1st Gen 1, 3rd Gen 0

I don't think the truck is bad. I think more people who have no business owning a pickup truck are getting them without realizing what they're buying.

 

That is especially true for those that buy Wranglers only to complain later about how plain they are, how rough it rides, or how loud it is inside.

 

love the ole pic... love dem hogs too!

Here's one of my favorite old pictures... totally unstaged too...



-Mike

 

"Too small for a family"? All 3 of my boys grew up riding in the back seat of my 1st Gen. (They don't have to be comfortable, they're kids, it builds character)

It's been my daily driver for going on 15 years.

 

You should! I happen to know, that you know a guy, that knows a little bit about 1st Gens... that would be more than happy to help ya put it together.




And with a name like Ivan... in a Toyota... in the desert... You'd have automatic bad ass points built in.

 

It's all relative too. The crying and boasting between all three gens can be ridiculous at times. At the end of the day it's a midsize truck with tons of compromise. My favorite are the threads here on towing and power. For anyone that has a work truck it's just a laughable topic. It's splitting hairs when talking about that much of a marginal difference between the tacomas.

But that comes full circle to my point. I think all the trucks are capable in fine, I just think more idiots these days are blowing money on something they have no idea about due to image, impulse or just not doing research. The people are broken

 

I’m not sure why this is surprising.

3rd gen Tacoma’s are still in their depreciation stage. 1st gen Tacoma’s in decent shape have gone through serious depreciation, but have reached a floor. They will have and hold an intrinsic value of greater than zero for quite some time now (look at pre-Tacoma’s).

This is the natural life cycle of vehicles with demand.

 

That's why the F-150 is the best selling car in the US. How many buyers really need that?

 

They also cut the best fleet prices for construction companies too. America's supervisor truck because of cost. Chevy is coming close these days though. They do better with the extreme idle usage. Funny factors when buying a smaller truck eh?

 

It is funny.. I can tell you that my little truck has allowed me to avoid $1,600 in truck rental charges since I bought it in early April. With everything I have going this spring and summer for home and yard rennovation projects, I'm estimating the total rental spend would have been greater than $2,600. Sometimes a good used small truck makes a lot of economic sense.

And then you can have fun with it after the work is done.

 

For sure. Anyone that gets a truck to actually use it, never regrets it.

Really all these new truck owners need to know is how much sail boat fuel they can haul in the bed...

 

That’s cool for you, man. I also drive clients or coworkers from time to time, and the larger cabin works better. There’s really no way around that. But I’m really glad you’re loving your 1st gen!

 

People trading in their relatively new vehicles, regardless of brand, for big losses aren’t the brightest.

People offering 15k on a used midsize truck with 200k miles have equally questionable intellect.

Owning a first gen in Monterey Co. is a liability with that Bay Area fog every day. I’d keep that thing in the garage and rinse it off (in secret..) routinely.

 

I'd say paying the rediculous prices they are asking for 3rd Gens is questionable.

And how is owning a 1st gen in Monterey Co. a liability? What does fog have to do with anything? You know, there was fog in 1995.5 when the first Tacoma rolled off the assembly line... right?

 

Anyone paying over 35k for a new Tacoma is a sucker. I tried buying in Davis and they wanted me to lay down $3k markup and $3k for a ‘butler’ fee that was paying someone to wax my truck. Both were treated as non-negotiable for hours before I walked out and got one for near invoice.

..Bay Area fog is especially salty, like first gen owners defending their trucks. I’ve lived there twice and have seen firsthand cars and motorcycles succumb to it. I was always amazed how traveling 30 minutes east changed the climate.

 

That is so true. Sometimes only personal experience will teach you what you need to know. I had a '74 Toyota Landcruiser in the early 90's (wish I knew then what I know now and had found a way to keep it! ) That I just had to have because it looked so cool. Soon found out that any driving outside of the 25-35 mph in town created an annoying whoosh and whistle with the hardtop and a constant flap with the soft top, might as well have had no suspension at all cause it rode like a buckboard, no a/c and of course you could never keep anything of value in it because there's 0 security. You have to decide at some point to accept the perceived "shortcomings" of your vehicle or realize you made a mistake and get something more suited to your preferences. Complaining about it is stupid when you bought it just to look cool with absolutely NO knowledge (or use) of the vehicle! I learned to love some things and deal with the rest. But it was completely unreliable-seemed to need towed about every other month- and needed alot of work that I was just unable at the time to keep up with so I had to sell it. Such sadness. *sigh*

 

There is one seemingly small detail about my 99 model that gives me great relief in doing restoration projects and preparing it for long term ownership.

This may seem like an inconvenience or "older" technology and not so much plastic in the interior. Having cable driven A/C controls and temp selection makes me happy.

I have a 1991 Japanese luxury car that is mechanically perfect. Unfortunately, the HVAC air mix (temp) door control is electronic. As the vehicles get older, the little electric motors that control the system stop working. These parts are not available. If you can find one from a salvage car, there is no guarantee that it will work. The units are sealed and geared in a way that allows the timing to get off if you open the box to attempt to repair it. It is a two to three-day job to pull the dash to replace the unit. When they fail, its always in the high heat selection. Also, various interior plastic parts have started to disintegrate from old age. It is really sad to see something that has been cared for so well and could run for so long fall into disrepair because of too much technology. It reminds me of the old vacuum controlled Lincoln Continentals from the 1960s when vacuum lines and dashpots start to fail. Nothing works and it costs a blue fortune to repair it.

So if my 1st gen lacks a few plastic bells and whistles or electric robots that come with the later models, so be it. I'm happy.

 

I'm glad to see this thread has morphed from a "don't be a douche and brake check people" thread, to a "people who spend their own money on trucks they like are dumb" thread.

 

There, fixed it for you...

 

I'll allow it.