Took a $10,000 Plunge

New here. Have never been inside a Tundra, much less driven one, but today reserved an 06 Double Cab to pick up Monday the 24th. Yup, sight unseen (in person, anyway.) We're moving across the country and need a truck immediately. We've sold all of our belongings to make this move, so the truck will mostly be used for couch hauling, etc. It'll pull a couple of snowmobiles every now n' then.

We aren't a family who "needs" a truck. Work from home, actually. Both of us. It'll pretty much just become a second vehicle after the purchasing of household wares.

For obvious reasons, no need to spend a lot on this truck. Didn't want to spend over 10 grand. After countless hours of research, including the bottomless pit of knowledge from you wonderful people, and realizing a full size, crew cab, 4x4 truck in our price range is going to have a gazillion miles, i learned the Tundra is the only option for reliability.

My "new" Tundra has 191,000 miles on it. Nothing wrong with it. Just a little rust on the back bumper, which i intend to address immediately.

The dealer is giving it new brakes, new tires, new fluids, and a new timing belt.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this Tundra is MAYBE half way through it's life. A domestic at 191,000 has one foot in the grave. That sum it up fairly accurately?

You guys make these trucks sound wonderful. Can't wait to find out!

The deposit to hold the truck was 500 dollars, and fully refundable for any reason. If there's a reason to back out, now's the time to spill the beans!

 

Welcome from Atlanta. I’d say the price is pretty good. No interior pics so guessing it’s ok? I just sold a 2001 2wd for a bit under 10k, also a double cab. Your truck has an excellent engine that is known to run a very long time if keep taking care of it.

 

Haven't seen the interior yet. Told you it was a plunge. They say it's in great shape. Let's hope they're honest.

 

Barely broken in. Just check for frame rust and check to see if any remediation efforts have been done in an effort to fix this common problem on this generation. Congratulations!!

 

Looks clean, and straight. They really are a fine vehicle. All the best to you and the fam!! Be Safe and have a nice drive.

 

That’s a good looking truck!! Nice that it comes with the cap too.

Welcome!

 

You could always try to find someone from this forum in the area to check it out for you. Maybe some beer money changes hands and maybe you get a third opinion. A Bluestar approved shop could help with that too.

 

Good deal! You'll be happy

 

Welcome from South Florida.
The term "High mileage vehicle" varies.
Chrysler? Chances are it's in the junkyard.
Ford? If the spark plugs haven't been changed then you got big problems, and there's still more to worry about.
Chevy? Most of the money goes in the 1st 100k miles working out the kinks, then your ok for a little while.
Toyota? 200k miles is foreplay.

The bad? 1st Gen Tundras suffer from frame rust, better off with a southern truck. At 191k you will need to get the timing belt taken care of. Once that is done and some basic maintenance and then you will find out why we love our trucks.

 

You get under the trk with a flashlight and look for medium to severe rust or rust through holes on any part of the frame and cross members. That goes for axles and anything else attached to frame. Rust inside of bumpers severe? Check frame for marker writing on it identifying frame being for a Tundra replacement. Check above the spare tire cross member to be rotted to hell. Ck body to frame mount for rust rot. Just look for rust rot anywhere and don't buy if it has it.

Also, look for oil seepage from engine, especially below it and onto frame. They might have cleaned the motor but not the frame. Look for fluid inside of all wheels.
Bottom line is look for rust on these vehicles, and as with any other vehicle look for fluid seepage from under motor and transmission. Don't look to buy it if the trk has any of these problems, unless it's cheap and your a mechanic with tools to get the job done.

That back receiver hitch looks bad, with severe rust, which indicates it's not worth considering cause the rest of under the truck is the same.

Is this trk from the winter salted road states like NY? If so say goodbye to buying it.

 

Nice truck, greatcolor, really great engine in there. There are 2 documented million mile tundras that I know of, both with your V8.

Only hold backs I could think of would be frame rust/rot so be sure to really inspect the frame. Hopefully it has had the timing belt done, if not, have the dealer do it while they are doing the other stuff. Check to see if you can find maintenance records, always nice to know what's been done. Barring major frame rot, you've got a winner there that will last you many more years with proper maintenance and that maintenance is minimal

 

I'm just saying.....

https://sarasota.craigslist.org/cto/d/ellenton-2003-toyota-tundra/6914227767.html

https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/ctd/d/north-fort-myers-2005-toyota-tundra/6906697132.html

https://sarasota.craigslist.org/ctd/d/bradenton-2001-toyota-tundra-sr5-access/6901822946.html

https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/cto/d/cape-coral-2006-toyota-tundra/6895611308.html

https://treasure.craigslist.org/cto/d/vero-beach-toyota-tundra/6895430471.html

 

OP, I'd want verification in writing they've done the promised work (if they screw you not replacing the timing belt, you could lose big).

And I would never buy a first gen without inspecting for rust. You could try photographs but it would be much better to get someone over there to poke around with a screwdriver. I offered once to inspect a truck near me for a forum member once, and I know others have done as well. If I were you, I'd share the city/ area the truck is in and ask for a volunteer.

To get more interest, maybe edit your thread title...

 

You're in Minnesota, right? Frame rust is a big concern. I can see from the first pic that the trailer hitch and rear bumper have serious rust.
Don't misunderstand me: I'm not saying it's a bad deal, but just that this is probably not a good candidate to be buying it sight unseen.

 

That's a nice looking truck, like everyone said check for rust. Other than that you will have a truck that will last til the body falls off.

 

Have dealer screen grab some under chassis frame shots. Post up.