What to look for on a used Toyota tundra

[fitz19d]

Kinda funny truck bloat, that tundra is smaller than some new er tacomas

[sniper7]

Well we stopped by, did read the reviews on the place and I instantly had a bad feeling pulling up to the place but he wanted to look anyways. Blue one was a salvage title as were what looked like almost every other truck there. We look at a black one with high miles but it came from Canada then spent life in Michigan and I believe it was part of a flood claim because there was rust coming through painted nuts and bolts on the top of the inside of the engine compartment.
i got under it and holly rust bucket.
so screw that place!

[ruthabagah]

I lived in Canada and will NEVER buy a used car coming from there....

[sniper7]

Why is that? Salt or just harsh weather or?

[T. B. Turner]

I'm a native Michigander, they use a lot of salt on the roads there in the winter time.

[DavieD55]

The blue one is nice looking with low miles for an 06. However, for what he is asking I'd save up for a while longer and get into something a little newer with a factory warranty from a reputable dealer. That is just me though.

[laportecharlie]

A lot of people (me included) prefer the early Tundras thru 06 to the newer ones. If that Truck was a clean, one owner with maintenance records it would be a great deal. I bought an '05 a couple of years ago with 37K miles on it that looked like new. Best truck I have ever owned, by far.

[SideShow Bob]

Make sure you have documentation on the timing belt has been changed, esspecially if it is over the factory recommended mileage interval.
I know a guy who's belt snapped 500 miles over that interval. Completely trashed the motor. It cost more to rebuild than the truck was worth.
So he ended up junking the truck.
Also you cannot get full coverage on a salvaged title, so a loan is not possible.

[sniper7]

Make sure you have documentation on the timing belt has been changed, esspecially if it is over the factory recommended mileage interval.
I know a guy who's belt snapped 500 miles over that interval. Completely trashed the motor. It cost more to rebuild than the truck was worth.
So he ended up junking the truck.
Also you cannot get full coverage on a salvaged title, so a loan is not possible.

Great info Bob, thank you. I wasn't sure if these had a belt or not. Any idea what the mileage is to change out the belt? Is it like my civic where the water pump should be changed at the same time? So I assume if the belt snapping trashing the motor this is an interference engine? he already trashed a Subaru not changing the belt so I imagine he learned his lesson from that.

didnt know that about the salvage title and full coverage, and he will need to get a loan so that is an automatic no-go.

[Great-Kazoo]

Great info Bob, thank you. I wasn't sure if these had a belt or not. Any idea what the mileage is to change out the belt? Is it like my civic where the water pump should be changed at the same time? So I assume if the belt snapping trashing the motor this is an interference engine? he already trashed a Subaru not changing the belt so I imagine he learned his lesson from that.

didnt know that about the salvage title and full coverage, and he will need to get a loan so that is an automatic no-go.

Liability ONLY. No Loan. That's the standard in CO and perhaps across the country. The first warning sign was not showing a carfax report. However, when it comes to carfax reports. If a dealer or other service dept, doesn't report the work (maintenance ) or repairs like accident, blown trans or engine, it never shows up.

A lot of the generic used car lots are selling auction or salvage vehicles. We found what looked like a cream puff tacoma 09 with 86K. Looking at the history it was a rental purchase going through a total of 3 lots. Who knows how many drivers it had.