New Truck - Tacoma 4x4

I'm looking to buy a 4x4 pickup (Tacoma Reg. cab 2.7 liter 5 speed std.). I live in the Arizona White Mountains (7000 ft. above sea level) on a dirt road (dead end). The most I plan to haul is a 12' fishing boat and trailer. Any thing I should be watch out for? (aside from the local dealer overcharging me :-)

Reply to
Frank_v7.0
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First of all, it's a great truck. But you asked what to watch out for, so here goes:

1) I tow a 14' boat. Just for grins, I had the whole rig weighed, loaded with the usual assortment of fishing crap and a cooler full of ice. 1400 lbs. That's well within the towing abilities of many nice sedans that will get MUCH better gas mileage than the truck. However, when I bought my truck in 2002, the sedans I looked at weren't really compatible with a properly installed hitch, according to a trailer place that would've been happy to sell me the hitch. If 17-20 miles per gallon is your idea of "good", go with the truck. Otherwise, you might want to investigate sedans, and get with a trailer place for their opinions of putting hitches on certain cars. Rear wheel drive is best for towing, but there are *relatively* inexpensive ways of improving a front wheel drive vehicle so it'll tow well. 2) Measure the inside height of the truck bed and compare to the things you want to haul SECURELY, like luggage and fishing equipment. If you're thinking of a tonneau cover instead of a cap, you may be limited. A soft cover is easy to slice open. I have a hard cover
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that I'm happy with, but when closed, there's only 13" of height underneath. My ice chest doesn't fit, nor do quite a few other things. The newer Tacomas may have a deeper bed. Worth checking. I have a double cab, which was about $2000 less than the Toyota SUV at the time. Naturally, the SUV went on sale about a month after I bought the truck. If I'd known that, I would've bought the SUV, just for the secure storage. 3) Special maintenance: Sounds like you might live pretty far from a dealer. Maybe you change your own oil? There's more to lubrication than with a non-4WD vehicle. You may want to have a look at the specifics of the schedule and be sure you're able to either handle it, or get to the dealer, especially if you'll be using the truck in a dustier environment than other drivers.
Reply to
Doug Kanter

Am probably going to buy a Tundra in early 06 - when GM had their employee discount program running, Toyota had a 3,500 discount on Tundra's. So pay attention to discounts and you maybe able to save a bunch. Another point also - if you can use a truck for business purposes and it has a GVW of over 6,000#, then you can deduct the total expense of the truck from your federal income taxes.

Question on 4WD maintenance - other than oil, filter and ATF changes, what additional maintenance is required for 4WD. I assume a lot more ATF - how often does Toyota say to change the ATF and does it have an exterior filter? Any other extra maintenance issues with a 4WD?

Thanks

Reply to
spacetrax

Are you sure about that deduction? I thought Congress ended it because it was encouraging knuckleheads to buy gigantic SUVs just because their neighbors did.

Yes, but it's pouring outside, so I can't get the manual and tell you what these things are. Maybe somebody else will chime in, or it'll stop raining. :-) They're not big things, mostly a little extra grease on some fittings, but not things you'd normally think of. My mechanic includes it in the normal lube routine.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

Congress did end it with SUV's by stating the cargo compartment could not be accessible from the cab. It falls under section 179 or depreciation section of the tax code. What they did was accelerate the depreciation. Course this all assumes it is used over 50% for a corporation/business. All you do is reduce the amount you owe taxes on

- the take rate for me is about 36% - so if the truck costs $25K - that is a $9K saving in taxes.

Will have to reread 177 and 168 to make certain it is still kosher.

Reply to
spacetrax

On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 20:51:14 GMT, "Doug Kanter" found these unused words floating about:

Front/rear differential changes yearly, lubing propellor shaft, 4x4 hi-lo & engage system ... and definitely dust speeds up those -required- services.

You should also plan on raising the rear axle's breather IF toybloata hasn't yet done that in the later models! They did the front, but not the rear! GF !!!

Reply to
J. A. Mc.

Thanks for the replies! Good news, dealer 17 miles away in Show Low, AZ! Yes, dust is a major factor and I change oil every 3K mi. and air filter every 10K mi. in my present vehicle. I'll leave the bed open. Security not a big issue. Need it to haul stuff from Home Depot etc... And as far as mileage goes that's about what I get with my Jeep Liberty

2WD and I need the extra cargo capacity and the 4x4 for my "driveway" in winter.
Reply to
Frank_v7.0

Actually, you can get about 22mpg on the highway if you don't drive like a complete dork. I was just being conservative. And, for reasons I don't understand, my gas mileage doesn't suffer AT ALL when I'm towing the boat. Makes no sense, but I've proven it on about 30 identical trips so far.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

: >

: Front/rear differential changes yearly, lubing propellor shaft, 4x4 hi-lo & : engage system ... and definitely dust speeds up those -required- services.

YEARLY? How many miles is that? I have routinely changed my diffs every 30,000 miles on a 1998 that is used offroad every week; the fluid is cherry; just like new. To say it would be required yearly is a little extreme.

Reply to
Karl Rove

So, change it when you feel like it, then. Just keep an eye out for the fluid police.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 15:22:25 GMT, "Doug Kanter" found these unused words floating about:

Precisely ... IF you want your warranty or Extended warranty. Toyblota will challenge those fluids as the first thing in any 4x4 claim! Keep the receipts unless done at one consistent dealer.

Reply to
J. A. Mc.

My local Toyota dealer doesn't even specify an interval change for differential fluids.

: >>

: >> : >

: >> : Front/rear differential changes yearly, lubing propellor shaft, 4x4 : >> hi-lo & : >> : engage system ... and definitely dust speeds up those -required- : >> services. : >>

: >>

: >> YEARLY? How many miles is that? I have routinely changed my diffs every : >> 30,000 miles on a 1998 that is used offroad every week; : >> the fluid is cherry; just like new. To say it would be required yearly is : >> a little extreme. : >>

: >>

: >

: >So, change it when you feel like it, then. Just keep an eye out for the : >fluid police. : >

: Precisely ... IF you want your warranty or Extended warranty. Toyblota will : challenge those fluids as the first thing in any 4x4 claim! Keep the : receipts unless done at one consistent dealer.

Reply to
Karl Rove

Nothing in the book? Again, mine's outside and it's snowing and I'm too pissed off about it to go out to the truck. :-)

Reply to
Doug Kanter

Yes, (to quote John Stanley) "It's in the book!" Your dealer (Karl) should have given you the mid-sized "Passport To Performance" AKA "Scheduled Maintenance Log". Toybloata WILL check the fluid replacements IF you have a warranty claim. They go on Time or Miles - whichever comes FIRST.

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 01:02:08 GMT, "Doug Kanter" found these unused words floating about:

Reply to
J. A. Mc.

I'm acquainted with at least a dozen people (who I cannot safely identify) who consider it standard procedure to discard to immediately discard any and all literature supplied with any product they buy. "I swear....there was nothing in the box except the (computer, microwave, digital keyboard, etc)". If they somehow forget to toss an owner's manual, they might stand far away from it and poke it with a long stick, like a snake, figuring it might bite.

Maybe that's what we're dealing with here. :-)

Reply to
Doug Kanter

there's a big difference in "check" and "replace"

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: >>

: >> : >>

: >> : >> : >

: >> : >> : Front/rear differential changes yearly, lubing propellor shaft, 4x4 : >> : >> hi-lo & : >> : >> : engage system ... and definitely dust speeds up those -required- : >> : >> services. : >> : >>

: >> : >>

: >> : >> YEARLY? How many miles is that? I have routinely changed my diffs : >> every : >> : >> 30,000 miles on a 1998 that is used offroad every week; : >> : >> the fluid is cherry; just like new. To say it would be required : >> yearly is : >> : >> a little extreme. : >> : >>

: >> : >>

: >> : >

: >> : >So, change it when you feel like it, then. Just keep an eye out for the : >> : >fluid police. : >> : >

: >> : Precisely ... IF you want your warranty or Extended warranty. Toyblota : >> will : >> : challenge those fluids as the first thing in any 4x4 claim! Keep the : >> : receipts unless done at one consistent dealer. : >>

: >>

: >

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Reply to
Karl Rove

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