I got mine January 19, 2005 for $2500, its a 95 4cly 5sp with 209k miles at the time. Pretty good deal I thought, toyota's are supposed to be indestructible. Well here I am today, and something else goes wrong with it. Let me just list everything i've had to do in my little over 2 years of owning it and 40k miles i've put on it.

1. new Clutch, which turned out to be my clutch pedal bracket cracking which is why I couldn't shift into first. So I had to get a new bracket like in the FAQ.
2. rear oil seal on transmission started leaking
3. thermostat seal leaked, fixed that too
4. water started leaking inside the cab when it rained. turns out whoever last replaced the windshield...the weatherstrip on the top was put in improperly, stuck out a little, so water would collect between the windshield and roof and rusted out the gap. took it to a bodyshop, they cut off the old roof and welded a new toyota roof on, $1600.
5. pipe from the header to the EGR broke clean at the header flange. took it off and to a shop to weld it.
6. a couple of other little things I don't remember right now

and now the past few days i've been having to keep adding power steering fluid. I jacked the truck up and looked under it. the driver side tie rod boot has a tear in it. and damnit I feel like whats the point in fixing it, something else will just break in a week or 2. i thought toyota's were supposed to be reliable.

I can sympathize with your plight. I ended up putting over $5000 into a 1988 Camry wagon in 2000 when I took it in for an oil leak. One thing led to another and wow, what a mistake, especially when my daughter was rear-ended about two months later and the car was totaled.

That is one reason cars are not good investments. They always take money and never give any in return. I love my T-100 right now, but it only has 103,000 miles on it and I am starting to get some more things done, O2 sensor, u-joints, rear wheel bearing, etc.

But if this vehicle had 200,000 miles on it, I would have to weigh the cost versus the value. I could easily be talked into a new 2007 Tundra.

Hope everything works out for you and I feel bad for your misfortune, especially that windshield thing. I need my windshield repaired on two of my vehicles and that is just the thing that scares me--incorrect installation.

Good afternoon, Brad <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

I think you just got a bad one, overall I think I got one of the cleanest and well maintained T's I have ever heard about.

Thus far all I needed to do was brakes and shocks (well doing shocks soon). Otherwise, everything works and is intact with 190k miles. I did luck out and it had a 50k engine in there though.

1- too bad you didn't find this site first and read the FAQ. Its a known problem w/ an easy fix...
2 and 3- Very minor, not surprising w/ a vehicle this age/mileage.
4- Can't blame that on Toyota...
5- New one to me. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Tie rod boot- pretty minor. Power steering- might need to rebuild the pump?

An older/high mileage vehicle can tend to nickle and dime you to death, but a LOT of it depends on how well its been taken care of.

My T has 225K on it and I just bought a '97 4runner with the same miles on it. Both have been pretty well taken care of and appear to have a LOT of life left in them. I expect that there is going to be some little stuff here and there, but I'm not too worried about it. I plan on keeping them for a long time yet...

the power steering fluid was leaking out of the tie rod boot. the pump is fine. but i can't get the freaking ball joint off where the outer tie rod mounts to the knuckle. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

i have the FSM, and it says to use special service tool blah blah to get the ball joint off, I could order it from toyota.spx.com if i want to get raped. The hayes manual says to use the tool pictured in the center of this, but my local HF doesn't have it in stock.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92882

power steering fluid isnt connected in anyway to the tie rod, a tie rod isnt too much money, $25 for a good aftermarket one.
That tool kit is great for front end work, if you can wait till they can get one in stock id hold out rather than buying 1 tool elsewhere that would pay for half that kit.

Hmm... must be 2wd w/ rack and pinion? I don't know much about those.

Most any local autoparts store should have TRE pullers like that. Some places like Autozone let you "rent" them for free. If you do you own work, its nice to have your own though.

I'm sure it seems like it is draining you wallet, but a monthly payment and high insurance every month is worse. My stuff is used and paid for. If it breaks I have the option to spend the money and fix it right away or wait. This is not the case with a new car payment.

Other than the roof rusting off it sounds like routine wear items and maintenance items. Cost of transportation.

The roof is the real killer there. The rest of it could be expected from a high mileage vehicle/luck of the draw and, as has been mentioned in previous replies, maintenance is a factor. Typically you are either putting money into an older vehicle for repair/maintenance or you're making payments on a newer vehicle and not worrying about repairs so much. As I do as much of the repair/maintenance work on my vehicles as I can mechanics rates only sometimes figure into the equation of owning an older vehicle for me. Mine is in pretty good shape for a northeast vehicle...though I've noticed my first body rust at the top of the rear wheel wells last week...so at 164k I'll be holding onto it for a while. If your truck hasn't been seriously abused and/or neglected for most of it's life then I'd think it has more life to it, especially if you do any of your own work.

Good luck, Mike