What is 1 thing you don't like about your 1st Gen

Mine would be the seatbelt and the oil filter location. I was telling my wife about this post and she said that she been watching me trying to retract the seatbelt for the last 19 years. I guess that it had become a habit and I never realized that I do it. I changed my oil on Friday and my arm is still sore from changing the oil filter. I do think the filter is easier to change when the truck is on the ground, I used a lift.

 

Yes! Having to use a lift to get at the oil filter on my 2003. I don’t have one. I had been doing my own oil changes for decades on my previous Tacomas and Ford Courier. My seatbelt would also hesitate to retract until I cleaned the plastic loop of grime and then sprayed a little silicone on the inside edge of the retainer loop. It wasn’t a weak return mechanism after all.

 

I didn't know that any 1st gens came with square cupholders. I just have the circular ones that attach to the plastic around the shifters and expand to 2 cupholers.

 

That square one I dump my change into.

 

One thing I don’t like. The door locks. They push down too easily into the locked position. A glance of your arm on the door lock silently depresses it.

 

My rear view mirror rattles like a sob over the smallest bumps. Has anyone fixed this.

 

1. No ABS
2. On Extracab, the cable that connects the passenger seatback tilt-forward mechanism and the seat moving forward (so passengers can enter and exit more easily, also helpful when loading/unloading stuff) is broken on 9 out of 10 Extracabs, and is not replaceable unless you buy a new seat-bottom unit from the $tealer, and there's only 2 of those left in the USA, and you don't want to know what price the $tealer is asking, plus $hipping! I would appreciate your suggestions IF you have actually fixed it yourself. Crimping a fixture on the cable end does not work because the cable is too short after it broke. Parts-yards will not sell seat parts, they want to sell the entire seat, and likely the cable is broken on that seat anyway.

 

I hate how the dome lights aren’t in front near the mirror. My 96 has it basically in the back where it’s not needed

 

You can add that version from a 2nd gen 4Runner, dirt cheap at the junkyards. It's the same as the Tacoma version that some have.

 

My dome light hasn't worked since a week after I got my truck, kept going out a couple days after replacing the bulb so I just gave up.

 

I wish the XtraCab had rear doors

 

Like the 2nd gen or Tundys have. Me as well.

 

It’s been over 10 years since I started this thread. I still revisit it from time to time to look at the new posts. I still have my 04 and I still love it. Sent the wheels off to the powder coater last week to have them blasted and recoated matte black and I have plans for a repaint this summer. It’s the best vehicle I’ve ever owned, she’s about to hit 140,000. But I’m still not a fan of the location of the transfer case shifter LOL.

 

The ABS on mine is garbage and rather get rid of it tbh