What makes a 23yo Tacoma worth $11,000?

[PNW bow hunter]

On the used market, I can really buy a F150 for 1/3 what a similar model year Tacoma goes for.

What years are you looking at to make this happen?

 

[z987k]

What years are you looking at to make this happen?

At this point you're looking at something in the mid 2000s.

New to new, obviously not, but the domestic stuff doesn't hold it's value at all compared to the Toyota.

I can find Tacomas for the same price and the same year, but they'll have 2x the milage and likely a rebuilt title.

They are also 1/3rd as reliable

I get rid of my vehicles when the become unreliable. There's few modern vehicles that don't go to 200k without any issues.

 

[BRTreedogs]

At this point you're looking at something in the mid 2000s.

New to new, obviously not, but the domestic stuff doesn't hold it's value at all compared to the Toyota.

I can find Tacomas for the same price and the same year, but they'll have 2x the milage and likely a rebuilt title.


I get rid of my vehicles when the become unreliable. There's few modern vehicles that don't go to 200k without any issues.

Look at my previous posts.
Lift it, lockers. Big tires chains. And you be walking out every weekend with that weak front end stuff.
I'm not talk road reliability.

 

[Rob5589]

Look at my previous posts.
Lift it, lockers. Big tires chains. And you be walking out every weekend with that weak front end stuff.
I'm not talk road reliability.

Lack of horsepower can definitely help the drivetrain survive. The Toyota diffs are surprisingly stout for their size. The only significant issue I ever saw was running the 5.71's. The pinion is tiny. This was back in the late 80' and early 90's. Not sure what they used in later years.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Lack of horsepower can definitely help the drivetrain survive. The Toyota diffs are surprisingly stout for their size. The only significant issue I ever saw was running the 5.71's. The pinion is tiny. This was back in the late 80' and early 90's. Not sure what they used in later years.

Yes at 5.29 and lower they start getting weaker.
Thats why I went 4.88s but now with the dual case setups you can get crazy low.
That also why I went high pinion in front spinning that direction a high pinion in front pulls on the face side of the ring.

 

[Rob5589]

Dual cases were very popular then as well. Never had any real issue with 5.29. We would always recommend against the 5.71 but some guys just had to have them. I worked for a guy that did a 5.3 Chevy conversion in one. It was the shop truck so I drove it some. That thing would scoot!

 

[Vandy321]

Dual cases were very popular then as well. Never had any real issue with 5.29. We would always recommend against the 5.71 but some guys just had to have them. I worked for a guy that did a 5.3 Chevy conversion in one. It was the shop truck so I drove it some. That thing would scoot!

I have 5.29s w/37s...kinda have to with those tires, but east coast gear supply makes some quality 3rd members

 

[Jon C]

If you have ever owned a brand new Chevy after 2007 you’d understand why a 30 year old Toyota goes for so much. I had more repair costs on a truck with 45,000 miles with an extended warranty than I have had on three different Toyota’s with all well over 100,000 miles on them.

 

[xziang]

Tacomas are requiring a premium now a days. Any 1st gen tacomas if aren't bought by someone innthe states is gobbled up by a crew that transports them back south of the border. (Not exagerating). I've had a 97 4runner 08 Tacoma and now my 17 tacoma. People on the tacoma forums I am part of are sometimes selling their 17-19 tacomas to vroom because they are getting more $$ for it then what they paid for the vehicle. If you look at ANY tacoma make sure you crawl under it to make sure the frame hasn't rusted away. New factory replacement frame would be the best for an older one and I would pay a premium for that vehicle. Good luck with your search I think a jeep cherokee with the 4.0 strait 6 might be more economical.

 

[Jon C]

I currently have a 2002 F-350 Powerstroke. It's been a Money Pit. Only 144K on it. Just dries my vag out driving it everywhere. Foot has to stay up the ass....no balls. A pain to park. Just kinda Over It.

But these prices had me reconsidering on the drive in to work....to maybe just keep it and F the Tacoma price tags.


At almost 50yo....I just can't wrap my head around the new truck price tags. I am not a Dave Ramsey nerd, but my credit card has maybe $500 on it. Mortgage is very reasonable. Child Support ends next summer.

But I've never been a Truck Pimp. Never had a blinged out Newest and Bestest truck. I've build and priced diesel Colorados, F-150 EcoBoosts....even the plainest Janes are $45,000 to start. New Taco is the same. And I am not really certain a new Taco or Colorado is large enough for me and Sweets and a few dogs in the back.

You can't Sniff a new full sized rig with a gas engine for sub $50,000

So this thread....has done little to aid my direction. The truck I missed....the '98 with 106K was prolly the best bet going. The other that just popped up is a year older (97) with 185k on the Odo. Think I need a kick in the crotch for even considering it.

Lots of new 1/2 ton ram 4x4 with a v6 in the $35000 range with 0% financing. That’s full size crew cab. About the same as a new basic Tacoma.

 

[ewade07]

Tacomas are requiring a premium now a days. Any 1st gen tacomas if aren't bought by someone innthe states is gobbled up by a crew that transports them back south of the border. (Not exagerating). I've had a 97 4runner 08 Tacoma and now my 17 tacoma. People on the tacoma forums I am part of are sometimes selling their 17-19 tacomas to vroom because they are getting more $$ for it then what they paid for the vehicle. If you look at ANY tacoma make sure you crawl under it to make sure the frame hasn't rusted away. New factory replacement frame would be the best for an older one and I would pay a premium for that vehicle. Good luck with your search I think a jeep cherokee with the 4.0 strait 6 might be more economical.

Thats exactly whah happened with my first toyota. Bought it for 1700$, did nothing to it, sold it for 2300$ to some guys who could barely speak english and were driving it down to central america. If i remember correctly it had 261k miles on it when i sold it.

 

[jlh42581]

My 2014 Tundra Limited TRD is coming in blue book 24-26k with 110k on the truck. I have no plans of selling it. My goal is 500k on factory drivetrain. I change fluids religiously, getting a free set of tires this week due to a cooper recall life is good. I might never need to buy another truck at this rate.

 

[Fatcamp]

Tacomas are requiring a premium now a days. Any 1st gen tacomas if aren't bought by someone innthe states is gobbled up by a crew that transports them back south of the border. (Not exagerating). I've had a 97 4runner 08 Tacoma and now my 17 tacoma. People on the tacoma forums I am part of are sometimes selling their 17-19 tacomas to vroom because they are getting more $$ for it then what they paid for the vehicle. If you look at ANY tacoma make sure you crawl under it to make sure the frame hasn't rusted away. New factory replacement frame would be the best for an older one and I would pay a premium for that vehicle. Good luck with your search I think a jeep cherokee with the 4.0 strait 6 might be more economical.

Matt's Off Road Recovery has me thinking. Build an XJ and haul it with my F250?

 

[5MilesBack]

I bought a 1981 Toyota truck for 4000.00 back in 1984 for 4000.00 dollars. I just sold it last week for 3800.00. That was the best vehicle I ever seen. My buddy’s bought trucks back at the same time and we all bet who’s would last the longest. Shoot there’s were broke down and needed repairs constantly. And they all got rid of them long long ago. In fact I don’t know how many trucks sense then most have gone through.

It's like anything else we use.......people can spend a ton of money on junk several times over, or they can pay a higher starting price on something that is known to last 30+ years. I haven't had a monthly vehicle payment since 1991. That right there is HUGE as far as financial independence goes.

 

[black dawg]

Matt's Off Road Recovery has me thinking. Build an XJ and haul it with my F250?

Prices are getting stupid on those as well. But they do make a pretty capable little car.....

 

[Winnie]

it all depends on what you find important in a truck. a tacoma does not perform well in what i need a truck to do. for others, it meets their needs.

 

[Fatcamp]

Prices are getting stupid on those as well. But they do make a pretty capable little car.....

Ya, and the one they use for their recovery services is far from a stock vehicle. Had a really nice lifted 2001, but it left with the ex.

 

[Customweld]

Thats exactly whah happened with my first toyota. Bought it for 1700$, did nothing to it, sold it for 2300$ to some guys who could barely speak english and were driving it down to central america. If i remember correctly it had 261k miles on it when i sold it.

That is funny! Same exact thing with my '92. It went to Honduras. The guy that bought it from me signed the title release as Juan Moore. I didn't even catch the name until my wife pointed it out to me.

 

[JeffRaines]

If you have ever owned a brand new Chevy after 2007 you’d understand why a 30 year old Toyota goes for so much. I had more repair costs on a truck with 45,000 miles with an extended warranty than I have had on three different Toyota’s with all well over 100,000 miles on them.

So I’ve had a 2017 Colorado that seen the shop zero times in 80k.

Dad has had two Silverado 1500s in that time, current one has 80k with the 5.3 and no issues

Buddy has a GMC Sierra 1500 with the 5.3, 90k no issues.

To muddy the water some - and to be honest and not fanboy a brand - my BIL had a Silverado 1500 that the radiator went up in at 65k. They wouldn’t warranty it. He uses his truck as a work truck and beats them pretty bad. He traded it away on a Ford with the 3.5 and has had zero issues since - this has been 3 years or so ago.

In all of the above cases(save for my BIL) the trucks weren’t heavily modified or beat on. They upgraded the tires to a good AT and that’s it. No crazy lifts, massive oversized tires, offsets, etc.

I’d be willing to bet most reliability issues stem from

1. People adding lifts/massive tires/etc onto a stock truck. Like I mentioned in a previous post, newer 1/2 ton trucks especially are engineered first and foremost for fuel economy. While it might not seem like much, adding stuff like lifts puts additional strain on the truck that it wasn’t designed for. Think about tires, a stock sized highway tire weighs like 35-40lbs each. A LT 35” tire can weigh upwards of 60-80lbs each. That’s a whole lot more weight that needs to be rolled every time it moves. The lift adds additional drag. Offsets put more stress on the drivetrain in general. Add it all on a truck that was engineered with stock height to limit drag, no offsets and highway tires that weigh 40lbs each and you can see it putting a massive amount of additional wear on the truck.

2. Beating the shit out of it. Self explanatory. Take the aforementioned truck with all those add ons(or even a totally stock truck) and run it down some logging roads or dirt roads not worried about the ruts, holes, rocks, etc at higher speeds and tell me how long your stuff lasts. Even the 2500/3500 trucks won’t stand up to this although they’ll hang on longer.

3. Just downright neglecting maintenance. “Oh my transmission is due for service, stupid stealership it’s working fine”. Neglecting oil changes. Neglecting drivetrain services. Neglecting intervals like spark plug replacement or otherwise. All detrimental.

 

[5MilesBack]

2. Beating the shit out of it. Self explanatory. Take the aforementioned truck with all those add ons(or even a totally stock truck) and run it down some logging roads or dirt roads not worried about the ruts, holes, rocks, etc at higher speeds and tell me how long your stuff lasts. Even the 2500/3500 trucks won’t stand up to this although they’ll hang on longer.

IMO this is where the Toyota's excel. I've run my 1989 like I'm in the Baja 1000 many many times over the last 32 years......basically anytime I get it on trails or curvy dirt roads. It's stock except Bilstein shocks and 31x10.50 tires. I love driving that truck. It's sometimes used as a daily driver, but I try to save it for the fun stuff these days as I'd have no idea what I'd get to replace it with.