previous owner that bugged me until I wanted to run the car off a cliff. Not to mention, it's already 3 years old so it's got 3 years of wear and tear on it. By the time I paid my Corolla off in 5 years it was almost 10 years old. How many people can keep a modern car more than 10 years these days? Plastic trim crumbles off, engine burns oil, tranny needs to be replaced, suspension needs to be replaced.... I'm at the point now where I'm trying to decide if a new car is cheaper than repair bills. lol So that decision comes sooner when you buy something a few years old. If that makes sense. I'll shut up now. I think I lost my train of thought...

 

Well, the pictures did look good, and at first glance the truck looked fine so I decided to drive it somewhere else off the lot away from the dealer and give it a closer look.

At first I just noticed some small scratches and dings, nothing unexpected for 80k miles, but then I stopped to put a couple of gallons of gas in it since the needle was as low as it could go. When I opened the gas cover the bottom hinge was broken off and rusted.

I parked it there and opened the hood...wow, this thing must have been left with salt and water on it since the day it was bought, everything that wasn't painted or protected was rusted and corroded..the engine mounts, the exhaust, the pulley on the alternator..EVERYTHING!

I already knew I wasn't going to buy it, but I checked the rest out for fun. The frame was starting to rust, the exhaust was rusted inside for atleast 6 inches of the tail pipe, and even the coating on the wheels was starting to bubble where they were rusting underneath.

I'm definitely going to buy a used truck (I can't afford north of $25k for a new one as much as I would like to), but I will hold out to find a real used truck, not an abused truck.

 

Thanks for the update! That's what I'm talking about with used vehicles! It's 3 yrs old with 80k on it, and rotting already. Things are gonna break or need to be serviced soon with that many miles, and how many things are you going to break doing service? Snapped bolts, stripped nuts, brackets that just fall off.... Salt and rust is a bitch on parts you need to remove for service.

Not to mention the cosmetic problems with dents, scratches, and paint bubbling off the wheels.

 

Thats sucks about the truck yeah keep looking im sure you will find a better deal!!

 

Someone said something about Carfax being a joke earlier, this makes me lean more that way than before. I don't see any way this kind of rust and corrosion could have been caused by anything short of sitting in water.

I forgot to mention earlier that while looking at the wheels bubbling surface I also noticed some black spraypaint overspray on the rear wheel-well. It looks like someone, either the previous owner or one of the dealers it went through, has tried to cover the damage there pay a quick spray job.

The Carfax said the vehicle was from Ohio, I'm guessing a floodplain near the Ohio river..

 

I had a similar experience trying to by a 2005 DC TRD Off-road truck... It had a lot of rust, bald OEM tires, and paint chips all over the front end like the guy had driven 20' behind a snow plow for several miles. It only had about half the miles of the truck that you looked at, but it was clear that the guy hadn't treated it like it was a $30k investment, and he still wanted the full blue book private party price for it! Tacomas are still selling strong around here, so I decided it would be in my best interests to just buy a new one, and take proper care of it... I washed my old 4Runner after every snowstorm and tried to wax it regularly, especially before winter. After 11 years of driving, it had as much rust as this particluar 4 year old Taco did.

 

See, I think carfax is useless most of the time. What happens to any accident you don't file a police report or insurance claim over? Those will never show up on Carfax. I know I haven't filed a claim with my insurance company for at least 3 or 4 minor fender benders.

 

yeah but they are minor, who really cares about the minor stuff. its the major stuff you want to know about IMHO

 

Carfax actually saved me this weekend. I was about to sign the paperwork on an 07 TRD double cab with 22,000 miles on it. After repeatedly requesting the carfax report from the dealer and being assured the truck was perfect and it had never been in a wreck I finally convinced them to give me a copy.

The report showed that the truck had been in an accident (moderate damage) involving a guardrail six months before trade in. I tried contacting the previous owner but he wouldn't answer and still hasn't returned my call. My guess is that the truck had some suspension or alignment problems after being repaired. It just seems like too big of a coincidence that it was traded in shortly after the accident. However, if I'm wrong then someone is going to be getting a great truck.

 

Minor these days still means cracked plastic, snapped tabs, broken clips, etc. Small, annoying things you'll run into later when you have to change this light bulb, remove that light housing. And they didn't damage the truck more that I could deal with. If someone has a $500 or $1,000 deductible what do you think they're going to do? Pay for it out of pocket if it's less than the deductible, or roll it over to insurance and deal with higher rates? If they go the cheaper route who knows how the repairs were done, if they're guaranteed, or if they'll even last.

 

Hadoken,

Good thing you looked under the hood! Given all the rusting damage you just described on a 3-year old DC prerunner, I'd say it's probably worth 12k for the next owner. Definitely not 15k.

What kind of recalls did the carfax history reported on the truck?

 

i bought my 05 last may for $17995 with 47000 miles...

 

Yeah, Car fax did a great job of finding all my accidents.

 

Awesome truck! Not a single problem. Best vehicle I have ever owned!

 

12,00 miles in 5 months on my '08 DC. Wish I could put more on it Gas price keeps me home though.

I bought a new corolla in late '02 and put 100K on it in 40 months. I had a 60 month loan on it; however, the gas money I saved driving it paid for well over half of the $300 / month payment over driving my '91 Toy 4x4; It is now 08 and I still have the corolla - it has 148K on it now; my wife mostly drives the kids around town in it. The last time I took it to the dealership, they were totally amazed at how good of shape it was in. It has a freckled front though from driving it from Grand Junction to Boulder twice a month for 2 years; plus I've been to 33 states with it on road trips.

What I'm trying to say is buy it and trust that it will go for many many miles assuming that it isn't rusty or damaged.