1st gen vs 2nd gen

I recently picked up a 96 as my DD while my 2011 is my work truck. I used to have a 97, before I bought the 2011. It's funny, although my 96 is a real beater and the interiors are so much cheaper than the 2nd gens and I wish it had power windows, I've found myself becoming quite attached to it.
It might be the simplicity. And they are solid vehicles. A friend mentioned he was interested in it, and my reaction surprised me, kinda went into protective mode LOL!

The 2nd gens are definitely nicer, but a couple of things that piss me off are:
Tailgate straps - I'm ordering my third set. They just don't last long.
Beeper when in 4 LO - I just don't understand the point.

 

The oil filter on the top of the engine makes the 2nd gen the clear winner.

 

Understatment

 

Is there anything even left of Goldilocks to do a fair comparison?

 

I’m sure all the female members here appreciate that comment. @Daria being one of them.

Looks like you’re five posts into a short lived welcome to TW.

 

I'm confused on the point of your reply. Is it to cause more arguments?

 

I’m pretty sure there’s no argument that your comment (which I quoted originally) is immature and disrespectful to the many female community members here in TW.

 

I'm pretty sure the women here are mature enough to not get bothered by it, unlike some "men".

 

It only beeps if it's not in 4-low and you did the shift sequence wrong.

Maybe not at this point, but I did daily that thing for years prior to it being a complete shitbox.

 

So you want to talk about useless tech in a 2nd gen Tacoma, but drive an Audi?

 

I wish that I never had sold my 1st Gen, but I have to admit that I truly love my 2nd gen. Today it only has 64K miles on it and is in like new condition. Keep your 1st Gen and just buy another 2nd Gen.

 

OP could you give us some info on the 2nd Gen, year, mileage, trim, condition, price…, if all the boxes check and you have the means, I think the switch is a no brainer. I’ve owned a first gen and loved it but found a 2.5 gen that met my needs and haven’t looked back once.

 

My 2nd gen regular cab is way more "simpler" than a 1st gen. I have manual door locks and windows and my 2.7 2trfe is not only more powerful but reliable than the 2.7 in the 1st gen (owned both) and my 2nd gen has no cruise control. Both are good trucks I've owned numerous 1st gens but to say the 1st gen is far superior is like two special needs kids arguing which is smarter. Both gens are complete garage compared to real toyota trucks if you want to go that route (hilux and land cruiser 70 series)

I would even argue with facts my 2.7 is more reliable than the 3.4 since I don't have to worry about a timing belt and if you search there are a plethora of the 2trfe going above half a million miles and my 2nd gen doesn't have to worry about its lower ball joint snapping like a tooth pick having the wheel fall off sans warning or a pink milkshake chewing up head gaskets

 

2nd gen is too big for me. I love how small my reg cab is.

 

Just drove a 2013…
Pros: Has oodles of power in comparison. Comfortable. Seems very capable.
Cons: only thing is it’s bigger, wider, similar to my 2007 Tundra behind the wheel. Width is the only issue. I might just bite the bullet…

 

That was the decision point for me. In early 2004 I learned that the Tacoma was going to be replaced with something other than a compact pickup. So, despite being unemployed at the time, I went out and bought a nice base model plus enhancement package (as close to base as I could find in Washington state) in February 2004. I still have it in 2022, making it the second longest I've owned a vehicle, just now passing the red 1965 Dodge Dart 2-door I owned from 1986 to 2004 (sold after buying this truck.) A VW beach buggy is the vehicle I've owned the longest, from 1993 to this day.

The Tacoma will get 27 mph on the freeway, decent city mileage, always start and always run great and happy to go up and down I-5 at a crawl (Seattle traffic) or 80 mph. Manual door locks and roll down windows are a blast from the past but they do the job just fine. I've got almost 68,000 miles on it now!

 

To ignore the haters and biased 1st gen owners, here's my summary after owning a 2003 DCSB TRD OffRoad automatic trans 4x4 for almost 8 years and now a 2015 DCSB supercharged 4x4 TRD OffRoad with supercharger.

The biggest reason I went to the 2015 was for more airbags. I saw a really bad t-bone crash where a giant F-450 with a gooseneck flatbed trailer completely smashed in a new-ish crossover and pushed them a few hundred feet before they all came to a stop. The occupants weren't immediately dead (I left the scene as there were other more skilled people on the scene with more first aid training than I have).

From there, the second reason was that I had a huge list of upgrades for my 1st gen to make it more comfortable and not suck to drive with the V6 and 4-speed automatic including supercharger, nicer seats, boxing the frame to stiffen it up, new suspension (again), and more. Instead of putting more than $10k into my truck, I sold it for $15k and then only effectively spent $5k more to have a much newer vehicle with almost 200k less miles. The 2nd gen also came with all the mods I was going to do (including that OEM Baja suspension mentioned on page 1) and beyond (supercharger, 6-piston brake kit, sliders, etc).

I don't regret it one bit. I do like the look of the 1st gen DCSB a tiny bit better, but I do not miss driving one - especially in Colorado where I was redlining it in 2nd gear just to maintain 48mph going up to the mountains.