How long will you keep your Tacoma?

Happy birthday to your son
Happy birthday to your son
Happy birthday to your, son
Happy birthday to him

 

I'm keeping mine until either I die, my eventual firstborn is old enough to drive, or it's more expensive to maintain/repair than it is to replace it with a brand new one. Whichever comes last.

2003 DCSB with 192k miles.

 

I just sold my 98 T-100 to my brother this past weekend. It had 265,000 miles on it and I just changed the timing belt and water pump for the third time as a 90,000 mile PM. His oldest son drove it back to Des Moines from southern Illinois. I bought it in 2001. My youngest daughter was two when we got it and she drove it to high school for he past four years. She was heart broken when it rolled out of the driveway. She's at The University of Kentucky now but was home for the weekend.
She says I traded 'Old Faithful' for a trophy wife, my 2014 TRD Off Road.
That old T was a good truck. It has all new brakes, bearings, lower control arm bushings, injectors, blah, blah, blah. I just wanted the new Tacoma because it has rack-n-pinion steering, progressive rate coils up front, extra skid plates, a locking rear differential and just a lot of newer technology.
I'll keep my Tacoma as long as I did the T. I like doing all of my own maintenance and this truck appears to be pretty easy to work on as well.
I'll have it for at least ten years. By then, I'll be 62. My dad is 85 and was replacing a set of rocker panels for an old friend on an old Chevy pickup last year. I'll probably be that same old guy.
As long as the technology in this Tacoma isn't too old and I can work on it, I'll keep it.

I love the damned thing.

 

Great story

 

Thanks Man!

 

Bought it used, and waiting for the frame to rot enough to get a new one.

 

Until the cows come home. (I don’t have any cows)

 

i just sold my 2001 toyota celica gt, iy had 277,000 miles and i still got 800 bones for alittle walkin around money. lol

 

My 10yr old daughter has laid claim to the Tacoma. So I have another 6 good years with it. My 8yr old son has no interest,said he wants a Ram. Gonna set him out by the curb for pickup.

 

Ram like this?

 

You know the Greek already tried. I’d wear a helmet and long pants though.

 

Damn, this sounds like me!.....good to know that there are others out there that kinda think alike.

 

Wow, had almost 250 people vote in! thanks guys. Thats a pretty good sample of the TW crowd!

 

Until the head gasket blows between #4 and#6 cylinders.

 

I've always said "I will drive this truck until the wheels fall off." This is my first Toyota vehicle and I just love this truck. But now thinking more realistically about the question, I might sell it if I stop riding dirt bikes and also stop going camping... I just won't need a pickup anymore. BTW, I did not originally set out looking for a Tacoma. I owned a Mazda B2000 pickup before, total beater but it worked, and I was finally ready for an upgrade from the B2000. I definitely needed a pickup for dirt bikes and camping gear, mostly. Then I thought of the legendary reliability of Toyota pickups, and I could afford a decent one. So I shopped around and ended up with my current truck, 2006 4-cylinder automatic access cab 5-lug (2wd). It is pretty gutless, but again my priorities are reliability, then safety, then fuel economy. It suits my current needs perfectly.

 

I am going to drive and keep mine for as long as I can. I am willing to spend the $$$$ to keep it on the road even if something major fails like an engine or trans. I have finally found something I am willing and wanting to keep for a long long time. In my 20 yrs of driving I've had over 50 vehicles if that tells you anything. I think this truck is the perfect compromise from me in everything that I need and want. If anything I'll be increasing the stable again one day.

 

I bought my first Taco, a 2007 White PreRunner Sport Access Cab V6/auto, in Feb 2009 with exactly 30,000 miles on the odometer as I drove it off the lot. On June 23, 2017 with 142,639 I was rear-ended on a Houston freeway and shoved into the car in front of me which was then shoved into the truck in front of it. Geico insured the driver that hit me and they totaled my Taco. Since about 95K miles it had an unpredictable power drop which I knew how to manage but I feared anyone else driving my truck. Likely it was a bad spot on the gas pedal input to the engine management computer. Other than the random power drop-off while accelerating, that was a runnin' Taco and for me it was right. It was with mixed feelings that I handed over the keys and signed over the title.

Initially I couldn't afford to go out and get another, Geico wasn't all that generous.

But I didn't give-up looking. On Sept 11 last I found just the right replacement Taco on, of all places, eBay. I put in my best price bid with 7 seconds remaining and 7 seconds later the truck was mine. A 2007 metallic Red PreRunner SR5 Access Cab V6/auto with 28,012 miles that had been owned by an older gentleman who drove the truck on weekends to box stores and nurseries and lived about 5 miles from me in Houston. The week before the ebay listing the truck's original tires were replaced and a new battery was dropped-in. The truck was always kept in a garage. From 10 feet it looks new, likewise for the interior. All maintenance was done at a dealer and documented.

So now I'm starting over, not with a less than 2 yr old Taco but with a 10 yr old Taco. Originally I planned to see a quarter-million miles on the odometer. I still do. The first Taco had TSB replacement rear springs, the new truck had them installed the day before it was signed-over to me. I miss the sport seats in the old truck, as well as the volume control for the radio on the steering wheel. The new truck has ~100K miles fewer rattles and squeaks, too. Otherwise, it's like putting on an old, broken-in comfortable pair of shoes.

Already done the extra D-rings for the bed, the independent power for the fogs, wired the turn signals as DTLs and ordered Wet Okoles.

I like the 2nd Gen Tacos but wouldn't have an '05 because I won't have the first year of any vehicle. I'm not interested in anything after 2008 because of the change in the rear seats of the Access Cab. Hopefully with this '07 I can reach my goal of 250K miles.

 

Mine is already on it's way to 11 years old. Only 137K miles though. I think the limiting factor for me will be age as I am 66 and as long as I can take cross country trips out west for hiking I will keep it. If I can't hike much anymore then I probably won't be kayaking either but I'm hoping I have another 5 good years. It will probably outlast me!

 

I usually dont like to keep my cars past 100k miles because I do a lot of traveling and think of reliability issues. I am not a wrencher so that plays a huge role too. Fast forward to today, this is my first truck. Been wanting one since high school. I love everything about it. I am an avid fisherman and love the truck for that. I love going to the mountains even more now. So with that said, this truck will probably stay with me until it's dead. I plan on keeping it as long as she will run. I will continue to make upgrades to make her new when she gets old.... lifts, mods etc...

 

I'm torn between trading up to 3rd gen Tacoma in a few years, or getting a cheap half ton work truck for a daily driver and turning the Taco into an off road machine.......