Absurd values of 1st gens, has it always been this crazy?

I bought my '03 for 17k in April '24. I had been looking for a while. I even bid in a BAT example located down in Texas. The winning bid was in the neighborhood of 23k-25k including taxes fees and transportation. I settled for a ok truck but with a ton of surface rust on the frame. Getting ready to bead blast it, wire wheel it and treat it.

 

interested in how that bead blasting task works

 

Not going to happen. The margins are so much higher in the limited, bloated vehicles that the manufacturers don’t want to try and sell a lot of lower end vehicles to make profits.

Also, there was never an EV Mandate, that’s just a talking point.

 

Never done it, it should be interesting. Thinking of removing the bed and doing the chevy 63 swap around the same time?

 

I white blasted my frame with coal slag, then primed and repainted it. Top pic is after blasting no paint.

Not sure that I would do this job again...

 

Beautiful job tho.

 

Throw my hat in the ring......
Bought low mileage unmolested '01 in 2020 for the grandkids to learn to drive in. Oldest turns 15 in a week, asked for help finding something similar. Is an outdoors kinda kid (too many fishing rods/bows to count), shell would be a plus. After a few month search, found this in California for as reasonable a price as likely to find for unmolested/rust free/accident free version. 289,000 miles raised his Mom's eyebrows. Drove it 1,700+ miles home no issue (other than posteriors). Drivetrain solid, front suspension/steering rack/timing belt/radiator all need major refresh (see punch list) . Mostly OEM parts under $2k. He's learning value of a shop manual/YouTube videos (Timmy's the Man) and sweat equity (mostly his). In the end, he'll be in well under the asking prices for most I've seen for a truck/shell that he'll know well and get tired of long before it fails. Resale bonus points if no accidents/takes care of.
So to the OP's point.....yes, prices on these are high vs. other 25 year old vehicles. But......name anything else this old that you'd want your grandkids driving around in that you'd put this much time/effort in to and likely to keep most/all its value when ready for something else?

 

That looks like a beauty.
2000 or 2001? Looks like a 2000.

 

That headlight style is 98-00, 01-04 had the new grill / hood / headlights / bumper

 

I don't think they're worth that much anymore after the hype of 2020-22 has subsided. A lot of people got them and realized they're pretty much just another old truck, i many cases not really that economical to keep on the road. They also have their own quirks and anachronisms, like the tension-loaded ball joints and valves that tend to burn out on the 4-banger, for instance. Don't get me wrong, they're cool trucks, but I'm not sure they ever deserved "classic" status. It's just a basic pickup from the 90s. I see them sitting for weeks around here unless people are asking around 5k, which is what most of them should be worth given their age.

 

Last summer I was offered $9000 for my 2004 5-lug single cab. It has the 2.4 liter 4 cylinder, 5-speed, and about 72,000 miles. It cost just under $14,000 new so it was tempting, but if I sell it I would need to get something to replace it.

 

Dalandser correct, it's a '99. He/his cousins learned to drive in my '01.

Could be, asking prices have come down from those years but still higher than comparable for other similar age "old trucks". No disagreement entry level would have been lower if found good example nearer your zip code vs. out West. But........funny thing about out West and metro Cali cities in particular. Many tend to be used hard, but a few tend not be used as trucks. Attached is photo of the seller's Toyota stable. Not the typical Tacoma owner I bump into in my neck of the woods.

Hard to see in the thumbnail. 80 series Land Cruiser in the rear, '99 Tacoma and then his wife's FJ in the forefront. The other two were above my paygrade by not an insignificant amount.

 

Well like that's just like your opinion man.

That 90's mini truck vibe, reliability and ease to wrench on keeps the values higher than say a similar era Ranger. New truck nowadays are 50k and higher loaded with technology that's potentially headache inducing.

 

Is headache inducing (when it goes array) and then ultimately falls behind modern tech/updates in 5-8 years time.

 

$5k won't buy you a truck out here in LA, but in and around the Southwest you can score a great deal once in awhile. On the 2nd gen forum there's a guy that bought an abandoned 05 4x4 manual regular cab for $2500 - the deals are out there.

 

Maybe less. Like smart phones older than 4 years stop getting updates.I love my tech-less 1stgen.

 

It's actually reached the point where 1st gens have better tech available than new trucks now that there's a standalone ecu available for them and you can control fuel and timing without fighting the ecu.

 

Tell me more?

 

Im not sure they’re that reliable anymore unless you’ve overhauled the entire truck with OEM or better. They’re just old.

 

Mine has 135k miles, water pump and timing belt done. Getting prepared to rebuild the front end especially the ball joints.

I drove it though death valley last April up Deckacara canyon and Steele Pass with zero problems. Given proper oil changes they are very reliable. Yes the frames were prone to rust. But Toyota addressed that.