What do you think of your Tacoma?

I have had many vehicles, starting out with a 2000 Honda Civic SI as a 16th birthday present, a 2003 Jeep Liberty (piece of junk) as a graduation present, a 2004 VW Jetta 1.8T, a 2004 Chevy 1500 Z71, a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2007 Chevy 1500 Z71, 2008 Dodge Ram 3500, 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, 1987 Jeep YJ and then there is my 2011 Toyota Tacoma. It's not the nicest of vehicles I have owned but it is by far my favorite. I will admit I have owned more vehicles in 11 years than 3 people combined may own in a lifetime ( I buy and resale them) and the Tacoma is by far the best. So, the question is, what vehicles have you owned and how does your Taco compare to them?

 

1984 VW GTI
1984 Jetta GLI
1995 Mazda B2200
1993 Mercury Topaz
1997 Mazda B3000
2001 Golf TDI
2006 Jetta (current)
2003 BMW Z4 (current)
2011 Tacoma (current)

2009 Yamaha FJR1300 (current)

All of the cars I've owned have had their charms. The Tacoma, being the newest, is tops at the moment for what it is. The BMW is the choice for fun and the Jetta the choice for long drives.

If I could have one of them back, it'd be the Golf TDI - it was highly modified, stone reliable and STILL gets over 50 mpg according to my buddy who bought it 4 years ago from me...LOL

Now, if I could stuff a current gen TDI engine into the Tacoma, well, perfection my friends!

 

95 wrangler, 89 4runner 96 tacoma,05 tacoma is the newest. they were all badass in there own way. I dont like how "clunky" the 6 speed is in the 05, thats about all i dont like

 

1991 accord
1991 skyline gts
1990 skyline gtr
1992 skyline gtr
1991 skyline gtr
1992 camry
1986 Toyota pickup
2002 Subaru impreza wrx**
2007 impreza wrx**
2006 Tacoma sr5 dclb**
(I'm forgetting a few

**=still have

Depends on what you're doing with it. I use mine for hauling dirtbikes, offroading, and camping. Love the shit out of it.

 

1981 Celica
1986 4Runner
1991 Subaru Legacy Wagon
1992 Subaru Loyale Wagon
2005 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport (current)
2010 Tacoma Access Cab TRD Offroad (current)

A definite trend in my family. I miss both my Celica and my 4Runner. Both were bombproof and cheap to repair.

 

89 Ford Taurus Sho (186k)
97 Mazda B2300 (175k)
99 Ford Ranger (120k)
05 Mazda B3000 (40k)
06 Civic Si (40k)
06 Taco (80k)
08 F150 (50k) (Still have it, good vehicle)
08 Z71 4x4 (36k) (Worst vehicle I have ever owned)
11 Taco (4k) (Best I've owned)

The Sho, and the Si I dogged the CRAP out of and they still ran perfect when I got rid of them. The ranger and the Mazdas ran perfect since the day I had them, and got excellent mpg city / hwy mixed. Loved my 06, wanted a full size so I bought an 08 FX4 and love it, I sold it to my dad and it runs perfect like the day I bought it. Bought a Z71 to replace it, nothing but problems, bought it @13k went to the shop over 12 times in a year, got a new cam, headers, whole exhaust, front differential, shocks, aligned 3 times in 6 months, still didn't stay aligned, new ecu, new gauge cluster, they kept freezing randomly, finally my "stabilitrac" stopped working, took it to the dealer, they said it would take 2 weeks which I was fine with, but ON THE WAY FROM MY HOUSE TO THE DEALER, my odometer was at 36,009 and my rear speakers went out at 30k or so and they said it would cost me $200 to fix because I'm out of warranty by 9 miles, that was the last damn straw. Called the BBB, they called me a week later and bought it back, I'll never even consider a Chevy again.

 

After I put a 100k miles on it I will get back to you, so far I LIKE IT !!!

 

1980 Toyota Corolla SR5 Hatchback
1986 Mazda 626 Turbo Touring Sedan
1999 Nissan Altima
2000 Nissan Frontier XE 2WD
2008 Honda Civic Coupe EX (current)
2011 Tacoma SR5 Double Cab SB (8 weeks old)

For PUs, my new Tacoma tops my Frontier by a mile - the Frontier was barebones, while my new Tacoma has just the right features for weekend work arouns the house and getting back and forth to work.

For the others, my Civic coupe tops all cars other than my Mazda 5-door turbo. Civic great for long trips, weekends at the golf course, etc. The Mazda was an all around car that could do it all.

The Altima was the worse of the bunch.

 

2000 SAAB 9-5 SE V6 AT bought May '07
2012 Toyota Tacoma DCSB 4x4 V6 AT bought 2 days ago

Clearly I dont have enough experience in my new truck yet to say it's better than my SAAB but I already feel at home driving it around. I'm very impressed with it so far.

edit: wow some of you guys go through cars like nobody's business. I like keeping mine around!

 

1990 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4wd -- underpowered, always breaking down
1993 Honda Accord 2-door -- very comfortable car, good gas mileage
1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4wd -- 4.0L I6 was peppy, great turn radius and perfect for moving in college
2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4wd (manual) -- 4.0L I6 was peppy, easy to park, but annoying on interstate b/c of soft top
2003 VW Passat Wagon -- nice care, expensive to maintain, electrical glitches
2003 Toyota Corolla -- nice small car, good gas mileage
2003 Ford F-150 5spd manual -- a BEAST, noisy, lots of rattles (great for a daily work truck/powerful, but not much comfort and hard to park)
2005 Toyota 4Runner SR5 rwd -- great SUV, seats were uncomfortable (a favorite)
2004 Toyota Highlander (Current) -- best SUV/Crossover I've owned
2010 Toyota Tacoma (Current) -- best truck I've owned

I'm really happy with the Toyota's that I have owned and the Tacoma is probably my favorite thus far.

 

91 supra: i wrecked my brothers truck so my dad said since i wrecked his truck. He gets to keep your car
85 corolla gt-s: still have it and even though its just sitting in the garage at the moment. Still my best car i have
04 sienna(aka the mothership): bought it for my wife but then she decided she didnt want to drive it so guess who got stuck driving it . Anyways, i loved this van. If i wouldve gotten to drive the new siennas before i bought my truck. I wouldve probably traded it in for the new seinnas instead of the truck. Not saying i dont love my truck though. Its just i cant do some stuff with my truck that i can with the van but its the same the other way around also.
09 tacoma: had it since august and i love it. was what i wanted before i got the mothership.

 

Currently 21, but since I was 16 I have had...

1996 Dodge Ram 2WD v8 (123K miles)
2002 Chevy Blazer LS 4WD v6 (17K miles)
2001 Dodge Ram Reg Cab Off Road Package V8 (85K Miles)
2001 Dodge Cummins w/4 inch lift, chipped, intake, exhaust, etc.. (130K)
2001 Dodge Cummins w/ 6 inch lift, chipped, intake, exhaust, etc...(108 K)
1998 Honda Civic LX (103 K)
2002 Toyota Tacoma DC TRD (123k miles)
1999 Toyota Corolla (183K Miles) *Current
1997 Toyota 4runner (147k miles) *Current
2006 Tacoma DC TRD (94k miles) *Current

That gives it a grand total of 10. I think I may have some type of problem

My corolla is my daily driver and my mom drivers the 4runner. the tacoma gets driven for hunting and snow, but sits more days than not. The 06 is by far the most comfortable vehicle I have driven. Absolutely love it, but debating on keeping it or not since I hardly ever drive it and have quite a large payment on it, but thats besides the point. Honestly, if I could go back I would have kept my first 01 Cummins. Theres just something about diesels I love, maybe its the power, or the sound. IDK . But I can't complain. I also work at a car dealership so I am constantly driving different cars so that may be the root cause of my problem LOL

 

Here's a partial list. Kind of a hobby to pick up good deals and flip them for $$.
1970 Chevelle SS 396 (shoulda kept it)
1951 Willys pickup (shoulda kept it)
1968 International Scout (Great wheeler hard to maintain)
1979 Camaro SS (fast but glad its gone)
1974 AMC Gremlin (bought for $50 bucks to commute. Left it on road when it died)
1974 Mercury Capri (Total mistake)
1972 Chevy Blazer (shoulda kept it)
1972 Chevy pick-up 4x4 stepside (shoulda kept it)
1988 Toyota 4 Runner (great truck)
1995 Chevy Tahoe 4x4 (Nice truck PITA with kids)
1972 Chevy Corvette (shoulda kept it)
1965 Mustang (shoulda kept it)
2002 Duramax crew cab. Great truck but big and expensive.
1999 Pre-runner (kid has it now)
2011 Tacoma Dbl Cab, OR (Will have this a long time)

 

I had a problem. I love cars. I had many of these all at one time and would have 1 or 2 running at a time. Sometimes I bought a car because it seemed like a fun car to have. That lasted until my son was born. Then I spent money on kids shit and diapers and lawyers instead of head gaskets and water pumps. These are the ones I remember, anyway.

-- Turned 18 (1990)
78 Malibu Classic
79 Chevette
80 Chevette
82 Chevette
82 Olds Cutlass (diesel!)
79 Datsun
80 Chevette
81 Datsun 4x4
84 Mustang SE
89 Fiero (6cyl!!)
65 Mustang (clean! hated cold weather)
87 Silverado
85 Escort
87 Escort
86 K-car
84 Toyota Tercel Wagon
85 Tempo
-- Son born (1995)
91 Camry
87 Mazda B2200
96 Rav4
03 Mazda Protoge 5
05 Rav4 (wifes)
05 Taco
06 Mazda 6 (wifes)
09 Taco
12 Taco
06 4Runner (wifes)

My brother had that 91 Camry until about 4 years ago. He got over 300K miles on it before the engine died. I loved that car. I nearly dumped my G/F at the time because I paid 300 dollars to get the turbo rebuilt and she burned it up 3 weeks later driving to her friends house in northern WI. A few weeks after that she caught a rock in the grill and it shorted out the horn. The horn was on for her entire commute home and she was in tears when I popped the hood and pulled the plug on it. The car an I considered it Karma.

My 12 Taco is my favorite truck ever. I feel like I am living in the future every time I get in it. I love that truck, and I think I will keep it for a good long time.

If I buy another car. When, I should say. It will be in addition to my 2012 Tacoma.

 

1979 Ford F150 - a beast! They don't make 'em like they used to.
1985 Chevy Monte Carlo - previous owner dropped in a '74 GMC truck engine. Engine blew a month after I bought it. Leaked tranny fluid.
1985 Toyota Tercel - sickly piece of shit, barely ran.
1977 Olds Cutlass - a beast! Should have kept & rebuilt it.
1990 Ford Probe - actually a good little car. Only problem was the auto seat belts.
1992 Chevy Camaro - good, clean car.
1981 Buick Regal - pretty rough, but it was great for a $500 beater.
1988 VW Jetta - 180k miles and ran like it was new.
1990 Dodge Spirit - piece of shit. Tranny needed replaced, head gasket blown.
1990 Chevy Blazer - great in the snow. Engine began burning copious amounts of oil at 140k miles.
1995 Ford Contour - not a bad car, but the tranny had to be rebuilt before I got it (under 100k miles) and it still slipped sometimes.
1998 Ford Ranger - dollar for dollar the biggest piece of shit I have ever owned. More problems than I feel like listing.
2002 Subaru Legacy - good car. Ex totaled it.
2003 Toyota Tundra - should have kept it. Best truck I've ever owned.
2010 Toyota Tacoma - my first new vehicle ever!!

I must be bored to type out all of that, lol.

 

Wow, ya'll have had a lot of cars.

I've had three. Lots of company issued stuff, but only three I've owned myself.

1986 Toyota 4x4 regular cab pickup: Tough, but not the legend that others talk about. Blown headgasket at 150K, timing chain set at the same time. Motor started burning oil like crazy at 175K, replaced motor. Trans rebuilt at 160K. Slow as hell, rode like a brick. Good off road. The limiting thing was horsepower. I loved it for some reason. Should have kept it as a project, but needed the money and sold it.

1995 Dodge Dakota 2wd Sport regular cab. V6 5 speed: Quick, not all that comfy with bench seat, but tolerable. 21MPG on the road. Looked like a grandpa truck with campershell on it. Bought it in 2003 with 30K on it. Sold it in 2009 with 65K on it. It needed a few things, and I wanted an upgrade. Still ran great, but had a sticky lifter and a couple broken exhaust studs. I miss it, would have made a good toy to play with, but no where to store it and barely drive my personal rigs anyway since I have a company rig during the week.

2006 Tacoma 4x4: Had it for two years. Bought with 41K on it. Currently has 58K on it. Nice truck. Very comfy on long road trips. And it will be paid for in a couple months. Only thing I have ever bought on credit other than a house. If I could do it again, I'd skip the six speed and get the automatic. I have had the throwout bearing done already. It also is starting to seep oil from the timing cover. My second Toyota, and still not experiencing the legend that everyone else speaks of. But, I've never had to walk (knocks wood) and it's taken me to Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park, Joshua Tree, the eastern Sierras, Lassen National Park, Sequoia National Park. All in comfort and with reasonable fuel mileage. Driven through the desert loaded down with camping gear and family heirlooms to deliver to my uncle. 110 degree heat and the AC blasting, cruise set on 80. I love that I can sleep in the back and not have to pitch a tent. Splurged on a nice campershell. Hoping to hang onto it a few more years. Main issue will be fuel mileage. There simply isn't a reasonable replacement for this that gets significantly higher MPG.

 

1987 toy tercel
1989 corolla
1987 toy pick up 4x4 longbed manual
1997 4runner 4x4
2012 tacoma DCSB OR 4x4 manual

The 87 pick up will always have a special place in my heart. THat truck was awesome. It could go anywhere, do anything, it was stolen and stripped to the bones. I'm still heart broken.

Just about to sell the 4runner, that one too was a awesome truck. So easy to drive, so useful and practical. I will miss it too.

Me and the tacoma are still getting to know each other. Not as easy to drive as the others mostly because of its size. But we'll make it, we're meant to be...I love the power with the manual tranny. Compared to what I previously have owned, the truck is a BEAST.

 

95 Ford Taurus-My first car, actually had green interior to match the green exterior! Had the discman hooked up to the tape deck.
95 Toyota Celica-Went to 213k when I sold her without anything besides tires, oil, regular stuff.
03 Ford Ranger Reg Cab XLT with appearance package-My first new car, always wanted a truck, had no need for it, but always wanted a F150 (loved the 97 style change, but this was the best thing I could afford)
01 Ford Ranger SuperCab Flareside Offroad Package-My random upgrade one day when home for summer with extra job cash in my pocket, also a great truck, sold it to my dad, he still has it in his arsenal of trucks.
00 Honda Prelude-My little fun daily driver when I moved back to Chi-town.
03 BMW 3 Series-Again a bad buy on my part, loved the damn car, hated how unreliable and expensive it was to maintain.
2010 Kia Soul- My first new car all by myself, no cosigner. Never thought of KIA but wanted a super long extensive warranty with my nightmare with the BMW, had some great features, and was actually a pretty sweet car (KIA has come a long way!)
2008 Tacoma Double Cab TRD Sport-Needed something that could haul my dirtbikes and streetbike (got tired of only being able to ride when friends where free to use their truck, my buddy has a first gen with 230k no problems, so I decided on Tacoma). Have only had her for a few months, but so far loving her, most expensive car Ive owned as of yet and proud I have and still have never relied on my parents to do so.

 

1991 Toyota pickup (256xxx strong and still the one i put my work miles on every day)
1949 dodge wayfarer coupe (actually wanting to sell this one)
2006 Tacoma (Its definitely a keeper)

 

87 Tempo. Took all kinds of abuse and still went fine
88 Nissan Pickup Bad choice
99 Eclipse my current drag car build
06 Taco AC TRD OR RIP due to ice storm and bad tires
06 Taco AC TRD OR. Current truck. love it
11 Sentra Wifes car and my DD to wrk