1st Gen DELUXE Owners

https://www.toyota.com/owners/

 

Sort of, Toyota sold the precursor to the Tacoma up through 1995. They released the new Tacoma as its replacement mid-year of 1995, hence the 1995.5 designation Toyota gave these trucks. This complexity I believe caused many websites to ignore the 1995 Tacoma as an option in their filters, instead only including 96-04. And to avoid 1995 Toyota Pickup owners from getting confused. The 96-04 tag also can get thrown into individual part descriptions on Amazon or Ebay, when they should be tagged 95-04.
Examples: https://www.srqfabrications.com/collections/1st-gen-tacoma-1996-2004
https://camburg.com/vehicles/96-04-tacoma/
Don't even have to click it just look in the URL.

When I said "The trim levels are the same" I meant that they can be treated in the same 'way' I treat selecting a 96 instead of a 95. That 'way' being that in nearly all circumstances it does not matter. Can I say to complete certainty that it is infallibly accurate that all 95s share the exact same parts as 96-97? No. To my knowledge there is a single part, of which I cannot remember because it is insignificant and has never affected me, that is different on a 95 vs the rest of these intra-generational model years (95-97). What I can say, with infallible accuracy, is that for 99 parts out of a 100 they will be the same.

Again, my point in bringing up the model year issue I've dealt with is that at the end of the day as long as you get parts that fit and function correctly, it doesn't matter what you tell the website you have. Now, sometimes you may not know the exact part you need, and it can be difficult to find when a websites search function isn't perfectly calibrated to the intricacies of Tacoma trim packages. But there isn't one that is, that's just how it is. Toyota dealers, Autozone, Ebay, Amazon, all have the ability to guide me towards the wrong part, and do regularly, you just need to be smarter than the websites filters.

What is important, and I'm sure looking through all the brochures and reading comments you've learned it, is to know exactly what your truck has that others may not, or what you are missing that others may have. You'll never be able to select your trim package and have infallibly accurate results. You just need to know where a part might differ, whether it be a grill for a 01 instead of a 00, or a power window switch instead of a manual window crank. Selecting Base instead of DLX isn't going to save me or you from buying an ABS module for a truck that it isn't equipped for.

 

haha

I am stuck in a loop, it keeps telling me to "Recheck and reenter your VIN," endlessly. You may be right in that it doesn't go all that far back. Wonder if others have had the same problem?

I DID recheck the VIN and it is the same one I have been using successfully on many websites that deal Toyota parts.

 

@time623, you are beating me with my own game. . . You left nothing for me to disagree with.

Here's an example of a related issue. I took my transmission out to be able to replace the Rear Main Seal, done. Now, since the transmission is out, I have been searching for clutch parts, at first hoping to stick with Toyota parts. Well, that isn't going to happen. First, the clutch parts that came out of the truck were made by LUK, the disc as well as the cover (pressure plate). The LUK disc is still available from Toyota (Amazing, huh!). However, the LUK cover has been DISCONTINUED. They do, however, suggest an AISIN cover -84 part (-84 meaning remanufactured) and one place said they still had one of those still in stock i.e., 31210-30240-84 AISIN cover replacing the original LUK cover. However, in a side-dicussion, I was cautioned to be sure and replace both the cover and disc with products made by the same manufacturer because they were more likely to have tested their products together, so hopefully they will work together ok in my truck.

I used the nice diagrams on PartSuq.com (and Amayama.com) to find part numbers for what I need. Those diagrams are brought up by inputting my VIN and then selecting the truck's TRIM LEVEL (RZN140L-TRMDKAB). Then, once I have THE actual set of parts exploded diagrams that fit my vehicle's trim level, I can drill down to find the part I know I need just by recognition of the part in its relationship with the other related parts, visually, slick! 2000 Tacoma. . . the parts diagram is there, it is correct, but when you select a part you want to consider, it may or may not be in their stock (it's a 24 yo truck!). Sometimes you click on a part and it will come back saying that nothing came back from that request, and I mean NOTHING, as if that part was never made. Or it will come up with two, or more, parts to select from. In my case the clutch cover click produced two Toyota parts that served that function, one from LUK and the other from ASIN. Then I selected each one in sequence to find some of the information I spoke of in the last paragraph. Of course, that isn't the only source I have scoured before making those statements. I have visited many websites to get to where I know as much about those parts as I currently do. Also at PartSuq.com there are SUBSTITUTION Toyota parts, and SUBSTITUTIONS of SUBSTITUTION Toyota parts. And, when you look closely at each of the substitution parts, you frequently find that they do not fit your vehicle, based on its VIN!

And all along, there are AISIN and LUK aftermarket clutch KITS, available say at RockAuto, along with a dozen other clutch makers. Eventually you begin to think it won't matter so much whose clutch KIT you buy if the manufacturer is a Tier 1 manufacturer in the auto parts industry selling to the OEMs. But, do you really know? I would say that I have gone down a few rabbit holes, but what you just said is, I think, pretty much the same way I approach searching for parts for my Tacoma. I don't expect infallability when parts are suggested, because I know how hard it is to be that good (lucky) when searching.

You had the same problems I have had, only you had it a little worse, I should think, because of the added (small) uncertainty of using the next year's model. Thanks for taking the time to explain all that.

 

King's X This eBay fix has been removed, and we are back to square 1. Sorry for getting anyone's hopes up.

Langing

UPDATE TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2024:

Ebay now seems to be working again. The Exedy clutch kit that I had experimented with now says it will FIT in both the BASE and DELUXE trims.

Ok, it was fixed, then not fixed, and finally fixed. What else can I tell you?

Langing




FIRST IMPORTANT RESULT

Success! Sometimes diligence does pay off. It wasn't easy, but I was finally able to get eBay to fix the software problem I discovered in their vehicle fitment software. What problem? Let me call it the BASE/DELUXE fitment problem.

Before the problem was fixed, I had made up two equivalent 2000 Tacomas in MY GARAGE, one denoted BASE and the other denoted DELUXE. Then I checked an EXEDY KTY13 clutch kit, and eBay would say that this clutch kit would fit my BASE Tacoma, but would NOT FIT my DELUXE Tacoma.

That could not have been correct because nothing in the Trim Level (or OPTIONS) could have made whatever clutch fit one Trim Level not fit another. Remember: The clutch kit parts are all installed outboard the flywheel and inside the bell housing. Further reasoning, I had found the EXEDY KTY13 clutch kit while looking for clutch replacement parts on RockAuto.com, and when I had input vehicle identification information at RockAuto.com, the Trim Level (BASE/DELUXE) was never asked for. RockAuto would say, if they could be asked, that the EXEDY KTY13 clutch kit fits both the 2000 BASE and DELUXE Tacomas.

For those who wrote off all website fitment software as being unable to deal with the sloppily defined (by Toyota) Trim Levels, so fell back onto a default, you should go check eBay using your own vehicle and see if a part that you know fits your truck, fits according to the eBay part fitment software. If it doesn't fit, please let me know. I would be surprised to receive such a notification, but know that one fix to a piece of software can sometimes have "side effects"! In this case, the software should be rather simple and straight forward, unlike an iOS update, say.


SECOND IMPORTANT RESULT

Then, there is another useful finding that I came upon that might help some others on TW, and I want to report that also as a success!

Every car or truck owner should be aware that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the people who standardized the VIN for vehicle identification back in 1981, has an excellent VIN decoder they should use and print out the 9 pages of results. There exist many VIN decoders already, so why use this one? The answer goes to the laws that directed NHTSA to develop and standardize the VIN to be able to keep track of each and every vehicle that exists in the USA, as a UNIQUE entity. Their goal was to provide a VIN that would not allow any two vehicles driving within the US to have the same identification number. As a result, every vehicle manufacturer must submit a standardized form all filled out BEFORE beginning to manufacture a vehicle. The VIN tells you a lot about your vehicle, but only what was told to the US government before they made your vehicle. When you utilize the NHTSA decoder, you get the raw information, of course along with a super load of missing information, useful for other manufacturers to develop the VINs needed to produce their products. This is especially useful when it comes to the TRIM I was talking about above, BASE vs DELUX. Check it out at.

https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder/





RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT INFORMATION COLLECTED WHILE STUDYING THE ISSUES

The following is not being recommeded for you to read. I am only leaving it here in case someone has an interest in a deeper exploration of the subjects, plus I hate erasing so much information that I have laboriously typed into the comment page, in case there might be something useful there. I am not even going to reread it to make sure it is correct because of the amount of time it would take me. If someone would like to take issue on some of my reasonings (logic, conjectures, imaginings, guesses) they find below, that is ok too. I am pretty sure most members of TW who could care less. And that is ok with me. The important things are up above.

BEGIN

Addressing the main point made by @time623, with empathy, and I apologize for having taken so long. @time623 claims, reasonably, that "it can be difficult to find when a website search function isn't perfectly calibrated to the intricacies of Tacoma trim packages. But there isn't one that is, that's just how it is. Toyota dealers, Autozone, Ebay, Amazon, all have the ability to guide me towards the wrong part, and do regularaly, you just need to be smarter than the websites filters." I trust that what I have to say will be offering him some help with this situation.

When you enter your VIN and/or other descriptive vehicle identifying info at a seller's website when searching for a replacement part that fits your Tacoma, the website owner uses the information you entered to determine whether or not the part you have selected will be an EXACT FIT for your tacoma. It is much like shopping at one of the auto part stores, where you just tell them what part you need, along with the make (Toyota), model (Tacoma), model (year), engine displacement, and perhaps its model number, the drive type and perhaps the trim of the vehicle you need the part for, and they almost immediately can tell you that they do or do not have a replacement part in stock that they guarantee will fit your vehicle. Trust them?

The essential thing all these transactions need, for them to be seller quick and customer satisfying, is accurate information about your vehicle. VIN based transactions should transmit accurate information as quickly as anyone could want, as long as the seller can decode the VIN quickly and accurately. So, if you are visiting a Toyota parts seller, you could reasonably expect that if you enter your VIN, it will be decoded accurately. That may or may not be true of other smaller websites.

EBay is a non-VIN based very large website, and when entering vehicle specific information when shopping for parts that eBay will guarantee that FIT, eBay asks the customer a sometimes confusing question. "Is your Tacoma a BASE or a DELUXE version?" That answer seems elusive, hard to know for sure. Even Google is little help. But I have discovered that if you get a proper decoding of your VIN using the VIN decoder on the NHTSA website, you will be able to answer eBay's question with certainty (well for me it is certain because my decoding, using that site, told me that my Trim is DELUXE). Since my Tacoma is not BASE, I cannot be absolutely certain about this, yet I do believe that there exists a 1st Gen Tacoma owner whose NHTSA VIN decode will tell that their Trim is BASE. And if someone who does have a BASE Trim Tacoma would be so kind as to go to that NHTSA decoder and let me know that the NHTSA decoder says their Trim is BASE, that one sample is all I need to prove that I am right, which, in turn, will give everyone on TW who shops at eBay a definite way to answer eBay's BASE vs DELUXE question. I would consider that a big step forward. Why would it be a big step?

Illustrative example:

At eBay I entered my 2000 Tacoma 4x2 Regular Cab pickup as two separate vehicles in the same garage, one answering the question with BASE and the other answering the question with DELUXE.

First, I selected my BASE Tacoma as my comparison vehicle, and then a product to check fitment. The product was an Exedy OE Replacement Clutch Kit for Toyota Tacoma 2.4L 2RZ-FE 1995-2000 KTY13 US $164.00

My tacoma showed as:
2000 Toyota Tacoma
Base Standard Cab Pickup 2-Door
2.4L 2438CC I4 GAS DOHC Naturally Aspirated

eBay said: "This item fits! Important Fitment Notes: RWD Read More (when I clicked on Read More it said Fitment Details and then what it first said, redundant)

Then I pulled out my second vehicle, the DELUXE Tacoma with all the same details of the BASE one to compare with the same product. My Tacoma showed up as exactly the same vehicle information, except that it was said to be DELUXE.

eBay said: "This item doesn't fit Find parts that will (when I clicked on that, up came a long list of different parts that supposedly would fit)

The reason that I had selected that Exedy OE Replacement Clutch Kit was that I had found it on RockAuto as a clutch kit guaranteed to fit my 2000 Tacoma, so I thought that it surely fits my Tacoma. Imagine my surprise, when I found that it did not fit my Tacoma during this test! Well, on my first pass, back when I didn't know there was a problem with BASE vs DELUXE, I believed that I had entered my Tacoma as BASE, because I then considered my Tacoma to be a lowest level "no frills" pickup (forgeting that it has A/C and Power Steering, so not thinking of the manufacturing issues).

NOW I KNOW THAT EBAY BELIEVES THAT MY DELUXE TACOMA CANNOT USE THAT CLUTCH KIT! Or, can it? How will I determine the truth in this case?

RockAuto is a pretty reliable auto parts seller, and they think differently from eBay on this issue. They say that Exedy clutch kit will fit my Tacoma.

Let me explain what information is input in order to tell them what they needed to know to select that Exedy clutch kit and say it fits my vehicle. They have selection tree when you first enter their website. First thing you do is select TOYOTA, then the Model Year: 2000, then the Model: Tacoma, then the engine information: 2.4L L4, then they present a long list of items that are systems and subsystems of the vehicle and I selected Transmission-Manual, then finally there is another list, from which I selected Clutch Kit, and then it displays all of the clutch kits they think fit my vehicle, among which is the Exedy KTY13.

What RockAuto doesn't seem to need is the Trim = DELUXE or Trim = BASE information, exactly what eBay needed to tell me that the Exedy KTY13 would NOT FIT my DELUXE tacoma.

In what follows, I develop a theory about what Toyota might have meant by the terms BASE and DELUXE. Basically it has to do with whether or not it has installed OPTIONS. With no OPTIONS installed, BASE, with any OPTION installed, DELUXE. It is just a theory at this point, nothing has been proven. But, it could explain the reaction stated by @Tartan Jack as well as my own reaction to learning that his Tacoma is identified as being DELUXE, when to my eyes there was nothing at all DELUXE about my truck. It was only when I thought of what is involved in installing, say the whole Air Conditioning system as an OPTION that I began thinking differently. The Air Conditioning system has numerous parts, some in the engine compartment, one outboard the radiator, tubing that goes through the firewall, an evaporator that fits inside the HVAC equipment located way down in the middle of the dashboard. That being true, it would be good to know that if someone is looking for a part that fits, they at least should take into consideration the possible interference of other parts.

Even so, the clutch kit sits inside the transmission bell housing. It attaches to the flywheel which is bolted onto the end of the crankshaft. It is attached to the transmission via a shaft that comes out of the transmission and goes through the parts of the clutch kit and then into a hole i the flywheel. There is no OPTION whose installation could possibly change the way that the clutch fits into place.

My conclusion is that eBay is incorrect, not RockAuto.

For educational purposes, let me now look into what a VIN actually is, where it came from, how it is constructed, anything that might help better understand the VIN.

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is a system for identifying vehicles. It is also called a chassis number or frame number, and is a UNIQUE code that includes a SERIAL NUMBER, and is used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motocycles, scooters, and mopeds, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in ISO 3779 (for VIN content and structure) and ISO 4030 (for VIN location in and attachment to the vehicle). There are vehicle history services in several countries that help potential car owners use VINs to find vehicles that are defective or have been written off.

The United States government National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA) first required vehicle identification numbers (VINs) in 1954, when they asked the auto makers to come up with a new standardized numbering system to identify vehicles. Before 1954, most manufacturers, along with most states, used engine numbers as the official "vehicle number," and to register and title cars, trucks, and motorcycles. The VIN format was first standardized in 1981 by the NTHSA. It required all on-road vehicles sold to contain a 17-character VIN, which does not include the letters O (0), I (i), and Q (q), to avoid confusion with the numerals 1, 1, and 9. Among the 17-characters is one that is called a "control digit." The character in this character position, is a letter generated by a mathematical calculation that verifies that the VIN is legitimate. There are at least four competing standards that define this "control digit" calculation (FMVSS 115, Part 565 in the US and Canada; ISO 3779, Europe and many other parts of the world; SAE J853, similar to the ISO standard; ADR 61/2, Australia, referring to the ISO standards).

In North America, the first three characters of the 17-character VIN are the "World Manufacturer Identifier," the next 5 characters (positions 4-8) code "vehicle descriptor," followed by the character at position #9, is the "Check Digit" mentioned above. Position #10 is the Model year, position #11 is the Plant code. The last six characters are numerics that code the serial number of the vehicle, assigned sequentially as each vehicle is produced. [from Wikipedia]

I trust that some member(s) of TW might find this useful. I believe I am closer to understanding why, in order that they be able to correctly check the fitment of parts to your vehicles, eBay asks the question whether your Tacoma is BASE or DELUXE. Their system is not arbitrary and capricious, nor is it irrational. The answer to the question goes to how Toyota coded the VIN attached to the truck you are driving. To see this, you need to start by going to a website run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,

https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder/

Once there, input your vehicle's VIN, and then take a look at the information that their VIN Decoder has output. There will be about 9 full pages. The parameters that were utilized by Toyota to create the VIN for your truck and were supplied to the government (NHTSA) BEFORE they built your Tacoma are all in those 9 pages. You should also take a serious look at all of the possible information that could have been input by Toyota by scanning all nine pages, to see the full range of parameters that any given automobile manufacturer might be permitted to use when they code their VINs (not always true). After that, you will only be interested in the parameters that apply just to your Tacoma. And for the eBay purpose, you need just one.

In Particular, you will be interested in the parameter under the category GENERAL called "Trim." In my case Trim has the value DELUXE. If I use eBay and want their fitment decisions to be correct, I need to tell them that my Tacoma is considered (by Toyota) to be DELUXE, no matter whether I happen to think that my Tacoma is just "no frills," no matter how many manual functions I might have in my truck's cab: manual roll-up windows, manual locks, manual control of the outside mirror directions, etc. That isn't what Toyota went by in deciding to call your Tacoma DELUXE. I strongly believe that Toyota considers a Tacoma DELUXE whenever an OPTION that you buy effected the assembly of your vehicle during the manufacturing process that built your vehicle. The OPTIONS that require installation at the factory would be those such as:

• P215/70R14 tires on aluminum alloy wheels
• Power Steering,
• Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS),
• Reclining fabric bucket seats with center console and adjustable headrests,
• Defroster-linked CFC-free air conditioning,
• Tilt steering wheel
• Tachometer
• AM/FM ETR with 2 speakers
• AM/FM ETR/Cassette with 2 speakers

In the 2000 Toyota Tacoma sales brochure, that list of OPTIONS was called ADDITIONAL OPTIONS and that list appeared fairly far down the brochue write-up. That is to say, in addition to the OPTION PACKAGES FOR THE 4X2 Regular Cab. And, if you think about that earlier in the brochure set of OPTIONS, they also could all be executed at the factory as well as the ADDITIONAL OPTIONS. Just consider the "Convience Package." It is comprised of:

• Tilt steering wheel,
• Tachometer,
• LCD twin tripmeter,
• Digital quartz clock,
• Lighting Package.

In fact, it would be most efficient for Toyota's mass production facility to incorporate all of those OPTIONS into the truck as they are baing assembled, before they shipped the vehicle to your local dealer. And, I imagine you have heard owners tell you, there are times when a customer has been asked to wait a short period of time, while "we have to look around the country to find that model Tacoma in that color that has exactly those OPTIONS," before the customer's NEW TACOMA will arrive, in which case even certain lesser OPTIONS (those much easier to install) might have been phoned to the factory after a customer has signed away his first born, to have them installed on one of the vehicles currently on the manufacturing line, one that already had the harder to install OPTIONS, a variety of them, that required assembly installation while the vehicle was on the line. I am certain that production plays a game of chance during the production year for any vehicle model, regarding OPTIONS as well as the options that are predicted to be the biggest sellers.

To finish this introduction, as a consequence of what was said above, the Tacomas that Toyota would have documented in their VIN as BASE, would be those vehicles that would come through the assembly line at the lowest common denominator of OPTIONS, namely with ONLY the list of STANDARD FEATURES as spelled out in the sales brochure, listed for each of the 10 different versions of the 2000 Tacoma. Here is the list of 4x2 Regular Cab Standard Features advertized for my 2000 Tacoma:



It actually came with Power Steering, A/C, and AM/FM ETC plus Cassette and 2 Speakers, items that would have required changes done while the truck was on the assembly line, meaning that it would have been on the line as one of the number of different final vehicles started that were predicted to have been needed by the sales team, because it would have exactly those options, and that is why they called it a DELUXE model, because OPTIONS were installed at the factory. That's how they knew how to code up the VIN, needed PRIOR to assembly.

If it came through the assembly line built according to the 2000 4x2 Regular Cab Standard Features, without any OPTIONS, Toyota would have had a VIN for it that declared it BASE. That is my opinion, which is not necessarily the truth.



Today, as an experiment, I began to search for Toyota, and other, websites that let you identify your vehicle by inputting your VIN, to see how they generally react to my VIN .

autoparts.toyota.com

Entered my VIN. They came back with Year: 2000, Model: TACOMA, Trim Level: Standard Regular Cab, Driveline: 2WD 2.4L L4 5MT.

Summary: Cumbersome to use this site for looking for a part unless you already know its Toyota part number. There are no photographs of parts, which I consider a severe limitation. The worst thing I discovered was that this site can (and did) serve up parts they say are EXACT FITS to my vehicle, when those parts are not ever found on my Tacoma, based on my VIN. 2 examples: Rear Wiper, Running Boards. Basically, you have to know the name of a part grouping wherein your part sits, and select that grouping from a long list that autoparts.toyota.com has running down the left-hand side of their web page. Other than those things, it looks like the parts are accurate and their subsitutions can automatically come up saying "Latest Version."

Another example where a photo, or a better detailed description, would have been useful is "Gasket Kit, Manual Transmission Toyota 04331-35260 MSRP $37.21 EXACT FIT." Maybe that just shows their bias against DIY?


ToyoDIY.com

Entered my VIN. It came back with a bunch of information. That information said the truck is a GRADE = DLX (DELUXE) Type, CABIN = Regular Cab. It produced a "Model code" RZN140L-TRMDKAB, where the RZN140L = FRAME, and TRMDKAB could possibly be translated as Trim Level is DELUXE Cabin. Then, cutting short this visit to ToyoDIY.com, I found a better way to bring this search to a conclusion. That is next.




NHTSA’s VIN Decoder (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder/Decoder

This seems to be a pretty nice VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) decoder that can be used for free. I did that on that website by typing in my VIN and date of manufacture (2000), and this is what I discovered.

First, and foremost, you must know that the NHTSA, the agency responsible for the VIN, says all the information contained in yourTacoma's VIN is supplied by the automobile manufacturer, here Toyota, to NHTSA in what is called the "Part 565 submittal," referring to that part of the Federal Code of Regulations (CFR) Title 49. Part 565 is titled VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (VIN) REQUIREMENTS. That's very important to understand, as an NHTSA VIN decode of your VIN will attest. For example, when I decoded my VIN using the NHTSA website the output was 9 pages of content, but that output looked like a sparsely populated database, with the hard factual information spread thinly throughout the designated lines that comprise 9 pages. Just remember that the information that is "coded" into the VIN plate affixed to your vehicle, was put in by Toyota, and Toyota used the coded VIN to make the VIN plate (or whatever it is called) they attached to your vehicle. When the decoding of your VIN says that the TRIM is DELUXE, it was Toyota that coded that into your VIN.

Second, it might help if I tell you that the decode of my VIN had nothing to say about whether it had A/C, power steering, or ABS, or anything that seemed to me to relate to the ADDITIONAL OPTIONS that you select at the dealer when buying your vehicle. Obviously, all of those OPTIONS had to have been built into the vehicle during the manufacturing process, so their absence in the output of the VIN decode doesn't necessisarily say they are absent.

The "Part 565 Submittal" by the manufacturer to NHTSA is done in a form developed by the NHTSA. That form has spaces for information coming from all vehicle manufacturers, so that is why it looks so sparse when you get your VIN decoded at the NHTSA website. They had to prepare for all eventualities that could possibly come from any manufacturer, to the best of their ability. The manufacturer has a lot of room there to define each unique vehicle they plan to produce.

My VIN decode starts out like this:






NOTICE: Series: RZN140L (ToyoDIY.com decoded my VIN saying that. . . Frame: RZN140L = Series: RZN140L )
Trim: DELUXE

Toyota provided that (part 565 submittal) information to the US NHTSA long before you bought your Tacoma. I repeat so that it sinks in, Toyota had defined the Trim Level of your Tacoma as DELUXE before it came off the assembly line, and before any (dealer installed?) OPTIONS were installed! My VIN decode, which included the information identifying my trim as DELUXE was encoded in the VIN that identifies my Tacoma before it left the factory. The part 565 submittal is where that information is reported to the government, so it can handle things like recalls. Remember the variety of OPTIONS you could select from when you bought your truck? Were they already installed in the truck as it came off the assembly line? Or, did the dealer install them after you chose the OPTIONS you most wanted? They are likely handled both ways, since, say, an upgrade to the wheels might be something the dealer's techs could take care of. But, dealer techs could not be responsible for installing the whole A/C system, right?

Question: At what point does a car get a VIN?

Answer: The VIN is the "code" that identifies exactly how the vehicle become "as built" - so it exists prior to assembly taking place. As soon as the "frame" starts the assembly process of a car, the VIN is attached to that frame. From that point on the vehicle is UNIQUE. [Jul 26, 2022 https://rennlist.com > forums > 131. . .]

Question: What does a VIN tell you about a car?

Answer: The VIN number [redundant] tells you when and where the car was built. It tells you the manufacturer, year, make and model, and the trim level, including unique features and specifications. Your car's VIN number [redundant] can be used to track recalls, registrations, warrantee claims, thefts and insurance coverage. [https://www.lithia.com > research How to Decode your Cars VIN Number -- Lithia Motors]

Interesting statement from the CFR, "The VINs of any two vehicles manufactured within a 30-year period shall not be identical." (from 49 CFR 565)

The next page of output:


Again NOTE: Series: RZN140L Trim: DELUXE

And the next page of decode output: