My Next Truck

In 4 years I'm buying my next truck. My son will be 14 and a half and will be looking to get his permit. The 1999 is going to be his and i suppose he'll want to put a lift kit on it (if I don't beat him to it!). I figure I'll get my next truck with a year to spare so i can tune the new one and help my son with mods on his. To that end we've been looking at the new third gens to see what might be available used at that time. I'm not a second gen guy for no particular reason other than I don't like the way they look (most of them). I've lurked on the third gen forum, gone to dealerships, watched youtube videos, etcetera. After all the research over 6 months it pretty much looks like I'll be buying (drum role please) another first gen! Seriously. I'm going to budget $12,000 for this one as I'll be looking in California (or another low rust region) for something with under 200K miles in 2021. Just putting it out there early in case anyone has any input, or a truck to sell in the future. It'll be my third first gen. Thanks!

 

I am not sure what I will do this weekend, much less 4 years from now.

 

Well, I do big picture planning and remain ready for spontaneity in the short term. Plus my kid already has dibs on the truck and the last two years flew by. Plus we get to play with third gens while they are fresh. You should see the salespeople's eyes when my 10 1/2 year old rolls under a new 3rd gen and starts critiquing it. All good fun really.

 

So what's the plan? 4x4 or Pre run? Fly and drive back or ship?

 

We'll either fly, drive, or take a train to California. We're planning a family vacation to the West. My kid is getting into rock climbing so he and I will likely drive our (my) "new" truck back through the national parks and get some climbing in. Not sure how mom gets home yet! Looking for what I have which is 5 speed TRD Off Road V-6. Gotta have the long bed. It'll be a fun month!

 

Good choice Out of curiosity, what made you choose a first gen again over a third gen?

Also - it's possible that by 2021 Toyota may have figured out solutions to what you don't like about the third gens today. Just something to consider as well.

 

Long bed off road v6 in 3rd gen doesn’t come in manual trans in the USA

 

So, I don't want to come off as bashing 3rd gens as I know lots of folks love them, are modifying them, and are working really hard on solutions for various issues that they have. I may indeed own one some day. That said, the negatives have piled up from many quarters over the last two years. From big things like automatic transmission shift issues (now mostly fixed?) and issues with engine tuning for the manual transmission, and leaks from differentials, rear spring issues, and little things like crappy usb ports and error codes for ABS and other electronic problems. It feels like you are buying an 85% baked cake and you gotta go home and finish it in your own oven. And it ain't like they are cheap! Then I can't configure one the way I want. Really Toyota? What is so hard about a TRD off road, 6 speed MT, long bed, ACCESS CAB! At least let me order that configuration in Sport with a REAR DIF LOCKER! Nope, sorry, can't do that. Then I went and looked under the hood and crawled around under a Sport with MT and I thought what the hell are all these unprotected ELECTRONICS UNDER THE TRUCK? Anyway, the 2018's get a bunch of standard equipment, and somewhat unnecessary, safety stuff that will probably break and throw error codes and cause problems come inspection time down the road. I've had two first gens, spent some time driving and riding in a buddies loaded 2nd gen and I've decided I really like my V6 5 speed TRD Off Road extra cab. It going to be a fun build project for my son in a few years and I might as well park another one right next to it so we can just hand each other tools and swap parts and all that jazz. I am looking forward to the 2020 model year just because that would be a cool year to own. They'll hopefully have the kinks out and offer the configuration I want!