Is it worth restoring these older trucks?

[tookien]

I'm looking at a few older Toyota pickup trucks (Tundras and Tacomas) in the early 2000's with fairly decent mileage and with a good frame.

Anyone can offer suggestions whether it's worth restoring them?

I want to do a partial restoration mostly with the body and suspension.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Yeah they're worth restoring

 

[AZjeff]

Worth it to do what? Resell? Drive on Sundays? Use as a daily driver? Find the very best examples for sale locally or even regionally to get a price and do the math vs purchase price + estimated cost of restoration (x2) of the ones you're looking at.

 

[BHopkins]

Elaborate on your meaning of being worth it. Most people restore a car or truck out of love for a particular model. Fond memories of one when younger. Or always wanted one when younger. It's rarely based upon if you can turn a profit when you sell it.

Getting good father/son time while working on a car is totally worth it. Time doing a hobby you love is totally worth it. Satisfaction of a job well done is worth it. Doing it to make a buck? Better be careful. It doesn't always work out.

 

[tookien]

Elaborate on your meaning of being worth it. Most people restore a car or truck out of love for a particular model. Fond memories of one when younger. Or always wanted one when younger. It's rarely based upon if you can turn a profit when you sell it.

Getting good father/son time while working on a car is totally worth it. Time doing a hobby you love is totally worth it. Satisfaction of a job well done is worth it. Doing it to make a buck? Better be careful. It doesn't always work out.

Point taken.

I'm not looking at any crazy full restoration.
No sandblasting and powder coating (except for the wheels) or new engine or anything like that.

I'll be taking shortcuts, getting all the rust taken care of and changing out the whole suspension.
Changing the timing belt and water pump and just basic maintenance stuff.
A basic paint job and that's it.

I have a couple of options.

One is a Tundra 4x4 with about 124k miles (200k km), body in rough shape but frame still good.

Trucks are super expensive and I don't want to get into buying a new truck if I don't have a return on investment from it.

It will be mostly for part-time general work here and there.

 

[JeffKeryk]

From my experience restoring a vheicle, it boils down to, what do I want and what do I expect to get as a result of tons of work and money.
Here's an example:

There is maybe $70K into this car (including purchase) and there is always more to do.
The best advice I can give you is, start with the best car you can.
Restoration is a labor of love.

 

[Astro14]

Body work is such a pain... I would look for a truck with a strong frame and a decent body. No rust. Maybe in need of a respray or just touch up.

I would do mechanical work all day long, engine, trans, brakes, suspension, whatever, but ugh...bodywork. I have painted an entire car just once, and once was enough.

"Worth" restoring? Well, yes and no. My wife's Volvo has 265,000 miles on it. Runs perfectly. Good body, paint and interior. Zero rust. I just put $2,000 worth of parts into a suspension rebuild and some other work. That's worth it to me - saves buying a new car for a while.

But to the insurance company? It's still a $1,500 car. So, as long as you know the risk: if it gets in an accident, you'll get a lot less out of it than you've put into it.

I love the concept of keeping an older truck on the road. There will be work, and there is some risk.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Well it’s a Toyota so will definitely hold value. Probably hard to find one up there where your at with minimal rust. If you have ever done body work you probably know it’s a pain I hate it. Had to patch rust and do some other things on a 1973 Ford Gran Torino man is body work a pain. That one day class was enough for me.

 

[ls1mike]

It really depends. I can tell you after having picked up the kids GMT400 or OBS I can't believe the prices for nice clean ones. Well, prices for those and square body GMs. The prices are through the roof but they have a pretty religious following. I have seen clean ones like my kids with similar miles 150,000 to 170,000 selling for 8000 to 9000 dollars if they have little to no rust, but still need some type of work. Trucks are not my thing but lots of people love them. I know don't if the following for the early 2000's Toyotas is like the 73 to 98 GM trucks but if it is I would buy a few clean ones and park them.

 

[JC1]

I'm looking at a few older Toyota pickup trucks (Tundras and Tacomas) in the early 2000's with fairly decent mileage and with a good frame.

Anyone can offer suggestions whether it's worth restoring them?

I want to do a partial restoration mostly with the body and suspension.

You are in Toronto, so not a ton of Toyota trucks to choose from. Keep looking at all the different websites for new postings. You are probably going to find a lot of people that say the truck is rust free and it's probably got rust under the frame where they don't crawl under it to see. I bet 8 out of 10 trucks will be like this. Be prepared to be patient as you travel to find the one that is right for you.

The one that is probably in the best condition rust wise will be a color you don't like. That's the way the ball bounces some times. Good luck in your search.

 

[R1jake]

I stay in the look for older Toyota 4x4s I prefer pre 94 22r. My 1990 Toyota 4x4 is perfect for me. Love that truck. I think they are worth it.

 

[928]

The best idea is Refresh, not Restore. Make it safe & reliable. Forget about the cosmetics unless you are capable of doing them yourself.

 

[Donald]

Start with a southern truck. I think you need to enjoy doing the work. If you put a value on your time, it will probably not be worth it. Maybe be financially better to start with a much newer truck. And older trucks are missing the newer safety features. And if you buy an older truck and do all the refresh or restore work, it won't be worth much more than you paid for it.

 

[Lubener]

Fix them economically, don't put in more than they are worth. Don't expect them to enhance your retirement plan as far as ever being a collector's item, atleast in your lifetime. Trucks generally will not apppreciate in value like a sports coupe would. Probably the only truck I would want as a collector item would be a 1978 or 1979 Dodge Lil Red Express.

 

[Trav]

I'm looking at a few older Toyota pickup trucks (Tundras and Tacomas) in the early 2000's with fairly decent mileage and with a good frame.

Anyone can offer suggestions whether it's worth restoring them?

I want to do a partial restoration mostly with the body and suspension.

AKA an oily rag restoration, sure its worth it if the thing is clean and you don't put a fortune in it and you want to use it.

 

[atikovi]

I'll be taking shortcuts, getting all the rust taken care of and changing out the whole suspension.

For all the cost and hassle of taking care of rust, you could pick one up from a southern state and avoid all that. You would have to buy them near scrap value in your area to make any money with a rust bucket, yet sellers all seem to think their rust bucket is a $5000 gem.

 

[meep]

In that year range, the venerable T100 is also in the hunt. I’ve always liked the clean lines of that truck. It was the precursor to the tundra. The rear section of tundra frames are C-channel, so they are easy to inspect for rust. My 06 tundra was very easy to work on and served us well.

 

[dblshock]

You can buy OEM Toyota parts cheap from the Chinese on e.bay, I'd start with a straight body and frame then just redo suspension, brakes, rims, tires maybe a little buffing or PDR..at 100-150k mi. pay 25-33% of msrp figure you'll put in a couple grand and enjoy..my example is the sig GX have $15k in which is abit heavy but whoa looks and drives like 2005 when they were $50k...I like the 4Runners/Lexus GX cause they're all high end plastic body lower 1/2 all the way around.

 

[AZjeff]

In that year range, the venerable T100 is also in the hunt. I’ve always liked the clean lines of that truck.

I always thought the T100 looked like Toyota wanted a bigger truck fast so they made it fit a Tacoma frame. The rear overhang was ridiculous.

 

[meep]

^^^ I've never noticed that, but it's more true than the pic implies! the single cabs look ok to my eye? There's a lot of parts sharing between the 1gen Tundra and the Taco. Brake parts is one, and guys that haul larger loads in the gen1 will tell you the brakes are sketchy if you've got a heavy trailer behind it, with or without trailer brakes. Mine was rated for 6900lbs towing, but with a 5000 lb camper behind it wet or dry, the brakes did not have any reserve for emergency stops. I 2-footed several stops with no ABS or skidding. As a daily driver and carrying plywood, etc., and smaller trailers (3000 lbs) it was a-ok.