Do you find the Gen3 Tacoma interior a bit small/crowded?

My '80 SR5 with the 20R was the most reliable of my Toyota trucks. Worst issue I had was the rear pinion lose preload and collide with the carrier which nearly caused an accident. Had the truck not completely rusted out I'd still have it.

'88 4runner was decent. 22RE needed a timing cover and chain job. Head gasket went later on too. Lots of small issues. Loved that truck but sold it when I was hard up for cash.

 

Loved all my Toyotas, they aren’t perfect…but they are pretty good. Yes they do break down, but never had one leave me stranded. Some strange reason when it does go it is close to home. That ‘85 4Runner had a hard life, that is when I lived in PA out in the country. Never stayed clean very long, spent most of its life on gravel and logging roads. Would do side jobs with it, haul bags a concrete…would take the top off, put down a tarp to haul gravel, firewood, and loads of topsoil around our property. Don’t have many pictures that survived from back then, think this is when maybe 6 months after I bought it. Still had the cheesy cheapo tires the dealer put on, later swapped for BFG ATs and a Downey 3” lift. Remember those guys?

Didn’t have a rear seat, believe that is how Toyota got around some of the tariff’s. To keep this on topic, think the 3rd Gen interior is tight, go drive one from the 80s.

 

1st gen 4runner was such a practical vehicle despite being a 2 door. My '88 had the rear seats that folded completely flat. 25mpg on long trips was nice. I had a Smittybilt tube bumper on the back that made the departure angle worse (lol). That thing was super capable offroad, I drove around for years on 29" Michelin Defenders LTX tires before upgrading to 31s.

 

It had a filler plate where the seats were supposed to be, a true sports Utility. Did eventually buy a rear seat for it. sure did get made fun for buying Jap Crap back then, this was long before Toyotas started getting popular, especially on the East Coast…people were very proud of Made in the USA at the time. That was until we went wheeling, could get it in some really tight spaces compared to the full-size trucks. Of course now Tacomas are almost as big as those old full-size trucks of the 70s and 80s.

2D wasn’t too bad, just do it old school with passenger front seat slid forward, but I never had to sit back there. Guess if you had kids could get one of those bed sliders and put them in from the rear and strap the car seats to that…be super easy to load. lol!

 

My 1986 22re engine sheared a crank key in warranty. Had to have a regional toyota rep examine the crank, and key before issuing a lower end rebuild with a new crank. I drove the truck about 100k miles till a bought a leftover 93 in 94 with a 3.0 v6. Never went back to a 4 cyl.

 

Believe Toyotas reliability has become more lore than anything, sure you can get them to high miles, but no one really lists all the repairs to get them there. That goes for anything, if you you’re willing to fix it, can make anything last.

Those 3.0 V6 had problems too, like to eat head gaskets IIRC. Toyota did cover it under warranty.

 

Some of it is a self fulfilling prophecy. People that are inclined to keep a car for 200-300k tend to buy cars like Toyotas that have a reputation for lasting that long. AND those same people are the people most likely to keep up on maintenance and are not likely to trade the car in at 70k when it makes the first noise. On the flip side, people that like to get a new car every 3 years flock toward cars like Hyundais and Kias, dont do the maintenance because they are dumping it after 36-48k and the cars fall apart.

My 2012 Tacoma went for 200k and all it took was a AC compressor and some real minor things. Under $1000 in repairs, not counting maintenance.

 

Some of it is a self fulfilling prophecy. People that tend to keep cars for a long time and take care of them are drawn to brands that have that reputation. People that keep cars for 36k and change the oil once lease Kias. If you buy any car today and do all the recommended services, chances are you will see 200k miles with no major repairs.

I would say it is not just legend or lore. There are too many mechanics that swear by Toyota quality for it just to be lore. But I would say the difference between the general publics perception vs actual reality is over inflated.

 

Yep, most modern vehicles can make it to 200K no problem.

Have either done the repairs myself or taken it in to a certified Toyota mechanic over the last 30 years, yeah they do swear by Toyota quality, they do also have a list of known issues too. You’re absolutely right, publics perception is very over inflated. Had a guy offer to buy my 1st Gen, said to me heard these are very reliable. Told him it has 434K miles on it, it hasn’t been reliable for a very long time, but it never left me stranded so there is that!

 

does that rear shell come off? Then it’s like an open truck?

 

I think you are hard on vehicles…

 

I am. But Toyotas are meant to be beaten on, yeah?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqwnr2sza_o

It does. It was a cool vehicle, too bad Toyota doesn’t currently make one that the top comes off, the FJ Cruiser should of, but for some reason they didn’t do it. Some of Toyotas decisions on what they do or don’t do is a bit odd. Like why we never got a Diesel engine option, while other manufacturers offer it.

 

I fit my whole family into mine. 3 kids, 9,9 and 11. Not as spacious as the pilot but it works, plus 5 bikes fit in the bed.

 

I was surprised after 6 years, and no issues with that 3.0, toyota sent me a tsb letter to make an service appointment for the head gasket replacement. They did it in 1/2 a day...picked up the truck at lunch....no charge.

 

This was a huge problem for me (my girlfriend and I have a 110 pound Newfoundland who takes up literally the entire backseat), so I created the attic storage net that we sell on our website.

www.flatironsoverland.com

 

Squeeze

 

Had several Tacoma's and like them all knowing they will be tight fitting. The bed cover makes it a lot better when traveling.

 

My 05 SR5 needed the fan resistor, u joint, and what felt like all of the recalls. Tailgate got stolen but insurance ponied up for a new one.

 

The best dogs!