Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Automotive > Brand-specific forums > Toyota, Lexus, and Scion
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-21-2009, 06:32 AM
 
Location: Overland Park, KS
444 posts, read 1,243,227 times
Reputation: 171

Advertisements

I'm helping my younger sister pick out her first vehicle and I think we have found a winner. We found a '98 Tacoma 2wd Reg Cab w/71k original miles! It has a clean 1-owner car fax drived by a 70 year old man. It drives very good..about what I'd expect from a 4cyl truck. It has a small squeaking/creaking in the pass front, but that's the only problem I could tell. I couldn't figure out how to open the hood , but nothing was leaking from underneath. It was a small dealer so he stayed inside and just tossed us the keys.

Any thoughts? Thanks..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-21-2009, 09:44 AM
 
48,505 posts, read 96,476,720 times
Reputation: 18300
I would want that vehicle checked by a mechanic. Many times small dealers get most of their stock from auction that the makers dealers do not keep. They will keep any really clean vehicle mostly.Tacomas are good vehicles if the maintenance are keepup like most vehicles;which a mecahnic can spot pretty easily or someone knowing what to look for.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-21-2009, 03:47 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,106 posts, read 56,712,890 times
Reputation: 18365
Yeah, a good pre-purchase inspection by your friendly local independent mechanic is a good idea, assuming you are not able to do this yourself.

You need to at least figure out how to open the hood, almost always there is a lever near your left leg as you sit in the truck...

Assuming though it's not been beat or neglected, and did not come from up nawth where it would have been exposed to salt, it should be a good truck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-21-2009, 04:34 PM
 
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
3,528 posts, read 8,582,483 times
Reputation: 1130
I agree. Get a good mechanic to look it over. It's good to have a Carfax, as you did, but it's not 100% accurate or without fault. Toyota still made high quality vehicles back in 98.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-21-2009, 04:40 PM
 
22,768 posts, read 30,597,003 times
Reputation: 14732
No idea about this particular vehicle, but I had a 1995 Tacoma with the 5 speed and 2.7L 4cylinder, which should be very similar to the 98. I'd recommend that model again in a heartbeat.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-21-2009, 04:55 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
13,715 posts, read 30,993,781 times
Reputation: 9270
The carfax will show if the vehicle was bought via auction.

However the carfax won't show the one owner was 70 years old!

If the vehicle was taken care of - the Tacoma should do its job well. 70K miles is nothing on that truck.

If this is a new driver - caution her about rollover risk and check to see if it has ABS. If not - you have the usual risk of rear wheel lockup during braking in slippery conditions.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-22-2009, 12:55 AM
 
Location: Northeast Tennessee
7,305 posts, read 28,090,528 times
Reputation: 5523
Quote:
Originally Posted by hoffdano View Post

If this is a new driver - caution her about rollover risk and check to see if it has ABS. If not - you have the usual risk of rear wheel lockup during braking in slippery conditions.
Good advice, but since its a 2wd and not a 4wd, should not be a problem, as the 2wd sets as low as a car on those.

They are good trucks, but make sure its from the south, as frame rust were issues on those and Toyota had a buy-back option on rusty frame models. If its an original SC truck, there should be no issues. Most seemed to effect the 4wd models from up north.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-22-2009, 09:40 AM
 
Location: Texas
989 posts, read 2,490,240 times
Reputation: 698
The Tacoma is a good girl's truck. Why not.

With 70k that Tacoma is barely broken in.

Don't overpay! You are in a SERIOUS buyers market now for automobiles.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-22-2009, 10:38 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
13,715 posts, read 30,993,781 times
Reputation: 9270
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm View Post
Good advice, but since its a 2wd and not a 4wd, should not be a problem, as the 2wd sets as low as a car on those.

They are good trucks, but make sure its from the south, as frame rust were issues on those and Toyota had a buy-back option on rusty frame models. If its an original SC truck, there should be no issues. Most seemed to effect the 4wd models from up north.

Good advice on the frame issue....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-22-2009, 11:00 AM
 
Location: Overland Park, KS
444 posts, read 1,243,227 times
Reputation: 171
Quote:
Originally Posted by ATXIronHorse View Post
The Tacoma is a good girl's truck. Why not.

With 70k that Tacoma is barely broken in.

Don't overpay! You are in a SERIOUS buyers market now for automobiles.
Thanks for the input. It is a verified 1-owner 71k mi truck. It has stayed in SC and appears a garage since new. As far as the buyers market...my sister is buying it for 65% of NADA retail @ $3900. It's basically for trade-in value. I think it's a fantastic deal for her considering some of the other junk we've seen in that price range.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Automotive > Brand-specific forums > Toyota, Lexus, and Scion
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top