(First Gen) Your Current Mileage

Now, when you are the original owner, it's a little better.

 

Well it’s supposed to be my new hunting truck. But I feel guilty about all the scratches it’s going to get, and I’ve already looked into a protective wrap,4-5000$$$$. Hard to swallow. Coilover lift kit and 33s. Thinking maybe I should try to sell it and get one that’s a little less perfect.

 

45,931 miles

 

I'm obviously not excluded from the list thanks to my current FGT purchase, but I've noticed a lot of people out there really seem to get hung up on wanting their used stuff "as virgin as possible". I know plenty of guys who take that goal beyond the inanimate stuff they ride.

Don't get me wrong, and not to wax too philosophic here, there's definitely something novel about finding pristine, less-touched things. For me, it's rare I've found any low-use older items lacking their own unique set of negative issues caused by that low usage. Like, maybe it's a mint vintage Marantz receiver still in the box, but chances are the caps are going to be dried up, you'll still need to re-cap it. Or that vintage bike someone tucked away in the barn, so now it's got mice living in it, they've chewed all the wires up, or motor is frozen from lack of use. Cool, it looks great on the outside, but it's still got internal issues. With our trucks the low-mile issues seem to be dried seals, like the window slides, engine gaskets.

With my truck, I wanted something at least somewhat broken-in but not far enough along I'd be rebuilding the suspension right away. I had my search criteria at various sites set for '05-'06, Access Cab, loaded, less than 140k miles, something that doesn't need body work (I hate body work), and was never registered north of the Carolinas. It just so happens I found one ~60k miles after some months of passive hunting.

Hindsight 20/20, I'd buy my truck again, but I'd probably have followed a different maintenance path. I'm not ashamed to admit, I honestly thought "low mile" = "won't need any engine or suspension work" on these trucks. I learned pretty quickly that wasn't the case. I really, seriously won't actively seek out another Toyota vehicle greater than 10-15 years old with under 100k miles. If I ever do pull the trigger on an 2UZ LC, for example, I'll want to see at least 120k on the clock.

 

At this point miles doesn't matter as much as age, to a certain point at least. First gen Tundras are getting old. Anyone purchasing one now should expect to set aside a decent amount of money for maintenance.

 

Decent is 25 right? I might be close. I am definitely dumb.

 

Not mine, but was in my fishing buddy's truck last weekend. My jaw dropped to the floor when I look over at his Odo and it read 399K! And he beats the living hell out of it. It's a work/fishing/do everything truck and dirty as $hit, but she keeps a ticking!

 

Damn @shifty` thats a bummer, I hope you don't have anymore issues. I guess lower miles isn't always better, sound like there is a happy median for age vs mileage.

 

This is it. If anyone learns anything from looking at this thread, what you just said in bold is exactly it.

And I don't think there's anything else, issue-wise, but it's a vehicle, there's always something to fix. I'll be able to clear out what you saw pictured in the thread. the gunk inside the valve cover is gone already. I'll take the steps to de-varnish everything through a couple of flush/OC cycles now I know that's a thing. But I also know, other seals inside my engine are going to harden/crack/die from lack of long-haul driving, so I've got no less in maintenance costs than someone with 4x as many miles on theirs...

 

68k here

 

81,721!!

 

2003 Silver SR5 4.7v8 241,924

 

You can be the judge on that but you got back what had been wanting….your truck

 

I feel bad for the low mileage trucks, they probably have more heat cycles than mine at almost 300k