Author Topic: Auto Toyota Pick-up options  (Read 5259 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

green200b

  • Offline Rock Crawl'n
  • **
  • Turtle Points: -9
  • Male Posts: 94
  • Member since Feb '16
  • Four doors for more whores!
    • View Profile
    • Buy me a soda
Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« on: Oct 11, 2018, 03:47:38 AM »
Hi all,

A friend's brother is living in the US currently and is wanting to purchase a Toyota 4wd to use for camping and light 4wding. The only thing is, he can't drive manual.

So, my question is, when in the USA did automatic transmissions become available as standard in Toyota Pick-ups and how hard to find are they? My friend is heading over soon to help find something and probably wouldn't want something much older than the early 2000s. Does such a vehicle exist?
green200b, aka Alistair

1982 Toyota Hilux 4WD - 350 Chev, G52, 4.3s, Detroit Locker, 33x12.5 mud tyres
1981 Mazda RX-7 Sport, 12A rotary - daily
1974 Mazda RX-2, 13B rotary - cruiser
1980 Datsun 200B - first car, now hibernating

Ritchie

  • Offline Rock Master
  • ***
  • Turtle Points: 539
  • Male Posts: 265
  • Member since May '13
  • Ritchie
    • View Profile
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #1 on: Oct 11, 2018, 06:04:41 AM »
They have been around for years in California.
My '02 is an automatic w/ OD.

Be careful what you wish for... it kills the power output of a 3RZ motor.

Good luck.
'03 Step side Pre-runner, F/R 4WU 3 linked, F/R Diamond axles, F/R ARB's w/5.29's, F/R Fox 12" CO's, ShrockWorks front bumper, self made rear bumper, WARN M8000S w/ remote, 4.7 Inchworm Lefty, MC sliders that hold air & a bunch of other stuff.

300k

  • Offline Crawler Guru
  • ****
  • Turtle Points: 3744
  • Male Posts: 623
  • Member since Jun '15
  • GREEN NAME MAN BAD!
    • View Profile
    • Please ban me!
          OK!
      I am banned!
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #2 on: Oct 11, 2018, 07:53:40 AM »
He should be able to learn manual fairly quickly :)
:)bestgen4runner [12:45 PM]:   I am so stupid.

Truer words have never been spoken...

Snowtoy

  • Offline The 2.5K Group
  • ****
  • Turtle Points: 1403
  • Male Posts: 2,582
  • Member since Sep '03
    • View Profile
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #3 on: Oct 11, 2018, 09:53:06 AM »
If I recall correctly, automatics have been available since '84, though far less common than manuals through the mid '90's, and all of them were gutless wonders with the auto before the Tacoma.  If he is looking for a cheap rig and doesn't need a bed/box, the '96-'04 4-Runner would be his best bet, depending on where he is at, they can be found in good condition for $3-6k, if he wants a Tacoma, he will be looking to spend $6-10k or more.

'90 black X-cab mod'd 3.0, 33's/4.88's, rear ARB, custom bumpers, sliders, safari rack, etc.
'91 Blue X-cab 22re, 35's/5.29's,Truetrac front, ARB rear, dual cases, and custom Safari flatbed, bumper, interior.
The money pit '87 Supra resto/mod

green200b [OP]

  • Offline Rock Crawl'n
  • **
  • Turtle Points: -9
  • Male Posts: 94
  • Member since Feb '16
  • Four doors for more whores!
    • View Profile
    • Buy me a soda
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #4 on: Oct 11, 2018, 12:24:32 PM »
Thanks for the replies.

Ritchie - sounds like most of the other cars I have driven with both transmissions haha. I imagine they would be rather slow.

300k - I have tried using this logic on people before but they always seem to find excuses. I've never met my friend's brother but apparently that isn't an option.

Snowtoy - thanks for the especially helpful reply. I will pass that on. I don't know if he especially wants a ute or a wagon. I am surprised that they cost that much though, I've never been to America but after watching programs like Roadkill I always assumed that there would be cool cheap cars everywhere!
green200b, aka Alistair

1982 Toyota Hilux 4WD - 350 Chev, G52, 4.3s, Detroit Locker, 33x12.5 mud tyres
1981 Mazda RX-7 Sport, 12A rotary - daily
1974 Mazda RX-2, 13B rotary - cruiser
1980 Datsun 200B - first car, now hibernating

OVRAROK

  • Online Silver Turtle Award
  • *
  • Turtle Points: 26739
  • Male Posts: 3,499
  • Member since Dec '10
    • View Profile
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #5 on: Oct 11, 2018, 12:27:17 PM »
Check your local craigslist. The autos are usually the ones that dont sell quickly..., can be had for less then asking price
Even the most primitive society, has an intimate respect for the insane.

Gnarly4X

  • Offline Gold Turtle Award
  • *
  • Turtle Points: 5143
  • Male Posts: 4,210
  • Member since Jun '16
  • 4-wheeling vicariously.
    • View Profile
    • Buy me some coffee
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #6 on: Oct 11, 2018, 12:42:53 PM »
If I recall correctly, automatics have been available since '84, though far less common than manuals through the mid '90's, and all of them were gutless wonders with the auto before the Tacoma.  If he is looking for a cheap rig and doesn't need a bed/box, the '96-'04 4-Runner would be his best bet, depending on where he is at, they can be found in good condition for $3-6k, if he wants a Tacoma, he will be looking to spend $6-10k or more.



I had 1986 Longbed, 22RE Automatic.  It was the best wheeling and all-around truck I've owned.  It was not as peppy as my 85 standard cab with a 22R 5-speed, but it certainly wasn't a "gutless wonder".  I wheeled in the Glamis sand dunes a number of times, cross-county Mexica several times, did the Dusey and Rubicon two times, and wheeled all-over AZ, CA and NM.  The automatic was great.  The only complaint I had was when climbing a steep hill, off-road, when shifting down from 2nd to 1st it would not shift until the truck was almost completely stopped.   The long bed was 7.5 feet and with the Snugtop it was a perfect truck-only camping rig!

That auto tranny was flawless.

Gnarls.
1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

300k

  • Offline Crawler Guru
  • ****
  • Turtle Points: 3744
  • Male Posts: 623
  • Member since Jun '15
  • GREEN NAME MAN BAD!
    • View Profile
    • Please ban me!
          OK!
      I am banned!
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #7 on: Oct 11, 2018, 01:23:21 PM »
Fwd 30 years, a 200,000 mile, 20 owner 30 year old truck, it's prolly a gutless wonder.
:)bestgen4runner [12:45 PM]:   I am so stupid.

Truer words have never been spoken...

Gnarly4X

  • Offline Gold Turtle Award
  • *
  • Turtle Points: 5143
  • Male Posts: 4,210
  • Member since Jun '16
  • 4-wheeling vicariously.
    • View Profile
    • Buy me some coffee
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #8 on: Oct 12, 2018, 06:44:58 AM »
30 years ago manual transmissions typically used more fuel and did take more power compared to a manual transmission equipped model.

Fast forward 30 years, now the computer controlled automatic transmissions out perform manual transmissions.

Gnarls.
 
1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

Snowtoy

  • Offline The 2.5K Group
  • ****
  • Turtle Points: 1403
  • Male Posts: 2,582
  • Member since Sep '03
    • View Profile
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #9 on: Oct 12, 2018, 10:06:59 AM »
Snowtoy - thanks for the especially helpful reply. I will pass that on. I don't know if he especially wants a ute or a wagon. I am surprised that they cost that much though, I've never been to America but after watching programs like Roadkill I always assumed that there would be cool cheap cars everywhere!

Here in the U.S. you can find cheap 4x4's in good working condition, they just don't usually have a Toyota badge on them.  With the Tacoma being the last mini truck, their resale prices have remained high, in my area an '04 Tacoma X-Cab starts about $9k, which is double what the same year Nissan costs, and about 5 times what a Chevy, Dodge, or Ford will run.

I had 1986 Longbed, 22RE Automatic.  It was the best wheeling and all-around truck I've owned.  It was not as peppy as my 85 standard cab with a 22R 5-speed, but it certainly wasn't a "gutless wonder".  I wheeled in the Glamis sand dunes a number of times, cross-county Mexica several times, did the Dusey and Rubicon two times, and wheeled all-over AZ, CA and NM.  The automatic was great.  The only complaint I had was when climbing a steep hill, off-road, when shifting down from 2nd to 1st it would not shift until the truck was almost completely stopped.   The long bed was 7.5 feet and with the Snugtop it was a perfect truck-only camping rig!

That auto tranny was flawless.

Didn't say they were unreliable or not capable, just gutless compared to their manual counterparts, as were most/if not all automatics before manufactures started adding more gears.
'90 black X-cab mod'd 3.0, 33's/4.88's, rear ARB, custom bumpers, sliders, safari rack, etc.
'91 Blue X-cab 22re, 35's/5.29's,Truetrac front, ARB rear, dual cases, and custom Safari flatbed, bumper, interior.
The money pit '87 Supra resto/mod

green200b [OP]

  • Offline Rock Crawl'n
  • **
  • Turtle Points: -9
  • Male Posts: 94
  • Member since Feb '16
  • Four doors for more whores!
    • View Profile
    • Buy me a soda
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #10 on: Oct 12, 2018, 03:41:58 PM »
When I bought my RX-7 years ago I went for a manual one, because I prefer to drive a manual car. Several years later my brother bought a manual one and then we went halves in an auto parts car. We took the parts car for a lap of our block and it was very uninspiring! Compared to our manual ones it had nowhere near as much go and didn't sound anywhere near as good, it seemed to be working a lot harder to achieve a lot less. We both agreed that had we test driven auto ones we probably would never have become interested in them.

Gnarls is right through, newer auto cars do tend to out-perform their manual counterparts. Not that this is of great interest to me as I have no interest in newer cars.

Thanks for everyone's feedback so far - the friend's brother in question doesn't know much about cars or have an interest in them, he just likes them and wants one, if that makes sense. Hopefully someone suitable can be found.
green200b, aka Alistair

1982 Toyota Hilux 4WD - 350 Chev, G52, 4.3s, Detroit Locker, 33x12.5 mud tyres
1981 Mazda RX-7 Sport, 12A rotary - daily
1974 Mazda RX-2, 13B rotary - cruiser
1980 Datsun 200B - first car, now hibernating

Snowtoy

  • Offline The 2.5K Group
  • ****
  • Turtle Points: 1403
  • Male Posts: 2,582
  • Member since Sep '03
    • View Profile
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #11 on: Oct 12, 2018, 09:17:07 PM »
What part of the U.S. is your friend's brother going to be?  If he is in the Mid-West or N.East coast, he will need to be aware rust.
'90 black X-cab mod'd 3.0, 33's/4.88's, rear ARB, custom bumpers, sliders, safari rack, etc.
'91 Blue X-cab 22re, 35's/5.29's,Truetrac front, ARB rear, dual cases, and custom Safari flatbed, bumper, interior.
The money pit '87 Supra resto/mod

Gnarly4X

  • Offline Gold Turtle Award
  • *
  • Turtle Points: 5143
  • Male Posts: 4,210
  • Member since Jun '16
  • 4-wheeling vicariously.
    • View Profile
    • Buy me some coffee
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #12 on: Oct 13, 2018, 06:20:14 AM »
Hi all,

A friend's brother is living in the US currently and is wanting to purchase a Toyota 4wd to use for camping and light 4wding. The only thing is, he can't drive manual.

So, my question is, when in the USA did automatic transmissions become available as standard in Toyota Pick-ups and how hard to find are they? My friend is heading over soon to help find something and probably wouldn't want something much older than the early 2000s. Does such a vehicle exist?


"Pick-ups".. "automatic"..."early 2000s"....."camping"... "light 4wding"

I would NOT recommend a 4Runner in those years.

First, they are big and heavy and many have a V-8s and most will have 6-cylinders.  Unless the features of an SUV is required, stick with a pickup... much better for camping and wheeling, and more aftermarket options.

An automatic 4x4 Tacoma in those years (2000 to 2004) in good condition will most likely be on a short list.  The power loss issue of an automatic vs manual is known to be about 10%.... not a big deal.... it's a flipp'n TRUCK... not a Mazda sports car.

My research on prices is different... like most used vehicles the range is deep and wide. Although Toyotas do hold a nice resale value, the prices of a 4-wheel drive Toyota vs a 4-wheel drive Ford, Chevy, or Nissan is not 5 times more for Toyota.

The buy price for a nice used Toyota truck vs another manufacturer most likely will be 15% to 20% more, but since I'm a Toyota guy, I'd spend the extra money to invest in a Toyota brand.

That's just my opinion - it may be worthless.

Gnarls.

« Last Edit: Oct 13, 2018, 06:31:43 AM by Gnarly4X »
1986 XtraCab SR5 22RE 5speed W56B, ~16,000 MI after break-in, DIM (Did It Myself) rebuilt engine - .020" over, engnbldr RV head, OS valves, 261C cam, DT Header. https://imgur.com/oACTHTR

God Bless Our Troops... Especially Our Snipers. The 2nd defends the 1st
MEMBER: WWP, T2T, VFW, NRA, GOA, SAF, Mammoth Nation, C2 Tactical, Hillsdale College, Humane Society of the U.S. - "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them." ~ Albert Einstein

R.DesJardin

  • Offline Crawler Guru
  • ****
  • Turtle Points: 680
  • Male Posts: 489
  • Member since Mar '08
    • View Profile
    • RADesigns Products LLC
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #13 on: Oct 13, 2018, 08:10:30 AM »
An automatic 4x4 Tacoma in those years (2000 to 2004) in good condition will most likely be on a short list.  The power loss issue of an automatic vs manual is known to be about 10%.... not a big deal.... it's a flipp'n TRUCK... not a Mazda sports car.
That's just my opinion - it may be worthless.
Gnarls.

Yep, not a sport car. Truer words have never been spoken.
R.DesJardin
"If I didn't live in the middle of nowhere!"


2RZ-A340F-Duals-locked FR/RR-IROK's

Snowtoy

  • Offline The 2.5K Group
  • ****
  • Turtle Points: 1403
  • Male Posts: 2,582
  • Member since Sep '03
    • View Profile
Re: Auto Toyota Pick-up options
« Reply #14 on: Oct 13, 2018, 01:34:22 PM »
"Pick-ups".. "automatic"..."early 2000s"....."camping"... "light 4wding"

I would NOT recommend a 4Runner in those years.

First, they are big and heavy and many have a V-8s and most will have 6-cylinders.  Unless the features of an SUV is required, stick with a pickup... much better for camping and wheeling, and more aftermarket options.

No, the larger 4th gen 4 Runner which was the first to have a V-8 started with the '05 model year, the 3rd Gen Runner, '96-'04 has the same engine, trans combo's, after market support as the 1st Gen Taco's, and is just as capable on the trail, just a little heavier and more glass.  A buddy has ran 4 of them since 99, stock, built, and two stock suspension running 35's and lockers.
Built one,


Current one, stock suspension, 35's w/dual ARB's, and he runs Rubicon and Fordyce creek trails about once a month.  Total cost about $8k which include the $2k purchase price.


The last two rigs prior to this Runner was a truggy on full widths and 42's, and a '16 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon he put in 35's.  Said the Runner on 35's wheels just as well as the Jeep, and is more fun since he doesn't see $$$ signs every time hears a branch rub down the side.  He and his wife will even sleep in the back when camping when not setting up a tent.

Quote
My research on prices is different... like most used vehicles the range is deep and wide. Although Toyotas do hold a nice resale value, the prices of a 4-wheel drive Toyota vs a 4-wheel drive Ford, Chevy, or Nissan is not 5 times more for Toyota.

The buy price for a nice used Toyota truck vs another manufacturer most likely will be 15% to 20% more, but since I'm a Toyota guy, I'd spend the extra money to invest in a Toyota brand.

I used NADA's "clean trade-in value" for my zipcode for '03 models w/trim packages similar to the SR5 and w/175k miles.  Craigslist for the nearest urban market(Sacramento, CA) owner sales list prices for '00-'04 Tacoma from $8-16k, Chevy/Ford Dodge is $3-6500 for the same years.


'90 black X-cab mod'd 3.0, 33's/4.88's, rear ARB, custom bumpers, sliders, safari rack, etc.
'91 Blue X-cab 22re, 35's/5.29's,Truetrac front, ARB rear, dual cases, and custom Safari flatbed, bumper, interior.
The money pit '87 Supra resto/mod

 
 
 
 
 

Related Topics

5 Replies
2948 Views
Last post Feb 17, 2007, 04:48:30 PM
by kneedownnate
6 Replies
1898 Views
Last post May 28, 2007, 04:20:19 PM
by 79coyotefrg
18 Replies
3091 Views
Last post Jul 01, 2011, 02:45:38 PM
by nierema
2 Replies
1161 Views
Last post Apr 07, 2012, 06:23:39 PM
by ToyotaObsession
29 Replies
10931 Views
Last post Apr 23, 2014, 08:16:35 PM
by swimmerzack