Is this 1st gen Tundra worth the trouble?

The company I work for purchased this 2006 Tundra Limited double cab brand new and has kept it as a service/delivery vehicle up until now (they are trading it towards a Prius).

I inquired about the trade in value and the boss said they are only offering us $1,500 due to the condition it is in after our shithead service manager ragged it out the last 4 years.

So what I’m wondering is for $1,500 should I jump on this truck? The plan would be to fix it up a little and sell it for a profit since it isn’t 4x4 (otherwise I’d be tempted to fix her up and sell my 3rd gen).

As you can tell it’s in bad shape. The hood/roof paint is non existent and is starting to show surface rust, there’s no telling what it needs to get the engine tuned up as it sounds like shit, but on the bright side the water pump and timing belt was recently replaced. It apparently needs u-joints, and some type of pulleys according to the idiot who has been driving it. The inside is also pretty bad.

208k miles.

Thoughts?

 

For $1500 I'd buy it.

Give it a tune up, buffing, and seat covers. You'll have no problem making a little cash.

 

If you’re willing to put some effort in, I think there’s money to be made. Get it running smooth, fix the U joints and carrier bearing. Maybe change out the fluid in the rear diff just so it sounds good when you sell it. Clean the shit out of the interior and fix any obvious eye sores like the drivers door armrest. I think you could make a few thousand dollars no problem. Maybe you could come up on some seats in the junkyard or just spend a little money on some seat covers.

 

Yeah I'd probably snag that for $1,500. I find it very odd that they would stick rims on a truck that they beat the shit out of. It's a shame the shape that it's in. That Tundra deserved better.

 

I would think you could almost triple your money as is.
Arm rest piece could probably be purchased. Upholstery shop could fix seat(s) for couple hundred. Remove bent chrome piece from Bull bar, or complete Bull Bar. Restore headlights.
Clean it up and get book value even if rough value. Thinking $6-8K

 

Definitely. A polishing on the headlights makes a huge difference on first impressions walking up to the truck. Getting rid of those small eye sores can be huge for making the truck more appealing. You could have identical truck sitting next to each other with the same amount of damage. A little elbow grease can make one look thousands of dollars more expensive.

 

It received those rims after one of the drivers ran into something and bent the crap out of one of the original Enkei 20” rims that came on it. Yeah it really upset me to see the current shape of the truck, 3 or 4 years ago when I sold my 1st gen this one was still in great shape and easily worth 11-12k. The guy who has been driving it doesn’t deserve another company vehicle.

 

Keep us posted on your decision. I'm not sure that you could get $6-8K as someone suggested but I think you could easily turn a nice profit.

 

$6-8k may have been a little high, maybe more like $4-5k easy. Maybe more.

Some quick NADA numbers:
(Using Houston zip)


Some Kelly Blue Book numbers:
(Using Houston zip)

 

Update: it was indeed worth it. I decided on a number that would make it worth it to sell as is and posted it on Craigslist shortly after making this post. 3 hours later I walked out of my bosses office with $2,000 in my pocket and a smile on my face. A foreign guy who runs a used car lot texted 10 mins after my CL post and came and gave me $3,500 for it. Introduced him to my boss so he could sign over the title and that’s all she wrote. Thanks to everyone who responded on here, beers on me if you're ever in Panama City Lol!

 

Damn! Nice quick bonus for you!

 

I'm confused by the chain of events. Who paid whom? Either way, sounds like a good deal for you!

 

I found a buyer after the CL post but had to get the boss involved since the title was still under the companies name. They were going to get $1,500 trade in value in which he got cash instead and I walked with the rest. All I had to do was take the guy for a test drive and walk him into my bosses office to sign the title. Pretty sweet deal for a Monday. Obviously a top shelf bottle of scotch is in order for the boss.