Why do you own a first gen Tacoma?

I was driving a 94 S10 brand new for 9 yrs that was the only thing I could afford at the time. When it died around 105k I borrowed my friends 89 tacoma while I looked for a new one. I fell in love with it (but she wouldn't sell it to me) because it was so fun and easy to drive and then I came across my 99 at a dealership. It only had 40k mi on it coming back from a lease and I literally bought it in the dark before they had a chance to go through it, figured I'd deal with whatever came out of it later but turned out it was in great condition. The price was right, the timing was perfect and it was the only time I haven't wanted to kill someone at a dealership. The turning radius is awesome, I can get in and out of just about any tight spot and although it's not a race car so it's not fast, it's still running strong. Sometimes I think of getting a newer one but then I think no way I'm letting this go.

 

The only way I was able to get one was to buy a beat down, not maintained one and bring it back little by little. Luckily - I have self taught myself to work on things for most of my life so that comes in handy. I really enjoy working on the old Tacoma because nothing seems over my skill set. Like the designed it knowing people would work on them - themselves.

Then corporate greed took over and they make them damn near impossible to work on yourself. And the price for new ones? Son of a bitches are on crack. No way in hell I will ever believe a 60-80K vehicle is worth it. No matter what it has for technological upgrades.

 

Thing is though, if you put a 2nd or 3rd-gen , next to an early 2000s Ford F150 or Chevy truck, aren't they about the same in size? And those were considered full-size then.
They're all bloated now even the full size trucks of today. Freakishly huge. Yeah if I dare park next to a new Dodge Ram mine looks like its baby. I parked next to a newer Ram regular cab at Costco one day and my truck still looked so small next to it.
I guess bottom line is I'm thinking of my truck's being "mid-sized" compared to the full-size trucks of my truck's era.

 

I wanted a truck that could get down narrow roads and carry scuba gear.

somehow it’s morphed into this:



I can’t really replace the thing with out a huge effort.

 

New England ran out of old Nissan D21 pickups and I don't like the Frontier...

 

I think my story is very similar. I got really bored of driving my Audi A4 sedan and wanted a truck. After doing research, a Toyota was my only option. Then, after doing more research, I did not want a 4 cyl, nor an 8cyl, but the 3.4 would be a perfect fit for me. I can tow minor things or load heavy things in the bed and still go up a hill, but also, it is very reliable and strong.
I just sold my Chevy Volt that I purchased in credit, so I knew I only wanted a truck that I can buy in cash. And that is where my Tacoma came!

I bought it from a police chief, he said that he owned it for about 10yrs and almost never drove it. He said his aunt bought it new and used it to commute from OR to WA and has mostly highway miles, so I asked for $4,500 and he agreed. Been very happy with it, it has almost been a year.

 

I didn’t buy my truck for this reason but it turned out to be a plus......
I grew up with late 50’s and early 60’s British sports cars. I loved the way they drove and sounded.
My little 4 cylinder, stick shift, rear drive feels and handles very similar to the low priced ,low powered sports cars of that era.

( if I replace the exhaust and give it a cold air intake maybe it will even sound like a 60’s sports car ; )

P.S......it’s even British Racing Green with 5 spoke wheels : )

 

Because my 1st vehicle when I was 16 was a Tacoma. I grew up with it and got involved with off-roading. Not to mention it took a hell of a beating from high school shenanigans and kept on going without major issues


That evolved into me wanting a 4x4 so I got this

Love the 3.4 now, good power and quality as reliable as my 4 banger. Too bad the clear coat is baked though.... kinda wanna fix it

 

That truck looks awesome.

 

Thanks!
It’s been a fun project and I’ve learned a lot. I think I have around 350 hours into it (the camper) and I’ve yet to have that “what the f’ did I get myself into?” moment.

 

My dad brought a 3rd gen Tacoma and gifted me his first gen.

 

I needed a piece of crap truck to destroy

 

Hahahah true story? Wow if so, that's gotta be one helluva story

 

Should have bought a ford

 

Not reliable enough

 

Needed a reliable beater

 

100% true. ~10,000 miles into a motorcycle trip from Iowa to Alaska and back my bike developed some sort of really bad sounding bearing noise deep in the engine (I haven't had time to take it apart yet...life had other plans.) Anyway, the place it developed it was near Watson Lake, YT, right before I was turning south down the Cassiar Hwy. After hanging out there for a day and getting quotes for towing ($2400 CAD) and flying it ($1500 CAD) to Whitehorse, YT, I called Progressive and they told me my $10 roadside assistance would cover towing the bike (for free!) to Whitehorse, YT. So, after waiting for 8 hours and then riding for 6 hours with a mildly-crazy tow truck driver, I was in Whitehorse. I called the local dealer, they said they could maybe squeeze me in to look at it in 2 weeks, possibly 4. The local small engine repair shop said the same, since hunting season was coming up and everyone was busy doing oil changes. Normally I'd tear into it myself, but this is going to require splitting the cases - not something I was equipped to do in a campground. So I got on Kijiji and found the truck. It was cheaper to buy the truck than to take pretty much any other option to get home, aside from scrapping the bike and flying, which I wasn't about to do. Anyway, I met the young lady who owned it for a test drive, and then for sushi, and agreed on a price. She was the third owner, the previous owner had imported it from the US (important!). Bought it, loaded the bike in the back, and headed south. Took another 2 weeks going through BC, WA, OR, UT and CO before heading home. There's way more details than that that made it a fun trip, but yeah, its true.

I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it over. The young lady I bought it from has become quite possibly my best friend (we met up in Colorado last fall) and really helped me out later when life got painful.

The ride home was beautiful - I took every back road I could, had it in 4x4 half a dozen times and it never gave me any trouble. Still hasn't and I've put ~27,000 miles on it since I got it Aug 2018.

 

That might be the most beautiful thing I've ever read

 

It makes me happy thinking about it. So many parts of that trip didn't go as planned, but in the end I'm so happy it went the way it did. I have piles of notes that I've been gradually putting into a blog, but I really dropped the ball on it the last 6 months or so with all the other stuff going on. I'll get back to it eventually.

Another pic, because why not. Somewhere near Gold Bridge, BC

 

Man, that truly was the best vehicle story I’ve ever read, not just because it’s a Toyota but that makes it all the more interesting haha
I have yet to get to BC (i live in Florida currently), have you been to any tracks on the Sunshine Coast? It’s where I’m planning my next MTB/4wd trip. Looks unreal out there