MidtownYota

I did have a 94 dodge that had an unfortunate accident with a deer, prompting me to look for another truck. This was the reason for the toyota. I saw it, it was a good deal, and i bought it. The dodge was great. The same single cab, short bed, 5spd 4cyl with roughly the same mileage as the toyota when i bought it. It was a great little truck and a i never had to do a thing to it. I owned it for about 6 months before the deer happened.

jsn_stockard

Wow Bleeder, I think yall had my Dodges! My linkage broke once, I tried to put it back in gear after waiting on a train! Two of my Dodges dropped all forward gears when their trannies went out!

MidtownYota

I agree about dodges auto transmission problems. If i buy another dodge, it will most definitely be a manual.

jsn_stockard

Dakotas last longer than the full size Midtown. Dakotas aren't bad pickups, they just aren't made from the same strength steels as Toys. These little trucks have some meat on their bones.

iamsuperbleeder

yeah Dakota's seem to fair better than their big brothers for some odd reason...

MidtownYota

I did not wheel the dakota much, but i did beat the snot out of it and it took it running.

MidtownYota

As for the frame, after hitting the deer and nearly bisecting it, i threw it in the back and drove home.

MidtownYota

I dunno, it worked for me at the time and i'm not complaining.

iamsuperbleeder

did you eat it too?

"Mom, my venison has some shards of glass in it with Sylvania stamped on it!"

874runnersr5

^hahahaha

Matt16

lol, nice.

fivesfe

i like my 4 runner, its an 86 with 250k on it....and just driving home tonight i was thinking to my self how good it drives for being older than i am (im 21).

ive worked on ALOT of cars and owned quite a few...this truck is a beast...when i first got it i was worried about the noises the motor makes, but it seems to be as healthy as can be. it has great power, parts are cheap and its super easy to work on.

im not saying their gods gift to earth, but they are good cars.

breknraj

When I bought my '90 SR5 truck in '91, one of the reasons that I had settled on getting myself a Toyota was that I was planning on keeping the truck for a long time. So, prior to my making the descision about what truck I wanted, I did a lot of reading, kicking tires at various dealerships, and, mostly, keeping an eye out on small trucks that were 5 to 10 years old, at the time (so, early to mid '80s).

The older S-10s and Rangers that I saw looked and sounded like crap, with few exceptions. The Toyotas and Nissans that I saw seemed to be holding up very well, as far as I could see. I didn't care for the too square look of the Nissan Hardbody design, so I decided to go with the Yota.

18 years later, I am still very satisfied with that descision. The only 2 times that I have ever had issues with it were when a nearby lighting strike fried the ECU, and when the hose blew on the aftermarket oil filter relocation kit. Niether of the experiences had anything to do with Toyota's design or construction, so I can honestly say that I have NEVER had my truck let me down.

These days, here in Colorado, I see loads of 3rd gen trucks running around (and a bunch of 2nd gens, too), but I see very few S-10s and Rangers of the same era still on the road, and, if they are, they damned seldom look like they are in as good of shape as most of the Yotas from the '80s and early '90s.

Regular maintenance is key, but our Yotas don't seem to require as much, as often, as other brands, and they are WAY more forgiving of abuse than the domestics are. I'm satisfied that Toyota has earned its reputation for building a superior product, and I have seen that they want to keep that rep. Do you really think that GM, Ford, or Chrysler would have issued a recall on anything that they manufactured over 15 years ago, like Toyota has done with the steering relay rod?

Bottom line, for me, is that if and when I start shopping for another truck (or any other vehicle), I will certainly take a long look at what Toyota has to offer, when I make my choice.

nosfanatic2006

iTrader: (1)

My mom has a '96 Corolla with 264,kkk miles on it. Its a 3 speed auto. She RARELY changes the engine oil. Like maybe twice a year. And the transmission went just shy of 200,000 before the fluid was changed. We had to replace the engine with a used one, and had to have the tranny rebuilt within the last 2 years. But that's because of me driving it hard. I drove the auto like a manual constantly and did numerous neutral drops before the tranny crapped out, and I've hit the rev limiter quite a few times. And the engine and tranny lasted through all that and VERY minimal maintenance up to about 245,000 miles.

I just bought my '88 4Runner a few months ago. I'm not easy on my vehicles at all. I'm addicted to speed (I know the 3.0 isn't fast in any case) but I rev the crap out of it. Used to chirp the tires into 2nd on a daily basis. With a buddy and I went to turn onto a dirt road from pavement and went to slide, lost control, and went straight into a deep ditch then a dead stop. My buddy was freakin out cause he didn't know what we were going to do (out in the country and no cell service). I told him not to worry, hopped out of the truck to look the it breifly, hopped back in, started it up, put it in 4wd (probably didn't even need it), and it drove right out of there and back home 20 miles. Continued driving it with no problems.

Then about 3-4 months ago I was with some buddies mudding. I was running down this rut/ditch on the side of the road, just the left side in it, and the ditch made basically a 90* turn and my truck came to a dead stop instantly from about 20+mph. I pulled out and got back out on the road. My steering wheel was yanked off center big time, and every single minimal turn I made the tires squealed. We got home, cranked the tie rod a little bit to try and even out the steering a tad, drove it home. The next day got a new tie rod end and threw that on, cranked it a bit more (the original one got stuck after just a few turns), and I've been driving it ever since. We were about 50 miles away from home when this happened. The only damage really was a bent/messed up steering stablizer (what Toyota said ). They quoted me on a bunch of other stuff such as bushings, bearings, ball joints, etc. But what do you expect from a 21 year old truck?

I screwed up the gears in my rear diff really bad about a month ago. I was about 20 miles away from home when it happened and it still got me all the way home.

This truck has never had to be towed anywhere and its never gotten stuck. My buddy always gives me crap cause something is always broke on it, from above experiences, and says I should just sell it and buy something else and always brags that his truck never breaks down or anything. Then I remind him that his is only 2 years old, that its under factory warranty, that he barely takes in on dry dirt roads, and that he paid $22k for his and I only paid $900 for mine. I dare him to put his truck through the same stuff I put mine through but he declines. That's why Toyota's are great. They take a beating from hell and still get you home. Then they're cheap to fix

PirateMcgee

In my 4runner:
I drove 500 miles on a bent rod before it went including up mountain passes, around town, hauling about 500lbs, and I still got 18mpg in it with most of that being in 4wd.

My 93':
I've had my 93' since I was 16 and ran the piss out of it since. It's my little street machine!
I've put 50k miles on it now and guess what has broken this whole entire time? 1 water pump. That's it.
My dad bought it brand spanking new in 93 and nothing ever went wrong with it the entire time he had it. We also used to take it hunting everywhere in Montana where I grew up. The roads in Montana especially back roads are not exactly forgiving. I've also seen that my truck so loaded down with stuff the bumper was mere inches from the ground.

How many non Toyota's can pull that kind of stuff off? Answer NONE

Why do you think 3rd world country "armies" drive around in pretty much 100% toyota trucks?

I'm also an engineering student and have worked on a lot of vehicles (I'm talking thousands, no joke, in the last 4 years). Other brands, even new ones, come in that have tons of issues but 20+ year old thrashed Toyota's come in a literally need nothing more than an oil change and a valve adjustment. From an engineering stand point Toyota's are the most thought out and well designed vehicles on the road.

87LVRunner

My 85 4x4 had 460,000 miles on it when it was stolen. (i'm still mad, 10 years later)

My 89 I submerged in a river, water up to the middle of the windshield. I pulled it out, removed the plugs, fired her up, replaced the plugs, and drove home. (with a very wet arse) It had 260,000 miles on it when I sold it.

My 87 4Runner is in the garage now. She's got 242,000 miles on her and does everything I want her to.

My 2000 Blazer's check engine light went on every 600 miles, even after the dealer. My Hummer H3 was just a clunky bore, My 2008 Yukon went back to the dealer already as the tranny was leaking.

If Toyota was not smoking crack on the new Land Cruiser and it was say $50K, I may off the Yukon.

And finally, because of Toyota's reliability, when it came time to get my wife a car, I drove right by Mercedes, BMW, and Audi and bought a Lexus. I have to say, DAMN it's tight, and flippin' nice!

The dealer experience with Lexus is INSANE. I've been twice for maint only and I get a loaner car and usually, they service something for free. My wife kissed a curb with a rim and they fixed the rim, no charge.

If you don't want your truck, I'll give you $500 for it.

PCE91V64x4

Also, lets not confuse quality.

Example: It cannot be said the leather is better quality than fabric. There is quality fabric and quality leather but they cannot be compared because they are different materials.

So, I would say that a quality vehicle from the early-mid 90's is one that continues to perform as delivered by the dealer. Comparing Toyota trucks to others of the same vintage is almost a joke.

Like was said earlier, there are always a few bad eggs, but generally some OEMs have a lot fewer than others.

DC.Woods

I think most of us are here for the same reason.

rusche

Look up "reliable" in the dictionary and there will be a picture of a 22RE
The one I bought was run without a drop of oil from one side of Spokane to the other.
I fired it up in the truck to hear it before I bought and pulled it.
Was beat to hell and sounded like garbage. Still ran like a champ.
Theres a video floating around of one running with a hole in the block, I hope somebody can find it. Spewing oil and you can see the crank going round and round, still running.
These little 4 bangers will take hell.

Shawn6string

nuff said, it's all in what you like