Truck shopping to replace my beloved Tacoma

My '97 4x4 Tacoma is no more, due to a drunk driver who almost killed my wife and I. We're out of the hospital and recovering. I'm starting the process of replacing my truck.

I loved that old truck, drove it for a quarter-century. The insurance company finally let me know how much they're sending me for it, barely enough to replace it with a like truck, if I shop around for a deal and drive all over the state. I had taken very good care of it. It was extremely clean for its age, and no rust. We don't salt the roads out here on the west coast. That doesn't seem to matter much to insurance people though.

I am thinking about upgrading a little. We haven't had car payments for over 20 years, so that part will hurt, but it would be nice to have something a little better.

My old truck had a 2.7l I4. It seems that most 4x4 Tacomas have the V6. I'm a conservative driver and have never felt the need for more power in all the years I drove my old one, and I appreciate the slightly better fuel mileage. I've also been told that the I4 was generally more reliable than the V6. Anyone have opinions on that?

My old truck was also a 5-speed manual. I'm used to that, but my wife would prefer an automatic, though she wouldn't be driving it much. My thoughts have always been that a manual is generally more long-term reliable too. Any thoughts on that?

There's an '08 much like mine just newer, that I think I'll go take a look at. My old truck was the Xtracab. This one is the Access cab. I'm inclined to think that I'd like a four door, but my teenage sons like the looks of this '08 because it reminds them more of the old truck they've known their whole lives.

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated, in regards to pros and cons of cabin styles, manual vs. auto transmission, I4 vs. V6, etc.. Realistically I'm looking at replacing my gen1 4x4 Tacoma with a gen2 4x4 Tacoma.

 

I feel your pain man. I had a guy hit me head on in my ‘03. 4 Tacomas later and that was still mine and my kid’s favorite.
Good luck with your search—hard to go wrong with any generation

 

Thank goodness you both are still with us. Hoping no serious injuries..that is just awful news.

I would always argue with the insurance re replacement value if you can.

 

Thanks guys.

My coworker has been helping by looking up trucks for sale, but he keeps urging me to look at Chevy S10's - "Way better truck for the money" he says. Maybe, I don't know. I loved my old truck and what I'm inclined to think I really want is another Tacoma, even if they are overpriced according to him. He's a super good guy and I do appreciate his help, but I want what I want whether it makes sense or not.

I'm also inclined to think that if I find a good one, I'll probably be driving it into old age, and that's still quite a ways away for me. I want something that will hold up well for many miles and years to come.

 

The good Lord was watching over you.

Similar experience with my 1986 Mazda B2000. A 2.0l & 5-speed. I t-boned a chic that blew a stop sign. Loved that truck. Had about 375k on it.

Replaced it with a 2013 Tacoma 5-lug, with 2.7l & 5-speed. Has more than enough power for my purpose. It will never have the heart and soul of that Mazda, but is a rocket compared to it.

It will be repeated over and over, inspect the frame closely, no matter the year.

 

How much money are you willing to spend? The price will guide your purchase. Probably just find the best available in your price range. Statistically, that will probably be a V6, 4door, automatic transmission, TRD something,which is a good truck that gets bad gas mileage, but not much worse that a 4cyl. Hopefully you have time to be picky about what you land on.

 

My $.02....you won't be happy with anything else than a Tacoma.

 

Thank you. Looking for rust I assume? Fortunately the one we're going to look at has spent its whole life here on the west coast, a one-owner truck according to carfax. It's also a manual 5-speed I4.

I'm hoping to keep the cost to within a few thousand of what the insurance is giving me for mine, which means around the $15k range, which of course means a high mileage, older truck. I could afford more, but my wife is effectively disabled, lots of dr bills, and we're raising a houseful of kids. We do OK, just watch the dollars pretty close.

If I don't feel really good about this one, I'll pass and wait for the right one, maybe find a better deal private party.

You've got that right. Fortunately there's video of the accident. The other car hit us HARD. We never had a chance, never even saw them. The impact lifted my truck in the air momentarily, pushed us off the road directly into a large tree. The truck bounced when it hit the tree. The cab is crushed and distorted and the frame is bent like a pretzel. My wife had to be cut out of the truck. It's amazing we weren't hurt worse than we were, but we're still worried about long-term health issues. Either way, it could easily have been so much worse.

I think you're right. If I'm going to drive the next one nearly as long as the last one, I want to buy what I want, not just something that works.

 

He's probably not entirely wrong on that... (certainly that was the case with the Ford Ranger vs. pre-Tacoma trucks of the 1990s) Although I'd question if that still holds true with more-recent models.

Toyota had a problem child that was the 3.0L V6 from 1989-1994 I think it was, which could be responsible for some of the rap you're hearing about V6 engines in Toyotas (and is partly what made the Ranger the better used vehicle value I mentioned above). The later gen V6s (3.4L, 4.0L, and 3.5L) have had much better track records (the 4.0L especially). None get the gas mileage of the 4-cyl though, which is a given.

Manual transmissions do tend to outlive autos, maybe excepting for the clutch, but clutches are far easier to replace than rebuilding an auto trans.

The Access Cabs are nice. I've dealt with extended cab trucks that didn't have the doors, and it's a PITA putting stuff in & taking it out past the front seatbacks (forget about climbing in & out as a passenger).
'08 should be a solid year.

Glad you & your wife are still here.

Welcome to TW.

 

Drove three hours (one way) to look at a 2nd gen 4x4 that was pretty much exactly what I was looking for, one owner vehicle with maintenance record, had a lot going for it.

The salesman I talked to on the phone said that they'd had it for over a month, but they did have a guy scheduled to come look at it. I mentioned that to a coworker and he laughed, said that's a sales technique to get me going and he guarantees that's not true. Well the salesman wasn't lying. The other guy showed up a few minutes before we did and bought it. Oh well.

We stopped at several other lots on the way home and looked at a bunch of trucks. We were able to compare an access-cab truck side by side with a 4-door truck, and it was at that moment that I realized that's what we really need. Personally I don't like the looks of 4-door trucks; I think they're mildly ugly. My kids are growing though, and their whole lives they've been crawling in and out of the Xtra-cab of my old truck. The comfortable back seat of the 4-door is SO much nicer, and I think I'll get used to the looks eventually. My teenage sons are the size of full grown men now, and we have a family tradition of taking a guy trip out in the mountains of the PNW every summer.

Looking at all these trucks has also convinced me that 2nd gen is what I want. If I found a great deal on a nice 1st gen I'd be tempted, but maybe it is time to come into the 21st century. Besides the price, 3rd and 4th gen is not for me. Newer trucks have gotten so huge, and I can't bring myself to like the styling.

Price is another thing. As much as I REALLY want a Tacoma, there is a voice in the back of my mind telling me to look at a few lesser trucks. The prices on all these Tacomas I've been looking at scare me a little, even trucks with 200k+ miles. I don't feel like the insurance company is giving me enough for my old truck because it would be really hard to find an exact replacement for that, but I could buy a much nicer Nissan, Ford, or Chevy in that price range. Decisions, decisions...

 

Yeah I've always been hesitant to buy a used Toyota anything myself (not because they aren't good vehicles, but because people over-value them by so much it's become the norm). So of course the one I own I bought new since it was barely ~10% more than 4-5 YO used ones at the time, and had a warranty (which this still seems to hold true today).

I suspect Nissan is where the best used values are currently... The '19-'23 Rangers might be sortof decent as well, though the turbo 4-cyl engine is a turnoff for me (and the lack of a manual trans, which this is actually what prompted me to jump ship from Ford over to Toyota).
Be aware, you usually can negotiate a better payout from your insurance... Big thing to do is search for examples of what similar trucks are selling for in your area (PNW, for example), and show that to your agent.

Anyway, I kindof agree on the cab, if you got nearly-grown kids in the family, a 4-door (crew) model is likely to be more practical than something smaller. I too hate the look of the 4-door cabs.

Good luck with your search.

 

If you haven't accepted the check from the insurance company then pick out trucks local to you in similar condition and show them the prices. I've absolutely had insurance increase pay out by doing just that. Especially if your not in a big hurry for the next vehicle.

 

i tend to agree with 4x4junkie. the 'toyota tax' on anything older than the gen 3 tacoma's is nearly unjustifiable. in my area, 2nd gen's can be pushing 300k miles, missing interior door panels, with obvious crash damage, for $10-15k. any chevy/ford truck in that condition would be $500-1,000, if not just plain scrapped.

the new rangers worry me. even the 4th gen tacoma's worry me. i genuinely don't trust 4 cylinder turbo's for heavier-duty hauling and towing duties that trucks generally do. i feel it's asking too much of too small a motor. i much prefer a naturally aspirated motor for my trucks.

but the old naturally-aspirated v6 rangers were never offered in america as a 4-door. they were in mexico (i've looked into it), but that's a fiasco that's definitely not worthwhile in today's current political climate. however all of those are getting into 'antique' status anymore, with the absolute newest being 2011 model years. and the 09-11 final iterations command a premium because of them being the final refresh.

i would encourage you to take an in-person look at the older and newer versions of nissan frontier and the chevy colorado. the nissan was updated for the 2022 model year, but the previous iteration ran nearly unchanged from 2005-2021.

i know plenty of people that are really happy with the chevy colorado, but it's one of those vehicles that i can't love no matter how much someone pays me to take one. but if a 3rd gen tacoma is out, it's well worth the effort to go by a dealer with a colorado in stock, and at least just sit in it to see if it's workable for you.

 

Exactly..fight them tooth and nail

 

Thank you; it's worth a try. It's sad that you can have your whole life turned upside down and they want to lowball you. I could spend days and drive hundreds of miles to maybe find one comparable for a bargain. That doesn't seem right.

I will be open to looking at Nissan pickups, as much as I'd rather have a Tacoma. I've been surfing Autotrader and other sites looking at trucks until my eyes hurt and my head spins. I really do hate car shopping, as evidenced by driving the same truck for a quarter of a century.

I know I should be open to the 3rd gen trucks, but I just can't bring myself to like the styling.

 

No need to justify yourself. You like what you like. And situations change as well.

My parents just went through something similar of a surprise wrecked vehicle. Except my dad had his own plans to replace that vehicle for going on 10 years. He always intended to get a '14-18 Ford explorer. So when the vehicle got wrecked, he jumped on car sales sites and started locating '14-18 explorers. He set up a few test drives, and I tagged along as their mechanically minded eyes.

The first few vehicles had their own issues that voided the sales, but as he started to sit in them, see how big they were, etc, he started to realize it was far too much vehicle for their needs anymore.

10 years ago, when he started looking/loving the explorer, he had kids to cart around, needing the three rows of seats and the 2" hitch.

now it's just my parents and occasionally a grand kid or two needing to be picked up. They settled instead on a Chevy equinox that's almost half the size of an explorer and couldn't be happier with their choice.

 

I know it makes a big difference, but how much of a difference does mileage really make in value? I'm looking at an '06 4x4 crew cab locally, 250k miles, for $13k. It looks pretty clean for the miles, but that is a lot of miles. I've seen that I can get a Nissan Frontier with about 100k fewer miles for about the same price.

 

Not too up on the Nissans as they age etc myself. I did have a 19 rented for me 4 yrs ago and liked it enough.

 

We went out and looked at a couple more. I've been trying to learn all I can about what to look for, to make sure I don't buy junk.

How much frame rust is concerning? I've been watching the Carfax reports to avoid wasting much time with older trucks from the "Rust Belt". We drove over an hour one way to look at a couple today. One had too many miles, the paint was pretty bad, and the inside stunk really bad (no thanks). The other one, an '07, looked nice, mostly, drove fine, but I did see frame rust underneath, which surprised me because the carfax report said it had spent its life in Arizona and Oregon. My wife pointed out that something was funky with the radio antenna base. I touched the plastic cover and noticed that the aluminum mount underneath was corroded and crumbling.

We passed on it and I was scratching my head a little on the way home. They don't put salt on the roads in Arizona or Oregon.

Suddenly a light bulb went off and I remembered something from the Carfax report. Every oil change listed for the last ten years was done in a small town on the Oregon COAST. No, they don't salt the roads there, but the air is full of salty ocean air year round!

I should have known that because when I was young my dad bought a pickup truck from the coast. It wasn't that old but it was cheap because it was a total rust bucket, body rusted completely through in places. This Tacoma wasn't nearly that bad, but I think I'll pass on it.

 

This is a common problem. Replacement is fairly easy.

Good detective work on where oil changes took place. That's a red flag in my book.