Just bought 2013 Tundra - wrecked....should it stay or should it go??

Hey Tundra owners!
My name is George....I just bought my first Tundra. (not my first Toyota...I still own my first Toyota that I bought new in 1987.....2wd pickup truck...still going strong (except the usual rust), I also own a 2011 Camry and a 2016 Sienna...I LOVE Toyotas!!
I've been wanting a Tundra for awhile and I saw a Red (my 1987 pickup is red, so it called to me to match my old/little pickup). Since Tundra's are going for CRAZY $$'s, I thought maybe buying this wrecked one that I saw in a local police auction was the way to go. But I'm already having 2nd thoughts. The auction has pictures, but you cannot inspect the vehicles before buying. A risk, but sometimes helps keeps the prices down. I recently bought a 2021 Kia and I made some big $$ on it when I resold. With the Tundra though, I planned on keeping it for myself. Well....after some lies from the auctioneer, I decided to get it and won the bid (some controversy there as my top bid was $6000, but due to a 'glitch' with the auction-site, I actually won it, but at $6500. Not bad price, but after fees and towing (required) home. I'm in it for about $7600.
Take a look at the pics and let me know what you think....should I invest a TON of money?? or take my losses and try to buy one that is complete (not wrecked)??? opinions please!!!
Thanks....

 

Welcome! I’m no inspector, especially looking at a few photos online, but it really doesn’t seem that bad. If you’re a DIY-er, you could fix it up and have a great truck.

I have to say though, I’d have told that auctioneer that he knows exactly where to shove that “glitch”.

Is the title clear? Really doesn’t look like a total loss, but again…I’m not an inspector

 

First off, welcome from ohio!

2nd, first thing i would do would be to take it to a frame shop and have them check the frame to see if it is bent, twisted etc, damage looks high enough up that it may not have gotten the frame
are the airbags deployed? if so those can be quite costly to replace

to me, looks like hood, grille, core support, rad, condenser, headlight, bumper cover, fender, prob needs a fan, fan shroud, battery, battery cables if fire dept cut them

good looking truck other than the damage

 

Welcome aboard!! Nice looking truck minus the broken bits. A lot would factor in to whether or not you've scored a good deal here. How handy are you? Will you be putting some sweat equity into this deal, or having someone else do the work? Does it run and drive? Does it need frame work? I don't think cosmetics alone would have totaled that truck unless it's really high mileage.

 

Biggest question: is the frame still straight?

Everything else is just nuts and bolts + panels and parts, with a coat of paint.

 

As mentioned, check the title. If it's a salvage title, depending on the state, you may not be able to insure it.

 

oh yeah...I'm checking on the title this morning.....I am thinking that the title is still clean, because I found out that the previous owner (for 6 short months) was a 'meth-head' with multiple arrests.....so I'm thinking he probably didn't have insurance as it was impounded and so probably not 'totaled' by an insurance company....

 

Looks like a fun project. I would love a project like this.

 

Hi Booney.......how much will you give me for it? this project COULD be yours for the right price!!

 

Well... a little GOOD news finally. I just online chatted with our local DMV and they said the title is clean!!! yippee.....I really needed some good news.

 

As much as I would like I have enough projects piled up rover the last two years. I have a bumper coming in for my truck, an ATV that needs fuel system work, a side by side that needs front end suspension work (steering knuckle) done, a Jeep and an OBS F250 that needs sold and a new garage that we are building. It still gives me an idea for maybe next summer however.

https://www.copart.com/lotSearchResults?free=true&query=tundra

 

Thanks for the link Booney....that gives me some hope as the prices look good and those all (or at least the ones I looked at) DO have salvage titles. And I totally understand not taking 'another project'......I've kind of got my hands full too. Remodeling my daughters house, 1967 Corvair I'm restoring....want to cleanup/fixup my 1987 Toyota pickup, etc ,etc.....
Really appreciate the Copart link....I'm gonna watch and see what they go for that look like mine.

 

My father collected Corvairs. We had 13 of them, not all running. I have to say the 1967 was my favorite. We got so we could do a total swap of engines, start to finish, in 1.5 hours.

 

From the outside it looks like you got a great deal. online they seem to be about $20k or so. What does the inside look like? Edit: I see you say 150k miles.

 

Wow, what a project! I hope you can work it out to rebuild. If nothing else, you could sell to recoup your costs, possibly with a nice profit.

 

Looks like a good candidate for fiberglass fenders

 

I'll give you $7700 if you ship it to Utah

 

Big Ed....the interior is not 'bad'....not perfect and I've already been cleaning on it. (it was a smoker too, so trying to eliminate the smoke smell)...but nothing too serious (besides replacing the deployed airbags).
Eick...tell me more about 'fiberglass fenders'?!?!? my son-in-law has a 2008 Tundra and had some damage to a fender and he bought one online and said he didn't know it was a fiberglass replacement until he got it. His friend who did the install and paint seemed like he wasn't a fan of the quality, but I guess there could be 'good ones and bad ones'.....

 

snivilous......shipping not included? but you are close to the 'winning bid'....LOL! Making me feel a little better about my purchase.

I was thinking about YouTubing the process of repairing it from beginning to end....I think that might be interesting, but will definitely take an 'investment of time' to do.

 

Well....Just finally got the truck back from the body shop. It looks good (to me). The guy that did the work goes to my church and did me a good deal. He left some things 'unfinished', which was part of the deal we worked out. Take a look at the pics and let me know what you think. Having some electrical gremlins right now that I'm trying to work out. Still need to put on the new grill and driver headlight (he couldn't get all the lights working and so he left the headlight out for me to get it all lined out first. Unfortunately, like I said, some gremlins at work.

 

Not bad at all!

 

Looks like she cleaned up pretty well.

GL with the electrical!

 

Welcome! Looks great!