I've been searching for a CC truck to haul the family around for at least 3 months, was first looking at Tacomas but found lots of rust problems, not to mention a decent one is up at the 18k range
So after I came to my senses, I realized I should save my cash and stick with what I know, and turned my search to the S-series. I was trying to hold out for a real nice low-mileage truck with leather, but anything low-mileage is up in the 11-13k range around here, way too much for a 10 year old truck IMO. I then kinda gave in and figured I'd try to get the cheapest one possible with decent mileage and just fix it as I go, since I have a lot of spare parts and can repair just about anything. That brought me down to the 7-8k range for most trucks. It seems that car sales are still pretty slow in my area, as most of the trucks I looked at have been sitting on the lot for at least a month or 3. Even then, it seemed as tho most managers didn't want my money as they refused my offers, typically a thousand or 2 below asking price
I then found this truck 1.5hrs out in PA advertised as a price drop from $6995 to $5700 with 135,000 miles. Now we're talking my price but I've seen a number of trucks in this range already that were absolute crap, or they have 170k on the clock and that's a bit much. I made the trip out there yesterday in the pouring rain, but drove through the storm and hit sunlight just outside the dealership, if that's what you want to call it. It's actually a lot jammed full of trucks with a trailer parked in the middle. The truck presented well, fairly clean interior although it carries a heavy odor of french fries and fast food, yuck. Outside is decent for the mileage with a number of small paint chips throughout. The only real damage is a dent in the bodyline on the left rear door and cab. No paint damage tho so I should be able to pop most of it out. Drivers door bushings are shot (big surprise) and there's something wrong with the left headlight as its pointing very high up, yet the light shines on the ground. Core support also shows signs of removal. No worries, a truck this old with this mileage is gonna need work. Take it for a test drive, 1-2 trans shift is higher than it should be under partial throttle but otherwise feels ok, although it may need a balljoint or 4 soon, and possibly a front axle as there's a clicking noise under hard turning once in a while. Took it down to a gravel pit to test the 4wd and it works so that's a plus lol (I can't tell you how many I've seen with non-functioning 4wd, usually a simple vacuum problem tho.)
I come back and ask for any history on the truck, he says his buddy has a repair garage and got the truck from a lien do to non-payment (mistake, that means he doesn't have any real money in it), other than that, he doesn't know anything about it and "it is what it is." The guy says $5500 is the best he can do, but still too high for me. I tell him $4700 is about what its worth, and that's being generous. After a while he comes up with $5325 and that's the bottom number. Still too high for me. He goes and helps other people that show up on the lot, comes back, still won't move. Leaves again, at this point the truck is growing on me so I pay for an Autocheck on it to confirm any suspicions. It shows 1 owner, great, frontal accident back in 2008, confirms suspicions, lien on truck earlier this year, good, pretty clean and nothing terrible to hide. He comes back again, still refuses to move, I even make somewhat of an offer at $5100 in jest, he won't take it. He's gone again, and we're basically just hanging out in his lot, watching traffic go by, and 15 minutes before he closes he comes out says: "Ok, I have an offer, and I need a yes or no and that's it. $4700." Lol ok? That's what I said an hour ago.
I pay it, add a $300 1-year warranty on top that covers literally everything but brake pads and shocks, $75 for an out-of-state temp tag, and I'm gone. The truck drives the 1.5hr trip non-stop no problems except for an airbag light that comes and goes but I'll just hook up the scanner when I get to work Monday. All-in-all I think its a good place to start, and will most likely need trans work in the near future (covered) and should provide me with a decent truck for a good while. Any way, here's pics as represented in the ad:
