1998 Toyota Tacoma sr5 extra cab from North America - Comments

I have had no problems at all.

This is my third Toyota vehicle, having also owned a '95 truck, and a '93 tercel, and I have had no problems whatsoever with any of these vehicles, and I certainly have put them to the test. Toyota manufactures the most reliable vehicles available, and no other make of truck stands the test of time as well as these do, whether used on or off road. With a little care and routine maintenance, I expect my '98 tacoma to perform well above 200,000 miles and possibly well beyond that.

I have a question that maybe someone out there can answer; has Toyota thought about putting a six-speed manual transmission in the Tacoma's? This truck is awesome, but my ONLY complaint is that it runs at about 2600-2700 rpms at 70 miles per hour, and I wish that I had another gear for highway travel. Any comments?

This was my review originally, and I thought I would update. As with all of my Toyota's, this one is still flawless to date. I enjoy driving this truck more every day, and, as I expect is common with most Toyota owners, I find something else about the design of the vehicle that I like, and appreciate how much thought that they put into the design and engineering. I really like the red lights in the door panels; enough light, but not a blinding white glare like most other vehicles. I like the fact that if I do not have my seat belt on, it doesn't have an annoying, repetitive chime that doesn't stop, like a lot of vehicles; simply a light on the dash. I now live in South Carolina, and whether it is 100 degrees, or zero, as in Pennsylvania, the temp. gauge is almost always in the same place. At 85 m.p.h. on the highway, it runs at about 3000 r.p.m, and it sounds like a sewing machine. Never burns a drop of oil, and the motor feels like it is just starting to break in finally at 60,000 miles. I see no reason why I won't get at least another 250,000 miles out of this truck; maybe more. It is almost 9 years old, has been off road a bit, and the doors and tailgate still shut better than any other make of truck that I have ever seen. The interior is wearing very well, and I get about 22 miles per gallon no matter how I drive it, even with the 3.4 v-6. There is never a ping in the motor even though I never put anything, but 87 octane in it, and I also appreciate the lock on the fuel door with gas prices being what they are and people siphoning gas from others' vehicles. This truck refuses to get stuck off-road, and I have been through some places where I thought I should have a lift and more aggressive tires, but I went through these mud holes easily. Even the burgundy paint is awesome; with a wash and wax, it still looks like new paint. This is a great vehicle.

Again, another update on my Tacoma, because, due to an unfortunate off-roading mistake on my part, I found yet another brilliant part of this Tacoma's design that I hadn't fully realized or appreciated until this week. Here's what happened:

This truck is a five speed stick, and I stalled it in the middle of a steeeep incline, and did NOT want to drift backwards very far trying to get off of the brake and back onto the clutch and gas pedal, for reasons I will not go into. This is where the beauty of the hand operated parking brake became crystal clear to me. I was able to set the parking brake, which held me in place, and rev the clutch and gas, and THEN, without having to move my feet, release the parking brake and go forward with no backward drift.

THANK YOU to the engineers at Toyota, who in 1997, forsaw my stupidity 10 years in advance and brilliantly designed this off road masterpiece to compensate for a situation just like this. Now, my truck is safely in the parking lot at home, covered in mud, but not submerged in a who-knows-how-deep pond/lake.

Here's the point, readers, if you want a good off road truck, there is no substitute for a Toyota. Period.

This is my review; thought I'd update again. I'm just about at 80,000 miles; I drive about 75 miles a day round trip just to the college I attend. The truck is still perfect. Runs as good as day one when I bought it with about 29,000 on the odometer. From the sound of the engine (which still sounds as tight as day one) it'll take a hell of a lot more miles than this to even loosen up, really. This is why I buy Toyota's. The truck feels no different than when it was new.

I'll second your opinion. MY 96' Tacoma just flipped over 200,000 miles. Since I figured that was reason enough to clean it up, I cleaned the inside, outside, engine, frame, and underneath. Needless to say, once all cleaned up I could see that despite having 200,000 miles, all of the suspension, mechanical, and cosmetic components of the truck look essentially unchanged from the day I bought it as a high school graduate in the summer of 1996. I'm a 30 year old many now with a wife and a job 50 miles away. I've practically grown up with this truck and it has been a perfect vehicle.

Secondly, I live near San Francisco. On occasion I drive into the city. The hills there are ridiculous. Some with stop signs at the TOP of the hill! Without the emergency hand brake, you would be sunk. I agree - the hand brake is a life-saver.

Treat these trucks good and they'll last about as long as you want them to.

I wrote the original review. Updating, I now have about 86,000 miles on the truck and it still hasn't cost me a penny in repairs, as is common with any of my former Toyota vehicles. It still runs and drives exactly the same as day one. Everything but the battery and the tires is original; just put a battery in this week.

Driving this truck gives the impression that it'll take at least another 86,000 before it even starts to loosen up anywhere, if it even does that soon.