Lemon Tacomas?

I bought my first Tacoma about 8 months ago. It's a 2.7L '96 xtracab with 4x4 and the manual transmission.

First I can say I definitely get what tacoma guys were talking about. This was an upgrade over my '89 F150 with the 5.0. I can't get it stuck, I can pull literally anything on the farm in low range, it pulls my small trailers just fine, and fits my tools without issue. I miss my F150s leg room but it's a small complaint.

I bought it with 335,000 miles on it and it now has 347,000. I knew it was a high mileage truck but I bought it right at book value and during the test drive the only issues I found were the A/C didn't work, it had some noise coming from a wheel and the brakes were weak. I heard these things last forever so I bought it anyways.

Long story short, since I've bought this I've had my battery go out, replaced the battery ground wire, starter go out, replaced a wheel bearing (fixed the noise at the wheel), redone all four brakes, removed the load sensing brake proportioning valve (reason brakes were weak, it had a leak), replaced my clutch slave cylinder, had to put a new head gasket and cylinder head on it because mine warped when the gasket blew, and now I think my clutch master cylinder is going.

Has anyone else had a Tacoma that constantly kicked their tail like this? Is it normal to have to do repairs like this at this mileage? I've heard of the legendary reliability of Toyotas but I've yet to see it yet. Maybe mine's past owners didn't maintain it like they should have?

 

you have almost 350,000 miles and your complaining about reliability? Yes I think you can expect some repair items at that mileage...

 

The fact that it has 347k and is still going should be enough proof that you should just have it gone through and do all the preventative maintenance along with whatever needs to be done ! Then kick back in prevent maintenance mode and cruise into 500k

 

By the way a 357k Tacoma is by no means a lemon !
Perhaps you should buy a new Prius

 

Please sell the Tacoma and buy a Chevrolet.

 

Do you know what preventative maintenance is to be expected on these trucks? I had a ranger that would need its water pump changed every 100,000 or so, any quirks like that with Tacomas?

 

"The cheapest truck is always the truck you have"

 

Yours is a lemon. Sell it.


Here is another member of ours :
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.time...-has-driven-nearly-a-million-miles?source=dam

 

One of my coworkers has a 1998 that has 300,000 that he's owned since new. He's never had to do anything other than oil, fluids, brakes, tires, and batteries. I've just heard the reliability talked up. I'm not complaining that it has issues I was just wondering if these were common.

 

Every 347,000 miles replace truck.

 

The problem is you bought a truck that already had 330,000+ miles on it. You don't actually know the entire maintenance of this truck, unlike your friend who had it since day 1. Apples to Oranges comparison. Any mechanical item on the planet is going to need maintenance, and a truck with that many unknown miles is likely to need things fixed/replaced- it does not make the truck a lemon. Honestly, it sounds like you should sell it and move to something newer. I think you had unrealistic expectations.

 

Dear Matthew,

So it sounds like your Tacoma has been a little bit more of a hole in the water than you had originally expected. You did, however, drive it before you bought it, and you detected during this original test drive that there was a lot of stuff wrong with it. You went ahead and purchased it anyway because of Toyota's reputation, and the fact that it was priced at book value. It was probably a safe assumption to assume that this Tacoma was probably not well taken care of by its previous owner or owners, and that you would of been better off putting your effort on another Tacoma.

Now that you have done all of the work you described in your post, it will most likely be a reliable vehicle.

Good Luck,
Paul

 

Tell you what it's such a lemon I'll buy it !
I'll give you what a lemon is worth
Kidding !!
Just have it gone through and take care of it
You don't really want a Prius ? Right ?

 

My Goodness You need to sell it right away!! Buy a Je*p!!

I do all most all the maintenance when I buy a new to me Toyota just so I know what I have

 

Haha I've got a kid on the way, a Prius would almost be more practical. But unfortunately since I work on farms I don't think it'd make it through the mud. Maybe if I lifted it...

 

It is good practice to replace the waterpump every 100k anyways when you replace the timing belt, while you have a chain, you still have a water pump.

I have replaced all of those things mentioned, and more. A truck with that high of mileage is going to need some work. It sounds like you did a piss poor job of inspecting it before you bought it.

Regardless, once you start having to replace the SAME parts over and over, then you can start your complaining with valid reasons. Until then, it sounds like everything you've replaced is a wearable item.

 

As expensive as used Toyotas are Jeeps somehow cost even more

 

If I were you, I'd sell it to one of us....