Learn Me 2nd gen Tacoma's

I'm going to look at a 2nd gen Tacoma this weekend to possibly replace my fiesta.

It's a 2010 regular cab short bed 4x4 4cyl 5speed with 40k miles. Other than rust what are the trouble spots for the truck?

Wow if I could find one in that configuration with those miles I'd certainly buy it.

Frame rust was an issue, covered by recall I believe.

If I'm not mistaken, the frame rust only affected the first couple years of the 2nd gen, so a 2010 should be good to go on that front. Rust aside, I think they're pretty bullet proof. My buddy has a '14 crew cab with the 4.0 that he's been beating around Alaska for the past 2-3 years and it's been flawless for him so far.

Frame looks brand new. The only issue is they are wanting like $3k over blue book/nada for it so depending on if I can get them down to bluebook i will likely go for it.

I have a 2005 with 150k. I love it. My frame was replaced, but I didn't think it needed it. The body doesn't rust, but every bolt and bracket does. I'm about to replace the front wheel bearings for the second time. Normal wear. That's about it.

$3k over book sounds about right. These things have an incredible ability to hold their value. People tend to keep them forever, so used ones can be hard to find, unless they are coming off lease.

In reply to Woody:

Eh im about 4 months out for when i was planning on buying a truck so I am not going to pay anything more than $16k for it.

Do a hammer test on the frame for rust, especially up front in the boxed section, that's where it fails. Check the Dtrl/turn signal lenses as they melt and there was a better replacement headlight released to fix it. Also check the tailgate to see if it's bent, that's a common issue. There's also a leaf spring recall out, if the truck has 4 leaf spring packs it has the updated springs. If not the campaign is still open, any Toyota dealer can so it.

What would you say is a fair price for this truck? 2010 Reg cab base, 4x4, 4cyl, 5 speed, Manual doors and windows. 40k miles

We have a 05 and 10 at work. The 05 had the frame replaced, the 10 would have been covered but passed inspection. Oil changes, tires and brakes are the only maintenance items for each in the 120k miles on each one. The 2010 has towed a boat for a majority of its life so far. The 2010 replace an older Tundra that had 280k and the transmission was finally starting to slip on that one.

We did end up with an F150 after the other tundra because of the advertised MPG on the 3.5 ecoboost F150 over the current Tundra. Only 40k miles on that one so far.

I had a 2010 4 cylinder with 5 spd extended cap regular bed with 4wd for 3 years, bought it with the payout money on my 1st gen for the frame rust issues. Was a good truck, the 4 cylinder is a bit under powered for the 2nd gen body as in you will need to downshift a lot more then you would expect. I traded it in for my current 2013 TRD 4x4 extended cab with 4 liter v6 and 6 speed, when we bought a trailer for my wifes craft shows. The truck would pull the trailer but really had to work it's butt off! This is not an issue with the 6 cylinder. Ironically I originally bought the 4 cylinder for percieved better gas mileage, but the 6 cylinder actually gets the same or better mileage because it doesn't have to work as hard and it has the 6 speed. The second gens are really too big for a 4 cylinder gas engine. I wish Toyota would offer the 2 liter turbo diesel engine in the US like they do in the hilux. That would be a good match for power and mileage.

In reply to Rumnhammer:

The 3rd gen uses the same 4cyl but is 500lbs heavier.

I'd hold off for a V6 personally. Like Rumnhammer said, there really isn't a mileage benefit from the 4 cylinder.

But, it's a good truck either way so you can't make a truly bad decision. Toyota changed little to nothing for the entire run of that body style so buy on condition over year.

Ok so I went and test drove the tacoma and oh my god it was so slow. But other than that it was ok, the clutch was heavier than I like as well. I then test drove a new F150 with the 2.7 and I shouldnt have done that cause that is what i will be getting in few months now.

My dad replaced his 93 PU with a 2010 Taco. Both 4x4 strippers. The '10 was worse in every way. The vision out was terrible, the controls all fell gummy, the gearing went from 4:56 in the 93 to 3:50 in the '10 which made it crap offroad. The truck felt big on the outside but didn't offer any more room on the inside. He sold it for a Colorado last fall and couldn't be happier.