2001 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner review from North America

Front Brake Pads worn out at 175,000 kilometers.

Rear Leaf Springs sag a little, making the rear of the truck lean to the left a bit – apparently this is a fairly common issue with these trucks though.

The Struts and Shocks are beginning to show their age at 177,000 kilometers. They will likely need replacement in the foreseeable future.

Other than that, the truck has been as solid as a rock!

For a 2.7 Liter 4 Cylinder pulling the weight of a truck around, the performance is quite good. This engine has good power and torque for its size, and offers reasonable fuel economy too.

As many Tacoma owners will point out, the clock is placed in a bizarre spot on the dashboard, but you get used to it after a while. It would make more sense if they put the clock into the radio where many other manufacturers place it.

The front bucket seats are quite comfortable, although the rear jump seats are not very comfortable for adults.

The truck has no problem carrying or pulling any load I have thrown its way yet!

Gas mileage is not that great compared to a car, but for a truck it really is not too bad (17-19 mpg)

It would be nice if the 4 Cylinder Pre-runner models were offered with a manual transmission and the rear differential locker as options. The differential lock is available with 6 cylinder Pre-runners, but not the 4 cylinder trucks. With these options, the 2 Wheel drive Pre-runner Tacomas would be almost as good off road as the 4X4 Tacomas are.

I have found the Toyota Service Departments to be fairly rude, unhelpful, and overpriced on the occasion that I had to deal with them. I usually do my own maintenance on my truck so this does not affect me very much.