Where was it built?

My '95 Tacoma has a VIN# beginning with "4". Where was it made? TIA, Stan

 

It should say on the inside of your door. Mine does. Right on the same tag that tells about tire pressure, VIN# etc. It says mine was made in Fremont, CA

 

Years ago I had to travel up and down California and would see truck loads of Tacoma beds and tailgates being hauled from somewhere in SoCal to Freemont where the rest of the truck was put together. I never figured out why other than to employ workers over a larger area.

 

My 06 & 04 Tacomas were both built at that plant. I had a 99 Tacoma but never paid attention to look where that one was built.

 

I believe all 1st gens were made in California.

 

4 = USA built
4N = NUMMI

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2013/12/toyota-celebrates-10-years-in-mexico.html
^^^ From this article:

 

I was doing a search for something else & ran across a thread in the 3rd gen forum which showed, I think, 2, 4, or 5 being US built with 5 being San Antonio, TX. They didn't say what the other numbers meant, so was just wondering if anyone on here knows. Of course, I can't find the thread again! There is no place of manufacture shown on the door sticker.

 

According to wikibooks (Toyotas after 1996):

VIN position 1 shows country of origin : 4 means USA
VIN position 2 shows Manufacturer : T means Toyota
VIN position 3 shows vehicle type : A means Truck
VIN position 11 shows plant: Z means NUMMI (Fremont, CA)

This represents my '99

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Vehic...VIN_codes)/Toyota/VIN_Codes#Country_of_origin

 

I believe all first gens were built in Fremont, CA. The 2nd gens got built in Texas and Mexico.

I'm all about supporting American jobs, but the fact remains, Japan built Toyotas are of much higher quality. Owning both generations, I've noticed that 1st gen build quality is better than 2nd gen.

 

All 1st gen Tacomas (even some 2nd gen if I recall correctly) came out of the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California. I got my Tacoma from my dad. Toyota actually gifted it to his company (automotive body panel mold manufacturer) for appreciation of his work with the assembly of the very first Tacomas produced back in the early 90's. Chances are if you drive a 1st Gen Tacoma (and other Toyota made cars), most of its body panels were a result of my dad's company.

When the economy went belly up in '08, NUMMI wasn't doing to well, and it resulted in its eventual closure in 2010. Tesla actually now currently occupies the NUMMI factory Toyota and General Motors once used. It's kind of crazy to drive by the factory where your car was assembled almost everyday. It's on I-880 towards San Jose on the side of the interstate, you can't miss it. It's absolutely huge.

The whole story of NUMMI is really damn interesting actually. NUMMI was a joint venture with General Motors. Back in the 80's and 90's, GM vehicles produced here in the U.S. were notorious for their shoddy build quality, and their bad factory craftsmanship. GM representatives went to Japan to observe in the ways of Toyota manufacturing, and they discovered how much quality and pride went in to assembling Toyota vehicles compared to GM. Toyota was creating more quality vehicles at a lower cost than GM was. It was created as joint venture to adopt the Toyota mindset, thus creating NUMMI and improving quality of GM car manufacturing.

If you have the time, This American Life had a really interesting segment on the history of NUMMI and how Toyota set the standards for U.S. car manufacturing nationwide. I highly recommend you check it out.

 

Cool article. Interesting how my positions 3 and 4 on the VIN for my double cab are E and H which label it as a multipurpose passenger vehicle/4 door wagon.

 

They were all assembled in the USA or were all the parts manufactured over here? It's kind of cool seeing the "Made in the USA" on my headlights. ha

 

Looks like it was made in California. Thanks all.

 

I noticed the same thing when I went from my '86 4x4 (Japan) to my '98, the '86 was built much better.

 

Yep, they have much higher working standards in Japan though. The job market's very competitive in Japan with so many people and it's not like here if you screw up, you can walk away and find another job pretty easily and be alright. You screw up and lose a good job in Japan, your reputation is ruined and it can be very difficult or impossible to get hired again so those guys take their work very seriously if they wanna eat and have a roof over their head. Their government doesn't give handouts to them if they're out of work, either.

 

Mine is 4TAWN. It's a 98.