Potential purchase

I’m in need of another truck. Always had a soft spot for the 1st gens but never owner one. I found one locally with 149k for $10,000 at a small dealer. Looks very clean from the pictures, will be looking at it tomorrow. It’s a double cab 4.7 truck. Other than rust what else is there to look out for? Is 10k too much for this truck?

 

Besides rust issues, maintenance comes to mind. Timing belt/water pump specifically. I believe the recommended change interval is 90K mi or 7 years. In spite of looking very clean in the pictures, give it a real good inspection for any rust related issues. See if you can dig up any previous owner history records. If the truck is solid, $10k is not too much for this truck. I'd rather pay a little more for a clean rust free truck than having potential issues with something that seems like a "bargain". Take and post pics here, many knowledgeable first gen owners here might be able to point out issues that can easily be overlooked when pondering a new to you vehicle.

 

Thank you for the advice! It comes with a car fax which I’ve already looked up and it shows decent service history. I looked up on Toyota’s website about service history too and found where I could check the history by vin and I did that and saw some stuff but can’t find any timing belt history. I hope it’s been done at 150k...

 

Good news on the maintenance. Here is a sticky thread that may be helpful concerning rust.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/early-1st-gen-2000-2003-tundra-frame-replacement-faq.54331/

Another recent one from a member looking to buy (and eventually pass). Good example pics.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/what-do-y’all-think.76051/

 

Timing belt,water pump, transmission drain / fill, rear end drain / fill is what I did on my 06 dc limited, with 159 k, after i purchased it 10 months ago for 10k. Work was done by dealer for $1600.00 . I would try to get the price down to cover these repairs before committing to purchase. If dealer refuses to lower the price and every thing else is checked out ok, its still a fair price in my opinion..

 

Here's an example of a previous owner having mentioned that the timing belt was previously done, it turns out it was not. I think @N84434 dodged a bullet by checking the belt instead of relying on the word of the previous owner.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/my-...under-budget-thread.71679/page-5#post-1937267

 

Yeah. I just pulled of an 8 year old belt with 70k miles that looked brand new compared to @N84434 ‘recently changed one’.

 

Thank you all for the insight! I wish the timing could be visually inspected easily. Hopefully tomorrow reveals a really solid clean truck and I can get them down for the timing belt

 

You can pull off the cover to peek inside at the belt.

 

Was this truck a trade in and an original owner sale can make a whole lot of difference.
Is this a 4 wheel drive?

 

Yes 4 wheel drive. Not original owner. It was a trade in to a larger dealer and like most larger dealers they don’t put older higher mileage vehicles on the lot so they sold it off to a smaller independent dealer

 

If everything checks out and you're seriously considering purchasing it, I think it would be a reasonable request for the small car dealer to pull a cover so you can visually inspect the belt. I think you might be able to peek at it by removing just a few bolts from the passenger side cover without actually removing it. 150K miles is nothing for the 4.7, it's just breaking in!

 

Hopefully I can swindle something. Maybe try $9000 with no proof of the timing.

 

Exactly. You can pull the top 3 bolts from the right side Cam Gear Cover and see the belt. It should NOT have any lateral cracks in it. Definitely use it as a bargaining chip if everything else looks good...

 

I’m debating whether or not to pull the cover. If it is newer I can’t bargain lol. If it’s cracked I can. But if I don’t pull it at all I can bargain no matter what.

 

Bargain before bringing up the belt! Figure on spending about another grand to have it done if it needs it, as little as a couple of hundred (full kit and fluids) if you do it yourself.

 

I could probably tackle it myself but time is limited at the moment so I’d rather have someone professional get it done right the first time.

 

FWIW, I just sold my 2006 DC with 245,000 miles for $7000. It was one owner, timing belt and water pump changed twice. I'm in So Cal away from the beach so I don't what this rust stuff is that you guys talk about.