Thinking of Buying??

Hi all:

I am new to the tacoma market and I was looking at a 2003 dual cab with 85000 miles. It has the 4 cyl 2.7 and that has me worried a little because of lacking power. It is a 2wd and I don't plan on towing anything just going to work and taking the kids places. Is there any other things I need to look for?

Thanks in advance

Cactus52

 

what are you normally driving? i personally love the look of the 4 door prerunner but if you are used to the power of some v8 or v10 then your up for a small transition. although they sould have some zip off the start but with any kindof load you are going to want the v6. just take it to a good toyota shop for some tests. most sellers wont mind unless they have 14 frantic buyers trying to throw cash at them which is usually what happens when someone sells a tacoma!!

good luck!

 

Thanks for the reply.

I am driving a volvo 960 wagon now so power is not something I am use to. But I found a Great looking tacoma at the right price so I thought I would check to see if the 4 banger is problematic in comparison with the 6.

thanks

Cactus52

 

well i think that there is 2 different 4 cyl . i would think to carry the prerunner suspension that it is equipt with the beefer one..please tech guys help out here this is also a question of mine. what year volvo? my girlfriend had a newer v70 or 90 and was very fast.

 

My Volvo is a 97 960 wagon, it has 180,000 mile on it. I think that it rust faster than it goes. It needs a new tranny and some other work to bring it up to par. It has been a fantastic car, and I hope to send it to college with my daughter this fall.

Cactus52

 

A Double-cab with a 4cyl. motor? All Tacoma dbl. cabs come with a 3.4 V6 and automatic.

 

All 4x4 double cabs had the V6 and auto trans, a 4x2 (pre-runner) came standard with the 2.7 L 4 cyl. (since you are new to this I figured I'd explain that when the other guys say pre-runner they are talking about the truck you are looking at.)

For what it's worth, I had a 2004 Xtracab, with the 2.7 engine and the manual tranny. The only time I wanted for more power was after we bought our travel trailer, or in the absolute dead of the summer with the air on.

Since you are not planning on towing, that should not be a factor. I am not saying that with the air on it was a total dog, just that I felt it had a noticible lack of power then.

Hope this helps.

 

the 3rz (2.7l) is a very stout engine. w/ 85,000 miles that thing is barely broken in, it still has a couple hundred thousand miles to go. as long as you do proper maintanence it will be bullet proof and should not be problematic at all. if you need more power you can supercharge it.

 

i had a 2003 2.7L 4 cyl 4x4 and it was the best truck i ever owned, great gas mileage plenty of power not fast but got on the freeway and up hills just fine, i live in LA and people drive fast and crazy definetly a great little truck. i would be concerned about room in the cab if you have multiple kids it might be a little bit tight, but short drives no problem