Let's Get Caught Up

If I had to sum my pursuit up in a word or two, I would say I am chasing analog.  Wood, springs, dials, knobs, gauges, tachs, and vacuum tubes have all become novelty relics of the past - replaced by THE dominant modern novelty that laughs in the face of repairability, soul, and feel:  the omnipresent touch screen.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m an entrepreneur - and “1’s and 0’s” have helped us do business in ways that were unimaginable not so long ago - but after long days sitting in front of 3 monitors, video calls, hundreds of texts and emails, error messages, AI slop, and and a digital gumbo of apps and devices - I'm enthralled with the idea of climbing into an analog envelope when I leave the office, run errands, or load up the dirt bike, fishing rods, floating fiberglass, or mountain bike for a moment away from the screens.

The realists in my life (my wife) and the ones reading this will say, “that all sounds great, but what about things like reliability, modern conveniences (that sounds like more screens to me), and fuel efficiency”.  Fair question, but is a $90,000 truck that is 85% cpu’s - and has to go to the dealer every single time one of those computers has a bad day really that reliable?  As far as modern conveniences go, we are all surrounded by those every second of every day.  I want my time in my truck to be a respite from all that.  My phone will be in there with me, and trust me, that’s all the connection to the grid that I need. 

I can’t really argue the fuel efficiency point.  Newer cars are more fuel efficient - but it has happened on the back of some really questionable technology - that in my opinion, hasn’t stood the test of time.  For example, my wife’s Honda Pilot switches from 6 cylinders to 3 cylinders when it’s not under power.  Before I installed an override chip - that “technology” kept that car in the service bay of our local dealer (and it’s out of warranty💸💸).

Speaking of wife’s cars- there were lots of comments on my last post stating that having a spouse with a relatively low mileage, newer vehicle makes the whole project car/daily driver theory much more palatable…and it turns out they are absolutely right.  There was an occasion last week where I had the project truck/daily driver “incapacitated” on a Sunday night head scratcher project.  It takes some of the pressure off knowing there is an alternate mode of transportation on the other side of not getting the patient stitched back up before the next morning.

Without Further Ado….

...what did I buy?  The truck pictured above is my bone stock, new to me 2004 Toyota Tacoma Pre-Runner.  It's a Dual Cab V6 Automatic.  It's got 164,000 miles with a mint interior (after a little elbow grease). I purposely avoided 4WD because we live at the beach, everyone drives their 4WD’s on the sand , and every one I looked at had more frame rust than I was comfortable with.  While I was considering lots of different vehicles, the truth is I’ve wanted a 4-door Tacoma since they first came out.  However, entrepreneurial aspirations have a way of making us forego things that aren’t mission critical - and it turns out that 22 years of depreciation was the sweet spot to take the shine off of the MSRP and make it happen.

While rust free 2004 Toyota Tacoma’s are (arguably) “overvalued” - I found a great one, from a great local guy that had taken abnormally great care of it.  He had just bought a newer one and intended to keep the First Gen Tacoma as a beach weekender, but his wife made him sell it.  She was even nice enough to accompany him to the DMV to make sure the transaction was fully executed😂.  He sent me a message a few days later that said, “I miss that truck, but I’m glad it went to someone that appreciates it”.  

So, why did I decide on a 22 year old Tacoma with a price tag more than double what a similar age Ford, Chevy, or Dodge truck would have cost?  Let’s re-visit my purchase criteria from my original post, and I’ll explain how this truck checked every one of the boxes:

Reliability Mixed With Throwback Simplicity and Styling

The superior “simplicity and styling” of a First Gen Tacoma is subjective to some people, but not me.  No, it doesn’t have the forward leaning, dominating stance of a bullnose Bronco, or a mid-80’s blazer - but how many of those do you see still on the road in a daily driver capacity?  The first gen Tacomas have an understated visual appeal that leans more toward sport truck than work truck - and I’m sorry, but they just have better lines than competitors trucks from that era.

However, it’s reliability is not up for debate.  There’s a reason that Toyota trucks are the official vehicle of political uprisings, revolutions, and jungle/desert guerrilla resistance forces.  They start every time, anyone that wants to work on them can figure it out with common tools and some common sense, and the 3.4 Liter V6 is nothing short of bulletproof.  That’s not to say they don’t have a little nuance (lower ball joints anyone?), but it is all very self-serviceable and doesn’t require a computer science degree to diagnose and repair 99% of the maintenance and repairs you will encounter.

Part Availability

The First Gen Tacoma’s were built from 1995 to 2004.  That’s 9 years of the same body style, engines, and parts.  That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the roughly 7 million F-150’s sold in the same time period - but I’d wager that a far higher percentage of those Tacomas are reliably still on the road making their owner’s sentimentally smile.  Having a body type run that long means that the market for aftermarket, OEM, and custom parts is still very vibrant, active, and abundant.  I’ve done a handful of repairs, upgrades, and mods to mine and haven’t run into any issues at all getting anything from the parts store 2 miles from my house - although it did take me a LONG time to find a topper.  As a matter of fact, once I’m done writing this, I’m headed up the road to grab transmission shifter bushings - that they have in stock.

Wide Knowledge Base

Every truck manufacturer has devotees, fans, and loyalists - but the first gen Tacoma has a strong - maybe the strongest - practical community built around a particular generation of truck model.  Youtube is filled with videos dedicated to troubleshooting, diagnostics, and mod advice.  Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit all have large, active communities dedicated to the 95-04’s. 

Speaking of a wide knowledge base, I took the truck to my mechanic right after I bought it to give it a good once over.  He smiled when I pulled into the bay (which could be a good or bad sign), and commented on how much he enjoys working on First Generation Tacomas and how intuitive most of the maintenance is.  So, I guess my point is that I was so focused on finding a truck that a lot of people could work on, it never occurred to me to look for one that people ENJOYED working on.  

Easy To Work On (By Today's Standards)

So far I have changed the plugs and coils, taken all of the seats out and detailed the carpet, steam cleaned all of the upholstery, added a hood protector, replaced the wiper fluid reservoir (still need to replace the wsw nozzles), added keyless entry, put a camper top on, put cargo racks on the topper, replaced a shifter status light, and have the shifter pulled apart to replace bushings (and it still drives!).  Every one of those projects were simple and straightforward - and at no point did I feel like I was operating on something temperamental, and precious.  My understanding is that the achilles heel (or Thermal Exhaust Port for you Star Wars fans) of these trucks is a design flaw in the Lower Ball Joints in the front steering/suspension setup.  We’re about 10k miles from needing to address those, but so far so good.

It has fuel injection instead of a carburetor, but the first gens do have a throttle cable as opposed to an electronic drive-by-wire setup that really connects you to the engine when driving AND makes it a lot easier to work on. 

Fun To Drive

Again, this is totally subjective criteria, but it’s my truck so I will state proudly, “it’s a BLAST to drive”.  At 190 horsepower, I wouldn’t call it “powerful” by any means, but the power matches the size and weight really well.  The suspension is tight, which I like, and feels “race ready”.   The steering, shifting (mine’s an automatic) and overall ride is butter smooth (for a 22 year old truck).

Old Enough To Bring Back To Life, But Not Precious

A dousing of baking soda goes everywhere before a good interior steaming

This has been my favorite reality of owning this truck.  The guy I bought it from on FB Marketplace was a retired guy that used it to get back and forth to the fishing piers at the Brunswick County beaches.  He was the second owner that didn’t put a lot of miles on it, and documented all maintenance.  He did leave it under a big old oak tree for long periods of time, so the hood paint was dull and lifeless - although it was not chipping or flaking (a common problem on early 2000’s Toyotas).  The interior didn’t have any mold or mildew - but it definitely needed a good refresh.

Like I mentioned above, the seats were a breeze to takeout, the steam cleaner made short work of the carpet and upholstery, and a weekend washing, applying iron remover to the body, hitting it with a clay mitt, and putting a ceramic polish on it really made the paint pop - and added to the longevity.  

In The End...

A brand new 2026 Toyota Tacoma can creep up to $55k.  I ABUSE vehicles - so that's out of the question.  Depending on the year, a used Toyota Tacoma can be had for a 10th of that.  I didn’t want a vintage truck that needs to be wiped down with a cloth diaper every night.  I didn’t want a brand new truck that lives at the dealer in a diagnostic booth arguing warranty periods - and that I would be nervous working on myself.  I didn’t want a rust bucket that would fill my weekends with never-ending mission critical projects just to keep it on the road, either. 

The phrase, low mileage Toyota Tacoma for sale, has been in my search history for too long - and what I wound up with was a classic, reliable rig that needed and will continue to need a little TLC to give it another 100-150k miles - and that’s what I was after.