Should I jump on this?

As some of you may know, I semi-reluctantly got rid of my 2018 Tundra after a cam tower repair gone bad and got my wife into a new Highlander. I was originally planning on looking for a 1st gen Tundra to replace my 2018, but I came across a low-mileage early 2nd gen with the 4.7L (I don't want to deal with cam towers again, and we'll only be towing a light pop-up tent trailer or light trailer) that I may go check out tonight. Is there anything I should look out for on these? I know rust was an issue, but we don't use salt here in Oregon so that usually isn't a big issue here. Any info would be much appreciated!

 

So I checked out a 2007 double cab with the 4.7 this evening. It's a one owner with only 66k miles on it and looked really clean. The owner, an 84-year-old man, had a file folder with a record of every single thing he's ever had done to it. It has been in a couple "fender benders", but it has a clean title and he said there was never any frame damage and I couldn't see anything to indicate otherwise. He's asking $17.5k, and high book on these is $17.7k. However, he hasn't had the timing belt done yet. Like I said, it only has 66k miles on it, but the maintenance schedule calls for a timing belt replacement at 90k miles or 9 years, and this is 12 years old so that's an added expense I'd have to cover for peace of mind.

Any advice? Should I jump on this? I was originally planning on getting a 1st gen with a little more miles, but this seems like a potentially good deal.

 

Go drive it. Sounds nice to me. Offer 15?

 

Damn, don't know how you can go from a 5.7 back to a 4.7 ...i have no input here, but i have 180K on my 5.7 and it's bone dry, transmission leak = bad, oil leak = just about 99% of German cars and they still run.

Maybe try to find an older 5.7, or at least a 4.6, my 4.7 in my Land Cruiser is soooo slow, she's a beast off road though, more than the Tundra will ever be.

 

I definitely noticed the difference in power, but the throttle actually seemed more responsive on this compared to my 2018.

I did drive it and it was really nice. He said he's pretty firm on the $17.5, and I really don't think that's unreasonable being a low mileage one-owner truck with detailed records. It's just the timing belt job cost that concerns me.

 

4.7s don't have the cam towers, only the 3UR-FE (5.7 and 4.6).

 

4.7 known issues are cracked exhaust manifolds, awful awful job to replace them, and of course you have to do the timing belt/wp. Other than that, the motor is good for at least 500K miles with proper maintenance.

 

I had a 2005 Titan, so I know ALL ABOUT cracked manifolds . But thanks, that's good to know—I did not know that about the 4.7s. I didn't hear any exhaust leaks from this truck, however.

 

lol hop on over to ih8mud and you'll see how many complains of ticking exhaust manifolds, labor to replace them is like 13 hours in the books, but realistically it's about a 2 day job. I have leaking manifolds and have absolutely no intention of replacing it. One more thing on the timing belt, you don't have to do it, i've got friends and families with 4.7 motor that are too cheap to do the TB/WP job and they've got well over 200K miles on their vehicles. They don't break, the only time i hear of them breaking is after they were replaced, i've opened up a customer's timing belt at 350K and it looked good still. He bought his sequoia new and never changed the TB, he came in because the water pump was leaking and making awful noises.

My land cruiser has 208K miles on the original belt and wp, my LX470 is at 140K miles on original belt and pump as well. As a mechanic, i can assure you these belts are not gonna break unless a pulley or something seized inside and destroy the belt or rodents got inside and chew it up.

 

On a side note, I was pretty impressed with the space in the back of the double cab. Sure, it's nowhere near what my Crewmax was, but I put my daughter's rear-facing seat in the middle and it fit just fine.

 

I dunno man, I say keep looking for a clean gen 1. V8 power and great for those tight trails.

 

True but it is a much bigger engine bay so it may be easier to work on.

 

My Sequoia has 160k on the original belt. I have the parts. Just busy and lazy

 

Offer him his $17,500 if he gets the timing belt replaced.

 

^^^ is exactly what I would do. I think that job is about 800-900 if you pay to have it done. I would tell him that it's due and ask for help by either dropping the price by that much or having it done prior to you buying it. If he doesn't have the money to do it, then maybe offer a deposit that would cover the cost of the job to get it done. It sounds like a well maintained, documented truck with a fair price. I would certainly be happy with it.

 

A couple fender benders, and he is expecting high KBB? No way. I’d offer low KBB. He’d still make out much better than if he tried to trade it.

 

This^^^^

 

Doesn't appear to be a bad deal but even though the timing belt could last for years, we don't know that for sure, I would still try to get owner to come down a bit when you tell him the timing belt will need to be replaced.

 

The exhaust manifold issue is overblown. Most of the 4.7L engines are in 1st gen Tundras. What people are hearing is the rubber seal in the steering shaft between the cab and engine bay. Being rubber it breaks down and eventually it rots away. It's right next to the left exhaust manifold. I don't know if the second gens have the same seal or not but I know about a half dozen people who replaced perfectly good manifolds (usually with cheap aftermarket shorty headers) thinking they were going to fix the problem. As someone else has said it's not a fun job to replace them. On the 1st gen you actually have to unbolt the engine mounts and lift the engine up to remove them.

I wouldn't pay that much just because it has low mileage. However I don't know the area so prices may be higher. Around here there's lots of Tundras so you have a lot to choose from. Real rusty 2nd gens can sell for as low as $8k. About twice that for one in excellent shape. That's a truck that has never had any body work done to it and less than 100k miles. Being 10 years old you are correct. The timing belt, the two pulleys, and water pump (because you are right there) need to be done and I would only use OEM parts.

You don't need to buy them from Toyota as Aisin sells them to places like Rock Auto. If you're handy you can do it yourself. There's a couple tricky things to deal with. The bolt on the crankshaft is usually torqued down and difficult to break free. Also there's a bracket that the (I think) the AC pump mounts to that has a couple bolts that can be a little difficult to remove. But there's plenty of people who have documented it on-line to show you how to do it.

 

This. Trading in will be much less.

The owner cannot expect retail. Is he going to finance you? 90% of his prospective buyers will need financing. Retailers can offer full financing. Buyers getting their own financing will not get near asking price from bank or credit union., especially that year vehicle.
I hope you didn't tell him you have the cash. Maybe you can mention only what bank may lend you and some cash.

 

Agreed. Only use Aisin TB kits. Also use Toyota tstat. I just did the timing belt in my 06 for the 3rd time and the job is cake. AC bolts arent even difficult unless you dont want to lay on the ground. Everything is easily reached. PS and Alt unbolt and lay against the fender well.

 

I called the guy today and expressed my concerns about paying high book with the accident history and the fact that it needs a timing belt job. He was a super nice old guy but didn't want to budge on the price. I told him to call me if it doesn't sell (it's already been for sale for 1.5 months) and he decides to come down on the price. Anyway, the search continues....

 

I would be very surprised if he gets within 2k of that price. It will be for sale a long time.

 

Regarding the steering shaft rubber boot replacement, there is no need for lifting the engine. Its actually a pretty simple repair.

https://youtu.be/9zf3NMW5L3w

But yes, replacing that little rubber boot completely mutes any engine ticking noises that might creep into the cabin.

https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/122657624217

 

Round 2: https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/d/west-linn-2010-toyota-tundra-double-cab/6799336098.html

I'm going to check this one out later today. It looks pretty clean from the pics and I like that it's a one owner with records. He's asking about $1k over high book, but then he has a $3k canopy on it. I'm still a little nervous about the 5.7 again, but I figure if it's this old and isn't leaking I should be OK. Anything else I should look for on an older 5.7 like this?

 

I want to know rather conclusively about the transmission fluid service as well as the differential fluid.

 

Looks really clean. 5.7 is solid. Most of the cam tower leaks are not that bad. Bench seat and column shifter, some like the extra seating many like the console. The shell is great adder if you want or needing one.

 

So I'm looking at it now and both cam towers are very slightly seeping... I definitely wouldn't open it up to fix it, but it's a little concerning after my experience with my 2018. Should I bail on this?

 

I believe, but could be wrong, the first Million Mile 2nd gen Tundra was a 4.7, yes?