Why Buy My Third New Tacoma?

Why would I buy anything else? This will be the third and (I think) final new pickup truck I buy. Given my history with Tacomas, which I can bore you with below if you care to keep reading, I really can't imagine going with anything else.

In 1973 I bought my first ever pickup, a 1957 Chevrolet step-side, wooden bed, starter on the floor next to the clutch with a straight six. Sold it when I went to New England to join the Coast Guard in 1975 and have regretted it (the truck sale) ever since. Always wanted another truck but couldn't justify one as I later got a job at Boston Logan airport and moved into a bedroom community 15 miles north. Lived on a postage stamp sized lot and really had zero absolute need for a pickup, as I commuted only 30mi round trip. Then in '99 Toyota came out with the Tundra and gawd, did I want one. Drooled over them for a long time and decided that I could easily justify a little Tacoma, as long as it had the V6 and a manual trans.

So, the dealer would've been more than happy to sell me the six banger but the salesperson himself, who was a real straight-shooter, asked me if I had driven the four. Which I hadn't. Anyway it was more than strong enough for what I needed it four and with the five speed stick it was a gas to drive.

Paid 22.5k for a 2000 X-TRa cab 4X4. Great freaking truck. I used it to scavenge firewood, haul building materials and took two kids off to college dormitories at different times, looking like George Sanford going down the road. Finished my career at Boston and moved back to Chesapeake Bay area and by 2008, my Taco showed some serious wear. I live back in the woods with no garage, I wasn't particularly overly concerned with keeping up cosmetics, and the interior showed lotsa wear. Motor and transmission were bulletproof though.

Early 2008 the damn check engine light was on again and my local good-old-boy mechanics couldn't make it go away so against my better judgement I took it to the dealership. Service manager called me later that day and said that while they could easily fix the light, was I aware that my frame showed very serious signs of corrosion? Was I aware that there were actually holes ruted through "perforations" in place. Oh boy I think, F me, how much is this going to freaking cost me, oh damn oh damn.....So I hear the guy rustling papers and then he tells me he has a new bulletin from Toyota saying that under certain conditions, they may be willing to buy the truck back from me. Tells me they'll give me 1.5X Kelly Blue Book value so I hand up and check what that value might be. Very wide range of values assigned based on mileage and condition but the guy calls me back and says that the price would be based on the vehicle being in excellent condition, regardless of actual condition. OK. So they canceled the work order the truck was in for and started a complementary corrosion inspection. Gave me a brand new FJ cruiser as a loaner. Three weeks later I got the letter from Toyota offering me $15,982.00 for an eight year old beat up Taco with 130k on it.

So I used that along with a $1000 cash-back offer and bought my current 2008 TRD Access cab 4X4 six speed for $28.6k. About $11k out-of-pocket there.

About six years or so ago, Toyota replaced the leaf springs under warranty. No cost. A little over 2 years ago, I got another notice from Toyota inviting me to accept another free corrosion inspection, as they once again realized that they had not properly treated the frame members. Failed that inspection so they gave me a brand new F150 (land yacht it seemed) to drive while they took about two weeks to actually replace the entire frame on the existing vehicle. I took the opportunity of free labor to replace all the struts/ shocks and a few other bits. With great quality Michelin tires and good brakes (I do all those myself) it rides much like a newer truck.

Had to have my mechanic friend install new 4WD actuator mechanism recently and the engine and clutch still original have 135k. Body has seen much better days but it's still a damn fine looking and running machine. Recently though, we bought a small (18') hard sided camper and are planning to take off this spring for a nice long trip south and west. And I like all that I've read about the 4th gen features, way improved torque and interior comfort, and we're at a point where we won't have to finance anything so

Deposit is placed for TRD Off-Road short bed six speed manual with Off-Road Premium package. Looked up the information elsewhere on this site and it looks like, according to the temporary VIN, it is scheduled to be built starting 7th week of this year. Next week.

I have photos of the documents referenced above.

 

Looking forward to your next novel on the test drive.

 

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I’d like to hear more about the photos. And Boston.

 

So with not being able to put a real firm date on actual delivery of ordered Taco, thought we would replace wife’s 2014 Outback which is kinda well used but will better suit granddaughter who’s broke, went car shopping for Mrs. yesterday.

She wanted to drive Subarus first so we drove ‘24 CrossTrek which was sorta nice but no, so tried the Forester Touring, huge step up from CrossTrek but meh…..

Stopped by Toyota dealer across street in off chance I could at least fucking SEE one of these things and yeah, they got their very first one five minutes before we walked in. Didn’t even go out back to see it cause we were shopping for her and she wasn’t too turned on by anything there, until she spotted this swoopy, love-it-or-hate-it styled Crown. Gorgeous car. Never realized it was a model here in US but it’s this “Prius-like” drivetrain in a pretty luxurious package. They brought it out of the showroom and we drove it, loved it, thought about it and bought it.

Never owned a hybrid before, never drove one neither. Amaze automobile but NOT Tacoma so…..

Went back by today to sort out troubles of my own making with the phone interfaces, got that all sorted and went in to join a manager and his primary Taco guy inspecting their first ever one. This one which of course was already sold was SR5 automatic short bed. Pretty freakin sweet truck, seemed huge (inside showroom) and lots of great looking cabin upgrades. Engine bay was very impressive, it screamed high tech engineering. A tad nicer than my ‘08.

Going to try leaning on the sales guy a little to at least make “official” inquiries about build date. I did see that according to one interpretation of the temp VIN that it should begin construction week 07, which I’m pretty sure is THIS week but who knows?

 

MPG hugger fake truck boys with soft hands should read this.

OMG 4CYL SAVES SO MUCH FUEEL AND SOUNDS SO SPORTY!!!! NOW I CAN GO DO GROCERIES!!!

 

Great story, I'm contemplating how much longer I want to keep my 06 Tacoma. At age 70+ I would really like a backup camera and mapping capability. But I'm not a technology geek so I don't want or don't care for
a lot of buttons dials and crap that would probably break anyway with age. I have already had 7 trucks in my lifetime. The new Tacoma's just don't turn me on. Something about the styling. I'm looking at the 2024
4 Runner with the last year for the 4.0 -6 banger (Same as I now have in my 06 Tacoma)

 

Yeah I’m on the high side of 70 myself, this’ll prolly be the last truck I buy myself. I’m not a huge fan of bigger is better evolvement of seemingly all light trucks and it still feels so funny to me when I park my ‘08 next to a first years Tundra and they’re exactly the same size.
That said we are going to be using our new-to-us small camping trailer this year and making a pretty substantial trip, my first two Tacomas were/ are fantastic vehicles so I’m not worried. I’m lucky that my current truck is still so reliable.

Did I mention how freaking huge the 2024 seemed? Bigger than many F150’s it seemed.