Opinions on potential purchase

I’ve read the post on buying and what to look for and stay away from. Would like opinions on how many miles is too many when considering a purchase. Found an 06 with 275k. I’ll attach the few pics he sent me. Is it worth flying out to look at? $11k is what he’s asking for a limited. New belt, water pump, pulleys and radiator. Rack and pinion rebuilt less than 20k ago. One of the pics is a peek at part of the X brace above the spare tire. Interior is slick in the pictures. Body needs a little love but nothing major.

 

I don’t see anything out of the ordinary but $11k is on the higher end (to me). Although some big-ticket items are being represented as having been completed so….maybe not too high?

 

Only you can answer whether $11k is too high for you to fly out and look at it. Just judging from the images you posted, it looks solid, but don't be surprised if you end up needing to sink $3-4k in the truck at that mileage. Is this truck in the southwest or west?

 

Other than the dry rotted spare, it looks pretty good with minor surface rust. Seems like it’s worthwhile to fly out and check.

Make sure you check out 4wd to make sure it still works in 4hi and 4lo in the dirt. You’ll want to change the lower ball joints since it wasn’t mentioned and ask for some sort of verification on the belt/water pump change such as a receipt. Check out the state of the shock, UBJ and LCA bushings to make sure they appear to be in good condition and won’t need replacing soon.

 

It’s in the Southwest. With prices so all over the board I’m just trying to get y’all’s opinions so I can set some parameters. I do know if it has rust I’m out no matter what the price is.

 

Gotcha. Kinda figured it was from the look of the images. Doesn't mean it spent its life there, though. Could have rust, but doesn't look bad at all. Can you ask the owner for the VIN to run a check to see where all it has been registered? That's what I would do. Unfortunately for buyers, that price isn't high for these trucks if they're in the right location.

Edit: my truck spent its entire life in the desert and has zero rust. It's 2WD and had a lot of work done restoring it. I guarantee you I would ask $11k for it, and it's not a Limited.

 

It’s a small dealer that’s selling it. Says they had the timing belt, etc done and can provide docs. If there’s no proof front end was recently serviced I will do that immediately. No matter what I buy, if there’s no hard proof of the important items being done I would do it as soon as I get it home.

 

First year of its life was MN and the rest Southwest. MN isn’t good but I thought just maybe it was good especially judging by the peek shot of the X brace and clamps and such on the engine peripherals

 

Understood. 1 yr there isn't going to kill it, though. That was a long time ago. I'd fly out and look. Just factor in $3-4k after the fact. If all is well, nothing lost. Like I said, buying something is personal and subjective. All your friends could say "Don't do it", but if you want it, you want it. That's true about anything. I'd go look. Post up more pix if you do and we can give more input.

 

There’s another one (SR5)with no rust I can see in pictures and it’s first year was Colorado then here in TX the rest of its life. 165k miles, body a little better but 3k-4k more $$$. They say timing belt was done at 135k but it’s just written in the owners manual so I won’t trust it. I’ve looked at so much stuff that’s all over the board price and condition that I’m a little foggy! Such a wide range! Hardest thing is finding rust free. I missed out on a unicorn today by an hour. It was at a TN Toyota dealer and full compliment of good pictures. It looked like it could have been a five year old truck. Whole life was in TN. I was pissed!

 

Yeah, you're going to pay more $ with less miles.

If the Limited is close enough to me, I'd be willing to go look at and give you my opinion on it before you fly out. I'm in the Phoenix area.

 

Pics are kinda small. I don't see anything grossly bad, that's probably the factory tire.

We have several members on here well above 275k. We have a handful with more than 600k miles. We have one or two with more than 800k miles.

Price sounds about right. With the VVTi version of the V8 in that thing, not only is the timing belt an issue, and it'll suffer from the usual stuff like valve cover leaks, but verify the belt is truly new, and expect you may toss the SAI pump in the next 50k-100k miles if not already replaced or bypassed.

With 4WD in that thing, you'll want to make sure 4WD engages in (at least) 4HI. You'll want to be sure to follow the manual to put 10ish miles per month in 4WD to keep it going.

If nicely optioned and V8/4WD and the interior is mint, for a DC, that's a damn good price.

 

I wouldn’t be concerned with mileage at all, maintenance is way more important. I’d pick a 500k miles truck with perfect maintenance over basically anything else, potentially even a barn find because of sludge build up. I bought mine for 5k with no rust at 255k but the engine sounds like a diesel and hasn’t had proper maintenance, I doubt I’ll get a proper lifetime out of it sadly. I didn’t have a shop look at properly before I bought it, I checked over the frame and suspension very well and all that is fine but if I were buying one again I’d make sure to get one that isn’t leaking a bit of oil, has the right coolant in it, fresh Aisin t belt, has clean oil, and runs like a sewing machine not a diesel.

Good that it’s had some recent work. I can’t speak as far as price but I would make sure that the engine runs smooth, and all the drivetrain feels good. Seems like a good truck and you seem like your doing it smart.

 

Man I’ve known about this forum but never really dove into it. So glad I finally did! So much valuable info.

 

DD- I just sent you a PM

 

Yep, just responded

 

Any oil leaks mentioned ?

 

The rear axle looks great, being able to see the factory painted numbers on the leaf spring is great, seeing the entire side frame rail still factory black paint is great, the frame rail at the upturn at the back of the cab is not pooched out which is the first place it starts rusting [super great].
There is practically no rust to speak of, otherwise the frame rail would be pooched out (its not) and the rear axle would be covered in scale (which its not) and the exhaust hangers would be rusted thin like an hour glass (they are not).
Its still got the factory exhaust, looks like the rear clamp was replaced.
275,000 miles isnt actually that bad, i had a buddy buy one with 375,000 miles two years ago from a local doctor, and he daily drives it now with over 400,000 on it. It has had a 3" lift and 285 BFG for the past 10+ years since i have been seeing the truck.

The length of the frame rail and distance between the front and rear tires looks like a double cab? What does the interior look like? Seats all cracked and rotted? 20 years old and 275,000 miles of farts in the front seat usually makes them look pretty bad. Have the front two seat covers been replaced? If the outside looks good, and the previous work checks out as being done, then i would not think $11,000 would be a bad buy if the interior looks good. The frame and underside checks out as a real nice clean unit from the pix available.

 

Was it a white DC they had listed for like $25,000? Less than 100,000 miles? Pretty sure i saw that one and really liked it but hot dang it was HIGH.

 

I'm going to look at it for him tomorrow. We'll find out everything

 

noice

 

My truck is a 2000 Limited AC 4WD with 275k miles in good mechanical and fair cosmetic condition. I wouldn't take any amount for it, but definitely wouldn't sell it for less than $10-12k. That truck looks pretty solid. $11k is fair if not good pricing.

 

I've seen the pix from the dealer. The pix OP posted don't do it justice. I can say that if I was in the market for a 1st gen, I would jump on this truck at the asking price. We all know the mechanicals are a different story, though. OP will know soon.

 

Claims it’s tight but need to see it for myself.

 

No a grey one. I’ve seen some of those crazy high priced ones. Seems like they’re mostly in Cali! I can’t fault a man for making money if there’s someone that’ll pay their price but not me.

 

things that might shave some money during negotiation and are easy fixes

loose shifter check if it has play. - 10$ fix

Look out for valve cover gasket leak and a leak around the oil cooler (figure 8 o-ring)

 

11k is too much for a 275k truck imo.

 

It’s not

 

I get price opinions are definitely subjective. I definitely appreciate the different opinions.

 

In another note, seems like their gold ones are the slowest sellers. Not my favorite color but it hides dirtiness incredibly well! My sons is that color and it never looks dirty and he never washes it.