1st Gen or 2nd Gen Thoughts

Hey guys,

I used to own a 2006 SR5 access cab and loved it. 10 years later I am looking to spend around $15-20k for a V6 Tacoma and was wondering what your guys thoughts are on 1st generation vs 2nd generation in 2025. Curious what years you guys think are the best years for each and what prices you'd expect for a great example that doesn't need a lot of work to be a reliable daily.

This will mainly be used to transport a kart that I built for racing. Also curious if you'd recommend posting here when I'm ready to buy or go through autotrader / FB marketplace etc. I haven't bought a used car in a decade and I'm not familiar with the market at the moment. Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you,

C.

 

I bought a 2013 6cyl 4x4 AC with 64k miles in January. Paid 19k and it was a good deal after looking for several months. I looked on autotrader as well as cars.com and some other sites, and ended up buying from a dealer who posted an ad on autotrader. I'm pretty happy, lots of places wanted more money for worse trucks (mostly rust or high miles). If you're outside the salt belt you will probably have more options. I'm in New England. I had to be really really picky.

I knew I didn't want a Gen 1 so I can't really say what the market is like.

I could have bought a similar Gen 2 with 150k miles +/- for 15k or so but the point was to get something I could keep for a long time so I paid for the low miles. I turned down a similar truck with 18k miles (!!) because they wanted 27k for it, and when I called back to make a second offer they had sold it.

Get pictures of the frame before you make any offer or even drive to look. Don't pay more money for mods. Stock is where the value is.

Good luck.

 

If its only to transport a kart have you considered just getting a small trailer and use your current car to pull it?

 

Hay Lobos - thanks for the info. I am pretty sure I want to go with a 2nd generation V6. Sounds like we have similar goals. I want something that I can drive for at least 5-10 years without much trouble.

Rx1cobra - at the moment I have no car LOL. I thought about a trailer, but it restricts speed to 55mph where I live and also have to pay insurance / registration for the trailer (f***ing California). Had a 2007 with the 2TR-FE manual and I loved it! A few people have to me to look into F150s which I will but...Tacoma > F150 imo.

Also side note it is great to see a forum with active users still! Seems like many of these have been dead since social media.

 

Once you decide what one you want (1st or 2nd gen) look for the newest and lowest mileage model you can find and afford. No matter what anyone says mileage and age are the basic killers of vehicle. The older and the higher mileage the more likely things are going to break, fail and wear out. Yes even good ol’ Toyota Tacomas break, fail and wear out. Lots and lots of other things to consider too.

 

Had both. Loved my first gen, but the 2nd gen is much better overall.

Biggest differences are the seats are much much better in a 2nd gen on my lower back. Access cab suicide doors are way better than no doors on 1st gen extracab. And 2nd gen has good enough performance to drive an automatic. 1st gen i basically had to get a manual due to the smaller engine and 4 speed auto.

 

I prefer the 2nd gen for many of the reasons mentioned above. Lots more low mileage options to find out there too.