24th Jan 2019, 23:50

My son is 42. According to him and his buddies in high school, it was buying the 90s Mustangs back then. Best bang per buck for his generation and able to even gain value with upgrades performed. Fox Bodies at first. With the 5.0 GT. It wasn’t Belairs. Best bang per buck and still are. Plentiful parts and club support. Putting your same $3500 into a good driver and building it up with part time jobs. There’s great YouTube build videos. He had 2 95s: one coupe, one convertible GT (still with the 5.0). Another a 93 convertible GT that he paid under 4K for. He had that one repainted. After 95 the 5.0 was gone to a smaller V8. They hold value in V8 GT form and are from your era. And now they can be antiqued, running less costly tags and insurance. He would take off parts sell on eBay and buy performance parts. Even swapping some Shelby wheels. Parts are available new and used, most reasonable. It was a different era equivalent of us buying a 55 Chevrolet roller for $400 in the early 70s and going to the junkyards vs online. For engines etc. My younger son got into the tuner cars and has done Hondas. I think you will see more interest in these type vehicles by age groups than investing in 90s pickups. Or mom and dad co-signing for a new one. Not a bad idea for some that don’t want their kids having too much HP.

I guess we can all wait and see if your prediction rings true in 25-30 years. It did happen with the C10, especially CST domestics. I saw a nice older one with a 350 5 speed transplant that was over $30k. Let’s see if a 90s Toyota achieves that. A vintage Supra car would be a better investment in my opinion if you are looking for appreciation. I would just drive it and collect another vehicle. Nothing wrong with that. Our daily drivers depreciate and likely won’t ever be worth what they cost new. It’s OK.

25th Jan 2019, 00:14

Please provide specific examples of "a good one" SELLING for $20-$30,000, not just what some pie-in-the-sky seller is ASKING.

Otherwise your claim carries no weight at all...

25th Jan 2019, 23:05

There’s always a remote possibility that with the millions of people on earth, they may buy an old Tacoma for that. But look at many completed auctions, that’s a good guide. I have seen sentimentality often take over reason with buying back cars from our youth. P.T. Barnum had an expression for it. I have seen cars in my family member's shop that people paid way too much for. Often in stops in its tracks. Breaking that news is never good. And got more sticker shock over restorations beyond that. My best advice before buying a car far away, especially online, is to have someone qualified you know or pay to go see it first hand. They all look good in photos. If you are the only paying that much for an old Tacoma with no history of one reaching that level, it may be very wise to pass.

14th Dec 2021, 04:15

Well... original poster here.

She still runs and drives.

It has survived Covid.

The windshield is cracked.

The plastic shift knob has gotten the dreaded Toyota melt sticky plastic.

Everything still works as it should.

I think I changed out the coolant.

Still a damn good truck.