Advice on buying 2015 Tacoma

Hello. I'm looking to buy a used Tacoma. I found this tacoma for sale. I am planning on checking It out. LMK what you guys think of it and if you have any recommendation/suggestions when looking? Thanks

Car #1:
https://www.nabauto.com/2015-Toyota-Tacoma-Waterbury-CT-Norwich-Middletown-New-Haven-New-Haven/used_car/1EFjfyPLO5E=

Update:
Thanks everyone for your support. I really appreciate the advice and tips on what to look out for when getting the tacoma.

Car #2:
Ive been looking around for other ones for sale. I found one with less miles, similar price. They also sent me some pics of the underbody. I see it has some rust. How bad does it look? What do you guys think?

https://www.autohouseofluxury.com/2015-Toyota-Tacoma-Plantsville-CT-Waterbury-New-Haven-Manchester-Hartford/used_car/gYKPceF4RqQ=


Thanks everyone!!!

 

Needs a very close rust inspection. To be sure the frame is healthy. Then it needs a proper cleanup,, painting and protective coating

For that price a 10yo 100k mass produced truck should be about flawless and include a large stack of service records

 

looks good

 

As stated closely inspect the frame for rust.

Make sure everything works including the 4wd and diff lock.

Check everything over for oil and/or coolant leaks.

Inspect for any collision damage.

Take a peek under the oil fill cap for evidence of sludge.


If your not confident in checking it over yourself then have a pre-purchase inspection done at a trusted shop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyTeAz2lio0

 

For comparison, I bought my 2015 Sport in '17 with 11K miles on it for $30,000. Based off that, either I got a really good deal on a 2 year old truck with 1/10th the miles...or they want way too much for a 9 year old truck with 10x the miles. Take your pick which one is true.

 

Rust rust rust the frame needs to be checked!!!

 

2017 was a completely different market.

 

frame rust....check again for more frame rust, and check again for frame rust, and once more, frame rust.......oh and dont forget to check for frame rust

 

When faced with the same issue (buying a used Tacoma), I couldn't find anything in my area that didn't have too much crunchy underneath. I expanded my search and found a private seller south of the Mason Dixon selling their 2nd gen that had never seen snow or salt for less $ than dealers wanted here.

Looking through the pics of the truck you're considering (one of which I copied and pasted below)? I've seen worse...but mine didn't have any of this rust when I bought it (a 2012 3 years ago...so same age as what you're looking at 3 years later basically)

It was a huge pain to drive almost 400 miles there and 400 miles back to buy my truck (especially as it was during Covid), but it was worth it for getting one I didn't have to worry about the frame on.

 

My $0.02: Its not a bad deal. (provided you don't see frame rust) I basically got the exact same deal about a month ago. 2015 DCSB OR for a little under 25k, rust free southern truck. If you're set on a 2nd Gen its the best year to buy.

However, at about 100k (or less) the suspension on 2nd gens seems to shit the bed. Not a unique problem to Tacos. Not the end of the world/really expensive/difficult to replace. So check if it has the blue and yellow original bilstein struts on it. If it does you might be able to use that to negotiate.
Ask a lot of questions about the scheduled maintenance (know what that maintenance is first) and if it still drives fine then see if you can get the dealer to take care of some of those items(spark plugs, diff oil, etc.).
I've had a couple of these (09', '13', 15') and they're great trucks but you need to keep up with the maintenance and undercoat with fluid film if you're on the east coast.

 

Posts like this make me appreciate living in West Texas. My mother in law passed and left us a 2015 tacoma DCSB and it looks brand new underneath, but i agree with everyone else. As long as it drives good and the frame is good these trucks are tanks and will last forever. My dad had an 05 with factory trans fluid never been touched. It went almost 380,000 miles and the only thing that happened was first gear went out. Good luck with your search. Its hard to go wrong with these trucks.

 

They're so similar and both look awesome! Take both for a spin if you can. Every truck feels a little bit different in my opinion. The silver one might be worth it for 30k less miles.

 

@chappy523 Of the two, I like Truck #2. That's primarily surface rust from the pictures, especially for a North East frame. That doesn't mean you can skip the full frame inspection, definitely check around the cab mounts and the cat (they took some pics of that area). Why I liked Truck #2, was more so that the dealer (since you're looking at two dealerships) seems to be willing to take the time to get it on a lift, and then take transparent pictures. That's a green flag. Regardless, you'd want to get a full PPI, peep at the Carfax/documented maintenance records and make sure all other mechanicals are working fine for that price. Negotiate down where possible, but the Tacoma Tax is still very real, so I wouldn't see that budging TOO far.

EDIT: If you do go with that one. As mentioned, clean up that surface rust (e.g., wire wheel, etc.) hit with a rust inhibitor, then get it oil undercoated ASAP since we're heading into fall.

 

Those look pretty darn good at first glance. I have one. Bring a good code reader. And check for secondary air injection pump and valve issues/replacement. The pupmp can be checked by removing the fragile.plastic cap and inspecting if the original small foam air filter is still present and intact. If not, it may have been ingested into the valve body, which will conteibute to corrosion/failure. They can become internally corroded and fail, put you into limp mode, and IIRC about $1500 to $2k to replace. Couple good threads on TW for that. There is also a super cheap mod for fixing that filter issue.

Make sure the fing head unit Entune will pair and work with your phone. If that POS doesn't work perfectly and or isn't updated/updateable, haggle that down. Fing pieces of shit.

Check tailgate gaps. Rear bedside corners are weak and can bend outward. Bring a 2 ft carpenter square to check them.

I am so fing glad I got my silver 2015 DCLB SR5 after hearing all the BS with 3rd and 4th gens.

Whitr paint has had some issues over the years. Silvers hides dirt and scratches better

All in all, those look totally original and unmodified with low miles. So that's nice.