Need Advice

So my 07 Prerunner has a long history with my family, it spent most of its early life running around the west coast before my grandpa bought it and brought it back to Florida where he lived. He used it as a daily driver for years before giving it to me when I turned 16. My mom drove it for a while before I finally got my license (I regret waiting) and then right after I got my license it was given to me. I love the truck and my history with it, but my dream car has always been a 1992-1996 Ford Bronco with the 5.8/351. I’m currently taking a gap year between high school and college and I could afford to buy a good condition bronco, but I’d have to trade in the Tacoma and I’m not sure I can bring myself to do that. My mom doesn’t want two old trucks in her driveway so she wants me to either trade in the Tacoma or keep it. Basically what I’m getting at is: should I wait on the bronco for later in my life or should I trade in the Tacoma?

 

I vote you wait. The pre-runner is: Paid off. Runs well (it is a Tacoma, if you treat it right, it'll drive for 300k miles, or more..) and you have a history with the truck. Grandma, Mom and you have driven it.

Don't sell your family history.

 

I vote wait.

Back in the day, when I had just barely graduated college, my grandad decided to sell his pristine 78 Bronco. It was a gorgeous truck.

And to add insult, he absolutely refused to let me have it, even when I offered to pay his asking for it.

He said "Son, you can't afford this truck." Wat? "You can't afford it. Now I'm sure you can afford to buy it, but putting gas and maintenance into this monster is going to break you, and I won't let you do that. Not at such a critical time in your life when you're first starting out, and should be socking away money for a house and emergencies."


Damnit, he was right.





...Still kinda wish that Bronco would have been my mistake, to regret when I was broke though .

 

Keep the taco, work extra, buy the bronco as a project and take your time with the rehab. Once you mom sees the hard work and dedication to a goal she will be impressed and likely more amenable to two vehicles parked nearby. Also possible to find nearby parking.

never stop reaching.

 

Totally a personal choice, but I’d vote to keep the Tacoma as well. Like others have said, it’ll be a more reliable daily driver, and losing the history is something I’ve heard my dad, uncles, grandfather all lament about!

For that reason, I’m gonna keep my Tacoma as long as it’s able to drive. Even tho it makes more financial sense to trade it in when I upgrade my daily driver in a couple years… I just love the old girl too much to part with it.

Whatever choice you make will be the right one for you. But hopefully all our opinions help you feel better about what you decide

 

If your Prerunner has been half as reliable as mine then you might regret getting rid of it. In 12 years the only non-scheduled repair was a wheel bearing. It sounds like yours has been really cared for by your family and that's tough to find. Every time I think about getting a new one I think about how nice it is to have no payment and no real maintenance expense.

Best of luck with whatever you choose!

 

It would be pretty easy for that dream to slip into a nightmare on a 30yo vehicle.

If you shop one, be willing to spend the $ to have a 'subject matter expert' do a full on inspection before you purchase.

Another suggestion. If you understand what TCO is, consider running some numbers on that and comparing the two vehicles.

Even if your dream isn't a nightmare, I'd wager it will be a very expensive one.

 

I have to agree with Clearwater Bill above. You're basically talking about trading DOWN in reliability, fuel mileage, etc. In return you get styling you prefer and what? More power I guess.

Also not certain what a gap year between high school and college is. Are you working full time to save money for college? If so...do that rather than spend it to get rid of a good used truck. If it means "Living at home, taking some time off after the rigors and horrible stress of my senior year of high school"....Then get a job and start saving money for college.

My apologies for giving you the advice you really need rather than what you asked for....but I couldn't resist. Sorry.