New-to-me 2002 Tacoma PreRunner DoubleCab, SR5/TRD, 2.7L, 253k miles and going strong!

Hi everyone,

Last weekend, I purchased a 2002 Tacoma PreRunner DoubleCab SR5 w/ TRD Off-Road Pkg with 253k miles on it. I bought it from a childhood friend who now works for my dad and he was the original owner. He got a new RAM 1500 Crew Cab and most that the dealer would give him for trade-in was $3,200! He refused to give it to them for that and knew he could sell it himself for more. He approached my dad and told him he would let him have it for $4000. My dad told him that he'd call me and, if I didn't buy it for that, he definitely would.

My dad and I finally decided to 'share' the truck since I live next door to my parents. (Thankfully, there's over five acres of trees between our houses, so it's not nearly as bad as you might think). They were also kind enough to give me 4.2 of their 20 acres to build my house and they gave me the best part of their parcel with a creek running through my back yard. It was a deal I couldn't pass up, so I built a house here in 2008. Back to sharing the truck with my dad.....he wanted to split the cost 50/50 and pay $2k each. I finally convinced him to just pay $1k and let me pay $3k since it would be kept at my house and I would end up driving it more than him.ni

I went over to my dad's office and took the truck for a test drive. Just as a formality and so I knew what I was getting into, I took the truck to my mechanic for a thorough inspection. I also had him perform an engine compression test and he said the results looked like they were from an engine with 53k miles rather than 253k miles! But the truck has been fed Full Synthetic Oil since new. After that, I had no problem going by the bank and grabbing $3k in cash.

There was one pretty big surprise in store for me, but it wasn't a bad one. My dad assumed that the truck was a V6 and, even after driving it for a while, I had no reason to think otherwise. But on my way home from buying it, I was at the front of the line at a red light. When it turned green, I floored it just to see how well it accelerated under heavy throttle and to stretch its legs a bit, so speak. I did that a few more times and it never felt underpowered, but two things confused during hard acceleration. The sound of the engine at higher rpm wasn't bad but just wasn't that of a V6 either. No matter how hard they try, a big (2.7L) 4-cylinder will never be quite as smooth and free of vibration as a V6. Not that the 2.7L is harsh in any way, because it's quite the opposite.

When I finally got home and pulled into the garage, I popped the hood and verified that it was the 2.7L Inline-4 and not the 3.4L V6 under the hood! I am amazed by how well this engine works in this truck. I always thought that the 4-cylinder Tacoma would be a dog (slow) and I'd get the V6 if I ever bought one. But even today, with temps pushing into the high 90s and A/C cranked up as high as it would go, as long as I put my right foot down hard when the light turned green, it really wakes up around 3000rpm.

Here's a quick rundown of what $4k bought me and my dad....I think it wqas a deal!

2002 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner DoubleCab
SR5 Package AND TRD Off-Road Pkgs
Imperial Jade w/ Gray Cloth
2.7L Inline-4, 4-speed A/T
Anti-lock Brakes
Cruise Control
Sliding Rear Window
Power windows, locks and mirrors and a much-nicer-than-expected 6-spkr AM/FM/CD/Cass audio system are also part of the package.
It has a bedliner, toolbox, tinted window visors and sharp 16" 5-spoke wheels.

There's only major issue with the truck and I'm making progress on fixing the problem. The guy who owned it for the last 13 years and 253k miles is a smoker!!! I'm not judging anyone, but it's a simple fact that the VAST majority of non-smokers find the smell of stale smoke in a car sickening. I've scrubbed and shampooed the seats, carpet and headliner twice and followed each time with a heavy dousing of Febreeze. It's amazing how much better the seats look (and how brown the water in my carpet cleaner was after I cleaned them). I've already got it smelling better than I thought would be possible. My next step is to use a product that many detail shops and dealers use called Auto Shocker. I just have to open everything up (glovebox, armrest, pull visors down) and put this stuff inside, make sure all windows are closed and park it in the garage for at least 24 hours without opening the doors. After that, I may do one more round of shampoo and let it go.

At least the outside is near-perfect. The chrome grille and bumpers look perfect, as do the wheels and tires. The only exterior issue is with the black fender flares (part of the TRD Pkg, I think). After 13 years and a quarter-of-a-million miles, they're starting to look faded. I have a product (can't think of the name) that I used to bring the black trim on my 2006 Mazda3 back to life and it worked great. It also did the same on the black trim on my sister's 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. So I'm hoping it will make the exterior of my Tacoma look like new. The rest of the exterior is in great shape.

Anyway, I suppose that's more than enough for now! Happy to be here and to be part of the Toyota familly!

 

It's just getting broken in. Congrats and welcome to TW!

 

Thank you for the friendly welcome! I hope you're right, that it's just getting broken in. I tend to grow very attached to vehicles that give me bulletproof service and like to hang on to them as long as possible.

Of course, I also have a habit of owning multiple vehicles simultaneously. The Tacoma brings my current fleet to four! I have a 2012 Mazda CX-9 GT, 2006 Mazda3 s 5-door and 1995 Acura Legend GS

$151 4-door QAA is Compatible with 2016-2020 Toyota Tacoma 6 Piece Stainless Body Molding Insert Trim Kit, 1.5" Width MI16172

4-door 6-speed manual (which I've owned since 2002 and currently has just over 360k miles....and I plan to keep it forever). My parents want to buy my CX-9 because my dad was driving mom's '08 Explorer Eddie Bauer about two months ago when he got t-boned by a utility truck running a red light and it was totaled. Once we heard that has wasn't injured, we were so glad to be rid of that POS. So many things went wrong with that thing that even the Service Manager at the dealership commented several times that he had never seen a single Explorer with so many problems. I still need a 'primary' vehicle to replace the CX-9, but now that I have the Tacoma, I can go with something other than another SUV or truck! I'm seriously considering a new Volvo S60, but haven't made any firm decisions yet.

But back to you comment about it just getting broken in....my dad is going up to my their cabin in North Carolina this weekend to get it ready for he and mom to stpend next weekend there. He asked the guy that we bought the Tacoma from if he would trusty it to drive up to North Carolina (about 100 miles each way). The guy replied that he would would rive it to Canada or California without giving it a second thought!

I'll admit that I don't know a lot about the 2.7L Inline-4. I'm familiar with the 3.4L V6 just by reputation and the 2.4L because it's used in other Toyota products. So far, I'm impressed by the lack of complaints and problems that I've found online. As long as I keep using synthetic oil and high quality filters, I'm hoping for a lot more miles! I use K&N filters (oil and air) in my other vehicles and plan to do the same on the Tacoma.

Any other recommendations to keep it running in top condition or just follow the maintenance schedule?

 

Congrats and Welcome to TW