Howdy from Southern Oregon

A new member, who is enjoying reading through hundreds of posts. Lots of good ideas here. We bought our 01 Taco AC, 2.4L 5M truck in 2002 with 12K on it. Has 132K now and I still love it. Being a former Chevy salesman, never thought I'd say that but can't retract the statement now and wouldn't want to.

Reason I came here was my wife decided she wants to go camping and fishing, sometimes even overnight (or more!). I don't think she looks like a 60 plus year old grandma who wants to rough it, but so she says....


Our truck has mostly been used to tow 1800 pounds of sailboat, trailer and gear through steep, windy, two-lane mountain passes to nearby lakes. Never a problem. Gotta love them Tacoma's. Even the 4 cylinder kind.


Being a former (long ago) Chevy certified light and medium duty truck specialist, have to admit I cringed reading a few posts in the towing forum, but what the heck. A little variety is always good. Will dispute a few comments I've read about lying car salesmen. No, not that they don't lie, it's just not all of them. And some even know their stuff cold. What surprised me was after having spent ten years in the business, I realized the biggest layers was the customers. Not much more than there are lying car salesmen. Just saying it's close to a dead heat - with the customers leading by a small margin. Just my observation, from long ago.

Now that I've ruffled a few feathers, I'll close with a big "Thank You" to all who share their knowledge and experience here. Smart people. Am looking forward to contributing in my small way, too, and getting to know you.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Thanks Ron. And FWIW to all, I felt badly about the part of my post which sounds cranky. Am recovering from a nasty illness, which gave lots of time to read posts here. Usually during such times I crawl into a hole until well. Didn't follow that self imposed rule this time. As said, I don't know what I can offer beyond tips that people often don't know about when buying from dealerships, plus had experience equipping trucks to do a specific job. Learned during the 80's, but the tips would still apply today and I will be more than happy to share what I learned with anyone.

Ron, we're going to be down your way in a few months. As I recall, Dana Point is fairly close, right? We'll be there for a wedding and are taking a few extra days to look around. Hints and local knowledge for places to see would be welcomed.

 

Is that a Capri 18 or a Precision 18? Looks good whatever.

 

It's the Jim Taylor designed Precision. The transition from primary to secondary buoyancy is so smooth that laying it on its rail went like I had been sailing continuously for years, rather than being only my second sail. Used to sail often in Seattle, but it had been 30 years since helming a boat. Had I not encountered health issues it would still be in our driveway. Even on it's trailer, though, it helped me through my toughest medical problems. I would lean on it's rails and imagine sailing it again. Wasn't to be, so my wife and I found it a nice home with some great folks in Portland, OR.

Sounds like you know sailboats.

 

Yes. Sometimes sailboats and sailing seem like the only things that make sense to me.