Do I need a new Tacoma?

I am the original owner of my 2007 Tacoma with a towing package. Now it has 90,000 miles. I also have a small camper (casita) and I towed 18,000 miles with it, and I’d like to keep the camper as long as I can. My Tacoma is 16 years old, but I never had any mechanical issues. I am not good with getting my hands dirty, but I have a mechanic and he does all the necessary maintenance on time. My Tacoma doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of a modern truck, but I do have Bluetooth and a dashcam with a backup camera. I am thinking of having installed a Front Mount Trailer Hitch Receiver to carry my ebike when I go camping. Some say I should get a new truck. New truck will empty my bank account and will increase the Insurance payments. I would like to get feedback from you, especially If you sold your old and got a new Tacoma. Thank you!

 

No. Keep what you have. If it meets your needs and is documented mechanically sound, no need to get a new truck IMO. Sounds like you have a good reliable mechanic.

 

This might be a dumb question, but are you not able put the e-bike inside the camper while you tow it? Or I sometimes see campers with bike-racks built onto the back of them. Might save you a little field-of-view that mounting it up front would cost you. Sounds like you take good care of the truck and the ability to haul an extra bike would probably not be solved by a new truck, especially if the new one doesn't have a front hitch, either.

 

I was in the same boat with my 98 tacoma, sold it at 17 yrs. My justification was it’s getting older and stuff is starting to need to be replaced. It was a good truck,nothing wrong with it, but my gut feeling was to sell it while it is still 100% and upgrade. First person that looked at it bought it and that made both of us happy.
I didn’t want to have to pay a repair bill in order to resell by holding on to it to long.

 

You need to keep what you have that truck still has 60% of its life ahead of it. Keep the fluids change keep the maintenance up and that truck will last you a very long time even with the camper do not listen to other people

 

You probably have about 200000 more miles of life in your truck,keep it.

 

Just clocked in my 2011 with a little over 130k miles. So far changed 1 wheel bearing and evap core. No plans to get rid of the truck as a matter of fact getting ready to try my hands at putting new suspension under it. No reason to get rid of yours.

 

Keep what you have.

 

Why do you "need" a new truck?

I went from a 2005 to a 2021. I like the new one but I miss the old one. I would've still had it if I didn't get rear ended. I had no intention of selling it.

 

I'd keep what you have.

 

I’d keep it and wouldn’t think about selling it until it got about 250k miles on it.
And that’s only if you continue to tow with it. At 250k, you’re pulling the timing chain pretty hard.
And if you tow like you should, you’re into the 3,000+ rpm range regularly. Not to mention the head gasket are probably going to be “weaker” at 250k.

If you don’t plan to keep towing, keep it until it literally quits running or the frame fails.

You also might invest in a larger ATF cooler if you mount stuff in front of your truck. You’ll be restricting some air flow.

 

Keep it and your bank account!!

 

From someone who has a 2005 Tacoma and a 2022 Tundra, there are negatives to the new, especially if you're and old soul or analog/mechanically minded.
There's much I like about the 22+ Tundra (4th gen Taco will be very similar), but there's also a lot that disappoints or bothers me about it.

I do plan to sell my 2005 Tacoma, but only to drive something older haha, I have a 2004 Sequoia waiting in the wings to replace the Tacoma

If you do sell, you can probably get over $20,000 for it

 

Keep what you have. I traded my 2018 (manual) for a 2023 (automatic), so my wife could drive it. Definitely miss my old truck, and despise my new gearbox - especially on hills

 

Keep looking after it and keep it. 90k miles is really low and that vehicle has a lot of life left in it.

 

No, it is a good question. The company, who built the bike rack doesn’t recommend anyone to carry it behind the trailer. The rack is not RV approved bike rack. If it is RV approved, generally they are heavier. After I checked some comments on a RV forum about the subject, a few recommended me to carry the bike rack in front of my tow vehicle. So I think that’s what I would do. I will get the front hitch receiver and I will keep the truck.

I got 14 responses for my questions and they all said to keep the truck. Thanks again!

 

Thank you all for your positive feedback! I will keep the truck. Have a Blessed day!

 

You might look into tuning it.
It makes a lot of difference for on the automatic trucks.

 

That's really low miles for the year. I would keep it unless you have a specific need that it cannot meet that a new one does.

 

Has anybody said keep it yet?