05 owners! First Toyota Truck?

[tbrown78]

This is for 05 owners who have previously owned a Toyota truck, and how do you think it compares to your previous trucks? Please no responces if you have had no experience with Toyota Trucks. I'm finding that people who have never owned a Toyota truck before and bought the 05 may have had their expectations set a little too high. Not sure if it is Toyota's reputation or the fact that they have read too many glorious magazine spreads that pronounced the new Tacoma the greatest thing since sliced bread. I have owned two and the 05 is my third. My first was an old 89 beater, second was an 02, which I sold to buy an 05. I loved all of them. I had little problems here and there on all of them but never anything major like engine or tranny. The 05 is just as good as any of the the other two trucks I've had. It's different in that its more highway friendly, but it's still pretty capable off road. Anywhere I took my 02 I have taken my 05. So how do you match your new truck against your old one?

[cheg]

I had a '94 xtra cab 4 cyl. truck before I got the 2005 Tacoma. The new truck is light years ahead in comfort, power, and design features. It feels much more solid. Of course, it cost about 3x as much and the payload is no more. Remains to be seen if it will have the longevity of the old trucks.

[arcpass]

I have owned four Toyota Trucks before my current 2005 Tacoma. All have been first year models. The 1979 was Toyota's first 4x4 mini truck with 116 HP; no problems; sold it with 140,000 miles on it. The next was a 1985 4x4 mini truck; new design & 135 HP; no problems; sold it with 116,000 miles on it. Then a 1989 4x4, another new design with 135 HP, sold it with 144,000 miles on it; no problems. In 1993, I bought the first year T-100 4x4 with 150 HP; only problem was head gasket recall & a couple of o2 sensors. Still have it with 104,000 miles on it. Next is my new Tacoma with 245 HP, most powerful truck I have owned. Just picked it up yesterday, so we'll see if any problems pop up. In between all that, I bought the first year Jeep Cherokee 4x4 in 1984 with nothing but problems. Sold it after 6 months because I was tired of finding another new problem every week. Took a financial hit of about $4000, but couldn't stand it anymore. I'll stick with Toyotas.

[slamdtaco]

I had the 95.5 V6 Tacoma ext. cab LX (base model) and a 2002 4 cyl. ext. cab SR5 with pw, pl.

The 05 is WAY above those 2 combined. I am super happy with my 05.

[rcsting]

I have owned a 1987 4X4, a 1992 2WD , a 1998 PreRunner, a 2001 PreRunner and just recently picked up my 05 PreRunner. The 05 for me is night and day better than my 01. One of the main reasons I bought the 05 is because I tow a boat and the extra HP in the 05 4.0 engine is awesome. I'm not saying that the prevous 3.4 engine was weak but there is absolutely no comparison to the current 4.0 motor. Another surprise was the mileage on my 05 is better than I used to get with my 01. I just filled up my tank today and got 20.4 MPG and I do use the throttle on occasion My mileage since new has been 19.4, 19.2 so hitting 20 was nice. I also owned a Celica before I started on trucks so this is actually my 6th Toyota and all have been very trouble free. Hope this info helps.

rcsting

[tamu1996]

Very first automobile, ever, was a 1980 Corolla, 1.8L, if I remember correctly. It had 113K miles on it when I paid $1,350, back in 1989, and I put another 25K, and just a coat of paint, on it before selling in 1991 for $2,000. Though not a truck, that little car had almost NO problems while I owned it.

I took a poor man's detour through Ford , Isuzu then Honda , before coming back to a Toy in 1998.

First Toy truck was the 99' PreRunner, V-6. Only issues I ever had with it were the crappy GY tires and a pair of rear leaf packs replaced (right side sagged). Other than that, NO issues through 115K miles. I just traded it to the dealer, for my 05' Tundra, for $8,000. Not too shabby, I thought .

Of course, comparing my 05' D-cab Tundra to the ol' P-Runner is apples-to-oranges , but I'm impressed every day with the build quality of the Tundra. Only complaints I have are the wide turning radius, a small rattle under the passenger air-bag and the (typically) easier-to-mar-than-butter interior (anyone else notice that Toyota plastic mars easily? My P-Runner and my wife's 01' RAV4 were the same).

I still can't get over how smooth the ride is in the D-Cab Tundra, especially compared to the P-Runner. Everyone who has ridden in it compliments the comfort and ride. Can't wait for my first long-distance haul with a full cab of folks.

--Ryan

[Dirt_Devil]

My first truck back when I was 16 was a 1988 Toyota Xtra cab SR5 4x4. Second truck was a 2003 Toyota Tundra access cab 4x4 and third is my current Toyota-05 Tacoma dbl cab 4x4. My family has always owned Toyotas- 1972 Corolla 3TC, 1980 Toyota Corona, 1985 Toyota Dolphin (half p/u half RV), 2000 Toyota Avalon. Honestly, I think Toyota made a great truck with the '05. Coming from a Tundra, the '05 does ride smoother than previous years, but the rear suspensin bugs, I don't think Toyota will ever fix!! I do wish Toyota kept manual shift 4wd as opposed to the electronic 4wd though. All in all, I'm happy with my '05.

[sl3000gt94]

I had and still have a 2000 Reg cab 2.7 5speed 4x4.
I think my new XRunner is soo much better of a truck
Much more room
way more comfortable. The build quality feels more solid. The 05 has a few rattles that everyone is bitching about in the bed and all. But my 2000 had alot more rattles and was alot louder in cabin then my new 05.
I would say I like my 05 alot more.

[cqt-tundra]

I just bought my 2005 Toyota Tundra Truck and I like it pretty good. I had a older small toyota truck ages ago and like that too. I do have a question though for owners of Toyota Tundras:

I was cleaning up under the hood of my new Toyota Tunda pickup this afternoon with a moist lint free cloth. I just got back from the gym so the engine was a little warm. I went to clean the radiator hoses (upper and lower) and when i wiped the hoses with the moist cloth, I noticed a brown like powder / dirt rubbing off. I kept cleaning until it wiped clean. The hoses were quite warm. After it dried I noticed that the outer surface of the hoses were a little pitted, but only on a one inch stripe down the length of the hose (on both sides).

Do you all know what this can be? Is there a protective powder coating that the hoses come with or is it some glue that is left on the manufacturing process? Have I just lowered the life expectancy of the hose....LOL The hoses are about 3/16" thick and the pits I have now are surface pits.

Thanks,
CQT