30 years of Tacoma...who else was there from the early beginnings

commercial spot from April 1995..

https://youtu.be/y_hEWLPPXxE?si=fdLSYyURZL0AC4aR

time passes and memories fade...
i recall the younger days passing by the local Yota dealership and seeing these hot new sporty pickups showing up on the lot in Spring '95
oh how i was wanting one, my old Yota car from the late '70s was on its last legs
i was just starting out a new OTR gig at $8 per hour, needed a pickup to haul the tools and equipment but could not cover the monthly note on one of these... settled for a slightly used Toyota truck with no AC no Cruise no power anything, all it really had was a AM/FM with cassette deck LoL

anybody else have a story from 3 decades ago

 

30 years of Tacoma? That's like three frames in the North East. My untreated frame is still pretty solid going on close to 12 years.

 

I was born July of '95, so... no.

That said. I was seven years old when my '04 was built. And it's only five years older than the Sienna my mother drove from September 1999 to 2018. Kind of wild to think about how many of these are still on the road all this time later. Posting to follow.

 

how long have you had your '04?

 

November last year. So coming up on six months. Only regret so far is that it's spent a lot of time getting caught up on maintenance and not much on the road.

 

Not quite 30 yrs ago but in 1998 I drove a new PreRunner access cab off the dealer lot. 4 years late I was back and went home in the 2002 that I still have today.

 

Not quite original 1Gen, but Gen1.2, original owner (and usually mechanic) 25 years old and 425K miles. Original 3rz with one head rebuild, same automatic transmission. Happy camper, now senior citizen, that still wrenches here. Enjoy, all y'all

 

Didnt buy it new but loved my 22re/5speed 1987 4 runner, around the mid 90's. Took it wheelin' and plinkin' the Kingman desert area when visiting the inlaws. Father in law owned a Hilux pickup when I met the wife in 1980. Anywhere else in the seirras was open season. Unimaginable 4x4 tales with this rig. Granny low range was a wheeling billy goat but not the best loaded down freeway flyer. Owned many Toyotas since.

We're spoiled here in the west as far as rust. The main arcilies heal, the frame, just isn't usually an issue here in the central valley. Five present day family Toyotas, zero rust.

 

I bought new in 2000, 2007 and 2023. 4th gen will inevitably happen, but not any time soon.

 

do you trade those in for new or keep them in the stable?

 

Sold the first to get the 2nd. Crashed the 2nd. Had a hiatus to Subaru for a bit and back for the 3rd. I’ll stay. Subaru didn’t do it for me. I’m pushing 50, I figure I have 1-2 more Tacomas in me.

 

"Arrival of the fittest" is a great tag line for a new truck line.

 

it really put the Rangers and S-10s of the day to shame how weak those were

as far as i recall Tacoma was not compared to the Dakota because they had a V8 Magnum in there (if memory serves..it was so long ago!)

 

I bought a brand new toyota long bed 5 spd manual 2wd in 1983. They called it a 3/4 ton. I couldn't afford a 4wd despite living in snow country at the time. I drove that fantastic truck with the 22r engine for 19 years. I met my wife and we were both surprised to learn we both drove 1983 pickups. Hers was nicer, with bucket seats rather than a bench, and air conditioning!
Mine eventually kinda rusted out. The engine was still going strong. I had maintained it thoroughly so it gave traditional toyota performance and longevity. The odometer stopped spinning sometime after 400k, so I don't know how many miles it had. A lot.
Hers was t-boned in an accident that bent the frame. It still worked! She drove it to work for quite a while until we got her a car. We still miss both of those trucks.
There wasn't any question we'd replace mine with a 1st gen. It now has 414k, showing a little age, but still great.
I'll try to find photos of our old ones.

 

love it!
Would kill to see pix BTW

keep stories coming!!!

 

It's gonna take some digging to find photos of the old 22r trucks we had. But I'll find some. I now wish I hadn't sold mine. That engine probably went to someone with a truck in better shape body-wise. Or got remanufactured. Same with the transmission which was about flawless after all those miles.

I will say I still remember our mutual grins across the table on our first date when we realized we both drove '83s!

 

Wow (time flies like an arrow fruit flies like a banana)

My first long bed xtracab stick 86 went 235k miles ( suspension sucked) before selling to get a 2004 xtracab
Hit a water laden fast lane at 65 mph with the water puddle spanning the whole lane at a slight bend just enough to get the front end to shift a few inches which resulted in a complete double spin hitting the front end into the guard rail twice ( of course time itself slows down enough to take it all in with emphasis! ) going to work at 4:15am in the morning. Like an idiot I wasn’t too far from home ( 4 miles so decided to get back on the freeway with the left wheel causing a fit so pulled off and took side streets worrying about a leaking radiator )
This portion of 605 fwy in LA was resurfaced right after my crash due to these dips FWIW go figure…,. my insurance had suggested a lawsuit against the city to recoupe loss but time for all this was out of the question and just got reimbursed thru them with no issues

Now I’m into by default 2005 and the 2004 is totaled so purchased the much bigger ( people were pissed they abandoned the small truck format ) 2005 trd OR that went 215k with no oil usage between changes ever and sold it simply for a change. ( their best most reliable 4.0 ever IMO)

Then bought a 2016 tacoma sport that I drove a reliable 94k before trading it in for the 2025 trd OR hybrid

Yep time waits for no man , just time to remember these things

 

the number i want to see if the cost of the truck, maintenance, and repair work to keep in on the road that long. I bet its a number that will make us all wish we would have got one back then and was still driving it today. I image that it was one heck of a return on investment...

 

I had an 86 4runner as a daily driver for 7 years in the 90's it was the last year the top came off. My favorite vehicle besides my taco and also 2 little blue toyota pickup trucks,1 before and 1 after the 4runner. What's funny is I put a 22r JDM engine in one of the trucks in 89. Total success $250 for that engine. Sold it to a buddy to buy 4runner.