So, I got a Taco...

I traded in a unicorn for another unicorn.

I had a 2005 Subaru Baja Turbo 5 speed, I got it around 2 years ago. When I first got it, it was... Well, I would consider it to be sabotaged. All kinds of crap was giving me issues, including a CEL for overboosting, misfires, and whatever else. I found a hole had been poked through a boost control hose from the intake manifold to the boost control solenoid. Easy fix, but it took me 3 months to track it down. I also had to replace injectors, and the drive shaft was bent when I got it. The replacement, brand new in box from Subaru, was also bent. I warrantied it, no problem there... And then, I had both front axles replaced. Not even 3 months later, I snapped a front axle, and had it warrantied... And less than 2 months after that, the transmission started making a very, very bad sound. Metal in the gear oil...

So, for close to a month, I've been borrowing a family member's T100. It's a 5 speed, but RWD. 3.4 V6. It's fun to drive, but not that much fun to drive. This morning, I went down to, ironically, my local Subaru dealer, and traded in the busted Baja for a new unicorn: A 2007 Taco V6 4X4 with a stick shift. It's not the color I wanted, but it's a color I don't mind (red), as opposed to a color that I would rather set myself on fire than own (silver).

The truck is pretty much bone stock, it's got some AT tires on it that seem decent. Other than possibly a cold air intake or a muffler, I'm going to leave it stock for a while.

I miss my Subaru, but that thing was such a pain, I don't miss it that much. It had more power than the Taco, but it was so unreliable, I don't think I'm going to own another Subaru (it was my 8th Subaru).

 

Welcome to TW

 

At my shop we're always working on Subarus. I like them and can understand why people drive them.. but I wouldn't want to own one

Tacomas are never in the shop

Welcome to TW

 

Hah Thanks.

My 2002 WRX was never in the shop, even when I turned the boost up on it. It was faster than a 2006 STi that was stock... The aforementioned T100 had headgaskets done, once, many years ago.

 

Actually now that I think about it, the dual cam Subarus are pretty good. Its the single cam stuff that will leak, overheat, etc

The rear wheel bearings will seize to the knuckle with rust. I've broken prybars trying to get them apart. Winter driving will beat them to hell

Maybe it's just because there's so many damn Subarus on the road, it seems like they're always in the shop

 

Pictures please.

Welcome and congratulations.

There’s plenty to love about a Tacoma, which you’ll find out. There’s also plenty to hate about a Tacoma, which you’ll find out.

Look through the stickies, lots of good information there on maintenance how tos.

 

Tacoma isn't like a Subaru, adding a cai or exhaust will only make noise, not horsepower, fyi.

 

Yeah, I want to hear the engine for easier shifting. The T100 has a Magnaflow on it, it's subtle, but you get a bit of engine note which helps with shifting. Power mods will come in the future, for now, I just want something that I can go exploring off road with.

 

I can understand never wanting to own silver, I didn't either. But trying to find a 2012+ 6 speed double cab, 4wd TRDOR was hard enough I wasn't gonna let color stop me lol. Would've loooooved to find a Spruce Mica with those options but beggars can't be choosers.

Sucks about your Subaru experience, we bought a 2012 WRX and we've only had one real mechanical issue with it 150k miles later... (leaking gasket on the rack and pinion) but other than that it has been trouble free. But it probably helps that the car is all stock! I'd buy another one if I was ever in the market for a fun AWD car. I was also really gun-shy about buying a Subaru because I heard they where a pain to work on and since I do all the maintenance I was worried... well turns out its about the easiest vehicle to work on I've ever owned up to this point. You can remove the top mount intercooler in all of ten minutes and you can literally stand inside the engine bay next to the transmission bellhousing lol. Most room I've ever had in an import engine bay.

Anyways, I digress...

Welcome to the Tacoma family.

 

I wonder if the WRX and STI are good
the Imprezas and Forester I drove were absolute garbage

 

You just offended 500,000 silver Tacoma owners. Fortunately I'm not one of them.

 

black is great, in that it shows scratches easily, is difficult to keep clean, has no contrast with bumpers, and creates extra heat in the sun
as is white, with the single stage factory paint that rusts

 

More like 5 billion silver vehicle owners. XD

The WRX has been in the US since 2002. It had a 5 speed manual with a 3.9 final drive, a 3.7 final drive, and a 6 speed manual. The 3.9 final drive version was prone to breaking second gear. The 3.7 final drive version was stronger, but still would break gears. The 6 speed was based on the same case design as the 5 speeds, and also was not that strong, but they were less prone to blasting the teeth off gears. The STi came with a totally different 6 speed, and it was STRONG. Like 400 drag strip launches with 800 ft lbs of torque strong. They would eat axles, though, if abused... They're fast. My WRX was so fast that it honestly scared the crap out of me many many times. I could spin all 4 tires if I really wanted to. It was a beast in the snow. But the minimal amount of ground clearance made it really unsuited for off road driving, and... I did a lot of that. My Baja had a skid plate. It was basically a 2003 Subaru Outback with the back re-made into a bed, with a 2" body lift on top of the Outback's factory 4" suspension lift. But it had the same transmission as the WRX, but it had an STi motor, but detuned with a WRX turbo. It's the same setup on the Forester turbo, a bigger engine with a tiny turbo. Turn the boost up, waaaay up, and they make stupid amounts of torque. 17 psi of boost at 2,250 RPM, and they'll hold 17 PSI until like 5,000 RPM. But the transmission isn't strong enough, the axles are weak, and the differentials are garbage for offroading. There were many instances going up steep hills where I would spin a tire, even though I was sending the power to that tire through two LSD's, but they didn't have enough pre-load (for the center diff), or holding torque (for the rear diff), to actually move the vehicle up the road.

Well, I've owned Subaru's since 2001. My WRX was awesome, my Baja was not. The older stuff was harder to work on, taking the intercooler out of my Baja was a 2 hour nightmare. It wasn't bad in my WRX... I did a ton of light offroading in the WRX and the Baja, and both would blow CV boots frequently, and out of the 8 Subies I owned, uh... None of them had a steering rack that didn't leak.

Yeah, I honestly probably would have grabbed this Taco if it was silver. It wasn't, though, and that did help motivate me to fight the sales manager just a bit more (and that worked out in the end!). It's actually pretty nice because we now have two Toyota pickup trucks in the driveway that are almost exactly the same shade of red. I really love it.

I'm a little sad at the climb into the driver's seat, I keep getting kind of stuck between the steering column and the floor with my leg, but I'll figure it out. I'm not like... Ridiculously tall or anything, but... Maybe I'm just too used to the Subaru and Ford Transit vans I use at work.

 

U bought a USED subaru ....................Not to place blame /fault

that had been rode hard /put away wet neglected & abused

How Many Miles when U got it ??????

How Many Owners ?????

how many miles on Ur unicorn..............................

 

My WRX had 80,000 miles on it when I bought it, and it had been flogged. I drove it until it had 195,000 miles on it and it still ran, drove, and was quite happy, minus a cylinder that was low on compression, probably a ringland was coming apart. That was after I turned the boost up when it had 85,000 miles on it.

The Baja had 155,000 miles on it when I got it, and it had 165,000 miles on it when I got rid of it. It had been flogged harder, but I think it was more of a college student smashing it in the mountains, vs the WRX where someone probably flogged it on paved roads (I did destroy the center diff by taking it on sand).

My new-to-me Taco had 2 owners, and I have records for every oil change back until it was brand new. It's got 165,000 miles on it. It's not modded, even has the factory stock wheels, and other than a clutch, I actually don't see anything wrong with it.

 

Where do you live? Hopefully you checked the frame on the taco. Hopefully after checking you won’t be wishing you still had your troublesome Baja.

 

The frame recall was done by a previous owner. I'm going to grab my creeper tomorrow and double check. I'm in the Southern half of Oregon, which is basically desert. We get very little rain, and the humidity is basically 15% most of the year, I'm not really worried about rust. Taco has been an Oregon vehicle for it's entire life, unlike my WRX which came from Colorado, but I never had rust issues on it, either.

 

is the clutch slipping?

 

Welcome to TW, appreciate the subaru lesson although never plan on owning one.

 

No. The engagement point is just really high up, close to the end of the pedal travel. I'm planning on being gentle to it, in any case.