Saga for Finding a 4x4 First Gen with Low Miles in Florida

** Would've posted this in for sale but account needs to be 30 days old. I totally understand if this post gets moved/removed, not trying to be annoying**

Hey everyone,

I recently purchased an 02' Tacoma with a little under 115k miles. Base model, 2.4L 2wd and got it for a pretty fair price. It's something that'll be able to take me to and from work this summer and I know it won't drop on me. I got a lot of great feedback from the Tacomworld forms so I thought I'd post on here and get ahead of my search for a Tundy.

By the end of the summer, I'm Gonna upgrade to a first gen Tundra, preferably an 05-06 model, definitely 4x4, and miles below 200k in Florida and trade the Taco to a dealership to help with the Tundy or sell it private on marketplace or Tacomaworld. I understand that's a pretty steep ask for a 19-20 year old truck, but I have all summer to look for it and I'm in no rush and not concerned with doing some searching/waiting/more waiting...

I'm upgrading because I want to have a reliable truck that can do some boat towing, take me to National Parks without problem, and just last me forever until it blows up. I want to keep the truck for as long as possible. I love the Taco, but it just won't do the things I want it to.

I test drove an access cab 05 tundy w/ 134k miles today selling for ~15k and I loved the ride, but the dealership was hiding a copious amount of rust on the frame with black spray paint. I might go and take another look at it, but that was a huge red flag for me. What do you guys think?

Anyways, time for the search begin! I'm excited

Edit: Changed the title to be more fitting about how I feel this is gonna go finding the right truck

 

See this.

If it's obvious someone tried to cover up rust, and having done so is preventing you from getting a good look at the actual damage...avoid. Some frame rust isn't a deal breaker, but if you have no way of telling how bad the actual rust is, don't buy it.

I'm in Montana so the market may be different, but there were a lot of first gen Tundras in the MT/ID/WY/UT area for $10-$12k with 150-200,000 miles for sale when I was looking, just over a month ago. $15k for a truck with a frame that someone felt they needed to hide is way too much. Depending on how bad the frame actually is, the truck might only be useable for parts.

Keep looking.

 

Yeah that's what I was leaning towards. I mean, you could even see the circular imprint where they put more spraypaint to hide worse spots... There was some bald spots too where I picked at it to check and it didn't feel sturdy and rust was just flaking off. Going to say that it's a hard pass.

In Florida, Toyota's have a cult following that raises the price of the truck by a ton, 2wd tacoma's with 200k miles on them are selling for 15k-17k which blows my mind.

Thanks for the input, I'll keep looking!

 

Weird, I'm constantly keeping dibs on stuff between Gainesville and Lake City and always seeing stuff. There was even an absolutely loaded to the hilt, low mile 2WD supercharged Limited model closer to Destin for $16k not even a week ago I posted. You should be able to find no shortage of stuff, depending what area of the state you're in. When I was hunting mine, I found two out of Orlando, V8/4WD/Limited/Tow under $15k, but couldn't get either dealer to guarantee hold while I made the 7ish hour drive down 75 to get 'em. I ended up buying mine out of Auburn. I'll sell it to you for $28k

Seriously though, read that post MTT linked. That thread isn't me talking, that's a crowdsourced community effort to keep folks informed and a lot of minds bigger than mine contributed.

 

Glad to hear some optimism! I got pissed because I saw a double cab, 4wd, 110k for 10k through a dealer on marketplace, called him up on the phone and he said it got sold months ago. He started being annoying on the phone afterwards asking why I even called and how I got the listing in the first place... so annoying

Market is pretty meek in Florida right now currently dealer-wise, but I haven't given marketplace a deep search yet since I don't get the cash funds until Mid-June.

I live in the Gainesville area for college but I'm currently home for work, so I'll definitely give that a looksie from time to time and drive up if I spot a good deal since I have an apartment up there currently.

I'll give the thread a nice thorough read. Thanks a ton

 

Seems like your preference is for a dealer, which I can understand, but facebook marketplace was where I saw all the good ones. I guess it's more of a gamble, but if you know what you're looking for and find an honest seller, right there you can knock a couple thousand off the price by avoiding a dealership.

I've never joined facebook and it's something I'm fairly stubborn about. I had to use the work account to contact people. But it had 90% of the traffic. Now that I'm going to be selling my Tacoma, I've considered finally joining just for the marketplace. Craigslist was still the go-to place last time I bought/sold a vehicle. Not so much anymore.

 

Good luck
I spent more than a year looking for mine
I found two others that met all the criteria i wanted in that year of looking but they were sky high, some specialty dealer that buys up nice old vehicles at a premium and then resells had one and they were asking like $28k (yes no joke) and the other was something similar, some dealer selling at an astronomical price. I found quite a few SR5 that would have worked but i really wanted (in order of necessity)
1) white
2) double cab
3) 4wd
4) limited
5) factory running boards
The two trucks i found before this one were super nice, one was immaculate with 75,000 miles, thats the joint that was asking $28,000.

 

Well yes and no, it really all depends on the timing of finding the right deal. In the short term, financing with a dealer is ideal since I'm cash poor right now but in Mid-June, I'll have enough cash to buy the truck outright. So marketplace will be ideal in that case. It's all about the timing of finding the right truck. After I get the Tundra, I'll be able to sell the Taco since it's currently my daily and I have no other options for vehicles.

Hopefully if I play my cards right this internship I'll be doing will offer me a full time position and I'll be able to REALLY pick and chose preferences. I've looked and there's a lot of great deals outside of Florida. For example I saw a nice 06' taco with all my specifications and 80k miles for 15k, which is basically a brand new truck. and if that becomes a reality I wouldn't mind road-tripping out of state for a new vehicle.

Also I totally agree with you on the Facebook thing... I wish they just offered a Marketplace app but I guess that's too much for them to think about

After doing a search within 1000 miles, I'm not super worried I won't find bad options. Black, Double cab, 4wd, limited is my ideal. Right now looking at the used toyota market, Tundras are the only things that are fairly priced...

Glad you found your truck man!

Also $28,000 is a ridiculous ask...

 

Spent some time sitting thru my fair share of lectures in the CS dept at UF, and collaborated with one of the CS profs at SFCC for a bit too, no stranger to town. That was after going to school where the "big hand" is just north of the prarie. Really sad Reggae Shack shut down, sad story on that one. Many good memories there. My friend has a business diagonally across the street between the shack's building and the old plasma donation place.

The above is right, from @MT-Tundra. Facebook Marketplace is really the place to hunt for stuff. Dealers are going to mark up no less than $2k-5k over market, and likely double what they gave for trade-in.

I've been doing my search within 250mi radius of ATL, and picking up plenty down your way, and just beyond. But it's all on FBM. I personally found my match by setting up year/make/model searches on TrueCar via USAA's partnership with them (at the time), but Cars.com, CarGuru, and AutoTrader are also places you'll find people listing. I paid probably $2k higher than I would've just because everything coming back from those sources were, ultimately, dealers. 3/4 of what you'll see on there is small-to-big size dealers, if not more.

I'd go FBM and CL hunting. Talk to your bank in advance if you need $$$ so you can execute faster, if you can. Only upside to a dealer is you can trade-in. But if I were you, I'd be responsible, hold out until you're in a better place financially, and pull the trigger when it's more feasible, THEN look at selling the Taco. Just my 2¢, as someone that's rotated thru a shitload of vehicles in his lifetime.

The important thing though ... memorize everything in that thread, and be aware of the "big 3" killers on these trucks. Rust, which I think you know. Timing belt and its tensioner and pulleys. OEM LBJ. Protect yourself when hunting.

 

Yes the money thing makes sense. I got a loan, so I had the money and could jump on the right truck. Funny what people are looking for. I was a bit hasty...what I was looking for was a solid vehicle I could rely on for the next ten years. Otherwise, regular cab was preferable, access cab acceptable, no-go on a double cab. I specifically didn't want the Limited, mostly because of the leather seats, but for whatever reason I also don't prefer the faux wood paneling. Still can't decide whether I prefer the wide, color matched fender flares or the small black/chrome ones. But I lean toward liking the smaller ones. White is pretty far down my list of good vehicle colors, but acceptable. Had to be 4wd. Ended up buying a white Limited access cab.

After two trucks that were closer to what I wanted got snagged out from under me, I pretty much decided to jump on anything that met the 'great mechanical condition, 95% rust free, preferably sub-200,000 but could be a little over, 4wd, not a hideous color.' Had I been more patient I'm sure I could have found cloth seats, no faux wood, something that already had a topper etc. But I'm happy with my truck. I flew one way to buy it, drove it ~350 miles back home.

 

Ha, funny you say that. Same major and same school (CS and UF), go Gators! I don't graduate anytime soon, especially since my old man just passed. Shifting my focus from academic to getting into the workforce since I'm pretty far along in my major. Doing it to help my mom out by going independent and do school along the way. Aiming for some defense/government work since I got some connections through school and hometown network. Most of the work is online too so I'll be able to do some nomad-travel for months at a time. Anyways...

I'll take both of ya'lls advice since I'm in really no rush to get the truck. Tacoma is running great so I got nothing to complain about. I only need the truck when I start working full time so it makes the most reasonable sense to hold out and wait for a good deal. If a really good deal pops up, my mom can help me out some since we're by no means financially struggling and I don't have to take out a ridiculous auto loan. I can pay her back once I sell the Taco.

 

Also take a look at this, 2006 SR5 Tundy, 4WD, Gray, Double cab, 131k miles only an hour and a half away from me. Great deal on paper, until I hassled them for two days to send me a picture of the frame and...







Is this worth checking out or should I save myself the ~3 hour round trip

 

Similar to my situation, in the sense that I got a loan from family, rather than the bank. And will be selling a Taco to pay back some of it. That way it was in my account while I looked. Could jump on something right away. And while I can kind of pretend to afford a monthly repayment plan, having full coverage insurance on top of that, which a bank would require, was too much.

Sorry to hear about your Dad.

 

I'd be interested to see what others think. They have a better eye for the problem spots than me. I posted some pretty gnarly looking frame photos from one I was looking into. The entire undercarriage was rusty. Having to do any work under there would have always been challenging, in terms of breaking off bolt heads. But the consensus was that while it was rusty, it was all surface rust, not rot. Nothing wrong with trying to avoid a rusty underside completely (which I was also hoping for), but there is a difference between rust and rot.

Check out the second group of photos I posted. I think post #10.

 

Thanks, life happens unfortunately but gotta keep keeping on

That's honestly part of the reason why I posted that to get more eyes on it to see if it was worth wild to check out. The red flag for me at least was the first picture near one of the frame holes in the top right, looks like it might be rusting through the whole frame. I can always ask them for more pictures though.

 

The internet is great, but a double-edge sword. Can search so many more trucks. But most of them, you can't just run over on your lunch break and check them out in person. You ask for more photos, and meanwhile, someone less discriminating comes along and buys it. Which, in most cases, is a good thing for you. But you'll never know...

 

I need to dig up the truck in Lake City I saw on FBM a couple days ago and see if it's still available. Are you still in GNV right now, or elsewhere in the state? Only ask b/c summer break is in full swing, and I'm not sure if summer A/B/C classes are still a thing, and/or if you're taking summer stuff.

 

Not doing Summer stuff and I'm home in South Florida. I only start an internship starting May 20th. Shoot it my way if you find it and I'll take a drive sometime this week.

 

Are you looking for an AC or a DC? I see you test drove an AC, but wanted to check in advance. I realize you want VVTi/5spd ('05-'06 V8) and 4WD, cab is really one of the only other things.

Also, I assume you want to avoid trucks with VSC? If you're hunting a DC, are side curtain airbags important to you?

 

Preferably DC but AC is fine too if the deal is right. There’s plenty of room regardless.

I’d say VSC and safety features are not deal breakers

 

VSC is a bitch to deal with, extra thing to break, only reason I ask. Not all trucks have it. The button is normally to the left of the 4HI/4LO buttons in the dash, far left of the clock.

 

Right. I don’t mind fixing anything myself but again not a deal breaker if it has it or not. Really just looking for low mileage and low/no rust

 

Found a great deal on a TRD blue-gray 06' 4x4 double cab, 125k miles, 14k ask. Only problem is it's in Illinois...


Time to go to the gym and clear my head because I've been at it all day like I'm working a 9-5 hahaha


Edit: turns out it’s RWD ☹️ I honestly love the blue-gray color though. That and black. The search continues!

 

I know the feeling! For me anyway, it didn't wear off once I bought the truck. Now there's all the maintenance research and backlog to catch up on etc...

This is why you don't set your search radius outside the area you can realistically travel to. But...if a plane ticket is a reasonable thing for you, that's a pretty wide area. My truck was farther away than two others I looked at, but it was the closest to an airport, so it was actually easier to get to. The seller picked me up at the airport. The other's would have been a long day's drive for me, but then...did I just drive 3 hours for a test drive? What if I want it? Put a down payment then drive back out again in a day or week or whatever? These things are all reasonable if they're reasonable to the individual. But for me, a plane ticket and a 5 1/2 hour drive back home was better than multiple 6-hour round trips if I drove out to see it, then bought it and had to come back for it. Of course bringing a friend along for the ride can solve that problem.

 

It is an unusual color, but the chances of you finding a clean frame on a truck from Illinois is probably about as low as my chances of winning the lottery if I go to the store right now and buy 1,000 tickets.

 

Illinois means road salt
Road salt means frame rust
i would check that one over REEEEEAL good prior to purchase
if its got a drop in bedliner you better have them pull it up and send pix because the bed will rust out under those drop in liners in illinois

I have flown to pick up 2 vehicles before, one in Cali and one in Arizona
I have paid a hauling company to bring 2 to me before, one from Kentucky and one from Colorado
I have driven with a car hauler to pick one up in Colorado
You might be surprised at how cheap paying someone to haul it to you on a car hauler is or can be, its far cheaper than you losing a day at work, fuel there and back, or a plane ticket and the fuel back. The one i bought from Kentucky cost me $600 in 2022 to ship from Lexington Kentucky to the gas station across the street from my work in Mississippi. They picked it up at 9am and had it to me at 7pm that same day. Dudes drove straight no stops to make a measley $600. Me missing a day of work, making a 10 hour trip to get it and another 10 hour trip back, the fuel alone was like $350 for me to go get it plus it would have been a non stop 24 hour day to rush up there and back. A one way plane ticket was like $350 and then $150 in fuel to drive it back, heck i said screw it and paid the $600 and it was here in no time.

 

Wow. I considered all those possibilities but having never done it or known anyone who did, it felt easier to just hop on a plane and drive it back. And it was. But as you point out, it sure wasn't cheap.

 

I guess it could depend on where in Illinois. Chicago? Yeah, rust. Southern IL? Might be okay. My truck was a Missouri truck and the frame is in good shape.

 

He sent me some pics and surprisingly the frame looks great. Same with the carfax. Truck has been in Cali its entire life and just recently moved to Illinois since the guy is military. So maybe you should buy those lottery tickets

Like I said though, it isn’t 4wd and it’s a thousand miles away so I’m going to keep looking!

Going to definitely think about this and maybe widen my search, though, I probably won’t get the help from family if I don’t go and see the vehicle myself, which makes sense. I’ll keep that thought in my back pocket though if I find a truck 250+ miles out.