Tacoma shopping

Joined
Mar 31, 2019
Messages
3,301
Location
Weiser, ID
Going to look at an 09 Tacoma this afternoon. Other than frame rust is there anything in particular to look out for on these trucks? My wife has had a 2010 Tacoma since new and it's at 175K with zero issues so I don't really have experience with any issues with these years of Toyota.
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2013
Messages
1,774
Second on the wheel bearings. Also, if paint matters, check the roof to see if clear coat is coming off. Had a second gen, great truck, but wheel bearings were hard on me.
 

CoStick

WKR
Joined
May 18, 2021
Messages
1,364
Wheel bearing and U joints but these are the only two things my 09 has needed. Hope to drive it much longer. Love my truck.
 

hobbes

WKR
Joined
Jun 6, 2012
Messages
2,409
My 06 had a driver's wheel bearing go out at 40,000 then the replacement went out at around 100,000. The rear pinion gear went out around 200,000. The U joint went out around that time also. I drove it a until it had around 230,000 miles. My son added between 5 and 10,000 miles to that before he totaled it. I can't complain, it was still going strong and no reason to think we wouldn't have surpassed 300k
 

Finch

WKR
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
Messages
1,292
Location
VA
Wow, guess I'm lucky but my 06 is about to hit 238K miles and I've never replaced a wheel bearing. I did replace the U-joints and carrier bearing myself and the rear end had to be rebuilt. Oh...frame rust too that I had somebody weld some patches for me. This might sound major to some but this truck has never left me stranded and is still going strong.

When looking for frame rust, I'd recommend crawling all the way underneath and inspecting the inside of the frame rails.
 
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Messages
1,737
Location
Front Range, Colorado
Nice little rig! Throw some 235 or 255/85 16s on and you'll be making some very expensive trucks look really bad this fall!

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 

ZDR

WKR
Joined
Apr 20, 2013
Messages
892
08 owner here with 150K of hard miles.
My experience = check the following:
CV Joints
Rear suspension
Timing cover for leaks (requires pulling the engine to fix).
 

Ross

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
4,674
Location
Liberty Lake, WA
Just went over 100k on my 2006 4cyl taco yesterday….zero total issues…ive had an 87, 92, 98 and this 2006…the others bought used this one new…outside of one alternator and normal maintenance stuff never had to replace anything big…father and brother several tacos also and beat them to shit with normal maintenance and got 300ish k on a couple…do your maintenance and should be good 🤙
 

22lr

WKR
Joined
Apr 14, 2020
Messages
746
Location
AK
Great looking rig! Hard to beat the small single cabs unless you just have to have the back seat. Good score on having the bumper, after market gear doesn't add much value, but it sure helps if you wanted to add it anyway.

Great truck!
 
OP
W
Joined
Mar 31, 2019
Messages
3,301
Location
Weiser, ID
No need for a back seat here, it's going to be my commuter and for solo trips to the woods. My commute can be a real bastard in the winter, 65 miles each way and 1/3 of that is unmaintained roads that get plenty of snow and never get plowed.

I've got a Dodge 3500 for everything else, this little Tacoma is going to be great for my daily.
 
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