What's your story? How'd you end up in a Tacoma?

Long story short, i had a '94 Yota pickup. Loved it and explored a ton of the Sierra Nevada in it. Sept 28, 2014, some idiot took me out on an LA freeway, i flipped but that truck saved my life. So needless to say I'm a dedicated Yota fan. Found the new Taco in Nov and could not be happier!

After the accident

 

I was bitten by the offroad bug while owning a Pathfinder, a good truck, but it just didn’t have the aftermarket support that the Toyotas had.
I had driven my ’90 Pathfinder with 4” Trailmaster lift kit for 10 years and saw the new 4 door Tacoma in 2001 – I had to have it. With a new baby and young family the 4 door fit our needs. The Tacoma being a pickup fit our lifestyle and hobbies of hunting, camping and hauling firewood, etc. better than an SUV.
I bought my truck and have been modding it ever since. At 225K miles it’s still my goto vehicle for offroading, hunting & camping but, if we go on long trips with the whole family (2 teens and my wife) then we use the Tundra for its extra room and more comfortable road ride.
My kids will start driving soon and my Tacoma will be their first vehicle, it has a frame, is armored with stout bumpers front & rear, sliders and mild 3” lift – ready to take a hit for the occupants if necessary.
I’ll drive it until the wheels fall off, then put them back on and keep on truckn’!

 

I had a '95 single cab Nissan hardbody 4x4 p/u with a nice little white lighting bolt on the side and an red ARE top. POS had 5 trannies installed right after 86K in 2001. Nissan would not help out. F**K a lot of Nissan then. Went to talk to a Toyota dealer in Danvers, Massholechusetts. They said come on down to see some Tacomas. I walked around the lot for awhile and nobody came out. I went inside and asked if somebody wanted to sell me a Tacoma...nobody responded. F**K a lot of Danvers Toyota dealership. I called Bernardi and they had a TRD 4dr on the lot ready to roll. I tried the Tundra first because of kids but the Taco was way easier to get the kids in and out of that model year. Test drove it and that was that. Still running it. I was in the middle of outfitting it as an expedition vehicle for my daughter but she wanted a more fuel friendly Honda. So be it. I can drive it for another year and then offer it to her sister. LOL.

 

Toyota was the cheapest priced truck I could find, I could not afford to buy any of the true quality trucks out there so I lowered my standards and bought toyota!

 

A coworker missed the corrosion extension thinking his frame was fine. I scooped up the rusty framed but other wise very nice 04 double cab TRD for $2500 with 130k on it.

I found a clean frame and had it blasted. I painted the frame on a rotisserie made from 2 engine stands I borrowed in and out. Finished painted the bottom of the cab and bed. Rebuilt and restored the entire chassis and added an OME kit.

I now have a mint, frame-off restored 04 TRD SR5 double cab. Nicer than new for 6k total.

I'm going to make A build thread soon. I have a ton of pics. Its an epic one.

 

Was at company which used Tacomas as work together trucks. Each office had 5-6. When miles got up to 150k they were put out to pasture. My two sons each wanted a Tacoma. I bought a couple for $1500. Both sons over 6ft tall said Tacomas were to small and left them sitting in my driveway. Gas prices went above $4 a gal. I was driving an FX4 Ranger at 14 mpg. Sold the Ranger and one of the Tacomas. The Tacomas been across country 6 times and still ready to go.

 

That's funny stuff right there.

 

My brother bought it from a guy I worked with for cheap. Then he had kids so I bought it lol. I'm really to tall for it but I drive it anyways

 

It was August of 2012, and I figured it was high time to get another vehicle. My first car had long since blown up, and my dad was having to take the Civic we shared because his other vehicle was down. I needed reliable transportation. I was looking at all sorts of things- 4th Gen Honda Civics, Ford Rangers, A busted old '88 Ford F-150 that needed injectors, etc. I was about to spring on an $800 '92 Chevy 1500 That had a dented in driver's side door when my boss told me he found the perfect truck for me. I went over to his house, (right across the street) and he showed me a Craigslist ad for a 96 Toyota Tacoma 2wd for $250.
The ad said that the truck did not run- he thought it had a blown head gasket. So me and my best friend went to look at it, and I fell in love. I knew this truck was going to be mine. The guy I bought it from also gave me a tan camper shell, a matched set of old mag rims, and four good tires, so it was a hell of a steal for $250.
We hauled it to my best friend's house, where it sat for a few months before we were able to start working on it. During that time, I lost my job through no fault of my own (though I would later get it back.) So I gathered all my savings, and me and Robert yanked the engine. Found out it was not a blown head- the freeze plug that sits behind the timing chain had popped out, so water was milking the oil- hence why the previous owner thought it had a blown head. Rebuilt the engine, everything short of machine work, and painted the block lime green. Hand polished the valve cover, which took forever! But the result is the best truck in the whole world. I wouldn't trade my Stonewall Jackson in for anything.

The day we brought him home:


Engine:

Present Day:


You can tell which pictures were taken on my old flip phone- they have a black frame around them for some reason, ha ha.

 

It all started with this truck 23 years ago, time flies!



My Dad was stationed at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, and since all his friends had Toyota 4x4's he began to search for one too. My Mom was pregnant with me at the time, so he bought a new 1992 4runner since it would be a better family car. The high cost of the 4runner became too much so he sold it, bought a new car for my Mom, and began looking for a cheaper truck for himself. He found the '91 with low miles and all documentation that another Airman was selling because of deployment. After several days of negotiating he brought the truck home, and it's been with us ever since. He handed me the keys in 2012 with 127k on the odometer. I drove it as my daily until I decided I wanted to keep the miles of it and buy something newer. I picked up a 2004 Tacoma TRD Prerunner last June, and drove it until this past March when I bought a new 2015 Tacoma SR5 Prerunner. After all these years I couldn't imagine driving anything other than a Toyota.

 

Fell in love with Toyota trucks ever since I saw Marty's truck in Back to the Future. I always told myself that I would get a truck like that some day. I always liked the reliability of Tacoma's as well. Last summer my wife's car finally died and I was in a good position to get the truck I wanted. Looked around for a while and pulled the trigger on a 2002 Tacoma access cab 4 cyl 4x4 with only 75k miles on it. The deal was too good to pass up. I couldn't be happier.

 

Wife walked out on me back in 2001 taking both daily drivers with her. My FJ40 Land Cruiser was all I had at the time and I was paying a small fortune each week in gas so I began looking for a new vehicle. I wanted to stay with Toyota and was originally looking to get a T-100 or FJ80 wagon but these were hard to find with low miles. Found this '99 on a Toyota dealer's lot with 1800 miles on it back in 2002. Did not care for the purple at first, I wanted a green one. Low miles plus all the options I wanted at the time were the selling point. The color has grown on me a bit since then, easy to spot in a crowded parking lot. Dependable daily driver for the last 13 years and just now has 137,500 miles on it. Hope to get many more years out of this truck.

 

My best friend asked me to marry him and the deal included a Tacoma. He was very persuasive about how much sense it makes for us to have a truck. I agreed as long as he could make the trunk part waterproof and if we could have one that had front and back seats. We didn't need two cars for now so we sold my car and his older Tacoma and bought a new one (with front seats and back seats). I already loved him so now I'm trying to learn to love his truck .

 

Ended up with my 05 Tacoma after my 96 4Runner motor went out and I was borrowing my dads toyota pickup. Had some money buring a hole in my pocket and never really bought a "new" car. So I started to search around on carmax and found my 05 in Cali. Had only 54000 on it, look brand new. Shipped it over test drove it and bought it that day. Then about 3 weeks later my motor was fix in my 4runner... No regrets

Got my 04 Tacoma after a friends mom rear ended someone pretty bad with no insurance. So them being ladies and no experance or space to fix it. they just wanted some cash. I had some cash and experiance so i took a gamble after a quick look and bought it. Core mounts and core support was trash and so was core fender support. Luckly the frame was not damaged or tweaked. Now I have a 04 Taco Dbl cab 4x4 with locker.

 

Wow, this brought back memories! My opening post from my TW intro thread ... Just realized I've been hanging around this site 5 yrs now. What a great on-line community. Thanks TW ... And of course, the Bob.

 

I've always been a Chevrolet guy since my first one ('98 S-10 ZR2) I've owned numerous Chevy's after that including a '02 ZR2, and three silverado Z71's ('02, 04, 08). I have grown tired being a fanboy and I really had no reason for a V8 anymore so I traded up for my taco... Best decision yet. Love my taco and as long as Toyota makes it I'll be a customer

 

I had 3 Ford Rangers over quite a few years. 2 were purchased new and my last one was a used, low mileage truck. Ford started going backwards in the quality (fit, finish & comfort) on the Rangers. I was attracted to Tacomas, first by their body style & appearance, then secondly by their quality and ease of service. I have no regrets. I really like my Tacoma and there really is no comparison regarding Ford Rangers. I also like the aftermarket equipment and modification potential for the Tacoma.

 

As soon as i have been able to drive i wanted some type of truck. after extensive research on the internet, i decided the Tacoma was the truck for me. Simple, reliable, and fun to drive. I got rid of my car (2006 Volvo S60) and my parent asked me what car i wanted and I said i want a Tacoma. they said ok we'll start looking. next day I get a call from my dad saying he was passing by his old job's (car wholesalers) warehouse and they had a Stock 2002 Tacoma Reg cab White with 73,000 on the odo for $10,0000. It was love at first sight...then my dad being an ex car wholesaler tried convincing me to get a 2005 V6 Frontier 4d with 105,000 on the odo for $5500. I was like fuck that I want the the Tacoma and i got her. Haven't looked back since

 

Back in 2011 I saw a dealership post online for a 2006 4x4 TRD listed at $22,999. Later found out that someone made a mistake posting that price and that it was supposed to be priced at $28,999. They honored the lower price and I brought it home the next day. I think it was meant to be mine!

 

Been driving Toyota trucks for years including an '84 1 ton, an '88 10 foot stake bed, & a '93 pickup. All great trucks I might add! So one day while driving the '93 to work in 2005, I got rear ended on the freeway. The guy didn't really want to contact his insurance about it so he made me an offer to buy the truck. The damage wasn't that bad really, but the truck wasn't in the best of shape anyways with over 150,000 miles on her & dents all over, ( I pretty much bought it that way for $5000 in 1998) so I got $2000 for it. I'd been hunting around for a 4X4 Tacoma for quite some time, but had a tough time finding the one I wanted. At this point, I had never owned a 4x4 before but was really intrested in one. So after searching online for a few days, I came across one that a guy had on Cars.com. It was perfect! Silver 2003 Tacoma DBL Cab 4x4 just like I wanted! Unbelievable! It only had 14,000 miles, all stock, with shell, original owner. Perfect condition! Apparently, he bought it for his dad & it just wasn't right for him. I just so happend to be the first caller on the truck so I told him, I WANT THIS TRUCK! Don't sell it yet! Went to meet him that day, drove it, & fell in love! I can honestly say, this is by far, the best vehicle I have ever owned. Its really been a lot of fun learning off road driving over the years. (That & throwing down some cash for all the other custom stuff like the lift & everything else) Hope it gives me many more years of fun!