Buying a Third generation vs Fourth generation toyota

[carl1864]

I'm looking to buy a toyota truck. I know for sure it must be a 4x4, must be extended cab, but I'm having a tough time deciding which generation, and which engine to go with.  I've heard enough bad things about the 3.0 engine to not want it (poor power for its mileage, pain to work on, etc.  So its pretty much between the 22re in a third generation (around a '90-'95, or getting a 4th generation with either a 2.7 or 3.4 (around a 96-98).

I've read a bunch of 22re vs 3.0 debates, as well as 2.7 vs 3.4 debates, however I have had no luck at all finding debates that actually compare across multiple generations, such as the 22re, vs the 2.7, vs the 3.4.  I know the 22re is considered an awesome engine, but is it still better than the newer engines in any way?

My budget is somewhere in the range of $3K-$8k.  Technically I'd really like to try and stay $5K or under, anything above is really stretching it big time for me, but since I hope to have this truck for at least 5-10 years minimum, I want to make sure and get a truck that I'll be proud of, and not have any regrets wishing I would have gotten one just a little better. I'd be willing to stretch the budget just a little for that reason.

Overall cost of ownership is a big concern of mine in the decision. (which includes cost of parts, ease of repairs, reliability, etc)

Gas mileage is definetly a concern of mine since I'll probably use the truck for almost all of my driving, however I will be willing to give up a little mileage if the overall power is a big improvement. Like i said before, I'll probably have the truck for a long time so I want to be proud of the way it drives, I'd be willing to give up a little bit of mileage to avoid running into situations where I wished I had more power.

I'd love to be able to test drive all 3 for myself how much power each has, but unfortunately its so rare to find a car lot that has any toyota's at all, that I have not had the opportunity to ever drive any toyota truck.  And of course I can't just go to a bunch of private parties and waste their time driving their trucks, so I'd like to find as much information as I can to choose the best one for me.

My main uses for this truck will be everyday driving of course, hauling dirt bikes, jet ski's, a snowmobile, etc.  I don't plan on totally thrashing it offroad or in the dunes, on any sort of regular basis, but I will definetely take it out on occasion. I would like to know that when I'm taking my dirt bikes out to the dunes that I can take the truck for a little spin around the dunes as well, or if I'm going deep in the woods for camping or dirt biking, or whatever, that I'll be able to handle the mud bogs I encounter no problem.  I'll definetely be taking it in the snow too.  Theres a chance that I might buy an older ski boat too, I think the older ones like I'd be looking at weigh about 3000 pounds, so it would be nice to know if all 3 engines are capable of towing that, or which ones aren't etc.  Not a huge deciding factor, since I'm not likely to get that for a while, but it would be nice to know which are capable.

So based on all that, what's probably the best one to look at?

Another thing that would really help is any hard specs, such as how much gas mileage I can expect from each engine.  What sort of 0-60 time I can expect from each.  What the tow capacity of each is, etc.

[Snowtoy]

Given your parameters I would say a Tacoma(4th gen) w/the 3.4 and manual transmission is what you would be happy with if you will be towing a boat or hauling heavy things. 

The hard part will be finding an X-cab Taco w/3.4 for your $5k target price.  Looking on Craigslist.com for my area(N.CA), I only found one at that asking price, everything else was above $8k.  There were a few 2.7's available for the $5k, but not that many as X-cabs.

I know you don't want to test drive privately owned vehicles, but you really can't take peoples opinion alone of the performance of engine "X" an X-cab.  You really can't gauge the performance of the 22r(e), 2.7, or 3.4 engines in an X-cab w/o driving them and comparing them yourself.  I know you don't want to go test drive private vehicles for sale, but as long as the truck is within your price range I don't see anything wrong with it, and neither should the seller.  I would check Craigslist for your area and see what is available.

[carl1864]

So sounds like the 3.4 is the way to go for towing a boat, although I would like to consider the others even if their not really good for towing a boat.  I probably won't even be getting a boat for 5 years if I do, so the boat towing is the least important thing on my list.  In general I'll probably never tow anything heavier than a pair or quads or seadoos most of the time.

[Snowtoy]

You can tow a ski boat w/a4cyls., I used to do it all the time back in HS.  A buddy of mine had a 22' open bow that we took water skiing almost once a week during the spring and summer months, it was doable, just not a lot of fun when having to tow it up hill.

Having both a 4cyl. and 6 cyl. 3rd gen X-cabs, I enjoy driving the V6 a lot more than the 4cyl.  IME w/my '91 X-cab, the 4cyl. is a more utilitarian based form of transportation than performance based.  It will get me to where I am going, but not that much fun to drive.  Fortunately I mainly only drive the 4cyl. when heading to the trail so I don't have to live w/the lack of power on a daily basis.  I don't have any experience w/ the 2.7l 4cyl in a Tacoma X-cab, so the 2.7 may perform better in an Tacoma X-cab than the 22re in the 3rd gens. 

Until you drive all three, preferably w/in a few days of each other, you wont know which one will be the best performer and value for your needs.  What type of vehicle do you have now?

You might also want to post up in the Tacoma section, and see what our Tacoma members think about the performance differences between the 2.7 and 3.4 engines.

[jimbo74]

i would get a tacoma if you have the $

friend of mine had a 5 speed 3.4l ex cab tacoma, that thing hauled and you can also get a TRD supercharger for that engine..

[BLACKDOG]

I wouldn't be too afraid of going to private parties and test driving their vehicles.  They have what you are interested in, and you may in fact purchase one of the private party vehicles that you test drive, after you decide what you want to get.  That is part of buying and selling a vehicle that most people understand. Obviously you don't want to go richard around for the hell of it, but the best way to get pro's and con's of different vehicles is to hear it from the owners.   

Personally, if the truck is in good shape, and the HG recall has been done, I wouldn't stray from a 3.0.  They really aren't that bad to work on, and if you take care of them, they'll last you a good long time.  Its not as powerful as other 6cyl. engines, but it'll get the job done.  When I had my truck together, going over the summit from Sacramento to Reno, I could pull 60mph in 4th with no problem, and the truck didn't have any problem running at 70-75 mph, with 5.29s and 35"s. 

[TacoRunner]

22RE is not, in anyway better or on par with either the 2.7 or 3.4. Do not waste your time with it. If you're towing then dont buy a 4Cyl. Go V6.
You should be able to find a 95.5 or 96 Tacoma with a 3.4 for $5K.

[86turboyota]

I used to drive a stock 88 pickup with the 22-re and it had no power, and rarely got better than 18-19mpg, now i have a 01 excab tacoma 4x4 with the 3.4 v6 and 5spd and its awsome!  Lots of power when you need it ( compared to the 22-re)  and when you drive with a mind on mileage you can easily pull 20-21 on the open road, 17-18 in town. 

[carl1864]

Thanks for all the help.  I'm really leaning towards getting the 3.4 if I can find one for a decent price.  Is there any reason to still consider the 2.7?

[carl1864]

One other question, I've been searching for some with the 3.4, but the only ones I've been able to find that are 3.4 4x4 ext cab, that are in my price range (under 8K), are very high mileage ones.  Right now there is one with 190K, and another with 227K. 

How high of mileage should I consider as being too high?  Keep in mind I do want to probably keep the truck for 5-10 years or more.  Do these 3.4's actually last as well as the 22re's that I've heard can last to the 300's? $7-8K seems like a pretty steep investment for a vehicle that is already around 200k miles.

[trail mate]

dont know how far you are willing to travel for the truck, or how many miles are on it (not my listing), but here is a link I found for you at a reasonable price

http://boise.craigslist.org/cto/1099717788.html

[BLACKDOG]

Thanks for all the help.  I'm really leaning towards getting the 3.4 if I can find one for a decent price.  Is there any reason to still consider the 2.7?

If you're not going to tow a lot, you may still want to look into it, especially if the price is right.  Everyone I've heard has been bvery happy with the 2/7  Sounds like they've got plenty of pep, and they get good gas mileage as well. 

As for the mileage, toyotas hold their value really well, even with high miles.  You say in your price range (under 8k), but thats a big range in itself.  Are we talking 4K for 227K mile truck?  That may be worth it, where 7K for the same wouldn't. 

Have you checked out NADA and KBB?  Both of those will give you a good reference based on your area.  They won't be perfect, but it'll give you an idea of the average worth of the vehicle.  Both comapnies have websites for free, and both are valuable tools to use. 

[86turboyota]

if your not in a big rush to get the truck, i would comb the  ttora.com forums marlincrawler and pirate4x4 classifieds to find the truck you want.  TTORA especially has tons of tacomas come up for sale on there.

[Plekto]

2.7s are better in terms of MPG and cost to fix and so on, but towing a boat... A Tundra is better for towing heavy things, to be honest.  The larger V6s are fine, though, for occasional towing.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=260773880
Exactly like this, in fact.(though not sure - my extended cab if you mean 4 doors or like this?)  Stupid high number of miles, so haggle some and figure a trans/clutch replacement sometime soon. 

[carl1864]

So the 2.7 costs less to fix than the 3.4?  Why is that?  I'd be doing most of the repairs myself unless its something way over my head (haven't had a problem with a vehicle over my head yet).  Is it just that parts are more expensive?

[86turboyota]

the 2.7 is probably a bit easier to work on to since its engine bay isnt nearly as crowded, but my vote is still for the 3.4 v6

[Plekto]

Mostly due to the fact that a lot of the top end has 2x the parts.  But yeah - a 4 cylinder isn't good for towing.

[carl1864]

Yeah, I'm still leaning towards wanting the 3.4.  I figure if I'm spending the money for a good truck I'm going to have for a long time, I don't want to ever sit there and think "I wonder if I could have done this or that better if I had gotten the 3.4".

I'm still wondering though Why is a 4 cylinder bad for towing?  According to google, the tow capacity is 3500 pounds.  I never plan to tow more than that.  Most my towing will just be a jet ski or two, or a couple dirt bikes, or a quad or two.  With the slight possibility that I might get a 3000 boat down the road.  Isn't the truck just fine towing a boat like that since its well within the capacity? Or will I suffer from lack of power, poor gas mileage, etc?

[86turboyota]

capacity wise you would be fine with the 4 cyl but you wont have any power in reserve, with the 6 you will have enough power to actually get the truck and trailer out of its own way.

[Plekto]

Yeah a lot of trailers can weigh nearly 1000lbs and at or near the limit(I've towed 3-4000 lbs in my 4Runner before) you have to drive like there's an egg on the accelerator and hope it doesn't hook up hard/with a thud between gears.  With a V6 or V8, you just drive pretty much like normal - slow but safe.   

note - with my 4 while moving three months ago, my speed with a trailer was on the order of 1-2mph per second to keep things safe.  Yes, I lugged the engine hard as well - there's just no torque down low and engine braking with the 4 under that load would make the entire thing lurch forward.

[BLACKDOG]

Yeah, I'm still leaning towards wanting the 3.4.  I figure if I'm spending the money for a good truck I'm going to have for a long time, I don't want to ever sit there and think "I wonder if I could have done this or that better if I had gotten the 3.4".

I'm still wondering though Why is a 4 cylinder bad for towing?  According to google, the tow capacity is 3500 pounds.  I never plan to tow more than that.  Most my towing will just be a jet ski or two, or a couple dirt bikes, or a quad or two.  With the slight possibility that I might get a 3000 boat down the road.  Isn't the truck just fine towing a boat like that since its well within the capacity? Or will I suffer from lack of power, poor gas mileage, etc?

The capacity is based on physical capability of the components of the vehicle, with a safety buffer factored in.  ideally, you want to tow well under the rated capacity, because that will give you better control of the vehicle and trailer, and not stress the components of the vehicle. 

You are exactly right, you will suffer from poor fuel economy and a lack of power using an under powered vehicle for towing, as well as increased wear and tear.