Should I Buy This Used 08 5.7 V8 4X4

I've been looking to buy a 07+ Tundra 5.7 V8 4X4 for a while now. I started trying to get a RCSB 4X4 5.7 and found one that ended up being a rust bucket with a hole in the frame and needing 11k in work. It is too difficult to find a clean low mile RCSB 4X4 5.7. So I've settled on a more practical double cab that are more plentiful to find but low mileage decent trucks priced under 20K go ridiculously fast unless their are in bad shape or have a bad title.

So I found a 2008 5.7 4X4 double cab with 67K miles, tow pkg, bench seat and bed comes with a bed topper. This is at a Hyundai dealership in another state about 6 hours from me, one owner and spent all of its life in WI and for most of its life it was serviced at a Toyota dealership as shown on the Carfax. It was owned by an elderly man that just traded it in at the Hyundai dealership. It had a minor-moderate accident back in 3/2023 to the front right. One thing that was concerning on the Carfax maintenance records is from 25k miles to 39K miles it had 5 alignments which is odd to me (9 years BEFORE the accident happened). The dealer is asking $18,987 + 500 doc fee, I negotiated it down to $18,250 + doc fee = $18,750 and I pay the taxes and registration when I bring it back to my state. I gave a $500 deposit to hold the truck that is supposed to be refundable but I bet they try to keep it if I cancel as per usual.

With initial resistance from the Hyundai used car sales manager, I was finally able to get him to take the truck down the street to a Toyota dealership to do a pre-purchase inspection for me, it cost me a whopping $230 (Usually only $160). My biggest concern without seeing the vehicle in person was the condition of the frame and any rust underneath as you all know is a bad problem with older Toyota trucks. The Hyundai used car sales manager said their service dept did a 100 + point service inspection prior to putting it for sale and found no issues and that is was unnecessary for me to have them take the truck to a Toyota dealership but I made them do it.

Results of the inspection:
The Toyota tech said: Frame is good, just some light surface rust on part of the back end of the frame. He said the only issues he could find with the truck is it has rusted brake lines for all of the brake lines ($1200 estimate given) and he recommended replacing them but could not confirm if they were leaking or not because it was raining when he took the truck out. He said the brakes operated fine. He said one of the leaf springs had some surface rust. The only other issue he said is one the TPMS tire sensors was not functional and needs replacing. He said he test drove the vehicle on the street, highway, engaged the 4 h/4 low, no issues. No rattles or any noises. He said he tried his best to find any other issues but did not. Body is clean. No rust on the bed.

Should I buy this truck? I'm buying a truck for a 4X4 truck camper set up to take some trips a few times a year. Is it concerning having the rusted brake lines and a bit of surface rust on the frame in a few sections? I posted pics and a copy for the Carfax. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I would negotiate down with the dealership now knowing that you need to replace the brake lines. $1200 is a lot of coin and for safety reasons I wouldn’t wait until it is actually a problem. Have the dealership replace the brake lines or come down on the price (at least have them come down another $600 to split the difference). Did the ppi mention anything about the front suspension components? Did you specifically tell him that the truck had 5 alignments done and to determine if there was any issue? The alignments being done in succession has my radar up considering the history of a front end collision. There was potentially damage that caused the alignment issues…..I would try to track down the root of that or see if it was a coincidence.

 

The accident was 9 years after the last reported alignment. There are no more reports of maintenance done to the truck on the Carfax after 2015, just registration entries fro the years after. So it was accident-free when the alignments were being done. If it were issue I'm sure he would have sold it way back when alignments were being done so frequently. I initially tried to get him to replace the lines and he said no, he said he spoke with the Toyota tech and the tech told him the brakes line replacement was suggested, not mandatory. However, I'm concerned and will press him on Monday to either fix the lines or go half like you said.

Here is the Carfax report showing the alignments early in it's life :

 

Then it was probably related to a tire change or something. Sometimes shops have to do multiple alignments or even road forage balancing to try to get them to ride right. That’s good news - just a coincidence.

A quick search shows you can get the line replacement kit for around $300. Might be worth it to purchase and do yourself if you have the ability and tools. I just don’t know enough to say if there is any special equipment involved in flushing or bleeding the lines prior to at after installation.

 

Not ALL accidents show up on CarFax reports.

 

It seems to be in good shape. $19k is a pretty high price in the present day car market which favors the buyer

 

Alignment was probably due to a one price alignments for life pkg deal. Seems like a typical older couple or oler man owned the truck and didn't use it much. I'd sure check the safety chain loops on the hitch for excessive paint chips as that indicates a lot of towing which could have worked the transmission pretty hard. Aside from that, it's getting old and will likely need some work. Are you ready for some rust clean up, original hose and belt replacements, aware of secondary air injection pump issues, etc. If so, maybe offer 15.5k cash and see where it goes from there. Pretty sure you can get out of there for like 17.2k. Be prepared to walk out, they will call you back rather quickly.

 

Yeah that makes sense. I work on motorcycles but never worked o cars/trucks much other than a battery change or interior upgrades/modifications. I'm going to try and get them to replace the brake lines or pay half of it or I might walk.

 

First and second gen Tundras are in extremely high demand now because many people don't want the third gen and its problems along with the higher price. Scotty Kilmer did videos on why you should avoid the third gen tundras with its smaller turbo engines more prone to reliability issues. There is a guy on YouTube that bought a brand new $60k 2022 Tundra and the engine failed at like 6k miles and needed a new $30k engine covered under warranty, he ended up filing for lemon law and got his money back for the truck.

Before this 2008 Tundra I was about to buy a 2012 Tundra double cab with 75k miles, the private seller wanted $19,500. I passed because he wasn't willing to drop the price and it had a big scratch on the left rear panel and small scrapes on the front right area. He ended up selling it to car max for $18,000 and showed me the appraisal from Car Max (pictured below.) Most of the older used Tundras (2007-2014) under 100k miles are going for 20k+. The only trucks 15k and below are all over 100k miles or not very clean. So this 2008 at 67k miles with one owner in good shape verified by the Toyota service tech going for $18,750 OTD (not including taxes and reg) at a dealership seems pretty good. The last Tundra I was interested in was a 2012 RCSB 5.7 4X4 with 57k mils one owner and had a hole in the frame from rust and needed 11k in repairs and he wanted $19,500!!

 

That makes sense for the multiple alignments. I'm going to try and get them to replace the brake lines or walk. It is nearly impossible to buy a second gen Tundra 5.7 4x4 with less than 100k miles for 15k unless it has a rebuilt title or needs tons of work or rusty as hell. Also, the truck comes with a shell topper, those cost at least 1k.
I have a 2005 Lexus RX330 with 102k miles that I bought ff of a lease with 35k miles back in 2007 and all I've ever done was basic maintenance and it drives like new, I still have yet to replace the timing belt and water pump that should have been done at 90k miles (will be doing it soon.) This Tundra looks to also have been garaged so I doubt I will incur many problems with the ridiculously low amount of miles I put on a vehicle.

 

Yeah, but it was wrecked, which does impact resale too. It also has some years on it and rubber components simply break down over time. As for the shell, many dealers really want them gone and will often give them away or sell them cheap if you ask/offer nicely and removal doesn't expose imperfections. Just my .02. Good luck!

 

If it's any help at all, I drove from Erie Pa to Denver in 2022 to buy a clean 2007 CM with 213,000k on the odo. Ran like a top all the way home on my 1250 mile test drive. Still going strong at almost 240k. That truck looks sweet, and that's not rust. Here in the Rust Belt we know rust.

 

I’ll buy any old man truck, they know how to maintain them

 

Eh a minor accident. Should I have them remove the topper and take pics? Does the topper mess the paint up o the top ends of the bed? I might just have them keep it because I don't need it. Are they hard to sell?

 

If you have room to store it, don’t have them remove it. Buy it with the top. It may take awhile but you will be able to sell it. You can usually get $750-$1000 for them. Someone eventually will be looking for one and come get it. When I sold mine from my titan a guy drove from Knoxville TN to MD to pick it up!

 

Nice! I hear that a lot and see many Tundras with 200k+ miles on the market. I saw one that had 433k miles and he wanted 15k. lol These older Tundras are in extremely high demand and will continue to be with the way Toyota is doing with these new Tundras with the less reliable turbo engines and sky high pricing. There is also a high demand for the first gen, some of those are going for more than the second gen trucks. I saw a 2006 4.7 4x4 double cab with 80k miles going for 24k!

 

No you should keep it, but not pay extra for it. Depending on brand and on how it was mounted, there may or may not be some minor issues such as drilled holes or paint damage from rubbing.

 

From the pic I saw, it appears to be clamped down along the edge. They did not charge extra or it nor eve mentioned it in the sales ad.