I just drove one, and that did it for me.

 

Drove stepdads... 'nough said....
The Runner became my Dream Vehicle...
My Dream is now a reality

 

well the me and my dad were looking for a good 4x4 truck or suv for somwat cheep and we called around then we saw a 1988 4runner with like 120000 miles for like 1700 and bought that becuase it was the best deal around, then i liked it so much i got me a 1990 model for 1500 so i got it

 

When the old Ranger I had proved to be horrible to drive on icy hills, parents let me look for a 4x4...

Always liked the way they looked even in stock form with the narrow body high off the ground on nice tires....looks so...right. Got me researching them and found the famous Top Gear vid and that pretty much did it when it came time to decide what I wanted to try to find...

When I found mine a few months later and and sat inside, I knew I wanted it before even driving it...something about sitting in a 4WD with my legs out front instead of beneath like in domestic vehicles, I was thinking "this is d@mn cool."

 

Honestly, my dad is a Honda fanatic and I wanted an SUV. Honda only makes CR-Vs and Pilots and well kinda Passports. CR-Vs are gross and womanly, Pilots are way to expensive still and Passports well, they may say Honda, but it's an Isuzu mechanically with Honda name slapped on it.

So, my dad let me go for "The next best thing" (in his book). Though, I do admit, if I were to get a car, the only Toyota I'd get is a Celica or the Scion tC. Else I'd get a Civic or an Accord. But anyway, yeah that's why I got a runner, I wanted a quality SUV and now I've got one!

 

I purchased my '89 Toyota pickup new, in January 1990. At the time, I had been driving a 1956 Willys wagon, which was great fun but required very frequent repairs. So, I was basically interested in what would provide the most trouble free driving experience for the least money.
I actually test drove a Jeep Comanche, Mitsubishi Mighty Max, Chevy S10, and looked at (but did not drive) a Mazda B2200, Ford Ranger, Nissan Hardbody, and Isuzu P'uP. I also had direct experience with a '76 Toyota truck owned by a family member, and an Isuzu I-mark car.
I carefully studied the Consumer Reports Buyers Guide for that year, in which the results of an owners survey were published. Then as now, the Toyota and Nissan pickups (and Honda vehicles), are vastly more trouble free than other, much more expensive cars and trucks, including prestigious brands such as Mercedes and BMW. I suppose a number of vehicles offer higher performance, or better handling on mountain roads, but nothing you can buy will run as many miles with as few repairs as a Toyota, Nissan, or Honda. Sure, you CAN drive some other vehicle a lot of miles, but odds are that you'll have to work on it a little (or a lot) more often.
That said, I liked the styling of the Jeep Comanche, but didn't expect build quality or relibility to be very high. I didn't like the styling of the Ford Ranger at all in those years, it just looked like a roller skate. The S10 was handsome, but again, owners reports of reliability were not encouraging. The Mazda looked nice, but I didn't like the fact that it (or the Isuzu or the Ford Ranger) had a rubber timing belt instead of a timing chain.
Between the Toyota and Nissan, it got down to little things. The Nissan had a four-cylinder engine with two spark plugs per cylinder, said to provide cleaner running and more power. The Toyota only had one spark plug per cylinder, but had more durable looking vinyl seats, while the Nissan had cheap cloth seats.
I was already leaning in the direction of the Toyota, when the local dealer ran a sale, which made enough difference to me that I decided to go ahead and purchase a black Toyota. I still drive the same truck almost every day. The truck still starts and runs well, and is still fun to drive.
So, I think I made a good decision in choosing the Toyota.

 

My first Toyota was a used 1991 2wd 4cyl automatic extended cab deluxe pickup. I bought her in 1994 when I was 16 years old in high school. She survived a 3inch body lift and 31x10.5 15 tires, then a car accident, then me being stupid (wheeling in a 2wd truck), then we removed the lift and tires. Next on the list we slammed her to the ground with cranked torsion bars and 3 inch blocks in the back. Some low profile 195/50 16's on her and some high speeds on the freeway we had some fun!

One day I woke up while visiting my parents when I was in college and my father had traded her in without telling me!!!! Well the truck weas in his name so lesson learned right!

Later in life I bought a brand new 1999 Tacoma 2wd extra cab 4cyl for work. I was installing Satellite TV systems and needed something reliable, economical, and for the most part, something sentimental. She reminded me of my first Yota! Well Times were tough, and the truck was in my mothers name (my father had since passed) and unforseen events she filed a BK! I lost yet another YOTA!!!!:cry: :cry: :cry:

Well on that day of handing the keys over to the bank I promised myself that I would again own another Toyota truck! Well I held true to my promise and as I progressed in life and moved up in my job, I made a point to set a goal of picking up a "project" Yota! Now a few years later I was ready and so the search began. Low and behold less than 2 months later I had in my possession, another 1991 Toyota truck. This time she is the truck you see before you here on Yotatech. Complete with all of the work I have done to her listed and documented on here for your viewing pleasure!

The reason behind it!!!!

MEMORIES Simply as that. My first Yota was awesome and I have some very fond memories of her and the things (some were stupid) that we went through together. So here I am nearly 11 years later and I have another yota to my name and I am just now getting ready to pick up another.

 

well my first car died (dodge) and I was looking for a truck that worked It was between the 4runner and the pathfinder. I picked the 4runner because it ran well and because my grandparents had always had Toyota's and never had problems. Glad I did Now I have a Tundra. The reliability of my 4runner was really enjoyed! So why not another toyota

 

I started with a 69 Project Mustang coupe for $2,000 when I was 15 in highschool. Rebuilt every bit of that car and rebuilt the 302, put a cam/intake/headers and carb on it with some loud flowmasters and loved every minute of it. Spend every dime I had on it from 16 till 17 1/2 working at Discount. Sold the 69 and got a 96GT. Spent 2 years modding that car and ended up with 5k under the hood and all labor done by me, 307 N/A RWHP and 315 TQ out of a SOHC 4.6. That car was beautiful and I miss every bit of it. It came time to stop spending all my time wrenching on cars and focus on college. I knew in the back of my head I needed a truck I would have no interest in making faster and I used to take my girlfriend out on trips and stuff all the time. I considered an American truck because my family has had mostly American and had excellent luck with other than fuel economy. I realized the American trucks meant a hefty car payment so I ruled them out. Every time I saw a Tacoma set up as a Pre-Runner truck with extra spares in the back, long travel suspension, aggressive tires and clean looks I had a soft spot for the damn Import trucks. Drove a Nissan 4x4 and thought it was ok, then drove a 4Runner and the search was over, it fit the bill completely. No regrets and I love it now.

 

Plain and simple it was pretty much free. I traded my in-laws our 98 escort for their 87 runner. Their other daughter needed a car and we needed a 4x4. Best move I have ever made. The escort is stilll running strong but the 4runner just works better for my off roading needs.

 

When I was younger, I thought the coolest rig on the road was a lifted toyota 4x4 pickup. But I couldn't afford one so I drove an old honda, datson stationwagon and even a subaru before my grandmother helped me to get my Toyota truck in 93. It was an 85 4x4 pickup, blue with a canopy. I drove it for 11 years and wish I still had it (think twice before you get rid of an old friend like your toy truck). I tried a couple newer trucks and missed my toy so I sold them and got an 88 4runner w/ 150+k. I love working on it, and only dreamed of having this rig back when it was released in 88.

 

I had a 1991 2wd F150 HD, it was a damn nice truck and belonged to my grandfather. Custom ordered for towing it had all HD running gear, a stick, dual tanks, was the nicest model and simply was 100% custom. I have never seen another one in existance like her-I swear my grandfather must have pushed the dealer to do it for him.

Alas I hit a dumbass in his shiny pos benz on a major hwy in NJ b/c he just slammed on the brakes for no reason-he was on a cell phone too. Ended up busting my frontend and crippling his car. After it was ll said and done I had alot of electrical issues with my lights-off and on all the time, didnt work, worked intermittently. I finally sold her to a friend of my dads for 1500 in 2001. Although sad to see her go and a great truck I wanted a 4x4.

At the time my grandfather was getting rid of my grandmas 93 camry xle v6 sedan. About as close to a lexus as you coudl without leather this was a nice ride. Unfortunetly my cousins who already wrecked thier cars more than once wanted it too, came down to me having the parents foot the bill and me pay them back.

It served me well and lasted for 5 years, it came down an accident that ripped of half my frontend (pass side), and problems with my tranmission issues, probably a shifting soleinoid or perhaps it was cooked-a can of lucas stop slip and it worked ok. you couldnt put it to the floor or it wouldnt shift out of first gear and it was an auto. Then I needed struts up front and a wheel bearing, and the rears needed to be done. Considering I could attempt myself it is a giant headache and I didnt have the time or help to do it. Plus the cost to do the rear (I did do the fronts) was about 1/4 the cost of the car. I did have 155k on it-alot for that dumb 3vzfe I had..

While I had scoured the papers for many different fullsize trucks and yotas for along time I never found one I felt was worth it. Either all of them were big V8's, beaten to hell or had alot of miles for an insane price. I mainly looked for a ford similar to the one I had but turned up stuff that didnthave all the options I wanted. I then decided to look into runners and tacos but couldnt afford any of them or they were the older ones I didnt want with the 3.slow.

I looked for over 2 years, checking almost daily. One day last summer I went camping with some buddies. Was hotter than hell and we decided to go home early. I get home, get clean edup and check the paper via the net and found a 96 T100 that was listed with no miles but said "dlr serviced" the dealer round here is good and does good work (I should know I used them a bit) so I called it in.

Turns out the truck was "mint" apparently and had a new 50k engine from yota in it. Guy explains his wife worked for that dealer and they went in for the head gasket and she told them no reman yota engine or no deal. So I asked a bit more and he told me since buying the truck from his partner who also took very good care of it he had all reciepts and everything his partner gave to him.

I go and see it, its pristine, few blemished in an otherwise very bright paintjob, no dings or dents on the body at all besides some very small ones on the rear bumper and the thing looked to have very little mileage in and out. I checked over the engien bay and yep the engine was clean, and alot was replaced, had a wholenew exhaust, new tires, trans flushed, gm radiator (I swear I dunno where it came from, it says gm though and is huge! I assume its a fullsize from a truck though), the guy has a folder a 1/2 thick full of the reciepts and is genuine. I bought the truck with the help of my dad for a bit more than I wanted but I felt I got a good deal-you never seem to find near rust free ones in NJ either.

So thats pretty much it. Always really liked yota, they arent perfect but they are surely to fix thier problems and they are stone dead reliable. The camry depsite its problems amazed me, I feel an american car would have just died or blew the trans...but the camry drove on a messed up trans for 40k!

The only other vehicle I would buy is something I heavily checked out first, I am gonna need another car or truck soon-perhaps a tow rig ford if I need it or another yota car. I maybe inhereting my grandfathers ford focus, he is gonna need to stop driving soon.

 

Why? McFly had one in Back To the Future! It was sick!
My first truck was an 89 Toyota, I sold it and bought a Wrangler and have never been able to live with the shame. I've had two Tacomas since then and am waiting for a diesel Tundra toyhauler.

 

I work for a Toyota wrecking yard....so its sorta mandatory. But, since I started 5 years ago, I have owned 6 4Runners, A corolla, a Camry, and done engine swaps in a Corolla, and a Celica.

 

Had one when I was younger, It rusted away in Ontario someplace. Decided I needed to downsize from full size this year and found a gem. So far it's been a great truck.... but I keep spending money on it....somebody stop me, please.

 

Up shootin' with my cuz' one day. I witnessed a box-stock yota pick-up negotiate a 45 degree slope with a foot of snow on it. I was MESMERIZED! Little did I know. Since, I've discovered, THAT AIN'T NOTHIN'! I believe I've been brainwashed somehow into thinking all other makes are inferior. Seriously, it's a conspiracy , I'M A SLAVE TO MY TOYOTA...SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!

 

dumb luck really. I needed a car and it was cheap and nice and the right timing, and since then, my parents have bought one and my brother has a 4runner also. they see how i beat on mine and it never breaks. they figure it can mall wheel just fine.

 

4 hi and lo, stick, decently made in a 'newer' suv. The 4runner fit the bill.

 

I was gonna replace my F250 with a Ranger, my oldest son said NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, we must get a Toyota...

 

I wanted something that was More "TRUCK" than my Liyyle lowered S10....