2005, 143k miles, $13k? good deal??

on the market for my first truck. i found this one locally that has a brand new frame which is a common concern ive heard. its got 143k miles which is seems high. its a 2005, 4 door, 4x4 v6 auto trans. checked it out today and looks pretty solid. it has one accident reported in 2006 but doesnt seem major. theres a couple rusted components but nothing terrible as far as i can see. ill include a link to the ad so you guys can see. it did has brake fluid on the reservoir that made me a little curious but it could just need a new cap. what are some general things that will go bad soon? anything major or not much if kept under good normal meintenance? im on a tight budget and i want something that will last and be reliable but still be fun. let me know your thoughts!

http://www.seacoastusedcars.com/2005-Toyota-Tacoma/Used-Truck/HamptonFalls-NH/10242543/Details.aspx

 

I purchased my 09 for $15k with only 85k miles - pretty much the same truck except for it being a long bed.

 

I wouldn't. Bought my '13 for $13,500 with just shy of 100k.
Older model year, higher mileage, rust, been in an accident... nah you can find better

 

is yours a 4cyl or v6?

 

I got my 05 SR5 DCLB with 155k for a little over 12. In my area it's hard to find one newer or less mileage for less than 14g. I think it's not that bad as long as the wreck damage wasn't bad but that does have some concern. Also the rust there is a frame replacement program that toyota is doing look into that. But I would not jump on the first one to come along look around at for sale by owners, and at other dealers then weigh each one out with your budget.

 

the frame is brand new and hoping for rust reasons not accident reasons

 

Buy mine!

 

let me know details and you can pm me but im new to this site so it might take a little to figure out how to pm

 

1. Seems like a crazy high price for that year/miles
2. The reason the car is being sold by that independent used car dealer is that it was deemed not to be worth a sale by a "branded" dealer.
3. Plus from carfax it notes that it failed emission inspection (now fixed). I suspect previous owner was tired of dumping $$ into the truck as a lot of repairs were also noted
4. Do what you want its your money

 

i noticed that and wondered what that meant specifically?

 

It doesn't seem like a bad deal to me...
If its clean. I bought my '05 Prerunner DCLB for 14.5 but it only had 113k was one owner and super clean. In hindsight I would buy late '06 plus to avoid potential head gasket problems.
143k on that isn't really high miles for these.

 

Price depends a lot on where you live and condition of truck. In the North West that truck would go for 15-16k pretty easily.

 

Agreed. You don't see many 2nd gen Tacos around here under 15k period..

 

Yeah that's a bit high for just being a base model, non off road/sport. I bought my 06 DCSB off road for $13,500 in 2015 with 143k, and came equipped with arb bumper, warn winch, icon coil overs, and it was a off road. You shouldn't pay more than $11k for that truck imo. The new frame shouldn't really mean much in the grand price of things except that, the frame will be the least of your worries for the next 10yrs if you keep it that long.

I also drove over 300miles to purchase it.

 

All that being said, I would never pay asking price either. So trying to get this one for 11, 11.5 seems doable..

 

Welcome... Check out car Gurus that’s where I located my last 2 tacomas. I had to drive 365 miles for one and 400 for the other one but well worth it.

 

"Branded" dealers around here don't like to have anything on their lots with over 90k so a lot of good cars go to auctions that the small used car dealers pick up it's common but you have to check the vehicle out thoroughly because there may be some junk mixed in.
Price is solely dependent on location when i was looking I could find trucks a lot cheaper several hundred miles away
Not passing inspection could be anything and some shops don't report but it could point to a problematic vehicle or just a minor repair like an O2 sensor failing and being replaced.

The key is to take it to a mechanic you trust and have them go through it with a fine tooth comb.

 

Along with my '14 Taco..wife drives a truck similar to the one you're looking at

except TRD pkg & aftermarket tires/wheels...154K miles...'05....

wouldn't sell it for $13K...like real estate..its location.....location.....

Utah is Tacoma (Toyota) country

yes.......pay a mechanic to take a close look at it.....

if you get serious

https://www.ksl.com/auto/search/ind...sed[]=Certified&page=0&cx_navSource=hp_search

 

I just spent a lot of time online shopping for a used Tacoma for my son (we've been watching online ads on every major listing site within 300 miles of us for about 6 months now, but just got serious about buying this month). At least in my neck of the woods, this isn't a bad deal. Looks very similar to the one I just got for my son last week, but his is a 2006, 185k miles, 4WD V6, has the TRD package. Ours was one owner and I could verify all the service records from day one. We paid $12,720.

The lower mileage on yours is a plus. The accident on yours makes me nervous though, and 3 owners. Put the VIN into the Toyota website and see what it pulls up for service records (anything that was done at a dealer should show). The new frame is a plus. You should be able to see on the Toyota website if it was because of the recall (not the accident). So depending on what you find, may not be a bad deal, but do a little digging.

 

i wouldnt touch the 05-06's at all due to known possible headgasket issues.

really, id look at 09-11's or 13+'s. 09 on saw the introduction of lots of the nice vehicle safety features, just skip 2012 due to the smog pump introduction on the v6 and it not having a shutdown purge like the 13+'s do.