One of the main questions that I have now is how hard are these trucks to work on as opposed to other cars and trucks you've owned and how are parts prices? I like to do all my maintenance and repair myself so this is important to me. Also, where do you get your parts from? What kind of parts do you use (OEM, Toyota, Aftermarket)?

invest in the factory service manuals and only use OEM parts. working on them is not too hard.

Getting a Service Manual would be ideal for a do it you selfer like youself. It's the most comprehensive collection of info you'll find... except for maybe Bibelheimer.
<img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" />
i've done anything from shocks to starter to bumper replacement on mine and i'm no Cooter. I've gotten most OEM parts from the dealership, but i've found there really isn't much that goes wrong with these trucks.

one thing that is dissapointing is the lack of aftermarket products for the T.

Are you contemplating the purchase of one? do tell....

<small>[ 06 August 2002, 01:52 AM: Message edited by: Chemical442 ]</small>

Chemical 442
I am thinking of purchasing a T100. I really didn't like them when they were introduced but I was only 19 then and how a truck looked was much more important to me than other things like reliability, crash test scores, durability, resale value, or other practical considerations. Now I'm 28, married, working for a living and father of a beautiful 6 month old girl. I have a small pickup which is fine for now but when we have another child, its going to be impossible to fit all of us into that truck, so I'll need a backseat.

The only two brands of trucks I would really consider purchasing are Chevy and Toyota. I used to have a full size Chevy reg. cab and I loved it but it was too expensive and not practical as a family vehicle so I traded down to a small, cheap truck and got my wife a station wagon. Now I kind of like the maneuverability of the little truck, especially out in the woods. So I started looking at Tacomas but I think they'll be a little too small in the backseat when the kids get older. So I've decided I'll probably look for either a T100 or a 1999+ extended cab Chevrolet. Time is on my side. I've got at least a year before I can really get serious about buying anything, so I'll have plenty of time to do research.

Anyway, yes I'm thinking about buying a T and now you know what my decision process was for narrowing down my options.

How much is it for the factory manuals? Do I get them from the dealer? All at once or as I need them?
Thanks

do a search. i am sure we posted the phone number before. if not, email me offline and i will send it to you. i have it at the house.

The engine bay certainly has plenty of free space for working compared to cars.

Don,

We are much alike... I think in an earlier
thread you said you had a Nissan?
I had a 93 Nissan Hardbody 4X4 lifted 4"
with 31's and decided it was too small as
well. i traded it in for the 4Runner, then got
the T100 so the wife could have the Runner.
It was the best vehicular decision i've ever made... you'll be happy with a T. The
backseat is pleanty large. I've had 3
buddy's seated in the back more times
than i can count and they didnt bitch much.

Chem
My Nissan is a 94 and its stock. It seems pretty tough but I don't really do any serious offroading. I don't have a lot of spare time and all of the land around here is pretty well locked up. Ten years ago, when I didn't live here, you could hunt, drive, fish etc. pretty much anywhere you wanted to. Now the paper company that owns this state has it all cut up into private hunting leases and its all shut up, gated and/or fenced. We've lost over 100,000 acres of public hunting land in just the last 2 years. That's all in this county! Unless something changes or I move, I doubt I'll ever build a real serious offroad rig but I'd like to have something just a little bit bigger inside than what I've got now and preferrably not quite as big outside as my Chevy was. Most of the trails that you can ride on around here get narrow at some point and I was forever scratching up my widebody Chevy.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by Chemical442:
<strong>Don,
I had a 93 Nissan Hardbody 4X4 .</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Was yours a 4 cyl.? That's another thing I'd like in my next truck, more POWER!!!