New $10,000 Toyota pickup

[jjeff]

good for you. like yourself, have a '92 pre Taco (deluxe they called it) 4x4 reg cab long bed i bought new that year. still driving, original engine (4cyl) 316k never been opened up save valve adj & rear seal replace.

i'm up there in yrs so won't look new anymore. i laugh to myself to see the 60+k rigs struggle w/a sheet of ply. i think the current truck owners have changed over the years as much as the vehicles themselves. that's ok. totally satisfied w/my rig. tight as a drum.
regards

You had the 22re motor in your pre taco?

 

[CalG]

In the early 80's, I bought a late model Datsun pickup. (late 70s m.y.)

As I recall, it was pretty much equipped like this "new" Toyota.
Heater, (no A/C) , Floor shift, crank windows, no cruise. Painted dash, Bench seat.
What a nice little truck. I wish I had it now.

eta
My previous pickup was a 1954 Ford . That was sparsely appointed, but I drove that coast to coast on the diagonals several times and more. Ugly though ;-)

Now I have a Tacoma. Had to look long for a standard shift. Most of the doodads go un used and unnoticed. Fine by me.

 

[two_bit_score]

but only cross the border to Mexico and its all standard.

Funny thing is a lot of used cars are exported into Mexico from the US but very few used vehicles that were originally sold new in MX seem to come back this way.

 

[dfkrug]

The big cult appeal of those older Toyota 4x4 trucks was their solid front axles. Terrible for ride quality, but good for off road rock climbing.

I bought a used '80 4x4 Toyota Pickup back in '83, the first generation of 4x4s for the US. Brutal ride, and horrible gas mileage (best was 18MPG with carbureted 20R engine). What's not to like? I took it on several long 4WD trips in CO, AZ, Mexico, and CA.

Also had '76 2WD Toyota Hilux. Very rare now. Miss my '71 and '74 Datsun PUs. All manual trans, 4 or 5sp.

 

[WinterDeere]

It is probably true but you go in Europe (relatively same strict safety testing) and most models are available in standard...

True, but I think there are two factors at play:

1. Europeans traditionally create higher demand for manual than Americans, so there are sales numbers to support the cost.
2. I think the American tests are uniquely expensive to perform on manual transmission. Europe may have high standards on emissions and efficiency, but also testing methods that aren't quite so costly for the manufacturers.

At least this is what I've heard, second- or third-hand. I don't work in that industry, so even if accurate, my information may be a little old.

 

[Jstpssng]

yes indeed, 22re fuel injection, imho the most rock solid engine Toyota designed to date. embarrassed to say, throtle body never serviced, but functions flawlessly. regards
(decided to pass on the heated steering wheel op)
View attachment 831295

I lost the head gasket in my '91 which eventually killed it. It never overheated, I noticed the heater was blowing cold and immediately knew what had happened. I took it to the local garage where they took it apart, replaced the timing (belt? Chain?) as well as the timing gears. They had the head planed and put it back together.
After that it would overheat sporadically on warmup. All that I had to do was throw the clutch in, shut the engine off, turn the key back on and dump the clutch and it would be fine. A new thermostat didn't help. One night on the way home after a long day I must have forgotten to watch the guage. By the time that I got home the engine was surging at idle. I pulled the dipstick and the engine was full of antifreeze. Presumably it overheated and either blew the new head gasket or cracked the block...
I found a used engine but had just dumped my available cash into the previous repair bill. I bought a newer GMC and sold the Toyota for the value of the tires I had just put on it. At the time I was driving 50k miles per year travelling all over northern New England and needed something I could depend on.

 

[Jstpssng]

True, but I think there are two factors at play:

1. Europeans traditionally create higher demand for manual than Americans, so there are sales numbers to support the cost.
2. I think the American tests are uniquely expensive to perform on manual transmission. Europe may have high standards on emissions and efficiency, but also testing methods that aren't quite so costly for the manufacturers.

At least this is what I've heard, second- or third-hand. I don't work in that industry, so even if accurate, my information may be a little old.

30 years ago manufacturers were saying that only 10% of new truck buyers wanted a manual transmission. I've always suspected that was their way of saying "We don't want to make them so if they aren't on the lot people will "want" what's available.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I much rather prefer driving an AWD in the winter. 4x4 is not meant to be driven on dry/wet roads. Off road and snow allows tires to "slip" vs getting chewed up. So, as I'm driving in 2x4 dry roads, so I don't chew up tires, I hit a snow patch. Trouble can happen before I can hit 4x4...
Not a relaxing drive in winter.

 

[jyoutz]

Funny thing is a lot of used cars are exported into Mexico from the US but very few used vehicles that were originally sold new in MX seem to come back this way.

In Mexico, they run their vehicles until the wheels fall off.

 

[jyoutz]

30 years ago manufacturers were saying that only 10% of new truck buyers wanted a manual transmission. I've always suspected that was their way of saying "We don't want to make them so if they aren't on the lot people will "want" what's available.

I think the fact that the majority of vehicle buyers are urban/suburban residents is the primary reason why manual transmissions don’t sell well. A manual transmission is fun to drive on the open road or off road, but can be annoying in stop and go city driving.