Generally I post in the "Early" Truck section of this board since I usually drive an 86 Toy 4x4 with a 22r in it. However I find myself with less and less time anymore to keep up the maintenance on a 23 year old truck with a quarter or a million miles on it and am considering buying a new Tacoma. Since I have basically ignored these trucks for the last few years, I have some questions. I am looking at a standard cab 4x4 with the 2.7L engine and 5 speed (Basically a newer version of my 86). My question is, how is the power on these engines and how reliable are you guys finding them to be. Of course the Toyota salesman will tell me anything but I would like an opinion from someone who has nothing to personally gain from my purchase. Also, how is the mileage on these trucks? The brochure says 17/22. I also noticed that the extended cab version of the same model (same engine) also gets the exact mileage. I was wondering if anyone could verify that. I may drop the money for an extended cab if the mileage is the same (or pretty close). If anyone has an answer or opinion, I would be interested to hear.

Thanks in advance.

I have an '09 with the 2.7l engine and 5 speed, 4 X 4. It is the extended cab (access cab). It replaced a '99 S10, v6, 2 wd and it is not as peppy as the old s10, but it is adequate. There are times when I miss the old v6 though. I drive about 50 miles per day. About half of that is highway 60-70 mph. The other is city with some stop and go. I consistently get 22 mpg. That is about 1 mpg better than the v6 2wd s10 under the same conditions.

Quite a few people on customtacos.com have them, they say tehy can get high 20's in MPG (much better than EPA)

hey that is great news because I am looking to replace my 94 4X4 with 75,000 miles on it. My kids are bigger and the regular cab is cramped. I was going to post the same question. my 22RE gets about 22 miles a gallon so I am excited to see that I can upgrade to a access cab and get the same mileage. Does anyone know about how much a 94 4x4 with 75,000 miles will go for? I know the dealer will want to steal it from me.

Up here you'd prob get 5-7 grand for it (as long as it has no rust). Dunno how the market is in the states.

Thanks for the replies. The worst part about getting a new truck is getting rid of the old one. Since I get about 14 to 15 mpg, this will help justify the cost of the new truck. As far as pep is concerned, I have a 22r right now and no one has ever accused that motor of having "pep" so I doubt I will be craving much more power.

It does not have any rust on the sheet metal but is kind of rusty underneath. Nothing like frame rot just some surface rust. Thanks for the info
Doug