Trucks or options to avoid ?

Hello

I am looking into 1st gen Tacomas because I just cant stand the wheel wells on the 2nd gens. Some things you just cant live with no matter how petty.

I dont believe there is any "best" year for a Tacoma but I am wondering if there are certain years or options to shy away from or pay very close attention too.

To help with the answer a little bit let me define how the truck will be used.

The truck will spend 2 years in the Bakken oil field (NW North Dakota). After that it will spend the rest of its life in the NW corner of Montana around Flathead Lake. There it will have light farm duty, daily driving and various off road excursions into the hinter lands of the Rockies. It will not be, intentionally, used for crawling, bogging, logging or earth moving. It will, however, be subjected to off-road fun on a moderate scale for hunting and camping.

If the answer to my question is "just pick a year, any year" Im fine with that but if there are honest things to beware of, then please let me know. I am a life long 4Runner owner (94 SR5 and 99 Limited) so the Tacoma world is new to me even though Toyota is not.

Thanks in advance,
David

 

I agree with you on the 2nd gen wheel wells. LOL Weird that something like that can put you off completely.
Anyway, my suggestion is to look for a clean truck that has not been modded. Although modded trucks mean that the owners spent time and effort making the trucks 'better', it usually also means that the trucks have been used off-road, and there is no telling how much bouncing, crawling, twisting etc. it has endured. There are exceptions though, but it has always been my rule for used vehicles (Example will never buy a Honda Civic with aftermarket ricer wheels and performance exhaust)

Second thing would be to try and found a truck from outside the rust belt. It will be a little more difficult to have to travel south to go look at or pick up a truck, but will be worth it in the long run. Rusty frames are just about the only negative rep that these trucks get.

Good luck; I hope you find a good deal somewhere.

 

Check to make sure the frame was checked by Toyota. That will mean it was either replaced or it will have warranty for 15 years from its in-service date (IE 2004 truck frame is warrantied until ~2019 depending on exact purchase date)

If I were to go back and do it again I would wait for an unmodified 4X4, V6, 5-speed, TRD. Wouldn't settle for less.