@joshuapsteele The biggest thing was patience. I had to weed through a lot of vehicles over several months before I found the one I ultimately bought. I also used Lemon Squad to hire a mechanic to do an inspection on any out of state vehicle I could not go see myself, which saved time and anxiety.

@joshuapsteele I used CarGurus mostly. They have a huge selection over a large geographic area, and enabled me to filter for my budget, mileage, and number of owners. I wanted a truck from a southern state (no salt corrosion), so that took some searching.

@joshuapsteele I was in your boat two years ago. Toyota trucks hold their value like crazy, so you need to set your budget and stick to it. Scour the used listings and be willing to look nationwide. I bought mine 1200 miles away to get the deal I wanted (and avoid Midwest road salt corrosion).