How high is too high mileage to buy?

I've been looking around for a decent deal on an '05 or up Access Cab Tacoma for a couple months now. I'm in no rush to buy, but it's starting to look like I'm either going to be forced to spend more money for a lower mileage vehicle, or I'm going to need to be willing to buy a vehicle that has higher mileage.

I'm a little uncertain of buying a vehicle with more than 100k on the clock, just because that's a lot of miles/time that I can't fully account for how it was driven, etc. I understand that Tacomas are pretty sturdy little trucks (one of the reasons I'm set on this model) but I'm still fighting the knee-jerk reaction I get when I see one in my price range with over 100k on the clock.

I found an '06 that I like a few hours away, but it's got 140k miles. Carfax shows nothing major except for a few factory recalls, and overall it looks nice. However, I don't want to own it for a year or less and suddenly be dealing with mechanical issues. Ideally, I want this truck to last me easily 5-10 years, as my plan is to pretty much drive it until it just can't go any further. But if someone's already put 140k on the clock, it feels (to me, anyway) like a pretty good chunk of its life has been spent.

Would love to hear some input from anyone here who bought a higher-mileage Tacoma or has one around the same age that is still going strong at high mileage, etc. What do you all say? Is there much I should actually be concerned about? Should I keep waiting for something with lower miles?

 

I've been driving tacomas for almost 25 years - 89,98,08,11.

I think lots of it depends on the maintenance records kept. They should be able to produce those.
With that said around the 150k mark, I've done primarily only routine maintenance.
So depending on how it was maintained and driven (varies) you should be pretty good.
As you get to 200k many things need to be evaluated. Some hopefully you can do to save some $$.

Good luck and post some pics of the prospective trucks. I live in a non salt belt - arizona . So no frame issues , but check that if they come from salt areas.

Az

 

Rust would be a bigger concern to me vs mileage.

 

I bought my truck with 40k on the clock. It now has 110k and drives exactly the same as it did when i bought it.... crazy thing is i could still get the same $$$ if i sale it as i paid for it.

 

Find a private seller and save yourself a few bones. I feel more comfortable talking to someone who has actually owned the truck. You'll hear plenty of good opinions if you post the candidates on here.

 

I tend to agree that the rust situation is as important or more important than mileage. Depends where you live though I guess.

Things need to be replaced from time to time starting at 30,000 miles (plugs) so there's always going to be something. The 4.0 and 2.7 are both great engines and unless they've been grossly abused and unmaintained you won't run into problems with mileage. Same goes for the the 5 spd auto transmission. Very solid. All the other stuff that eventually wears out is going to happen at some point anyway and if you're looking at a 7-10 year old vehicle you may be better off with a 140,000 truck that has had the alternator, AC compressor and battery replaced, to a 90,000 mile truck that is still totally stock on original parts.

Either way as long as the frame isn't rusted to hell you can't go wrong. These things hold their value very well for a reason.

And x2 on the private seller thing. No need to pay extra to cover a car lot's overhead.

 

Yeah it definitely depends on where you live.

With mine I was looking for one under or around 100,000 miles for around $17k.
I found the one I have now with 97,000 miles and paid 19k and some change at a dealer. It was everything I wanted TRD Off-Raod, prerunner, white, Access Cab, un-molested. Then a few months later I took it to another Toyota dealer that one of my friends dad is the service manager at and had them change the engine oil then they did a free inspection so if there was anything I could fix it myself lol. If I didn't get the oil change they would charge me for the inspection. I only have around 112k miles on it now and have driven it pretty hard. Still going strong.

Every vehicle is a gamble when buying used. A few things can help owning a carfax account(not always 100% someone could pay for the fix out of pocket), checking the vin stickers on everything, looking at the paint, checking the bolts to see if they still have factory paint on them or if someone wrenched on it, looking under hood, check frame, checking the fluids, play with all the controls inside the cab, listening to the engine, check tire wear, asking the owner what they used the truck for, grocery hauler, trailer, highway miles, off roading, work like construction.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

 

I bought mine with 120k on the clock and didn't think twice about it. My very first tacoma had 318k when sold.

 

This may be too many miles for me.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2008-tacoma-4x4-still-going-strong.397837/

 

Regardless of mileage, if its been owned by a kid or has a 3" lift, simply take a pass. Find one owned by a an adult that kept good maintenance records you can review and had the good sense not to screw up the suspension.

 

X2. As a general rule, I don't buy heavily modded vehicles, as I don't trust my life to others' craftsmanship. I'd look for one that belongs to an older lady / gentleman, and then I'd feel a lot more comfortable with the purchase.

I don't know what mileage range you're looking at, but you can get some killer deals on some new '15s right now. Not trying to sway you, but I was also looking at used last summer, and ended up just going with a new one b/c they were clearing them out and gave me a deal I couldn't pass up.

 

just recently bought my prerunner with 110k on it, like you was a little hesitant, but i am sure glad i did. absolutely love it. just changed the front brakes pads on, simple, gas mileage great, drives perfectly, expect it to run for another 100k plus. did a little research and found mine on car gurus .com in idaho good luck happy in so dak

 

Just purchased mine on 02Nov15 from a private seller, A 2007 with 84.5k miles. It took me several months to find it. I had a list of must haves that made it a little more difficult. Carfax with a long list of dealer service since new. Drives like a new truck. I looked at several at dealers, (not Toyota) they wanted what I paid for mine for base trucks with 20 to 30k more miles that had been used hard and it showed. I think Condition and care are more important than mileage.

 

Holy <expletive deleted>! That's incredible... have you had to do any major maintenance on it? That's awesome your truck is still kicking after that many miles! That's a heckuva lot of driving, for sure!

 

Not mine. The link will take you to the thread in the new member section.

 

I disagree. Maintenance records are worthless, and you certainly couldn't expect anyone to actually produce any.

The *only* thing that matters, is the condition of the vehicle *NOW*, and that can ONLY be determined through thorough inspection. The higher the mileage, the more important it is for the inspection to be incredibly thorough.

 

Yes, yes you can expect them to produce records. They have been presented to me by seller's and I have done the same for buyers. And people who don't look at maintenance records as part of a complete detailed inspection are fools.

 

Maint. records along with receipts are valuable. Why would I not expect someone to show such information when negotiating a sale?

 

meh. To me, previous owner makes all the difference. I was looking at a lx470 earlier this year. truck had 200k miles on it. It had been serviced every 5k miles by a lexus dealership with a phone book of records. to me thats easily worth an extra 5k over one with no records. I agree with buying a truck private party. You find a cream puff driven by an older guy, buy it. If its a flat brimmed bro with monster tats, run like hell. my .02

 

To be fair, I wouldn't run from all us young guys' trucks. Mine is babied, meticulously maintained, and modifications are done for a purpose and in such a manner to keep it looking like it could have been that way from the factory.

...but I intend to hold onto it!