ABUSING a tacoma

okay, maybe this is a stupid question.. maybe not.. but I want to know how much ABUSE the 2end generation tacomas can take. how much true abuse can they actually take compared to the old ones. are they stronger and tuffer ? are they weakeR? who knows..?

 

They can take alot of verbal and emotional abuse.

 

I think the guy's name is James, you should ask him.

 

Not as robust as my old 87 Toyota p/u for sure, They are still pretty decent though

 

Had a '86 4 cyl. 4 spd manual...bought new..It was my college car and I beat the tar out of it and it never blinked!

 

Abuse!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiDzmcf6kfQ

 

Zach, I like your sig

 

I got whacked last year by a 16 y/o running a red light at 40 + MPH, took out the entire driver's side bed...didn't bend the frame and able to drive it to the shop to fix....

 

Steering rack, oil pan, and one bent frame later...

 

Weakest truck I have ever owned. I'm going in for Diff repair #4 later this weak. I have never broken any hard parts on a truck. But the locking diff in the TRD Off Road is the Achilles Heel of this truck. As for the rest of it, if it was well built, ie; less rattles, fewer component failures, fewer recurring problems, I would still be pissed. But alas, it squeeks, rattles, and is on blower #3, wiper motor #3, soon to be Ring & Pinion #4.
It's not a real truck, it's a street truck. And in it's 7th year of production, it should be noise and problem free.

 

I'm sorry you feel that way, sounds like you got a lemon. Many haven't experienced any of those problems you listed, but still use the truck as a truck. There will be a bad apple in every bunch.

 

doesnt really help the thread but i saw one guy on here with an indigo ink tacoma. i think it was a 4x4 4cyl. and it was beat to shit but still kickin, ill see if i can find the thread

 

The rattles and squeaks is just something i've gotten accustomed to. As far as the Diff, I dont have the TRD OR model so i dunno.

The soft brakes ive gotten used to also, and same with the truck taking a little longer to crank or it doesnt fire right away, or the sometimes annoying A/C blower, and the stinky A/C in the summer.

But those are easy fixes.
Brakes: Just give your self more stopping distance, and I've had to make a few emergency stops before so I know the brakes are still relatively good, just the brake pedal feels mushy.
Starting: Sometimes letting it sit on "ON" for a few seconds before going to "START" helps.
A/C Blower: Just turn up the radio
A/C Stink: Check the cabin filter, if not just spray Lysol into the air intake vent for the A/C, I did a write up on this last year. (not the engine Air Intake)

Overall i think this is one hell of a truck, I have a friend who's Jeep has been "in the shop" a few times already and its only a few years old, maybe a year or two older than my truck. My truck has never had any major problems, and It's my first car so I'm sold on Toyota Trucks unless I start seeing a crap ton of bad reviews.

 

found it.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/new-members/139757-my-taco-story.html

more pics in OP's gallery

 

Uhhh,yeah..... If you read even a little bit on this site you will see the diff, rusty rear bumper, and blower fan are pervasive issues. Which is a joke considering this truck is in it's seventh year of production. Not even Yugo would tolerate the same problems for 7 years.

 

You forgot weak clutch, lousy bearings, water pumps, and the body being made of tin foil. And sadly these are still the best "small" truck out there.


But if Jeep builds that gladiator pickup my ass will be the first in line!

 

Not super familiar with Zastava products are you? Spent some time around many of them while in the former Soviet state of Yugoslavia which is now commonly refered to as Bosnia and can attest to them all pretty much being crap from the factory with heaps of issues to deal with which is why Bricklin hasn't had the greatest success with the line here in the United States as he desires. NATO coalition forces bombing the factories because their secondary product of weapons may have slowed the production down a wee bit as well. But I digress...

Beacher, I feel that you are aware that any machine that is "abused" may not perform up to certain standards for very long but thankfully our Toyota's have been engineered for the most part to have a longer service life than many other internationally sold brands. Myself, I've owned lots of cars and trucks and of all of the trucks the Toyota's have proven to be the best for me. Your mileage may vary.

 

Ok lets see here, how many folks on here have had their rear diff go bad on them? It's not as common as you make it out to be. For the rusty rear bumper, I know quite a few folks have had this happen, I'm not doubting that, but to say it's a widespread epidemic in the Tacoma's would be stepping to far IMO. Either way, most problems experienced (blower fan, rear suspension leafs, transmission issues, etc.) have a TSB out there for them to get taken care of.

 

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