Just bought a salvage title Tundra… was it yours?

Hey All,
New here. I recently picked up a white 2006 DC limited (with just 60k miles!). Car Fax says it came from Durango CO. It was in a crash in 2019 (front end damage, hit a deer would be my guess), and ended up at auction with a salvage title.
Well, now it’s out back together and it mine and I think it’s awesome.
It looks like it was really well cared for, it was very clean besides the damage.
The truck has a very nice ARE shell with a Purgatory sticker, a NOLS sticker, and a National Park sticker.
I’m wondering if the previous owner is here on this forum. Or maybe someone who knows him or her? I’d just like to know any maintenance details they could share, and let them know that their truck is back on the road and being loved again, and it’s headed for more camping, skiing and mountain biking adventures soon!
Here’s a couple pics.
Thanks!!

 

Congrats and welcome to the club/community @82lucy! What a great find. This is one of my favorite examples of the 1st gens especially with that camper shell. Do you mind me asking how much you paid for that beaut?

 

Welcome from SoCal, nice 1st gen! Fastest color too...

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome.

Was there any frame damage? Does it ride well? I’m surprised it was considered totaled by that image.

 

I'm also surprised they totaled it from that damage. Looks minor. Nice find. The truck looks great.

 

I'll trade you a white snug top for that ARE.

 

Thanks for the compliments. I’m very excited. It’s more of a 50 foot paint job, but it’s perfect for my needs.

Both fenders and the hood were replaced. The A pillers needed a little work. The worst was the firewall on the passenger side, which got pushed in a bunch.
But a magician was able to pull it back out, it looks good to me. No suspension or steering work was needed. Frame is fine. The truck is totally rust free.
I’m surprised it was totaled as well. I’m guessing the repair on the firewall was expected to be very complicated.

 

Im new to camper shells, but this one seems like it’s everything I need.
Thanks though.

 

Do you live in an area prone to deer strikes? Might be worth getting a "you lose" bumper from Brute Force Fab.

https://www.bruteforcefab.com/1st-gen-tundra---sequoia-front.html

 

Nice find and welcome

 

Really nice example of the 1st Gens doing it right. Paint matched bumpers, grille and fender flares. Enjoy that truck. 60,000 miles? Just getting broken in!

 

I’m in New Mexico, our wild life tends to be smaller fortunately (but also unfortunately).
That’s a sweet bumper!

 

https://www.toyota.com/owners/my-vehicle

I registered our used Toyota vehicles at the above website and gained a lot of information on maintenance performed at the dealership level.


82lucy

 

Super sweet truck. Well done, OP.

Did you see the antenna?!? That pushed it into total country.

 

Ha! I hadn’t noticed the antenna. Now I have to go outside and see if it was straightened or replaced.

I feel bad for the previous owner, they clearly loved the truck. I’m a little surprised they didn’t buy it back from insurance, but I’ve never dealt with that situation so maybe it just didn’t make sense.

About 10 years ago a friend’s early ‘00s Tacoma was hit by a drunk driver while it was street parked. The frame was bent and there was suspension damage. His insurance still didn’t total it! It was never the same after repairs and he ended up trading it in.
Makes me wonder if the insurance company is the big variable in wether or not something is totaled.

 

Welcome from NY.

 

Is a salvage title the same thing as a 'branded' title? If not, what are the differences?

I used to have a 1st Gen myself, yours looks great

 

My understanding from Kali

Salvage title basically means you bought it back from the insurance and repaired it and drive it around

Branded title or rebuilt basically means the same as salvage, but you took it to the body shop to get it close to spec and gets certified by highway patrol which stamps it as rebuilt on the door frame.. and issues you a permit or clearance for DMV paperwork titling.

 

Looks like it hit a soft target, low-mass compared to a high-mass car, probably human or animal.

Y'all can't see things from a head-on view, but you can assume how bad it was up front based on how hard the A-pillars are bucked at the cowl level. I suspect things were pushed in a good 12-16", must've been at a good 60-70mph clip?

Whoever did the work did a great job of matching up the pinstripe. Some people just genuinely take care of their vehicles, so possibly not an enthusiast owner. Would be really cool if the owner showed up. If you have more pre-wreck photos, would be interesting to see just what these trucks can take!

 

No offense to the OP at all but if you buy a salvage/branded title, how do you know it's actually safe to drive? things like electrical or crush zones etc? or, is that the risk you take if you go this route?

again, OPs rig looks awesome. but, curious what you need to think about if you go with altered title? i know you can save some money but is it worth it?

 

Welcome, it looks like you have your work cut out for you.

 

Not everything with a salvage title is bad. Our 2002 Corolla was totaled in a hail storm while we owned it. It then had a salvage title and we continued driving it another 7-8 years.

 

Ultimately, this.

"Salvage" almost universally means a party responsible to cover repairs believed the cost to repair a claim would exceed the value of the item, thus it went to salvage. It can be anything: Cosmetic damage. Structural damage. Mechanical damage. Or any combination thereof.

States have varying levels of what you must accomplish before the car is road-worthy again. Some states even have weird policies about salvage titles, what you can and can't salvage. Some states are notoriously lax on issuing salvage/rebuild titles to people out-of-state for fraudulent purposes, IIRC.

I think this was probably a legit case of structural and cosmetic damage. As long as the frame is straight and OP is confident the A-pillar damage hasn't affected the safety cage, I see no issue.

And yes, I often wonder about vehicles with pillar damage, whether A, B, C or some combo of those.

 

Welcome from Central Texas

 

The crashed pic is from before I bought it. The "good" pic is how it looks now. There's a couple of shades of white going, but plenty good enough for me!

I've owned a few salvaged title vehicles, as I have a uncle that owns a used car dealership and specializes in them. It's just all about getting the right salvaged car. Sometimes they are theft recovery, and damage was minimal, but the car wasn't found until after insurance already paid out.
Sometimes the damage would be way too expensive for a shop or dealership, but if you have a matching vehicle that you can steal the parts off of, it's relatively cheap (that was the case this time).
You just have to make sure and stay away from bent frames, etc.
I was amazed at the book value on this thing even with a salvage title. Definitely seemed worth fixing.

 

Some states will. FL will no longer insure a vehicle on a salvaged title so it would be pointless to buy it back.

 

Welcome, glad you saved that gem!

 

i was wondering about any potential insurance issues that might arise

 

You can't insure a vehicle at ALL if it has a salvage title? Not even liability only? When we lived there from 2011-2015 our Corolla I mentioned above had a salvage title and I only had liability insurance.