My First Toyota Tacoma - Advice Needed on Buying a 1997 Tacoma (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Mar 9, 2015
Threads
18
Messages
63
Location
Canada
Greetings everyone,

I've lusted over Toyotas for a while.
Sadly, I bought and am now selling a classic car from the 50's.

I'm looking at a 1997 Tacoma for something more practical.
Looks like the engine was replaced.

Can anyone provide me information on what I should look for in this generation Tacoma?
Like, are there any big common problems that I need to get a mechanic to look for?
The one I'm looking at is a 2.7, 4x4, automatic (I'm really really bad at manual).

Thanks for reading this.
Be well :)

Best Regards,
Kevin H.
 
Honestly, google search is your friend here. Spend some time online. There is a wealth of info.
 
I've got the same truck. It's been my daily driver for about 16 years now. 275,xxx miles on it. Still running like a champ. The biggest thing is frame rust.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies!

I will post on the yotatech forums, thanks onemanyarmy!

Thanks Van Kan, I'm so exited to find one not too far from my location!
 
Yeah if you live up north you'll definitely want to undercoat it. A lot of people on here talk about a product called fluid film as well. If you replace the front main seal replace the oil pump cover gasket to. You have to pull the harmonic balancer to do it. And if you replace the timing chain and guides look into a balancer shaft delete kit. LC engineering is a big name for performance parts. They are the 22R and 3rz gurus
 
And yes people will give you a hard time about the automatic. But I've had mine loaded down with firewood to the point of compressing the bump stops on more than one occasion. I wasn't the fastest but a failure never even crossed my mine. if you haul a lot you pick the wrong truck all together. But I do wish they were more first-gen guys on here. This is the best forum by far
 
Thanks again everyone, Including Van kan!

I talked to a older GM former worker/employee and a local mechanic.
I'm not sure if anyone here reading this is from Canada, but I was told by both of them to avoid buying vehicles from Quebec.
It's not that they are full of scammers, but it's just that they are able to do bad deals because recording accidents or repairs... etc... is not as thorough
as in my province.

It was a really good price $6500 from 1997. The only other two I see online are one with 200K+ miles from 2001 for $8000 and a 1999 year one with 128K miles for $11000.

I understand these Tacomas hold their value, but I guess I just have to save up more.
Or does anyone know where online I should be looking for one of these?

Thanks everyone!
 
Thanks again everyone, Including Van kan!

I talked to a older GM former worker/employee and a local mechanic.
I'm not sure if anyone here reading this is from Canada, but I was told by both of them to avoid buying vehicles from Quebec.
It's not that they are full of scammers, but it's just that they are able to do bad deals because recording accidents or repairs... etc... is not as thorough
as in my province.

It was a really good price $6500 from 1997. The only other two I see online are one with 200K+ miles from 2001 for $8000 and a 1999 year one with 128K miles for $11000.

I understand these Tacomas hold their value, but I guess I just have to save up more.
Or does anyone know where online I should be looking for one of these?

Thanks everyone!
If you're looking at one poke your fingers inside the frame rails. Most of them are rotting away from the inside at this point.

They are scrappy little trucks, but the steel they used for the frames is of horrendous quality.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom