Scotty, Aloha from Hawaii.
Everything here is expensive so I buy most of my cars from the mainland where it's cheaper, even after factoring in plane fare and shipping costs. I'm looking for a used Tacoma and although prices on the mainland are cheaper, it's still expensive. In my price range of ~$17,000 (give or take a thousand) most of the available Tacomas have 150k-200k miles. My question is, at what mileage should I not even consider it? There's no way for me to get proof of city vs highway miles. I will have a mechanic check it out before I purchase. I am open to automatic or manual transmissions, 4 or 6 cylinder. Assuming I will drive it 6k or 7k miles a year, I would need it to last at least six years as my daily driver.
Mahalo (Thank you).
I have owned a 2005 Tacoma 4.0 V6 since new. It has almost 220K miles, I have not had a repair in years. I would say 150K miles is maybe the half way point.
2005-2008 Tacomas had a major rusted frame recall due to class action suit. Qualifying vehichles had the frames, leaf springs, main front steering arms, gas lines, break lines, all new bushing and more replaced by Toyota. The bill for mine was $17K. When I got it back it drove like new. If you can find one of these that had the recall, I would not hesitated to buy one of them. Just be careful to not buy one of these that needed the recall but the owner never took it in for the work.
There is no specific answer to your question. If the Tacoma truck had been taken care of, the 200k miles is Barry breaking in, otherwise, with that mileage (or even less), the truck may be on its last leg.
I agree....While not a Tacoma...I recently bought a 2008 V6 Highlander AWD with 180K miles and it runs and drives like a new one, it was well cared for and I plan on keeping up on the maintenance and don't see any reason it can go another 180K miles for me or longer.
How the previous owners took care of any vehicle is the hardest thing to determine. Especially when the seller, be it dealer or private party, will make it look the best in order to sell it. That's where having a detailed mechanical inspection is worth the $$.
Maybe I'm asking it wrong. Or maybe there is no real good answer. Whatever I decide to look at, I will first have a mechanic check it out. It looks like I will be risking $150 to $200 for each mechanical inspection I pay for. Though I know that Tacomas can last for many miles, I would imagine that if it already has X amount of miles, it wouldn't be worth the risk of spending the $200 for the inspection. I'm asking opinions on what X should be. My own opinion is that I should automatically pass over anything with over 120,000 miles. However, I'd like to know if anyone else feels differently.
A badly maintained Tacoma with 120K will be in worse condition than a meticulously maintained Tacoma with 180K.
Consider the proposition that you can do some of the initial inspection yourself, as a way to "qualify" inspection candidates.
1. Bring a decent scan tool, and scan for DTCs, enhanced diagnostics, and live data. (Look at short term fuel trim, for example).
2. Take a peek at all fluids: Oil, brake (bring along or buy tool for measuring water levels in the brake lines). Ask whether you can get a small sample (on site, when you're looking at the vehicle), of the rear differential gear oil. Look at the bottom of radiator, oil and gas caps. They can tell a story.
3. When you get to the states, buy a BT-500 or BT-700 (comes with a case) block tester. It's a cheap and easy test for whether there's a head-gasket leak.
4. Get under the vehicle and check for RUST. RUST is a problem in some of these trucks. As Scotty's very recent video demonstrated, a vehicle may well be immaculate in every other sense, but a rusted frame pretty much zeros out actual value and future safe use.
5. Get whatever maintenance records. And even though its incomplete, get a Carfax, to see if the history lines up with what you see (and the mileage).
6. And of course, drive it, through street traffic and highway.
If it passes all these qualifiers, then bring in a mechanic for a PPI.
