Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire tried to buy a Toyota pickup tonight

have a craigslist search setup to where any Toyota 4X4 between 1992 and 2002 for less than $3000 shoots me an email when they are posted

maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks I'll get a hit of something thats worth looking at. Mostly 4runners,. Tonight I had an email waiting for me when I got home. Read the ad, sounded like the guy knew what he was talking about

1995 4x4 extended cab pickup. 160K miles, $1700. right off the bat he talks about no rust on the frame and has two pictures of the frame, then he has 22re engine in his meta-tags, so I call him up, he says its his daily driver, doesn't need anything, Its about an hour away, I tell I'm on my way, swing by the bank and grab some cash and head out

when I get there as soon as I pull in I notice the V6 badge on the front (which looking at the pictures again now that I'm back home, I notice) , then I get out. By the time I get to the truck the owner is already out there to meet me, starts selling me on it.

I crawl underneath it and the main frame beam - whatever its called - I reach up to it and it literally crumbles in my hand. Thing has rust eaten thru it everywhere.

I wanted to give him a blast of schit but you know - buyer beware, its craigslist and tearing into him wasn't going to change anything and just make my night longer.

So this night is shot. Took the cash, put it in an envelope and tucked it in the gun safe for the next waste of my time ad. I guess I just needed to vent a bit for wasting my whole night.

Freaking craigslist man. It is frustrating. Good deals are to be had on stuff but you put up with a rash of derelict schitt to get them.

Better to find out before you buy.

Tonight I sold my 1996 Jeep Cherokee on Craigslist.

2 parents and their 17 year old daughter drove 2 1/2 hours from Colorado Springs to Loveland to take a 20 year old, $1950 Jeep for a test drive.

I was 100% transparent in my ad, and actually undersold the condition of the jeep. They told me they made that drive because of the clarity and honesty of my ad.

When I picked up on the fact that the 17 year old daughter was "negotiating" her first ever vehicle purchase with her own cash in hand, I dropped the price $300 even though my phone had blown up all day long and I had more folks on the way.

It's not always a trainwreck, and sometimes there are good folks selling honest vehicles to other good folks.

most of my experiences with Craigslist have been positive

Tonight was just an exception. He knew enough about Toyota trucks that if you said the right buzzwords in the ad, your phone would ring off the hook.

I would love to buy a Tacoma quad cab 6cyl 4wd auto. I find that these damn things don't depreciate on the typical curve. Damn things are basically linear. Makes buying one, used, frustrating.

Is that one of the Tacoma recalls that didn't get fixed or scrapped?

Usually if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

LOL...craigslist for sure..

I drove from here in N NV to Sacramento to buy a pontoon boat. It was "cherry". Got there and it was cherry alright...the pits, and they didn't even have a title for the trailer.

I'm sticking closer to home now.

Sorry the truck didn't turn out. There are millions of them, and a good one will drop into your lap in time.

My buddy tried finding a late model Tundra but the used trucks were so high he ended up buying a new base model Tundra 4x4.

I sold a 1993 a couple years ago on CL. For about 3 months, I just got contacted by tire kickers and no lookers. The first looker bought it at my then asking price.I got my money back out of it. That sucks you had to drive an hour to find out the damn frame was rusted out.

After I do the math I find it's better to buy Toyota trucks new.

Last year, I searched the PNW for a couple months looking for a used Toyota pu. A Toyota as you describe would cost $6K and up in Id, Ut, Wa, and Or. After several weeks of checking every resource I could find, I took a weekend and drove from Boise Id to Spokane Wa to purchase a 92 2 wd w/ 4 cyl and manual trans. It does not even have ac, radio, or power steering. And I had to pay more than your target.

Good luck with your search. There may be good money to be made buying used Toyotas in your locale and transporting them out here for resale.
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keep looking you'll find one, took me 6 months, and a three hour drive to find my current Tacoma.
The wait, and drive was worth it for sure.

Man, that sucks.
Pity you guys east of the Mississippi...I couldn't find a spot of rust on my '95 T100 if I got paid to.
You gotta go West for a decent old Toyota. But even out here you gotta search for a nice one mechanically.

Who the heck wants a rusted fame? Trucks are more expensive here because they are worth owning with solid frames and bodies.

On the East coast there are 2000-2006 Tundras with completely rusted frames being sold for parts. And there are hundreds of them.
Worthless junk that would never be seen around here.

I'm always amazed at how many people expect to find Ribeye on the dollar menu...It's fkin Craigslist!!!
If you want a solid vehicle then get to a CarMax. Yeah, your going to pay more...but your also not going to get run over.
My time is worth more than your I guess. Running up and down the road, dealing with idiots. No thanks.

craigslist is the best place i've ever used to buy and sell.no problems at all. scams are usually very obvious.

Craigslist is what it is. Yeah there is junk and gems. I got my KLR from it.

that's what Craigslist is for