Not having a 2000 I've only read a couple articles on the transmission issues, you may want to search that topic on this forum or IH8MUD.
If you can find a specimen that has solid maintenance records I would not be concerned about high milage. If you find one with no rust and clean interior that is not torn up it is likely going to be a good buy. I like that it didn't have NAV as a head unit replacement would be an upgrade I'd be doing fairly quickly. I really like the AHC so that would not be a selling point to me and would make the $8000 price higher than it should be, IMHO.
Sleep offroad has a good article on the differences between models and years, you should check it out.
Although I hate to see southern trucks end up in the rust belt have you considered looking further south for a truck?
Thanks for the response!
I read about it on Mud, apparently there was a bad batch of internal parts that can effect the 00's, slightly overlapping late 99/early 01. I've seen a few people say that if it was going to go, it would have went long ago, as they seemed to go pretty early on. That doesn't fill me with confidence though, when I see an otherwise nice vehicle ending up on the market like this, it makes me wonder WHY. If the previous owner was a Toyota tech, he'd have know the value and it wouldn't have ended up at a little used car dealer 2 states away. I'd imagine he'd have no problem seeing it private party, unless there was a reason he didn't want to. Like my Volvo with non-op AWD. I'd have no problem trading it in, but I could not in good conscious sell it private party.
Anyway, perhaps that's just my cynical nature talking.
Also, while the 200k might not be *that much*, I do about 20-25k a year, so the miles add up quickly. I don't want to buy something that only has a few years left.
There's an '05 LX at a dealer about an hour away with 124k for 14k. I only wanted to spend like half that, but maybe something like that is the way to go.
(Maybe I should also get a commuter car to just use the 100 for the weekends and trips. That would be ideal, though that's stretching the budget)
And yes, thanks, I've read that Slee article so many times I can see it in my sleep, haha.
I've thought of traveling, I don't mind it per se, but I have a hard time buying something sight unseen. To fly out and have it be a POS in person is not something I would relish. I know two people that have done that, and had a few surprises when the vehicle showed up.
However, I have two weeks of vacation time coming up right before Thanksgiving, I'm starting to consider flying to San Diego to visit friends, and perhaps I can pick one up out there and drive it back to RI. That'd be fun. Also have friends in L.A. and FL, could go to either one of those places too, though with the weather they've had in the south I'd be a little wary of flood cars.
The other thing I'm starting to really consider is a 1st Gen Sequoia, those are less money for newer with less miles, and some of them have new frames thanks to the recall.
