13 Year Report

I thought I'd give a brief history of my truck; hopefully it will be somewhat interesting/helpful.

I ordered my truck in 1999 from Tuscaloosa Toyota, in Alabama. I paid just under $24K at the time. When I went with the salesrep for my first drive, the truck had .03 miles on the odometer. It's a 3.4 Xtra-cab V6, with the 5 speed, hitch, cruise, manual hubs, air condtioning, and a sunroof. This truck is exactly what I wanted. At present, the truck has 174,XXX miles on the odometer and is running well. I am religious about scheduled maintenance and have addressed issues as they came up.

Good:

I've driven to New Mexico, Florida, the Carolinas, and all points in between in this truck. I've towed pianos, washing machines, dirt bikes, and even other trailered cars at various points in my ownership of this truck, with no problems at all from a power or braking standpoint. My truck has been a Southern truck all of its life and has rarely, if ever, seen any road salt; as such, there isn't a speck of rust on the truck. This truck is my daily driver and I expect to own it for quite some time to come.

Bad:

This truck has been nearly bullet-proof! That being said, my A/C compressor blew up on my during a road trip in the summer of '08 to the tune of $600. This has been the most expensive unexpected issue so far. I did have a clutch replaced at 120k miles, and I had the timing-belt/water pump replaced at 100k. The rear U-joint finally made its imminent failure known last summer; when I took it to the driveline shop, they said the both the center double cardan joint and the front U-joint looked to be in good condition. Other small issues included a spark plug wire shorting out, a throttle position sensor going bad, and though this was not the truck's fault, a cross threaded spark pulg blew out of the hole. This required the purchase of a Time-Sert kit and a tense afternoon of successfully inserting a new insert into the place of the mangled threads in the head.
Current mechanical issues on the truck include leaky valve cover gaskets, and a squeaky clutch. I'll be taking care of these with the help of this form.

Ugly:

My headlight covers/plastic look horrible. I'm surprised I can see anything at night. My Toyota bug shield is starting to break apart. It's ugly, but I've had it since I picked it up from the dealer, so I think it'll stay around for a while.

I hope to get a few more years with my truck. I've read here of 300k mi 3.4 trucks; I hope I'm that lucky. I'm very happy with this truck and frankly, if I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd probably go ahead and order some new headlight lenses...

 

I bet 1 more good thing is that it's paid for.
my buddy has a 96 V6 with 250k on it. he supercharger it at 200k. the thing runs great.

 

That's a BIG plus.

Nice report. Your Tacoma has been a good truck with more years to go.

 

No problems with the motor, tranny, brakes, steering in all those years. Thats great service. Only $600 for a new compressor ... a steal.

I bought mine, used, about 3 years ago, and love it. Paid cash, so no payments. The previous owner had to repair a burned valve, thats about it, as far as I know, other than regular maintenance.

 

Sounds like the truck has been good to you over the years. I imagine I still would be driving my 1997 if not for the frame issue. New England road salt killed it.

 

a 40 dollar headlight restoration kit = like new headlights

 

Thanks for that report OP. I love the extreme durability of our 1st gens! Like another posted, It's even better when the truck is already paid in full, no car payments ftw!

 

I'm glad to hear that you're truck's been so good to you over the years. These are great trucks. I have a 98 with the 4cyl and can't see ever getting rid of it until someone wrecks into it for me, but hopefully this won't ever happen. The reliability and the places these things can go is unbeatable.

I hope you enjoy your truck for years to come!

 

Great comment about winning lottery and spending $40 on your truck . That about says everything. Mines only 12 years old but I feel the same way. Oh yeah... just think how earlier you'll be able to retire w/o sinking money into new vehicles all the time. These Tacos really are like an old friend, sounds bizarre unless you've had one? GOOD LUCK!

 

250k. Replaced TRD Bilsteins with 5100's at 180k -- xlnt investment. Radiator and water pump (just because) around the same time. Clogged cat replaced with Magnaflow at 200k. The surprise? Knock sensor at 105k. Still lovin' the paid-for DD.

 

$10 Turtle Wax restoration kit @ Pep Boys

great to see another 99' owner happy with their 15 yr old purchase