I am looking at buying a 2006 Toyota Tacoma, 4 Door, 4x4 That was flooded. (no repairs have been made) The water reached the bottom of the seats. It is being sold for $9000. Is this a good price? Does anyone have any advise?
My Advice: RUN
~Michael
I agree with Michael. It might be an okay deal for $1000, but not $9000. You can do much better.
Is this a good price"
NO!
Do I have any ADVICE?
Yes. Find a vehicle that has not been seriously compromised by flood waters. If the water reached the level of the seats, you will be replacing a huge number of components on this vehicle, thus making that $9,000. price the rip-off of the decade.
WOW. No. Like the other replies have said, 9 grand is insane. Free, free might be a reasonable price.
This is probably a bad deal, but it might work out for you. Does the truck run? How long was it under water for? Is the title branded? Toyota 4x4’s are designed to drive into some fairly deep water, so the damage might not be too extensive. Also be aware it will be very hard to resell, so I would only purchase it if you plan on keeping it a long time.
Rethink your plan, it’s not a good one. Flooded vehicles are worthless. Don’t waste your money. This thing is not worth even half the asking price. To me, it’s worth ZERO.
I’m going to go out on a limb here a little and suggest this might not be quite so bad as a typical flood car. A toyota pickup is designed to ford deep water, and water only up to the bottom of the seat isn’t too terribly much higher than the truck is designed to handle.
We’d need more details, of course, but I’d say the engine will probably be fine, since the intake is much higher than the seat bottoms. If it’s an automatic, the transmission may have got water in through the dipstick hole, but not necessarilly. I believe that all the major electrical stuff that’s not generally exposed to moisture would also be above the flood level. The HVAC system would also pretty much be all above water too.
Probably the worst thing you’d be looking at is mold in the upholstry, but ripping the seats and carpet out of a pickup will be much less work than doing so on an average passenger car. Also, much more of the truck is likely to be rubberized.
I am definitely not saying that this is a good idea, and I agree with the other posters that 9000 is way too much. Extreme caution is necessary, and you need to get very thorough details on what exactly happened to the truck and get an independant opinion or two on what has been damaged.
Does this vehicle start, run and drive normally or are there “issues” with the vehicles proper operation??
If it starts and drives, it could be OK. As mentioned, that’s not really that much deeper than it is designed to go through. For example, I used to get my old Jeep in water that deep with some regularity. Just open the floor plugs and let the water drain out. Whether there is water in the transmission or differentials depends on where the vents are. On Jeeps, except for the 32RH transmission, they are much higher than the seats. Still don’t think I would want to pay $9,000, however.
Bottom of the seats on a Toyota 4x4 to me means the rocker panels and door bottoms have been seriously compromised, but the drivetrain should be in good shape. I believe the frame is an open beam design rather than full box, so it should have evactuated readily with on damage, but you may want to confirm that. Wiring harness have connections beliw that level, such as those for the seat sensors, so you may have a little trouble over time.
$9,000? Ouch! I just laughed so hard I fell off my chair! He’s GOT to ne joking!
Run away. Quickly. Run away.