Wanted: 1st gen low mile ext cab tundra

I’m looking hard for a 1st gen low Mile clean ext cab 4x4. Will go anywhere in US to get it.

 

What would you consider to be low mileage?

 

You don't want a low mile 1st gen Tundra. They come with their own host of problems. https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

Ideal mileage on these trucks at current age is in the 125k-175k mile range. Don't get hung up with virgin complex.

 

Oh, and rather than posting WTB in the wrong place (which is against the forum rules), just use the "WATCH" function on this thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/1st-gen-for-sale-finds-on-other-sites.40093/unread

People are posting new 1st Gens, usually in good rust-free shape, all the time in there.

 

150 or less

 

Might want to read through this also.https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

What’s your price range? For a 4x4 first gen with 150k miles and zero rust?

 

I'd have a hard time turning down an offer of $28k-30k for mine, mild suspension mods, new wheels, audio upgrades, just rolled over 76,500 miles. But I've been thru it inside and out and cleaned and/or repaired virtually all the BS that comes with low mileage.

But yeah, given what we've been through over the last 5 years, I couldn't see letting it go for much less. I don't dare run the actual numbers to see what I've got invested, but I've got nearly all those receipts in the maintenance folder. If I got rid of it, I'd just turn around and buy another one to work on, probably with double the mileage so I'm not futzing with any of the BS that was necessary on my current truck. Don't get me wrong, I loved doing all the work!

 

Shifty, what do you mean by "BS that comes with low mileage"?

My '06 has only 55k miles and she's a peach. I'm the 2nd owner, got her in 2010 with 35k, driven regularly but I've always had other cars around so no daily commuting. Sure there's stuff that has come up due to age not mileage like the timing belt, cabin leaks, clearcoat peel and cloudy headlights. But other than that it's all original and tight as a drum.

P.S. I'd have to entertain a $30k offer too...

 

This is what he means:

• These aren't your average trucks, they easily go 400k-500k+ miles without any rebuilding, just regular maintenance. It's not a Ford, Dodge, or GM truck. You shouldn't need to worry about replacing the transmission after 100k miles, or even 200k or 300k, nor rebuild the engine after the same. Regular maintenance is king, look for service records, get as much history as you can. DO NOT be super concerned of what would most normally consider "high" mileage. It's perfectly normal to buy a 1GT with 200k-300k miles on it.
• To that point, DO be somewhat concerned about LOW mile 'grandpa'/'virgin' trucks. Low mileage is NOT necessarily a 'good' thing, and you'd be wise to NOT seek out sub-100k mile trucks. Why? At the ripe age of 15-20 years old, your realistic 'break-in' range for these trucks is around the 125k-175k miles, i.e. at least 8k-10k miles per year. Believe me, I bought a 62k mile truck, some other members at 30k-90k miles. Many who dared show under their valve covers found excessive varnish at best, and full-on sludge at at worst, a black gooey mess (example) (example) (example). Meanwhile, the guys with 200k-400k miles have heads that are nice, silver, shiny, pristine (example). Bottom line: Engines hate short-trip driving. Short-trip driving is exactly how a 15-20 year old trucks has less than 125k miles on it. Short-trip-driven vehicles often have problems of neglect/atrophy: shrunken gaskets and seals, charred or varnished heads, potentially crusty wiring and internals ... yet everything else looks pristine. Expect typical low-mile leaks, expect to replace cam seals and valve cover gaskets, and depending on what you find, you may need to do short-interval oil change cycles or gasket-safe flushes to clean up sludge and varnish.

 

Nah, it was parked on a covered carport. But the original owner worked at a bank and drove it back and forth to work far enough to barely warm it up, then shut it down. Rinse-repeat for years and about 50k miles, and my heads look like someone sprayed them with a dozen coats of lacquer/varnish.

@ATBAV8 nailed it. If you're new to these trucks and haven't read this post, where he pulled that from, you really should grab a beer or a coffee and dig into the first two replies.

It's no secret: It would appear the 2UZ-FE doesn't handle short trip driving gracefully. How do you get a 15-20 year old truck with 50, 60, 70k miles on it? Often times because the PO does short-trip driving. We've have a few low-mile scores on here where the PO or original owner used the truck only sporadically for highway driving, but it's pretty rare. I've seen more with sludge and varnish under the valve covers, which are often leaking on the low mile trucks because they dry out from lack of oil splashing onto them, than I've seen with pristine heads.

But don't trust me. The photo proof is linked in ATBAV8's reply.

 

How Correct You are. I mentioned that back a bit. Got my 2000 in 2002 with 90k I'm a 2nd owner and was a Yota mechanic. Miles mean nothing when your equipment has been treated with proper service/ repairs. Neglect and abuse are what you want to avoid.

 

That's just it though ... my truck has the service records. The owner changed the oil based on miles as most people do, and expect to see on reports. but he put so few miles on per year that he'd go for 2 years between oil changes. My recommended is every 12 months or 3,500 - 5,000 miles on conventional oil, which I am sure he used. He must've used whatever Jiffy Lube type place had the best coupons based on what I was able to pull up, so I'm sure he got budget oil also.

Most people wouldn't look at oil changes at his relatively "sane" mile intervals and think they'd find what I found under my valve covers.

The bottom line is, hunting low-mile 1st Gen Tundras, in my opinon, is stupid. I'd rather have something with 125-175k miles on it knowing their age at this point in time, so I at least know it was driven as much as they seem to like to be driven.

 

When I worked for Toyota in 1985-7 I bought a 2 y/o trade in 85 one ton we always serviced for the guy w 100k on it drove it for 20 years, also got a 1982 Tercel w 32k on it that needed an engine because the guy never once changed the oil in the 4 years that he owned it. Looked like the La Brea Tar Pits Under the valve cover. It's all about the way it was cared for and how it was driven.

 

I really think the elephant in the room is your latter point: "How it was driven".

If I had to pick between two 1st gen Tundras, both with proper oil change intervals, where one was driven 50 miles/day M-F sitting at ~200k miles, versus one that saw 10 miles/day M-F and is sitting at 50k miles, I'll pick the 200k mile truck every time. If all things were identical, I'd rather have the higher mile truck, I guarantee you the drivetrain will be cleaner and in better overall mechanical health. Especially knowing I can probably score the higher-mile truck at 1/2 - 1/2 as much $$, because "high mile vehicles could die any day".

This is coming from the guy who basically bought that 50k (well, ~61k) mile truck and had to deal with the issues that came with it. Varnish. Cam seals leaking. Valve covers leaking. All kinds of dried up stuff.

 

PS - I'd kill for one of those late 80s Toyo pickups today in fair shape, and extended cab, ideally manual

 

Ha Ha yes you are correct "high miles Chevy and Fords can die any day" But not our Yota's. We had a 1984 Diesel Toyota PU as our parts dept delivery vehicle it already had half a million miles on it in 1987. Probably still running in South America somewhere.

 

I have a 1986 Long Bed 4x4 22RE that was sold new at the dealer where I worked. I saw it on C/L and needed a good farm truck. Had my buddy run the VIN and it was a coincidence that it was sold by us when I worked there, still owned by the same guy and always service at the dealer up until I bought it in 2012. Only has 320k on it too. Test miles on a 22RE. It is an oddball though being it is an Automatic 4x4 w/ac.

 

I've been hunting casually for anything mid-90s or earlier that's 2WD and ext/space cab. Ideally with power locks/windows but I'd love a manual, and something southern or west coast w/o rust. Mileage doesn't bother me.

Everything I'm seeing these days is in the 10-14k range which is f'n nuts to me. I'd like to get out the door 6k-7k. A lot of the things in that price range end up with so much PO hackery (I looked at a couple w/in the last 3 years). I've all but given up.

Shit part? One of my neighbors sold his '91 for $1500 about 10, maybe 12 years ago now, it only had 110-120k miles on it. I found out about it an hour too late, one of his neighbors picked it up and she's since moved away. No clue where it is today. Was literally exactly what I was hunting.

 

I quoted myself because I too have a "low mileage" 2003 1GT that I recently bought with 87,000 miles. I'm a bit worried, but I'm not going to tear into anything until I have to. Meaning valve cover gaskets if they start leaking. No reason to go looking for trouble. For now I'm going with a 3000 mile oil change interval with the flush for at least the next 3-4 oil changes. Hoping for the best and a couple more timing belt changes. All is well for now.

 

Gotcha, gross. Constant short trips are no bueno.

Nope, I've had mine over a decade. And that's exactly how I've used it, towing a flatbed to the track once or twice a month.