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Buying A 1991 Toyota Warrior What Should I Look For. First One Im Buying


aaron.lynn

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#1 I'd jack it up, spin the wheels and make sure all spins OK and no bearing are loose or dried out.

#2 I'd check every part that turns that does not get lubed automatically. That includes water pump, alternator, AC idler bearing, idler pulleys on engine, wheel bearings, driveshaft center-support, etc.

#3 the endless RV "house" stuff to check and there's lots. Furnace works OK? Refrigerator works on gas, 12 volts DC and 120 volts AC? Charge isolator working OK that charges up the "house" battery when driving.

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Ah.. thanks Dave, for the quick reply.

It looks wonderfully dry...no leaks anywhere...compared to EVERYTHING we've looked @ this price.

Engine pulls strong an quiet except for an exhaust leak where the front o2 sensor came lose of it's moorings..

.yet has no CEL light. Going to take it to AZ and have an OBD put on it.

There's so much to know and it's 3 hrs. away..

What do you think of the price .... our main concern.?

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I would not pay a penny more then $4500. But that's just me and I know good ones can be bought for that price if someone is patient. Not likely this time of year though when RV prices are at their highest. Some people would consider $8000 cheap. Not me.

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Yea YB... NADA is 4k$ or so....but when you go shopping... it;s scary.

Looked at a lot of junks and drove a long way to see them...for more money.

This Toyota goes down the road quite nicely.

We're going to give it the final go over tomorrow.

Cash in our sweatty little fists... some in reserve for surprises... or beer... (C'mon beer! )

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" and have an OBD put on it "

There is no ODB1 on these, do you mean to have one installed???

The whole story with these is condition, condition, condition, after that floor plan.

Read all the pinned posts on this board and you will know pretty much all you will need.

Good Luck

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Yea YB... NADA is 4k$ or so....but when you go shopping... it;s scary.

Looked at a lot of junks and drove a long way to see them...for more money.

That works both ways. Fact is - this time of the year is the more-of-less the height of the season as far as prices goes. I see a lot more good deals around Jan/Feb when people are not in "vacation mode" and are also thinking about paying taxes. If you are not a "wheeler dealer" and just want one RV to own for a long time - patience pays off. I've seen many good ones in the $4000 price range every bit as good a some I've seen that sell for over $10,000.

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New tires or old tires with lots of thread on them and slopped up with silicone, receipt or DOT date. Are the tires the proper size and load rating for the vehicle?

Cab air just needs freon, no it leaked out because it is broken. Good systems do not lose gas, broken systems lose gas! It is an R12 system which is pricey to repair or convert to an 134A system which is also very costly. That is if you want cab air?

I paid too much for mine because it had no water damage and I just found rot! not only was it there it had been repaired once before. I crawled all over this and did not see it!

Maintanence records. If there are no records things like antifreeze, transmission fluid, brake fluid may all need to be changed $$ On the V6 there is a valve adjustment that needs to be done at 50K miles $$$. Was it done?

Has it got plates on it, can you drive it? I walked away from one I could only drive up and down the street. HTH Jim

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remove the cabover mattress and check for soft areas...use your knuckle and tap all around all the edges...a sharp RAP sound is what you want to hear, as a dull THUD sound is a water damaged area! Tap

Check the underneath to see how rusted it is. It is a Maine RV and if used in snow it may be badly rusted.

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Drum roll please........

Congratulations are in order!!!

BECAUSE...... we didn't buy it. Dodged a bullet....thanks to all of you.

We were well committed to buying it after our second 3hr drive...but thanks to your warnings I did

a bit more investigating. ..saw a slight suspicious spot under the upper mattress and carefully started peeling back

the covering. I didn't have to go far till I found a trail of punky wood that turned into rotted black goo..

I had checked under the mattress before but it looked and sounded ok. The sag in the over cab !!! Thanks Linda S!!!

Tires too!... 4yrs old accd. to dot date but P rated !!! P195/14

BaH!!! Thirdly... The roof @ the AC....sagging 1.5 inch...

Sooo thank you all so much and thanks to this forum.

We really like the Toyotas the best but they are far and few between.

We were sad but happy at the same time. I mused a bit about just going for it

and doing the work and spending the money but it came down to it just not being fair to us.

We were a bit unhappy with the 8K price with the already known issues....another 3 or 4k$ worth of problems was just too much.

The owner made no offer and I trully wouldn't have gone more than 5,000$ at that point.

So it was off to the nearest pub to celebrate/ drown our sorrows and make a new plan.

We came away feeling relieved and happy w/ ourselves and our new maturity in the high rolling RV trading market.

Still seriously shopping....with patience. patience patience...

Thank you all again so much.

Hope we end up w/ a Toy because this would be a great place to hang out.

Best wishes...

Victor & Linda.

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Trust me, you made the right choice. I bought mine before I found this forum. Even though mine wasn't particularly pricey, the amount of work it needed made me regret pulling the trigger. I knew it needed some work but like an onion every layer exposed something else. Find the best deal you can on a unit that is as clean as you can find. Even then, expect to have to put some work into it. Old RV's need maintenance to keep them from rotting and being reliable. Best of luck and keep us in the loop as your search continues.

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