Would like to buy Toyota Tundra but the mileage is embarrassing me

[Thausat]

Hello to everybody!

I have been wanting to buy a used pickup just to have one available when I need to haul something for the odd jobs around the house. I would not need it for daily use and figured I would drive it less than 10,000 miles per year.

I now have the opportunity to buy a 2002 Tundra 4WD extended cab from my son-in-law. He's buying a '08 Tundra as he needs this type of vehicle for his job as a salesman. It's in good condition but needs new tires. Here's the kicker - it has 215,000 miles on it. They are mostly highway miles, and I know he took good care of it since he bought it new. It has a top on it and a factory hitch. He will sell it to me for $5000.

I would buy it in a minute except for the fact that it has so many miles on it! I also know that Toyota builds a very good, reliable product. I've never owned their truck but I bought a new Camry and drove it with high miles and it was the best car I ever owned.

What do you guys think? Should I consider this deal any further?

What kind of mileage should I expect?

Just interested in your general thoughts on this, and specifically the high mileage.

[noreply66]

being 17/18 years old and 215,000 is probably below average these days. Toyota do have good motors and if taken care of can last for a lot more. Only thing that bothers me is the 5000 dollars. taking care of the engine is one thing and the rest is something else. Wheel casters and camber toes, thrust angles, steering linkage and shocks. Most people just worry about the engine and neglect the others.

[cbolt]

Check the undercarriage too! With this brine they put on roads now brake lines, frames, anything metal will get eaten away and will shorten the lives of vehicles dramatically over time. A lot of people will wash their vehicles in winter but neglect to get the underside. I had a Ford Ranger a few years ago that looked new on the outside but the frame was practically gone on the rear passenger side. I don't know what was holding it up to be perfectly honest. Thing ran like a champ but had to get rid of it before it broke in half.

[9.5 INCHES]

Brine is like a fast eating cancer to any part on an automobile....Needs outlawed....Feel sorry for people that has purchased new cars or trucks that has to drive to work on interstates in the winter...Might as well throw your investment and money away....

[cbolt]

Boy you got that right inches! Ol Kevin Culbertson told me years ago he never seen so many rusted out broken brake lines in is life since they started putting that brine on roads.

[TRENCHFOOT]

One of Angus's cars the break lines was ate clear out from that crap, Bolt. Inches is correct, and needs outlawed for more than one reason. Can make a car dangerous to drive not knowing how much it is ate up. Think the State would be smart enough to know it makes cars dangerous eating metal away. Some parts on cars are vital for safety.

[cbolt]

I had two brake lines rust out and leak on that Ranger. Never happened to another vehicle I had before that and some of them were pretty old. OI SC had one go out on that dinosaur Buick Skylark he had. I tried to help him fix it but when we plugged up the one leak another broke out and we just said the heck with it. We spent all day fixing that one leak it was so hard to get to. That whole car was a nightmare to try to fix something. You couldn't even see the serpentine belt on it. It was covered up with all kinds of junk around it. Had to take about 50 things off just to get to it.

[Bliendie]

I wouldn’t risk buying this one, even though it’s in good condition. The mileage is a significant indicator, and you can never know for sure what other issues are there under the hood. Other things apart from the engine go bad with time and mileage. So, I would look for something a little newer and less used than this one, especially if you need to use this car extensively.
I had the same issue when I was looking for a Nissan Silvia For Sale. I wanted the S14 generation, but most of them, even the ones in good condition, had extensive mileage, which worried me. I knew a car from the 90 could not be totally new, but I still wanted a less used one. I managed to find a Nissan Silvia 1995 with average mileage and bought it. That was a good decision because it still runs well.