Hi everyone,
TLDR: just bought a Tacoma with 138k on it a month ago and have had to replace rear axle, and now the transmission is shot. It seems I bought a lemon, what do I do now?
I’m desperately seeking advice as I seem to have found myself in one of the worse situations a new overlander can be in - it seems I bought a lemon.
About ten months ago, my wife and I decided that we wanted to do an overland expedition across North America - exploring the American Southwest and the Canadian Rockies. I began researching, planning, and searching for vehicles here on EXPO and on other forums. I found tons of amazing tips, tricks, overland routes, and vehicles for sale right here and needless to say I began to get very excited about our big adventure. We saved all of our money, we rented out our condo in Sweden, sold our car, and purchased what I thought was a perfect rig for our adventure - @crolison ‘s 2006 Toyota Tacoma with an Ovrlnd Camper. After speaking extensively with the seller and gaining a substantial amount of trust in him - he seemed like a stand-up honest guy. I took a leap of faith and put down a hefty deposit on the vehicle without seeing it in person (obviously a major mistake, but I had put a lot of trust in the community that I had found in EXPO and that I thought I had found in him). We had tried to meet in person while I was stateside but timing proved difficult. Note: This is not intended to put anyone here on blast - I merely intend to explain the full situation.
After a month and a half, I made the trip to Colorado to pick up the truck and make the final payment. I checked it out, test drove it, and noticed a slight pull in the steering at low speeds but I wasn’t too concerned - figuring it was just a minor alignment issue. The experience with the seller in person was great - jerry cans were fully loaded, he tossed in a 6 pack and had even installed skids I had ordered to his house. I mean I thought I had struck gold. We shook hands and I left and began my adventure.
I ventured through Colorado and back home towards Canada for Christmas, and then a couple weeks later down to the Ozarks and into Texas - and that’s where my trouble began. We were in a hurry to get down to Texas to meet a friend so the majority of the driving was first on interstates, then smaller country highways and dirt roads with a total of maybe 50 miles of actual off-road driving.
One morning we packed up camp just before heading into Texas and the driver’s side rear wheel locked up and wouldn’t budge, thinking it was a stuck parking brake I rocked it back and forth and eventually freed it but then a vibration appeared between 20-30 mph. I took it to a shop and they established it was a busted bearing and warped backing plate due to an out-of-round rear axle. After 3 days and $2000 in repairs at a dealer I thought the worst was behind me, but boy was I wrong. We left the dealership and within 100 miles the vibration was back full force. I took it in to another nearby dealer and within 10 minutes they were able to tell me what the actual problem was - the transmission is shot. After spending only a few minutes with the vehicle they also found a very hidden power steering fluid leak, and noticed a noisy front wheel bearing.
I’m not sure if the seller was aware of these issues prior to the sale, if he was I certainly was never notified of them (as per expo classified rules). He really didn’t seem like the type of person to screw me over, so perhaps it was just luck that he got out of it before all of this stuff went wrong, hard to say.
Sorry for the long post but I need to decide what to do next and I need your help. The truck has 137k miles on it - with 3500 from me. Is it worth to put an new transmission into it, and perform all other repairs to make this dream trip come true or should I cut my loses get rid of the truck and head home? What if something else major goes wrong? I’ve already put more into it than expected. I purchased a Tacoma for their reliability and overland capability, but it seems to have gone totally sideways on me.
Thanks and appreciate the help,
Bryce
TLDR: just bought a Tacoma with 138k on it a month ago and have had to replace rear axle, and now the transmission is shot. It seems I bought a lemon, what do I do now?
I’m desperately seeking advice as I seem to have found myself in one of the worse situations a new overlander can be in - it seems I bought a lemon.
About ten months ago, my wife and I decided that we wanted to do an overland expedition across North America - exploring the American Southwest and the Canadian Rockies. I began researching, planning, and searching for vehicles here on EXPO and on other forums. I found tons of amazing tips, tricks, overland routes, and vehicles for sale right here and needless to say I began to get very excited about our big adventure. We saved all of our money, we rented out our condo in Sweden, sold our car, and purchased what I thought was a perfect rig for our adventure - @crolison ‘s 2006 Toyota Tacoma with an Ovrlnd Camper. After speaking extensively with the seller and gaining a substantial amount of trust in him - he seemed like a stand-up honest guy. I took a leap of faith and put down a hefty deposit on the vehicle without seeing it in person (obviously a major mistake, but I had put a lot of trust in the community that I had found in EXPO and that I thought I had found in him). We had tried to meet in person while I was stateside but timing proved difficult. Note: This is not intended to put anyone here on blast - I merely intend to explain the full situation.
After a month and a half, I made the trip to Colorado to pick up the truck and make the final payment. I checked it out, test drove it, and noticed a slight pull in the steering at low speeds but I wasn’t too concerned - figuring it was just a minor alignment issue. The experience with the seller in person was great - jerry cans were fully loaded, he tossed in a 6 pack and had even installed skids I had ordered to his house. I mean I thought I had struck gold. We shook hands and I left and began my adventure.
I ventured through Colorado and back home towards Canada for Christmas, and then a couple weeks later down to the Ozarks and into Texas - and that’s where my trouble began. We were in a hurry to get down to Texas to meet a friend so the majority of the driving was first on interstates, then smaller country highways and dirt roads with a total of maybe 50 miles of actual off-road driving.
One morning we packed up camp just before heading into Texas and the driver’s side rear wheel locked up and wouldn’t budge, thinking it was a stuck parking brake I rocked it back and forth and eventually freed it but then a vibration appeared between 20-30 mph. I took it to a shop and they established it was a busted bearing and warped backing plate due to an out-of-round rear axle. After 3 days and $2000 in repairs at a dealer I thought the worst was behind me, but boy was I wrong. We left the dealership and within 100 miles the vibration was back full force. I took it in to another nearby dealer and within 10 minutes they were able to tell me what the actual problem was - the transmission is shot. After spending only a few minutes with the vehicle they also found a very hidden power steering fluid leak, and noticed a noisy front wheel bearing.
I’m not sure if the seller was aware of these issues prior to the sale, if he was I certainly was never notified of them (as per expo classified rules). He really didn’t seem like the type of person to screw me over, so perhaps it was just luck that he got out of it before all of this stuff went wrong, hard to say.
Sorry for the long post but I need to decide what to do next and I need your help. The truck has 137k miles on it - with 3500 from me. Is it worth to put an new transmission into it, and perform all other repairs to make this dream trip come true or should I cut my loses get rid of the truck and head home? What if something else major goes wrong? I’ve already put more into it than expected. I purchased a Tacoma for their reliability and overland capability, but it seems to have gone totally sideways on me.
Thanks and appreciate the help,
Bryce
