What do I look for when buying a 07-13 tundra?

Hi, I’m planning on buying an 07-13’ tundra double cab 4x4 in the next month or 2 and wanted to know what common problems to look for and what good things to look for in a truck.

I’m a life long Chevy guy and my brother in law finally talked me into getting a tundra and I know nothing about them except that they look nice and are known to be reliable. I’m gonna be looking around $15k range so I know it’s gonna have over 100k miles on it. Just wanted to get some advise and input from you guys.

 

Do your normal inspection of the vehicle, check for rust on the frame, wear and tear items. Common issue to look out for is the Cam Tower leak, more prevalent in the later years than the earlier years. Check that the air injection pump has been replaced or not, run diagnostic for troubles as well as emissions readiness, sometimes asshole just be clearing the check engine light then sell you the car.

 

Jump on toyotaowners.com website and look up the VIN. That can tell you a lot about the truck as it was shipped to the dealer. If the previous owners kept up on the maintenance at a Toyota Dealer that will be there too. It will at least have any TSB's, or Recalls logged there if they were performed by an authorized Toyota service center.

 

As mentioned frame rust in northern states that salt roads in winter. Also, if drop in bed liner pull back and inspect for rust, some have been really bad. CarFax or similar is nice.
Purchased our 2007 with 130K miles no real issues.

 

Do everything mentioned above and take it on an extended test drive on various road surfaces with the sound system off, listen for knocks, bumps & rattles.

 

Thanks guys! That’s very helpful!

 

Make sure 4x4 works properly if applicable.
the spare tire holder can be rusted solid depending on where the truck has lived

I ran into seized lower camber bolts, not really something you can check but something to be aware of if you lift.

 

Get one with the 5.7 V8, not the 4.6 or 4.7 V8(timing belt changes on the 4.7 BTW). Bought a low mile 2011 Double cab 4wd with the 4.6 V8 last year, kicking myself in the ass for not buying a 5.7 V8 truck. MPG on the 4wd 4.6 is 15.5mpg, so its not like I'm getting significantly better mileage. Granted the truck was a really good deal, great condition, low miles, but the 4.6(or 4.7) is a total slug compared to the 5.7 V8.

 

I will be putting a small lift on it if it doesn’t already have one.

I agree, I meant to write in the original post that I will be getting a 5.7.

 

Make sure it’s white

 

Following

Also in the market for either a 2nd gen or an early 3rd gen Tundra. I heard the gas pedals can be extremely touchy? Also, how do you determine any issues with the Cam Tower Leak?

 

I bought my 2010 Crewmax with the 5.7 TRD Supercharged for $16k with 101k on the ticker. Came with heated/cooled leather seats, Undercover hard tonneau and swing out saddle bag tool boxes. There are great deals out there if you are patient.

 

check for cam tower leak, underbody rust, and test the 4x4.

@Jaypown my pedal is certainly touchy BUT never an issue daily driving on road. If in a real offroad technical situation i'd use the slap shift mode.

 

Touchy pedal can be remedied by swapping it to an updated version, most of us 5.7 did that, it's a $35 part from Toyota.

 

Touchy gas pedal on earlier models, 2007 thru 2010ish. Replacement if needed is cheap and easy as mentioned.

 

Check for bed rust under the liner or look for bubbles in the bed with the spray in liner.

 

Do y’all know if there is a specific year and or trim level that is more desirable than others?

 

Tundra has been the same from 2007 to 2020. Toyota didn't change anything but a few lights here and there.

 

The SR5 is your best value.

 

This method of test driving a used vehicle helped me knock $1000.00 off the asking price, the knocks, bumps & rattles I was able to hear & feel revealed worn out leaf springs & shocks.

 

^^^i've never seen leaf spring flattened out and bend the opposite way like that. Must've been used to haul some heavy stuff

 

I think it road on the bump stops quite often, even the overload leaf was bent downward.

 

Very helpful! I will definitely be looking for that.

 

No year stands out. As mentioned SR5 good value maybe sought more. The TRD Off Road offers a few more things, Limited and Platnums more Bells.

Edit: I would get Newer gen 2 model if possible. It just makes more sense in my head. But I did get a 2007, it was the best value at the time. I have come to find that aftermarket grills for 07-08 (maybe 09) need a different hardware kit @ $80-100 more to install. This may not affect your decision. Not sure what other smaller differences there are.

 

Well I found one I’m going to get I believe... I think it’s a pretty good deal for a limited in my price range anyway. What do y’all think? I will be inspecting the above mentioned details. He emailed me more pictures and it looks clean.
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=526076998&zip=28092&referrer=/cars-for-sale/searchresults.xhtml?zip=28092&startYear=2007&maxMileage=150000&incremental=all&modelCodeList=TUNDRA&makeCodeList=TOYOTA&driveGroup=AWD4WD&minPrice=10000&sortBy=relevance&maxPrice=20000&firstRecord=0&marketExtension=on&searchRadius=100&minPrice=10000&startYear=2007&numRecords=25&maxPrice=20000&firstRecord=0&modelCodeList=TUNDRA&makeCodeList=TOYOTA&searchRadius=100&makeCode1=TOYOTA&modelCode1=TUNDRA&clickType=listing

 

Being in North Carolina take your time to look around. You should be able to find a nice used southern truck with no rust (That's what I did but was much harder as I'm a 1000 miles north of you). Lots of trucks from up hear end up down there. While they are fine their lives will not be as long as one that has never seen salt. My 2007 doesn't have a speck of rust anywhere underneath it. What people don't think about is that up here we have lots of potholes and frost heaves. That takes it's toll. Mine came from South Carolina (it's whole life spent inland) and even with 155k on it the ride is as smooth as new. Not a single rattle. The one thing I did notice is that the lower cushion on the driver's seat seams to wear out from people sliding in and out of the seat. To fix it with all new parts is expensive.

That truck looks nice but I find it odd that they didn't show any pictures underneath it or looking in from the driver's door. If it's close I would look at it in person, if not then I would want a lot more pictures before I drove there. Also I would never pay for a car history. Being a private seller I can see why it wouldn't be free. I would ask if they bought it new. If so do they have the service history. If not then I would ask them to provide you with the carfax. For them it's a one time shot that they can give any prospective buyer. For you paying for one on every truck you could be interested in it'll get expensive.

The carfax will show you routine work that has been done, where it's been registered, if it's been in any accidents, how many owners, and if there's a potential issue with the odometer.

 

Looks nice. Seems a bit high to me but do know prices very regionally. Verify values on NADA and KBB.
Also do not be afraid to offer lower, like $2k less. All he can say is no, and maybe counter offer.

Edit: just seeing private seller, he is asking what looks more like a retail price. Cash offered should take less. On the KBB link on ad, he is $1k high.

 

Well I took everyone’s advice and knowledge I got from here and finally bought one. An 07’ Crewmax Limited, 5.7 4WD, 143k miles.
It wasn’t a steal but I got a pretty good deal on it I think for what I can afford right now. The roof needs some paint and a few touch up spots and the stereo system sounds messed up at medium and high volumes but other than that, everything seems perfect. It does have the JBL system in it but has an aftermarket pioneer head unit it. Not sure what’s wrong but I’ll probably jump over to the audio section for more info.

 

Looks nice! Congrats!

Hopefully the stereo issues are just bad connections, worst case just need new speakers. The OEM speakers are substandard.

 

Wow that’s a beauty ... I like the leather colors