I am in the market for a used pickup and came across a 2006 Toyota Tundra with 213,000 miles. I went out to the dealership and checked it out. It is fully loaded, excellent shape inside and out, and seems to drive just fine. (No squeaks or rattles)
Should I stay away from this truck because of all the miles? Is there anything in particular I should be aware of or anything I will need to replace if I do purchase this truck? It is a tough decision since all the other trucks in my price range are smaller, about five years older, and have fewer options. I do plan on keeping my next truck 5-8 years and do not know what kind of trouble I will be looking at with a truck approaching 300k miles.
I would expect to pay a lot less for it, but I wouldn’t necessarily discount it on miles alone. Having that many miles in 4-5 years is almost by definition going to be mostly highway miles and, in my experience, people are more likely to actually follow the mileage-based maintenance schedule (and people who drive a lot tend to maintain their cars).
As a bit of an aside, though, I think if you’re really looking to get the most used full-size truck for your money, you’re going to be MUCH better off looking at the domestics. The Tundras are nice, but they hold their value like crazy and, frankly, they’re not that much better than the big three’s full-size offerings (for example, in '06 a full-size V8 Silverado gets better gas mileage than the not-quite-full-size Tundra). I’ll bet you could get a similarly-optioned '06 F150 or Silverado with a normal amount of mileage on it for the same money.
Unless this truck comes with a folder full of maintenance records I wouldn’t even consider it. And even if it has complete documentation 213K is still a lot of miles.
At this mileage a vehicle should be dirt cheap and considered disposable. You could be lucky and get a few years out of the truck, or you could buy a money pit. It’s a gamble.
That was my first gut reaction. I will keep looking at others. It’s not like there are a shortage of used trucks out there.
The one thing you might want to see if its possible is ask the dealership if they have the contact info for the previous owner of the truck, and if they would give it to you, if they don’t have the maintenance info.
If you can talk to the previous owner of the truck, you can find out if it might be worthwhile or not.
Also, you didn’t specify if the truck is manual or automatic.
If it is a manual, I might consider it for the right price.
BC
IMO, it had better be very, very ,very cheap. It’s mechanically nearing the end of it’s useful life w/o part replacement. Depending upon the use, many of these parts cpuld be minor replacement if highway, or major if used for towing plowing, carried heavy loads, etc. Too many “ifs” for me. Fully loaded means fully loaded with options that could fail.
Very cheap or run away is my advice.
The dealer has it listed at $9500 for the truck. I imagine I could walk away just spending $8500 (Not bad for a 2006 model). I have decieded to contiue my search and go with my original standards by looking for a truck with less than 100k on the odometer. It may be a 2001 model, but I know many of the transmission, suspension, and emissions parts are still in good shape.
I would consider the truck, IF the price is right (based on the very high miles) and the previous owner kept good maintenance records that you can examine.
There should be a couple of brake jobs, several sets of tires, several timing belts, and evidence of fluid changes for the transmission, differentials, and transfer case. Examine the hitch area carefully is there evidence of frequent towing?
The Tundra is basically a very solid, well built truck. If you can verify highway miles without towing it could serve you well.