Questions concerning different year models and specs

I don't know much about 2005's at all except that there are threads on the TW forum that warn about issues with either that year or 2004's or 2006's. You have to do a search on that stuff.

All I know is that an 11 year old car is an 11 year old car. A truck that's rode hard and put away wet is just that. A truck that has low miles but is off roaded alot could have a lot of hard miles on it even though it has a low odometer reading. These are things to sort out.

I would search out a good mechanic that has been established for a few decades that has majority positive ratings on Yelp. The really good ones don't advertise and locals know to go to him. The area I live in had a mechanic operating since 1964 and is family owned. I have lived in this area for 20 years and didn't know about the business until I went on Yelp. He had the highest ratings and the most ratings. Fair and honest people are hard to find here where I live. I got his website and phone number from Yelp and the rest is history. Turns out he was only about 5 miles from me.

I took my 2001 Ford Ranger to him and he had it for a day and a half (I had to make an appointment a week in advance...good indication that he is busy and in demand). He told me all the problems I needed to have fixed. I had a $3000 truck with $5000 worth of problems. The way he was talking I could tell he was suggesting to bail out of it while I could. I then asked him "what truck would you get?" and he said a Toyota. He was the second mechanic in six months that suggested getting a Toyota.

He then told me how to look for a good used one. He said to get to know the local Car Max and regularly search the inventory for
a truck that was a few years old. Then look at the Car Fax to make sure it didn't come from a flood state or a rust state (i.e. salt water coastal area). When a deal comes along then it will be obvious. He mentioned his wife had a Toyota truck and it has 300,000+ miles.

I ended up buying a new Tacoma because the more I thought about it, it seemed less risky. There are many potential pitfalls to buying used anything. Plus the cost of used Toyotas can be as high as a brand spankin new one. Plus I want to hold onto it for 10 or 15 years. Also Toyota has Toyota care which is a really good warranty for 2 years/25,000 miles. Plus financing is easy peasy japanesey on a new car.

If you can do your own maintenance such as take engines apart, replace head gaskets, change out water pumps, change out radiators, and change out all the stuff that can go out on an 11 year old car, then you can be a little more brave about it than I would be.

By the way that mechanic never charged me a dime for the day and a half he had that car. I even offered to give him $100 for his effort and he wouldn't take it. He even filled up my coolant. Great guy.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated on what you figure out on your Jedi journey here.

 

Makes a hell of a lot of sense with your perspective. I had been looking at it from a horsepower point of view. I was going to be picky and make sure the truck was adult driven. if I had gone with an older truck it may cost me as much to make it run as well as a newer model. a newer model costs more with less risk of being run into the ground so far. I need to test drive a few. I work in Houston Texas and I know I'll have alot of area to look in to find something decent. It's going to be a truck I want to keep and mod along the way. nothing too extravagant but definantly some bolt ons and a small lift for bigger rims and tires. I know it will cause extra strain on the stearing, brakes, transmission. how do I offset the extra stress. they seem to come pretty stout stock. but durability wise . . 4x4 access cab. shortbed. would be my goal.
I'm getting more information than I had realised. thanks for the feedback fellas

 

For bolt on engine mods you can get a cold air intake and a cat back exhaust, both of which can be expensive for little hp gains, they make the truck sound cool. The stock 4.0 v6 has good power unless you lift it 7" and slap on 35" tires that weight 75lbs each without regearing.
If you get a mild 3" lift with say 32-33" tires you should be alright without much power loss.

The only real horsepower mods are a supercharger, engine swap, or lots of intake/exhaust/cams and other stuff with a custom ECU tune from URD.
Www.urdusa.com <- power is here

Durability wise, my truck has withstood very well with going 50mph over quite rough roads, with the only "damage" being my alignment is off afterwards ocasionally. And this is over the course of a year with 5.5" front and 2" rear lift with 33" tires weighing a fair amount more than the stock setup.
Edit: I'm not on stock suspension, I have coilovers and rear add-a-leaf and shock.

I'm a little slow on power up hills, but my tires are much larger and a lot heavier then stock (e-load all-terrains). No regear done.

As far as looking for a 4x4 truck, 2005+ is second gen, 2005-06 have some head gasket issues and motor mount issues if you Offroad hard. 2009+ has a brake controlled LSD instead of a mechanical one if you are a TRD Sport only. 2012-15 has the new facelift.

Also depending on where you live, look for frames in good condition, there was a rusting out recall on some in winter states. Can check the vin to see if it was eligible for it me if it has been done.

TRD Offroad models have a electronic locking rear differential and more traction control modes when 4x4
TRD Sport models have color matched bumpers/grill and (Nicer?) Interior, and a mechanical or brake controlled LSD.

Non TRD models may or may not be SR5's? Not quite sure, but they won't have the above upgrades, 4x4, but open differential (spiiiiin).

Any more questions, I'll be trying to avoid extended family all day Sunday so feel free to ask!

 

Ok. so based on the info given. I'm going to be looking for a TRD model. 2007 ish v6 4x4. I don't want a lift more than 3 inches anyway. I could keep stock rims and get some bigger tires with out going overboard. the air intake and exhaust is easy to get installed by a local shop. . here's a an important question to me. spark plug type. I run premium in my vehicles. for best performance in daily driving. i change my oil pretty often. I drive a couple months /or my oil gets dark.
I'm not a kid when it comes to driving but I'll use this as a bad refrence to what I'm wanting out of the truck. will it smoke the tires stock? I don't do burn outs but if it has enough power for wheel spin than it has the power I want that it will go when I push the gas. not mr. lead foot. but I don't want a slow gas peddle when I want to drive it trying to get somewhere

 

Also when you find a good local mechanic, take some used ones for a test drive and have him check it over for signs of wear, problems, etc... Do this only when you think you found THE ONE.

Also I know a couple of guys that only buy used lower mileage trucks from individuals. This could be the best way to go especially for single owner trucks. Then if someone is dishonest and you find out after you bought it, you know where they live! They've had good luck with this buying tactic.

Also it makes sense to buy a base model and add all the suped up mod stuff yourself via a great mechanic. The more suped up it is, the more likely it was driven hard. You just never know how hard a truck has been driven.

I would assume that a work truck was worked, a fast car was driven fast, and an off road monster was off roaded and that there is a good reason why someone wants to sell it. Guilty until proven innocent.

 

BTW I saw on the news that new car sales are down from last year and that people are holding on to cars for an average of 11 years.

Also I'm convinced that new car dealers can give their best deals after holiday sales. But this might depend on the car/truck. Some incentives are hard to ignore, like $12,000 cash back on a $50,000 dollar truck. I'm never in that stratosphere though. I think dealers see you coming during the holidays.

Might be worthwhile to do a ton of research and then go new car shopping after Jan 3. Even if one car dealer had a good selling season, there might be two others that had a dissapointing one. Look for a lot that is full of cars and has new cars to be unloaded. They'll want to make space.

Another thing I noticed with new Toyota trucks is that there aren't many sitting around on lots and that a truck buyer is a specific buyer. Like a Mercedes Benz buyer is a specific buyer and this can be harder to leverage a deal on the buying end.

Around here where I am the lots are overloaded with Camry's and Corollas. These are really good cars that someone could get a really really really good deal right now...something for the wife or kid.

 

Fred Haas Toyota is less than 10 minutes from me. I'm always seeing comercials and even had an older gentleman refer me to him. I drive by that specific lot almost everyday coming home from work. It's off my part of the hiway I have to exit. . it was about 4am when I got off work and just decided to stop and see what these prices where with out some salesmen trying to sell me a dream. the Taco I liked turned out to be a 2017 4door. base at 30 with 10k of mods. sticker on the windshield said 40k. more aggressive tires and a few other things. it was clear that this is not a base model. but I must say the truck was gorgeous. dark orange and everything else was black. rims as well. 17 in rims. it was inbetween 2 modded tundras. this dealer ship seem to be the place for the selection.
If your curious about invetory.
http://www.fredhaastoyota.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=googlemybusiness
There lot looks huge from the highway.
And you made another point I didn't look at. fast cars driven fast. . . a stock truck was hopefully cared for. .

 

http://www.fredhaastoyota.com/new/Toyota/2017-Toyota-Tacoma-079a9f390a0e0a171812578a2a1e1b67.htm
But it looked alot more aggressive
Like it was short and wide and off-road tires peaking out of the wheel wells. if I had cash id barter down to 30k. then I don't have to modit. It's already a finished product

 

Don't be afraid to get a loaded new truck. In my previous post I was referring to a suped up modded out used car. Especially those used monster trucks you occasionally see on the road. You know those things are used up when their offered for sale.

Actually a good way to get a deal is to look at a certified new car dealer modified car with all bells and whistles then try to get it for the pre mod base price. So if you can get a $30,000 truck with $10,000 worth of add on stuff for close to $30,000 (instead of $40,000), then that would be a deal. However they always have/need an example of a tricked out truck or SUV so they can show people all the stuff they could tack onto the vehicle. It doesn't take much before it reaches $10,000.

I remember in the early 2000's when cars started getting more computerized, my dad was frustrated because dealers weren't making good deals on cars. I remember the best deal he could get was just to get something that was fully loaded for a non-fully loaded price. That's still a deal in my book.

Before I forget, I wouldn't be too worried about 2016 models being too risky because they are the first year models. Cars are so much more efficient and dependable than 15 years ago, for which 15 year old cars were way more dependable than cars 15 years before that...and so on and so on. Also, when there are some big problems, Toyota has a good reputation and track record for addressing the problems.

 

http://www.fredhaastoyota.com/new/Toyota/2017-Toyota-Tacoma-079a9f390a0e0a171812578a2a1e1b67.htm


Nice truck...I'm partial to inferno orange! If you could get it for $35,000 or less that would be a deal.

 

I can get 33" to slip/spin a little, stock I could smoke he 265 a little.

Good advice given in above posts^^^^

I changed my spark plugs to NGL iridium plugs, for get the exact heat and other info but i can look up my Amazon order...

 

All this info is what I needed. I'd be a first time buyer.I see alot of pros. what about the cons of a tacoma. hearing about all the good stuff is great. but for go know what I'm really looking at. there's going to be something somewhere to "look out for". I had noticed something that might I was looking at that orange tacoma. the rake of the windshield seems like it's way back. meaning less visibility. I'm up higher off the ground on purpose. if I can't see out the windshild . . it kind of kills the whole idea. but I'm used to trucks and suv's with what appears to be more visibility up front. as far as up and down is concerned. I'm not all that tall. 5'8. but will I be placing my head near the roof to see out in front of me? or am I just being too picky. have y'all had or noticed this situation ?

 

Here's what I wound up with. When I went shopping it was for a $24,000 SR that was non-existant on any of the lots I looked at. I wound up with an SR5. It had 4x4 (4WDemand), SR5 appearance package (worth $650), 16" alloy wheels, Entune, rear back up camera, etc...

This is way more options than I needed. Then again my needs were simple...daily driver. I paid less than MSRP but about $2,000 more than the SR base model. I feel it was fair. It's also a 4 cylinder. Used my trade as a down payment...no cash down.

This thing won't win any monster truck shows or break any land speed records, but it's a quantum leap from my 2001 Ford Ranger.

It's good to know exactly what your needs will be. It will take a lot of research, test drives, and kickin tires. The more time you put into research the better it will pay off in terms of buyer satisfaction and overall happiness.

 

I'm 5'6" and I feel comfortable in my truck, hood scoop and all, and technically angling upwards with more lift in the front.
Tacomas in general, 2 and 3 gen, you sit a little lower than most other trucks or truck based SUV. I don't mind it and got used to it within a short time. You can also search for the seat spacer mod to rais the seat if you like. I don't feel I need this.
I learned where the front end of the truck goes/ is quickly.
3rd gens felt pretty similar to my truck when I drove many when I worked for a Toyota dealership.

As far as bad stuff... if buying used 2nd gen I'd look to see if the truck qualified for, and if so, if the leaf spring TSB and/or rusty frame recall was done.

Here's a good intro thread for 2nd gens fixes and diy mods:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2nd-gen-tips-mods-more.7174/

There's countless complaint threads about things that may or may not actually be a problem with the new 3rd gens, but there's also many owners who love their trucks. I don't know too much about this side of gen 3.

 

They are still fixing the frame rust issue on gen 2's for those people affected. I saw one first hand at the dealership I bought mine at. Got a tour of the mechanic shop area...looked like a clean factory with over 20 cars being worked on. Got to see them working on the frame part of a truck...it was stripped down to the skeleton.

It was good to see them taking care of recall problems.

 

More pics

 

I'm 5'11" and am very comfortable in the SR5. Plenty of cabin and headspace. This truck feels like driving a sportscar more than a truck if that makes any sense.

The most cramped/restricted I've felt was in a Dodge Ram. Beautiful looking truck but cramped cabin space. It was the way the interior curved inward towards the top. I think it was a 2003 or 2004.

 

The TRD's I've seen on the lots are sharp. I never test drove one because I was afraid of falling in love with a $40,000+ car that way over-exceeded my simple needs. They are the top of the line for Tacoma. I think there is a Limited edition version of the TRD as well.

What would happen if you took one on a test drive off road style, like a scene in one of the Jackass movies. Drive it off the lot in a mild manner low key kind of way...go down the road a mile or two and then take a hard right into a city park or a field and go nuts!

 

I'd be the guy to get arrested for slinging mud in a city park. . . every one else could do it and never get caught. I'd see a freaking cop on the way there lol.
But anyway.
Your truck is nice and I like it's style. I want one like that but the v6 version 4x4. the end result of the base trim doesn't matter as much as the 4x4 and v6 auto. the TRD seems to be the better option with less mods I would want to do. are yalls stock under the hood. ??? how much was the parts you had installed.

Back when I was driving my chevy the entire stering setup went to hell. (ran over a hog) at 70. . . had to replace just about everything when it was said and done. I say that to lead to the conversation i had with the man doing the ball joints/the rods/idler control arm/. . there experience had said dodge was the most high maintence when it comes to buy parts. thats in the big 3. does the Toyota parts break the bank? altenator and starter water pump. . the genral parts that tends to wear out??

 

But id have to get one with that awesome cowl ind. hood.Coming to my personal opinion. seems the TRD comes with that hood style