Prospective future Taco owner joins internet forum; chaos ensues

Welp, when I buy a fresh vehicle I test drive it's associated forum as much as the vehicle before I pull the trigger. It's worked well in the past and the one time I didn't I ended up with a terrible car and a bunch of clueless douchebags backing me up on it's problems.
So here I am. I'm Tom from Calgary. My current fleet consists of an '04 Vibe (Toyota 1ZZ/5spd, mostly stock), a '93 Ford Festiva (Protege 1.8 swap/5spd, hick-rigged together with stock parts from 15 different cars, ~37MPG and 16.2 in the quarter with no grip and a fried 2nd gear synchro), and an '88 F150 (302/AOD, short cab/long box, slow and thirsty). I busted tires on semi trucks and off-road equipment for 6 years and then went back to school to become a heavy duty mechanic. I'll be out and back to work in May, and at that point I'll be looking at ditching the F150 for another Toyota. I'm thinking '08-ish, 2.7/5spd/4x4, access cab. If it works well as a daily for me I might ditch the wagon as well.
So uhh, yeah. That's me in a nutshell. 'sup?

 

Hi Tom from Calgary

 

whats up man! welcome! i cruise my future vehicles' forums before i buy as well! Nice.

 

Hi Tom welcome to TW!

 

Hi Tom. I'll be done with my HD diesel degree in may as well. I think you'll like this place, and Tacomas.

 

Hi Tom!

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome Tom. As a suggestion, look at the possibility of getting the V6 engine. The power and torque are much better, and as I recall, the mileage is not a huge difference. If I was in the market for a replacement to mine, I would get the V6 instead of the 2.7...

 

The 1GR is tempting, but my dad had one and he was only getting 15MPG. The F150 gets that so besides not having to babysit a cranky Windsor with 288000km and the extra powah the upgrade would functionally speaking be a moot point.
That said, dad totally ruined his by attatching every bit of Chinese chrome plastic in the truck accessory shop's catalog to it, and then getting one of those stupid sun visors that only look appropriate on early '90s GM trucks. I imagine that hurt his mileage a bit.

And it's pretty tough to find a decent 2.7 4x4 around here so it'll be down to what I can find when the time comes.

 

Stock config I was getting 21mpg and 19 on winter gas. Im getting 16 with my 285s and its time for a tuneup. I still get 19 highway with 285s and a good tuneup.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome. Very smart decision to hit the forum before buying.