2nd guessing 1st gen

After 2 years of fence-sitting and plenty of time wasted kicking the tires of craigslist trucks finally suppressed the feeling I was making a big mistake and pulled the trigger on a 2000 Tacoma 2.7L with 147k miles. I was in the market for a stick shift extended cab, and was never a huge fan of the 98-00 look, but when I found this truck something clicked.

I owned an '04 SR5 extended cab as a daily driver for 4 years but switched out for an '04 Highlander when kids entered the picture. My family has an old cabin deep in the hills of western Massachusetts which requires 4WD and some decent clearance to get to. The Highlander has been punching above its weight getting up the hill the last few years but a wet summer and fall really degraded the road quality, so I figured now was the time to reintroduce proper 4WD.

Part of the goal in buying this truck as a 3rd vehicle was getting more familiar with how it works, teaching myself some routine maintenance/repair. How I eventually discovered this forum was Day 2 of ownership I opened the garage door to find a pretty good puddle of oil on the floor. I have my theories, I currently cannot get the skid plates off to confirm my theories, but it would seem as though I am at the point of no return here.

I am reminding myself I would not have bought a 19 year old truck if I was worried about things going wrong with it. I wanted to learn how to fix things, and now I have something to fix. But here I am thumbing through the Haynes manual realizing that another way to do that is I could have just bought the Haynes manual.

However, at least it's not a boat. I might be a little dumb for buying an old truck but I am a lot smart for not buying an old sailboat.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld!

Maintaining and repairing vehicles can definitely be frustrating, but it is also very rewarding in my experience.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW!