Need some Sequoia+Tundra wisdom...

So, I hope this is the right forum. I bought a 2005 Sequoia with 168k miles on it that is a dumpster fire... I let myself be had by an unscrupulous used car dealer, so I only have myself to blame... (Really beating myself up for it since I could have driven just a bit further and gotten a better one that was exactly what I wanted, but I digress...)
https://www.tundras.com/threads/buying-my-first-1st-gen-sequoia.74318/

Well, I've got one of those stupid tax lessons sitting in my driveway. It needs some sort of exhaust work, parking brake work, and a new rear hatch... And I overpaid by 4X what I should have for the condition it was/is in. Good news is I've already had the ball joints done because they went out about a month after I bought the darn thing. At least I know what that feels like while driving.

Now, I also own a paid off '03 Tundra which I love and would hate to sell, but it would almost pay off the Sequoia if I did.

So my options are:

1. Do nothing, slowly fix the Sequoia and pay it down until I can either sell it and get it out of my life or come to terms with my stupidity and pay the stupid tax every time I see it until then. AKA Suck it up, buttercup. But at least I keep my Tundra.
2. Sell the truck and either
   1. Pay off the Sequoia and Sell it for a fair price to someone who knows how to fix it.
   2. Use the proceeds to repair the Sequoia and get it functional with the parking brake fixes, exhaust, rear hatch, extra keys, and whatever else comes up, to be able to safely daily it... and maybe a deer catcher bumper so I don't total the thing after sinking all that cash into it.

What do y'all think? Anything I've missed?

TLDR: I thought I could outsmart Dave Ramsey and I was wrong.

 

What's wrong with the exhaust and parking brake? I'd just let that v8 purr if it were me lol. The hatch you can probably find at a junk yard fairly easily. Depending on what's wrong with the parking brake it should be fairly easy to figure do unless it's in the drums, those can suck.

 

All I know about the brake is the cables are hanging under the car and are completely rusted and slack. I push in the pedal and it tightens the cables, but doesn't engage the brakes since there's still slack in the system... I guess; don't know.

 

Sounds like it just needs to be tightened then.

 

I've been there with a Silverado that I regretted buying almost immediately. One thing I'll suggest is don't rush into another decision that could be a 2 fold mistake. You can't take back paying what you did. The best return on your money would be fix what you can on your own and run it for years!
I've got a 04 Sequoia with an exhaust leak, I'll get to it someday.
I've had to replace the rear hatch once, $40 and plenty of YouTube videos on it.
Not sure on the brakes, new cables?

These are great vehicles with a little maintenance, should last you a long time.

 

@Straussberg
I remember your other thread now, back in Sept.
Just to be clear, you want to keep both rigs or are you trying to get down to one?

 

Stupid tax (figured there was a hidden Dave Ramsey reference)

(speaking from baby step 7)

umm I was in a similar situation 3 years ago our transmission went out in the Honda Odyssey I looked all over couldn’t find what I really wanted and didn’t want to drop a bunch of money on a van (my kids will destroy it anyways) so I put a new transmission in it.
The purpose of the odyssey is to transport kids. It’s going to hit 200,000 soon it’s ugly my kids destroy the inside, in 1–2 yrs my wife will get a newer/loaded used one.

2000 stupid tax on dot com turned 1500 into 13,000 in 4 month lost it all
2004 stupid tax on 25,000 failed business venture
2014 $150 stupid tax on a coffee roaster
2019 $220 on a crappy snow blower

You can recover from small stupid purchases, lessons learned move on.

- so if u sell it as is (I would have to disclaim all issues) I personally don’t want bad ju-ju dumping a used car on someone.
- fix issues and drive it for 3 years

look at it as a math problem take out the emotions, you will be fine, just be patient.

But I feel your pain, my wife has gone thru 3 transmissions.

 

Good way to look at it.
3 in the Odyssey? Yikes

 

Thanks for the feedback y'all! I would like to keep the Tundra and the Sequoia, especially since to get another 4WD truck like that would be $$$, but yeah, take the emotion out and treat it as a math problem... Best thing would be to fix the Sequoia... FYI, the parking brake cables are so rusted, I can't adjust it... the clips holding it to the body are gone too... I don't think it'll survive an attempt to tighten em... And the exhaust makes the puttering sound on acceleration or load; sounds like it's coming from under the hood; not getting vacuum errors, so I assume it's an exhaust leak; sounds kind of like the giant holes in the catalytic converter and exhaust from my Tundra a few years ago, but coming from under the hood rather than the bottom of the vehicle.

Regarding Ramsey, we're back on BS2 after being "-ish" last year before we abandoned it over the summer... Had a bit of a come-to-Jesus moment this month and getting back on the wagon.

 

Excellent idea keeping both.

The exhaust leak is most likely the manifold. This issue is really common on the 4.7. Check your steering shaft bushing behind your brake pedal, if that is worn out or gone you really notice the exhaust leak. There is a thread on that here and guys have replaced it and don't hear the leak near as much.

 

To reply before the odyssey didn’t have 3 transmissions, maybe I typed it wrong, I guess I should clarify GM Odyssey Chrysler.

I will say this concerning Dave Ramsey, my wife and I taught the class I think 25-28x?
- do the budget
- 3x5 index card write down the debt/date every time you make a payment new card hung up below, this is like your scoreboard (free spirit needs to see it to focus) think of any sporting event without a scoreboard.
- lastly fast for 1 year see exactly what you are capable of, you maybe surprised on what you are capable of. This really needs more explanation but we cut back to needs only.

if you need any help let me know, you got this!

 

How screwed am I? I guess if I knew how to weld, it wouldn’t be that bad, but I don’t... looks like this and one of the brake calipers are Tango Uniform...

 

Have you tried to crack open the fill plug yet? If not, try and top off the fluid to buy yourself some time.
I recently saw a thread where someone cut off and welded on a new aftermarket cover. Check the first gen threads.
Should only cost you a couple hours labor at a fab shop.