1st Gen DELUXE Owners

ace_10 I don't disagree with anything you say. In fact, I feel that way myself. It's your comment about "Due Diligence" that brought me to this "fools errand" in the first place, for that is what I am doing, my due diligence. I cannot farm out the job of locating the parts I need. Buying correct parts for this truck requires much attention paid to details, far more than, in the beginning, I had thought it would take. Sure, there can, and will, be both false positives and negatives, as I go along, and I deal with them on a case by case basis. I cannot go around those tedious details and expect to be able to fix my truck. Locating correct parts is what it is, now a PITA.

This thread is all about a single source, eBay, but I have run into a variety of issues at all of my supply sources.

Thank you for your comments.

UPDATE: as to why I use an automated sorting tool for my 24 year old Tacoma? My answer is "what else could I use?". Just because it is 24 years old doesn't mean I cannot find any Toyota parts still available for it, or use their parts list as a basis, though some of their parts are now DISCONTINUED. The aftermarket now supplies a number of those parts, made to OE quality, or so they say. It's up to me to vet the individual manufacturers.

 

It's a 25 year old foreign truck. And within a couple of months, it will be THREE GENERATIONS OUT OF PRODUCTION.
As with anything that old, you're going to face challenges with obtaining the correct parts.
If you're talking about oil filters, brake rotors or a belt, then maybe trust what some parts sorter tool is saying. But I still wouldn't.

I own a lot of old foreign cars and trucks. Nearly every single thing that comes up is handled on a case by case basis. That's just how it is.

I wish you the best at making peace with the situation.

 

Thank you for the good wishes, ace_10. Coming from someone who knows the deal, from real experience, I do appreciate it. How many old foreign cars and trucks do you own? If you ever have advice you would like to pass along to a fellow traveller, just pm me. My job is to prevent sending our cars to any repair shop. I have a 1994 Celica ST also, and my wife has a 2006 Infiniti G35. I will use any good advice I get. Looking to the future, I can see that I am going to have to learn how to weld and paint, so that means I need a better air compressor. Maybe I should have been born in Cuba.

 

I believe DLX IS the base model off what I’ve dug up

 

Based on the Toyota Owners Vin search my truck grade is listed as 'Standard.'
However, it also came from the factory with a tach, power windows, power locks, power brakes, power steering, tilt steering, clock, cruise control, M/T, carpet on rear wall, AC, sliding rear window, and INT wipers. For a 95.5 I believe I have every option available (except a windshield washer fluid sensor, though I did have the reservoir cover which would indicate cold weather pkg), and yet its still a Standard.

My understanding is everything dependent on the grade could also just be optioned. Because of that, the grade is a really bad way of determining the correct parts. When using a websites grade selector sometimes I pick DLX, sometimes I pick SR5, sometimes I pick Base, it never makes any amount of difference.
Seeing as the parts that would be affected by this are so limited, its much easier to just search for the broken part, and theres not many places where anything would get confused.
What I mean is if your manual window crank is broken, don't spend all day trying to get ebay to understand you have a base and therefore have manual windows, just search for a manual window crank. Same goes for a lock issue, don't buy the part for manual locks if you have power locks, the grade doesn't matter.

I do appreciate you trying to get to the bottom of this, as I am sure it has confused many including myself. However, my conclusion has been that in the end any option you wanted to you could get regardless of the truck grade, so the specific build of your truck is independent of any grade.

 

my old DLX said DLX on the tailgate instead of SR5

 

Same

 

Exactly.

 

From what I have been able to tell. The Letters on the back seemed to designate almost packages within trim levels. Seemingly only on some V6 models get the stickers. My 4 banger Regular cab doesn't have a sticker or anything noting any trim on the original window sticker. But its pulls up as a Deluxe on some Vin Decoders (like this one, https://parts.olathetoyota.com/vin-decoder) Its a 3RZ 5spd, manual windows, locks and hubs, A/C, Tach.
But I had a friend buy a 1997 Single cab with a v6 and it was labeled an SX.

 

My vin plate says DLX

My 95 single cab 2.4 has:
No tac
No rear carpet
Bench seat (small notch)
Manual steering, windows, mirrors, locks
No clock
Manual tranny
Solid/1-piece rear window
Oak interior
No “console” around the shifter

Only “options” …
Radio (no longer stock one, but after near 30 year, who’s shocked)
Dome light
Adjustable steering wheel column
A/C

I thought it was a stripped Base, till I entered the VIN into a decoder & saw it was a “Deluxe” …
I figured “HOW?”

 

Here is a link that may answer your questions: MY2000 Tacoma sales brochure with equip and option packages info. Page 2 and page 4-6. Have fun!

https://xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2000-Toyota-Tacoma-Specs.pdf

 

Thanks @Williston, appreciate that, the 2000 Toyota Tacoma brochure is helpful. I did have fun. My 2000 Tacoma is classified 4x2 Regular Standard Cab. 4x2 means it has four wheels but only two of them are driven. A 4x2, aka 2WD, is either RWD or FWD. My Tacoma 2WD is RWD. 4x2 vehicles have some benefits, learned from Google's AI:

• Lower MSRP
• Better weight balance allows for better handling
• Better fuel economy
• Lower insurance costs
• Higher towing capacity due to lighter weight.

Although I am only concerned here with the 4x2 Regular Cab model, in the year 2000 toyota produced the following 10 models of its Tacoma:



4-cylinder 2.4L (142 hp at 5,000 rpm, 160 ft-lb at 4,000 rpm)
4-cylinder 2.7L (150 hp at 4,800 rpm, 177 ft-lb at 4,000 rpm, 220 ft-lb at 3,600 rpm)
6-cylinder 3.4L (190 hp at 4,800 rpm, 220 ft-lb at 3,600 rpm)


It might be helpful to show the SPECIFICATIONS from the brochure, in order to see the composition of the 10 models, just summarized:




Again, I am only concerned with the 2000 4x2 Regular Cab Tacoma model.

4x2 Regular Cab Standard Features (the BASE model came with all of these features)

• Aerodynamic rectangular sealed beam halogen headlamps
• P195/75R14 All-season radial tires on 14" steel wheels with covers
• Mist cycle windshield glass [I think they meant "washer" instead of glass]
• Tinted windshield glass
• Dual black fixed outside mirrors [direction mirror points is controlled by manual inside lever]
• Double-wall bed
• Locking fuel access door
• Driver and front [sic] passenger air bags (SRS)** [when there can be no "rear" passenger, the word "front" is redundant?]
• Tilt forward fabric bench seat with headrests
• Full door trim with cloth insert
• Twin auxiliary power outlets
• Full carpeting [none on wall behind driver]
• Dual cup holder [mine is missing; I don't even see where it could have been placed]

My 2000 Regular Cab Tacoma is very similar to what @Tartan Jack said, and I paraphrase, "my truck has no tac, no rear carpet, while it has manual everything (windows, mirrors, locks) and no clock." Mine has power steering, but it’s a 2000 where Jack’s is 1995 (turns out the steering is rack and pinion, with power-assist standard on V6, PreRunner and 4x4 models; but only available on 4x2 4-cyl. models, meaning that my power steering came as an option). I also have a 5-speed manual transmission, which the SPECIFICATIONS section of the brochure says came standard. My rear window is one piece, fixed. There is no console around the shifter, and it is missing the “Dual cup holder,” said to be a Standard Feature of the Regular Cab. There is no “Black Rear Bumper,” a standard feature of the Xtracab as well as the Prerunner Regular Cab. My rear bumper is chrome with a black rubber cap (or step) just beneath the tailgate. There is a dome light, but no adjustable steering wheel column (Jack called that an “option*,” as he did the dome light, A/C and “factory” radio. I have an original factory AM/FM radio, an option, he added an aftermarket radio, but earlier his truck had a radio. Our original radios were options. On the rear driver’s outside is a decal that says “SST”? Is that “Super Sport”? Also, on the driver’s side, there is a chrome badge that says “Toyota Tacoma." On the truck's back is written with glued on letters “Toyota Tacoma”

So far, I have identified two options that were purchased when my truck was purchased: power steering, and AM/FM radio.


There are two lists of possible options for the 2000 4x2 Regular Cab model that I have taken from the brochure and pasted below. The first one is:

*OPTION PACKAGES FOR THE 4X2 Regular Cab:

· All-Weather Guard Package – heavy-duty battery, heavy-duty starter and heavy-duty windshield wiper motor

· Color-Keyed Package – color keyed front bumper, grille and lower valance and chrome rear bumper

· Full Color-Keyed Package – Color-Keyed Package PLUS: color-keyed outside mirrors, door handles and rear bumpers (available only in Sunfire Red Pearl)

· Tire Upgrade Package – P215/70R14 tires on steel wheels with full wheel covers

· Convenience Package – tilt steering wheel, tachometer, LCD twin tripmeter, digital quartz clock and Lighting Package


The original owner of my Tacoma did NOT purchase the convenience package, for sure. And, there is no evidence that he/she purchased any of the rest of those options, but did buy three of the ADDITIONAL options that I will be getting to soon.

@Tartan Jack showed his interior, which looked like he might have a "tilt steering wheel," so I thought maybe he had the Convenience Package, but then he said he had no tac, no clock, no power anything, so he probably DID NOT have the Convenience Package. What say, Jack?

My Tacoma's color is blue, so it must be Toyota’s “Horizon Blue Metallic1,2,3” with gray interior.

1Not available on Tacoma Limited (4x4 Xtracab)
2Not available with Full Color-Keyed Package
3Not available with Color-Keyed Package

Since the color of my Tacoma was not available in either of the options Color-Keyed Package or Full Color-Keyed Package, it doesn't have either of those options. And that means "Horizon Blue Metallic" came as part of the BASE truck, and NOT an option? Yet I do have a chrome rear bumper with a rubber step.

It is possible that my truck came with the Tire Upgrade Package, but I strongly doubt it because what was on it when I bought it, as the third owner, was a set of 15" aluminum alloy wheels. I am thinking one of the first two owners MUST have bought those as an upgrade.

So, I assume my truck came with NONE of these option packages.


OTHER THINGS ARE ON MY TRUCK THAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED EXTRA (as an Option*?)

A/C

Brake proportioning valve


From the SPECIFICATIONS in the brochure:

Brakes Power-assisted ventilated front disc/rear drum with tandem booster and rear load-sensing proportioning valve (LSPV) came standard on all models. [That says that the Brake Proportioning Valve was NOT purchased as an option on my truck.]

4-wheel Anti-lock Brakes (ABS) Available on all models — includes Daytime Running Lights (DRL). [I do not have ABS in my truck, so I do not have that option.]




The 2000 4x2 Regular Cab Tacoma owner could not get the power package or chrome package, which are available on the 4x2 XTRACAB.



NB: In the Prerunner Xtracab Standard Features list appears, for the first time, anything about A/C, and it says “Defroster-linked CFC-free A/C” comes STANDARD on the 2000 Prerunner Xtracab. It turns out, A/C is an option for the 2000 4x2 Regular Cab Tacoma, and it can be found in the ADDITIONAL OPTIONS section of the brochure, coming up next. The A/C option was purchased for this vehicle. Here are the available ADDITIONAL OPTIONS for my 2000 4x2 Regular Cab Tacoma:





The bottom line: I have determined that my Tacoma came with the following options:

- power steering,
- AM/FM radio with 2 speakers,
- A/C

With all of the above information, I ask myself, respecting all 2000 Tacomas, what might the words BASE and DELUXE mean? Those two terms represent two distinguishable classes that all 2000 Tacomas sold could be placed into, and only those two. What things above might cause such a classification?

Possibilities (for all 10 Tacoma models):

1) Tacomas sold as basic vehicles straight from the factory, without any OPTIONS (BASE), vs Tacomas sold with OPTIONS (DELUXE).
2) Tacomas sold as basic vehicles straight from the factory, along with any of the OPTION PACKAGES FOR THE 4X2 Regular Cab (BASE) vs Tacomas sold that include any of the ADDITIONAL OPTIONS (DELUXE).
3) Regular Cab models (BASE) vs XTRA Cab models (DELUXE).

Number 3 can easily be ruled out, as there are 10 discrete models of the 2000 Toyota Tacoma, and each one has a list of STANDARD FEATURES spelled out in the brochure. Surely each model has a BASE level, meaning just those STANDARD FEATURES, a way of thinking about the problem that still leaves numbers 1 and 2 to be considered as possibilities.

So, then I think, why do they want to be able to call some of their vehicles BASE and some of them DELUXE, when the term DELUXE implies something more classy than it would be if purchased at just the BASE level. Something DELUXE is, well DELUXE! When I read over the functions added by adding the OPTION PACKAGES FOR THE 4X2 Regular Cab, I don't see much that might make me feel all that special, as a driver of a vehicle with those added features. Take the All-Weather Guard Package – heavy-duty battery, heavy-duty starter and heavy-duty windshield wiper motor as an example. Knowing that my battery was better than many other Tacomas doesn't proclaim to all those around me that I am special (DELUXE), nor does knowing that my starter is heavy-duty, or my windshield washer was also heavy-duty. When I show my new Tacoma to other people, are they even going to notice. Do I even notice as time goes by? I don't think so.

Even the Convenience Package – tilt steering wheel, tachometer, LCD twin tripmeter, digital quartz clock and Lighting Package doesn't signal others that I am somehow special because I have a special truck. My god, it has a tachometer! Well, DUH, everyone in his right mind that has manual transmission has a tachometer! Same for the LCD twin tripmeter, digital quartz clock and lighting package (unless there is something about that lighting package that would turn someone on). And, who cares that it comes with a tilt steering? Once you play with it and set it to where you feel it really should have been before you tilted it, you just forget it, right?

My point is, it is in the ADDITIONAL OPTIONS that you begin to feel that your truck is something special: Power steering, A/C, AM/FM Radio, Reclining bucket seats, ABS, aluminum alloy wheels! Now you are talking! This way of thinking tells me that the difference between BASE and DELUXE must be in the ADDITIONAL OPTIONS , so the term BASE MUST mean Tacomas that come with the standard features, and perhaps one or more of the OPTION PACKAGES FOR THE 4X2 Regular Cab. Whereas, the term DELUXE MUST mean Tacomas that come along with the purchase of any option from the list of ADDITIOINAL OPTIONS.

That would explain why @Tartan Jack and myself were so surprised to find that certain shopping websites decode our "no frills" Tacomas as DELUXE. It wasn't so easy getting to this point, but let's go back and see how @Tartan Jack put it:

"My vin plate says DLX

My 95 single cab 2.4 has:
No tac
No rear carpet
Bench seat (small notch)
Manual steering, windows, mirrors, locks
No clock
Manual tranny
Solid/1-piece rear window
Oak interior
No “console” around the shifter

Only “options” …
Radio (no longer stock one, but after near 30 year, who’s shocked)
Dome light
Adjustable steering wheel column
A/C

I thought it was a stripped Base, till I entered the VIN into a decoder & saw it was a “Deluxe” …
I figured “HOW?”

The way that @Tartan Jack put it was exactly the same feeling I had, and it has taken a long time gaining this understanding (if it is correct). That's why I added this comment, to give a reasoning as to how your "no frills" Tacoma might have its VIN decoded, only to find that the world considers your "manual everything" basic truck is actually DELUXE!

 

I can't believe we're still here. The statement above is the hanging point. 5 years ago, those prompts on those web sites (Ebay, Autozone, etc...) were not the same. They made some change and those are the options NOW. But those aren't the options from TOYOTA- they are the options from 3rd parties. The programmers got together with a SME and looked at all the words, terminology, domain values, and boiled the Tacoma down to those two for some reason, and in doing so sent you on a ridiculous goose chase. It's merely something that exists so they can filter items. It doesn't have any correlation back to your truck or Toyota.

If those we're Toyota driven values they would include things like TRD, SR5, etc..

 

There was no hard fast rule to determine LX or DLX, just prob. ran out of D's at some point. J/k.

Seriously, this really was talked about to no clear definition back in the day even.

 

Andy, I don't think I am going to learn how those programmers came to the terms BASE and DELUXE, no matter how far I chase that goose. I do know that certain websites will decode my VIN (definitely a Toyota thing), for a nothing very special truck, and come up saying, surprisingly, that my particular Toyota truck is a DELUXE version, and the same goes for @Tartan Jack. Sometimes you look for an answer and that answer comes back null, but during the search you can learn a lot. Wasted time? Who is to say?

For example, one thing I learned is that it is a ridiculous goose chase to try to find some key person at eBay to ask why their fitment process asks you to tell them whether your vehicle is BASE or DELUXE. Without knowing what eBay means when they ask which you have, how do you know how to answer?

 

I think the point is that it doesn't matter what you answer.
My truck is a 95.5, there have been many times where companies don't allow for selection of a 95 Tacoma, probably due to the model year overlap with the 95 Toyota Pickup, it's like they don't know it exists.
Now I could spend hours trying to contact them or finding what source they are using to determine why they don't include 95, write a strongly worded email for them to correct it, or I can just select 96 and order the parts I need.
The trim levels are the same.
Also, the only vin decoder that gives me accurate results is on the official Toyota website, all others give me completely incorrect information.

 

Thanks @cruxofthebisquit. I thought as much. It surely had to have been discussed before. I just did not know how to search efficiently. It is good to know an earlier discussion came to pretty much the same conclusion, so hearing it from someone who had participated actually helps further my situation. I don't feel completely done. My speculations were just that. Maybe someday it will make some sense. If so, I will post it here.

 

You could go the Toyota Owners site, enter your VIN and see what it says about your truck. Not sure how far back it goes, but I know it's at least 2005. It will also show you it's dealership service history. For my 2014, it goes all the way back to the original delivery at the dealership with 5 miles on it. Since I purchased it used in 2021, that was nice surprise.

 

@time623, that was when Toyota changed the name of their pickup truck brand-named Pickup to Tacoma? And you got yours so early that the market could not recognize that you really had a Tacoma instead of a Pickup when you were shopping for parts, or they just didn't recognize the 1995 Tacoma at all?

A fair number of times I have found "errors" in a site's documentation, or process, and I usually try to write a simple (unemotional) note of explanation/correction, along with an example of where I saw the problem. I try to describe it as clearly as I possibly can, hoping to be helpful. I have been surprised to find that a number of my notes have been accepted and acted on. What really pleases me about that outcome is that all the people who follow me benefit from my having spent a little time letting the webmasters know.

You say that the "96 trim levels are the same," indicating that you believe that every part in the 96 is the same as was in your 95. Is that an infallibly accurate belief? In the manufacturing life of any given model, say during a 10 year run, does not the manufacturer recognize and correct defects, or have quality issues, or make a change with a cheaper made part? I am probably wrong, but I look at the production of a vehicle more like a living language. It changes over time, with most changes hardly noticeable.
It only makes sense to me that changes do occur in a manufactured assembly. I think the last 6 digits of your VIN are the SERIAL NUMBERS, and their purpose is to identify your vehicle in relation to any and all part number changes, so when you order a particular part, they know when it was made, either before or after a certain change was made to your vehicle model. When you generalize and say something like "I think the point is that it doesn't matter what you answer," I believe that there is a possibility, when you shop the 96 Tacoma parts supplier that you will get an incorrect part, however in general I expect that you will get the correct part.

 

What is the Toyota Owners site?