[skysurfer2010]

I'm in the market for a pickup and was set on an older Tacoma until I realized the gas mileage difference wasn't as large as I thought it was. Since I do a lot of towing, I'm now set on a Tundra.

I've been a ford guy and have had an expedition and currently have an explorer with 193,000 miles mostly trouble free. It owes me nothing! I'm now looking at an 01 Limited Access Cab with 134,000 miles. Normally I'd never consider something with such high miles, but it's a Toyota! Is this too high of mileage or should I just admit it's a Toyota and count on it running forever?

You're opinions would be appreciated. First post btw, hi!

 

[Mazutoytundra]

welcome to TS.com

Well mileage does play a part when buying a used vehicle, but you may want to find out how the truck was used. Was it a work truck? daily driver? did the owner use it to tow heavy trailers?

Highway miles are less stressful on engines then city miles. So try and find out and where the truck was used.

BTW how much is the owner asking?

 

[skysurfer2010]

the dealership was asking $10,900 for it. I had a good hunch I could get it for $9500 though.

I went and checked it out today. I wasn't impressed. It had a lot of cosmetic flaws in it which tells me it wasn't taken care of. My 96 explorer with 193,000 miles looks 10 times better than this Tundra did. I walked away from it.

The search continues.

 

[2qik2see]

check out carmax. my buddy got a really good deal on his!

 

[toml4]

I had a 1998 4x4 tacoma V6 that I got over 20mpg with consistently. My 2002 4x4 tundra v8 gets about 15-16 mpg. that is a 25% reduction in gas mileage.

 

[skysurfer2010]

thanks, i'll have to check out carmax.

from what i've read/heard the tundra 4x4 averages around 16mpg and the tacoma 4x4 averages around 19mpg. considering i do a lot of towing and mostly highway driving, the tundra sounds like it would be a better match for me. also from what i've read, the tacoma's gas mileage plummits whenever towing. i don't know how true this is though.

 

[rsayloriii]

check out carmax. my buddy got a really good deal on his!

Sorry, but stay awaaaaaaay from carmax. Went there looking for a new truck and the one that I wanted was priced over $2000 over blue book. No way I was going to pay more than I should and the fact that they say take it or leave it, I left it. No way I'm doing business with them ever again.

But if you do decide to go there, make sure you know what that vehicle's worth beforehand.

 

[low c1500]

Try and find a truck thats been owned by someone like me. 10k miles a month of 98% hiway. Do not buy a hi milage truck that someone has been using to drive to work 20 miles each day, or alot of stop and go driving. The number of cold engine starts is much more damaging than the amount of total miles.

 

[hndymn]

CarsDirect.com has gotten good feedback, but I never used it. I watched the eBay Tundra auctions to get an idea of prices around the country for the model years I was interested in.

There was this green 03 Limited AC in Arkansas that I almost bid on, but then I found a newer, much lower mileage one closer to home that I could look at before buying. Carsoup.com :td: had only 1 picture of it, and when I saw it, it was covered with scratches. The bed paint was almost worn through. I bought it anyway because none of the scratches went through the primer, and I was going to LineX the bed anyway. It was an OK deal at $7,000 less than the original MSRP for a current year model. Hey, I never had to worry about that first ding and it's mostly for work anyway. I'm happy with it. No, really. It's a rocketship.

If you buy used online, look for lots of pictures. Not a few, lots of good closeups.

The TS pricing-and-dealers forum has a bunch of buying advice. Much of it is for buying new, but it still applies.

 

[Cosmo459sx]

When the o-dometer reads 9999999.

 

[skinny2]

When it comes to high miles, a lot really depends upon how it was taken care of. There are gobs of super-high mileage trucks around (my uncle has a '97 Ram with 360k miles that you'd never guess it had more than 50k) and it comes down to care. I've seen 30k mile vehicle I'd run away from and it wouldn't matter if they were Toyota or Yugo. If I had a certain budget to fit and would require a high mileage truck, I'd only be shopping for private sales. Usually, a private owner will private sale their high mileage vehicle instead of the low-ball dealer offer. Dealers don't care how well it was cared for generally, they just care about book value and what they can get if they have to auction it.

My Jetta has over 150k miles and my Ram has over 100k miles, both nearly trouble-free and well cared for. I'd drive either of them cross-country (and do regularly) without questioning their reliability. But to get in another high mileage vehicle that I know nothing about? NO thanks. Don't care what brand it is, if it wasn't cared for it's not on my list.