Toyota 4x4

Geardo · Oct 24, 2022

Hello all,

Tired of trolling Craigslist and OfferUp for scams and sketchy people.

My family just increased in size by +1, and I need a vehicle to replace my 01 access cab tacoma that will fit everyone, handle the snow/mud, and is not insane amounts of money.

I don't have a lot to spend, and I would like to stay below 150k miles. But Here's the kicker, I don't care about cosmetics, the more dents and scratches the better as far as I'm concerned. I would also consider a rebuilt title, if the price is righ, since resale will be garbage.

Options I'm considering:

First gen (pre 2007) sequoia
Non-nav GX-470,460
4 runner ($$$)
FJ Cruiser
Double cab tacoma

ilikegunspdx · Oct 25, 2022

Geardo said:
Hello all,

Tired of trolling Craigslist and OfferUp for scams and sketchy people.

My family just increased in size by +1, and I need a vehicle to replace my 01 access cab tacoma that will fit everyone, handle the snow/mud, and is not insane amounts of money.

I don't have a lot to spend, and I would like to stay below 150k miles. But Here's the kicker, I don't care about cosmetics, the more dents and scratches the better as far as I'm concerned. I would also consider a rebuilt title, if the price is righ, since resale will be garbage.

Options I'm considering:

First gen (pre 2007) sequoia
Non-nav GX-470,460
4 runner ($$$)
FJ Cruiser
Double cab tacoma

FYI if you are looking at rebuilt title the truck will have its mileage reduced to a little above the last mileage shown on the carfax report. Mileage shown on odometer is literally meaningless for those (unless you buy it directly from the salvage auction or from the owner who wrecked the car).

They come from the salvage auction and are fixed and the first thing they do is take the less than one minute to roll back the odometer with the scan tool. I've had over 500 cars, many of which I bought from these auctions in the past and I know what the people do. Even if you are buying from a private person it was bought from a salvage auction previously and imo there is a 95% chance the odometer was rolled back.

Here's a video on how easy it is to rollback odometers now.

FullSizeRender.MOV

ilikegunspdx
Oct 25, 2022

Geardo · Oct 25, 2022

ilikegunspdx said:
FYI if you are looking at rebuilt title the truck will have its mileage reduced to a little above the last mileage shown on the carfax report. Mileage shown on odometer is literally meaningless for those (unless you buy it directly from the salvage auction or from the owner who wrecked the car).

They come from the salvage auction and are fixed and the first thing they do is take the less than one minute to roll back the odometer with the scan tool. I've had over 500 cars, many of which I bought from these auctions in the past and I know what the people do. Even if you are buying from a private person it was bought from a salvage auction previously and imo there is a 95% chance the odometer was rolled back.

Here's a video on how easy it is to rollback odometers now.

FullSizeRender.MOV

ilikegunspdx

Oct 25, 2022

Would carfax catch this? I've already caught a few of these on non salvage titles.

ilikegunspdx · Oct 25, 2022

Geardo said:
Would carfax catch this? I've already caught a few of these on non salvage titles.

No. The people who buy from the auctions run the carfax and set it above whatever the last reported carfax mileage was. If the person who rolled it back never bothered to check the carfax then yes (if they rolled it back to earlier than last reported carfax) but most all these dealers of salvage cars know not to do that because customer can just get a carfax. But carfax may well work on a car from a lazy dealer or private person where they never bothered to check carfax.

Sometimes actual miles can be checked by accessing computer with a higher end scan tool but only on some cars. Sometimes the key itself can be accessed to get the actual miles, again depending on the car.

Asking a pre-purchase inspection mechanic about how they can verify actual miles can help with this a lot. Some have higher end scanners and some don't. Also method to verify actual miles depends on make/year etc. (if it can be verified).

Recently a lady totalled our main car and we ended up buying two vehicles. It was such a pain to find a way to verify actual miles on several I looked at. I ended up limiting search to only cars that were first or 2nd owner that had good maintenance records (which almost always shows exact mileage at different dates plus good maintenance usually means huge reduction in future troubles/costs). In the end we bought from 2 different dealers in Portland that were up front about everything, giving car fax, maintenance records and zero of the typical dealer BS. We are extremely happy with both purchases. My personal rule after decades of buying cars is I will pay up to 30% more for a very well maintained car with maintenance records (I mean 30% more than the cheapest of the same car I can find). An easy-driven car with good maintenance will outlast even a barely aged car that a kid drove hard, put "mods" on it, and didn't maintain it properly. I know of two Toyota truck examples that have over 1,000,000 miles and still have original engine and tranny. They were driven easy (highway) and were taken care of.

Geardo · Oct 25, 2022

ilikegunspdx said:
No. The people who buy from the auctions run the carfax and set it above whatever the last reported carfax mileage was. If the person who rolled it back never bothered to check the carfax then yes (if they rolled it back to earlier than last reported carfax) but most all these dealers of salvage cars know not to do that because customer can just get a carfax. But carfax may well work on a car from a lazy dealer or private person where they never bothered to check carfax.

Sometimes actual miles can be checked by accessing computer with higher end scan tools but only on some cars. Sometimes the key itself can be accessed to get the actual miles, again depending on the car. Asking a pre-purchase inspection mechanic about how they can verify actual miles can help with this a lot. Some have higher end scanners and some don't. Also method to verify actual miles depends on make/year etc. (if it can be verified).

Super useful information thanks.

Mister987 · Oct 25, 2022

I got a gx470 I been thinking about moving. You still got your tacoma?

Local Loader · Oct 25, 2022

Kia Sorentos are a good vehicle to go with as well and they're not real spendy and they have 4x4 options as well.

2DaMtns · Oct 25, 2022

How dire is your need? I have a 2011 double cab Tacoma I'll probably be selling or trading by next summer. We bought a UTV and I want to get a full size with a deck so I can haul the UTV and still pull our camper. I'm a bit over on your mileage at 170k but it's also a bit modified. ARB winch bumper with winch, canopy, ARB awning and room that mounts to the roof rack, 2" lift professionally installed maybe 25k ago. On 33 inch tires with matching spare and wheel. Has vinyl floor. Marathon seat covers. New professionally installed window tint. Has new lower control arms and I'm about to put new tie rod ends and bushings in the front to eliminate a squeak it has. It's a great truck and has served me awesomely but it's approaching time to move on. I've used it hunting and such so it's dented some and has tons of trail pinstripes and similar character.

If you think it's something you might be interested in, hit me up and I can send you pics and more info. I live over in the Spokane area but we can work out a way for you to see it and drive it if you're interested.

Stewboy · Oct 26, 2022

Great Information here. A great additional resource on all things car related is Scotty Kilmer's YouTube channel. I never thought anyone could replace the Car Guys, but he has. Anyway, you're not caring about cosmetics made me think of him--you're kindred spirits. He's very big on used Toyotas and Hondas for the long haul.

Geardo · Oct 26, 2022

I think I might add a manual xterra to the search. They don't have the "toyota tax" but still a Japanese made body on frame SUV

Geardo · Oct 26, 2022

2DaMtns said:
How dire is your need? I have a 2011 double cab Tacoma I'll probably be selling or trading by next summer. We bought a UTV and I want to get a full size with a deck so I can haul the UTV and still pull our camper. I'm a bit over on your mileage at 170k but it's also a bit modified. ARB winch bumper with winch, canopy, ARB awning and room that mounts to the roof rack, 2" lift professionally installed maybe 25k ago. On 33 inch tires with matching spare and wheel. Has vinyl floor. Marathon seat covers. New professionally installed window tint. Has new lower control arms and I'm about to put new tie rod ends and bushings in the front to eliminate a squeak it has. It's a great truck and has served me awesomely but it's approaching time to move on. I've used it hunting and such so it's dented some and has tons of trail pinstripes and similar character.

If you think it's something you might be interested in, hit me up and I can send you pics and more info. I live over in the Spokane area but we can work out a way for you to see it and drive it if you're interested.

I'm trying to get into something before winter but not dead set on that. Just drives me nuts not having a snow capable vehicle for the family

ilikegunspdx · Oct 26, 2022

Stewboy said:
Great Information here. A great additional resource on all things car related is Scotty Kilmer's YouTube channel. I never thought anyone could replace the Car Guys, but he has. Anyway, you're not caring about cosmetics made me think of him--you're kindred spirits. He's very big on used Toyotas and Hondas for the long haul.

What I like about his videos is he focuses on specific engines and transmissions a lot of times which is really helpful to know what specific engines or transmission to avoid (Fe 8 speed vs 10 speed on a certain truck.

He sounds like a drunken fool but I usually agree with most of what he says re reliability. He ranks Subaru a bit lower than I would based on personal experience but other than that I pretty much agree. Subi you have to plan to replace head gaskets if they weren't already done. It's just a weak spot of their boxer engine.

2DaMtns · Oct 26, 2022

Geardo said:
I'm trying to get into something before winter but not dead set on that. Just drives me nuts not having a snow capable vehicle for the family

Makes sense. If I find a can't miss deal on a truck I could move mine a little faster but I've been reading prices should come down at least some by summer but who knows. I've always heard you can get really good deal the end of the year but I'm not sure anything "normal" applies to anything anymore.

Geardo · Oct 26, 2022

2DaMtns said:
Makes sense. If I find a can't miss deal on a truck I could move mine a little faster but I've been reading prices should come down at least some by summer but who knows. I've always heard you can get really good deal the end of the year but I'm not sure anything "normal" applies to anything anymore.

I just swung by the toyota dealer yesterday and they were still doing build to order on everything except some highlanders and he was not amused by me telling him all his stuff was too damn expensive. Lol.

ilikegunspdx · Oct 27, 2022

Geardo said:
I just swung by the toyota dealer yesterday and they were still doing build to order on everything except some highlanders and he was not amused by me telling him all his stuff was too damn expensive. Lol.

Just as well if it's the tundra. That new grill is absolutely hideous. To me it looks like the mouth of an ugly carp.

Portaledgepete · Oct 27, 2022

Is your truck a manual transmission? My work partner is looking for a Tacoma and has a Subaru Outback XT Limited, with the rare manual transmission.

Geardo · Oct 27, 2022

Portaledgepete said:
Is your truck a manual transmission? My work partner is looking for a Tacoma and has a Subaru Outback XT Limited, with the rare manual transmission.

Yeah. Manual 4x4 2.7L xtracab

Geardo · Oct 27, 2022

Portaledgepete said:
Is your truck a manual transmission? My work partner is looking for a Tacoma and has a Subaru Outback XT Limited, with the rare manual transmission.

It wasn't on my radar due to higher maintenance costs, but my neighbors got one of the factory lifted ones the other day and it gives me all sorts of feelings. Lol

So sure send me some info