When did you see your 1st Toyota and know you had to own one?

My dad was in a 4wd club in Southern California in late 60’s. I’m the kid on the bike. His friends had FJ’s and I thought they were so cool. Since 1999, I have always had a 4runner and Chevy until this year. Now, I have a Tundra and 16 Trails 4runner. The pic was at Pismo Beach.

 

When I was 16 (40 years ago) I bought my first car.

'72 Ford Bronco.

Local older guy, ie "adult," had a Landcruiser that we talked about trading, but never did.

I went from the Bronco to a CJ-5 to a Toyota Pickup.

I've had other Toyotas (Rav 4, Sienna, even a Previa) in the past.

Just bought my'07 DC Tundra back in January.

SPP

 

In 88. I bought a 22RE standard cab, with manual locking Warn hubs. put 200K on it and a stake body I welded up from 1/8" diamond plate. It was still on it when I sold it to a south american dude. That thing would climb a billygoat's ass. Left the bigboys at the bottom of the mountain with every ski bum in the back of it while I climbed an ice covered trail to the cabin. A ton of grumbling from the Ford and Chevy boys! LOL!

 

In the early 80’s when I drove the company Toyota pickup that had over 500 thousand miles.

That poor thing received little love and never broke down. The boss knew you lied if you blamed it on the truck.

The company finally sold it to a local, and we would see it around town for many years after.

I knew I would have one.

On my 4th now.

 

Was about 8 months before I bought my truck. I was already vehicle shopping because I needed to get something that could get out of my driveway in winter, and I needed reliability. 4Runner was at the top of my list. Then a coworker had just picked up a black 2018 Tundra CM with a wheels and blackout package. It was the first time I saw a 2.5 Gen Tundra, and I liked the looks. Asked him to show the truck a little more after I had price checked to make sure I could pull it off. When he opened the back door up to show off the space I was really interested. Then he said "check this out" and rolled down the rear window. I was done for, and started serious shopping.

 

My first vehicle was a Toyota because everyone I knew told me how reliable they were. They were right. Then I strayed and went to a GM which was great, then a Ford which was shit. I started looking for a new truck and mentioned to a couple friends I was considering a Toyota again. They had both recently returned from a tour in the sandbox and told me how they had beat the piss out of Toyota pickups and Landcruisers over there and that the ANA guys they were attached to had an affinity for mounting .50's in the beds of Toyota pickups. That sold me. I doubt I'll ever own anything other than Toyota again.

 

i was practically born into it.. my dad bought a 79 SR5 short bed new. he liked them. had toyotas on and off, when i was born he had an explorer. liked it. but then he got a 96 tacoma.. Since then he has had only toyotas since. needless to say, i have only had toyotas (except one audi). my first was the 01 he bought when i was a kid. given to me on my 15th birthday to fix up and drive once i got my license..

 

My Dad had a Tacoma for a lot of my childhood. It was a 2005, he bought it used. Put over 300k miles on it and tires were the most expensive thing he ever had to do on it, still running fine when he traded it in.

 

I saw my first Toyota when I was in my early teens, but I wasn't interested in owning one. My family had several Toyota vehicles back then, but V8 muscle cars had already captured my attention.

I was already driving a V6 4X4 T100 when the V8 Tundra came out... I didn't really desire a Tundra until I learned that they made a regular cab Long bed 4X4 SR5 V8 model - I had to have one, and I found my CPO RCLB in 2003. It's a keeper.

 

Hey Outbound, yeah in Afghanistan every vehicle was a Toyota out in the wilderness. Pickups and mini-vans. I am not a mini-van fan, but if I had to have one that could live off road it’s whole life, it would be a Toyota. Take that back, I would love to own one of those 84-88 vans where you sit over the front tires. One was for sale last October in Seattle, but in the middle of Covid, it just wasn’t possible to travel out there and pick it up. A Toyota Van taxi driver by Jogahtu let us know an ambush was up around a corner. My twelve man team was very appreciative of the heads up.

 

I think it was early Jan or Feb of '98. I went to the auto show in Boston to check out the dodge quad cabs - was pretty sure that was going to be my next vehicle. Instead I saw the concept vehicle for the first gen Tundra on a turntable. Couldn't even look inside, but I knew that was my next ride. I passed on the dodge and waited...

In the summer of '99 I found one in CT to test drive, and then found a dealer in PA who would order exactly what I wanted. In November I flew to PA and drove home what might have been the first Limited Tundra to hit New England.

 

Basically when I was just starting as a mechanic.

I was really into classic cars and high performance. I wasn’t into other cars from an enthusiast perspective.

then I started noticing how things affected the customers.

this one customer had a first gen 4Runner. It was red. I couldn’t believe the thing was at that point 10 plus years old. It had 200k miles or more in it.

she brought it in for maintenance and very minor repairs. That is all. And it never seemed to show wear or age.

I remember having to give this customer a repair bill for a replacement radiator cap because the temp gauge was moving up a bit in warm days. This at same time another customer had a repair bill for transmission overhaul and head gasket on a Chrysler minivan just outside of warranty.

that was hard to do and was a big life lesson in many many many ways.

about that time my boss bought an older Toyota truck and put a flat bed in it for a shop truck. That thing was beaten like crazy. It would be the near equivalent of the top gear stunts on the hilux. It rarely needed any repairs. It had over 500 k miles and only the valve cover was taken off for a valve adjustment and an occasional water pump.

these experiences really got my attention.

I got my mom to buy a used Toyota truck. It never needed anything more than maintenance and was a huge help in getting her finances back on track.

Got my whole family into Toyota’s after that.

 

I didn't have much of a choice. My dad had a '91 4Runner and when I was 17, he bought a 2000 Tundra and told me, you better learn how to drive a stick, if you want a car to drive. I drove the 4Runner till I graduated college and then bought a Tacoma and now my tundra.

 

Memory Lane. I can't remember when I saw my first Toyota. Could have been an LC or pickup? Maybe one of the 60's era Toyota cars. I cannot recall, but don't think I took them very seriously during high school years.

Mid-70's, I'm heading to college and needed cheap transportation. my brother-in-law told me that he had spotted a Toyota Celica in the barn of one of his customers. Dusty and neglected, it was a 1973 Celica ST coupe in a somewhat ugly mustard yellow. $800, a new battery, drained the fuel, fresh gas and it fired right up. I had it painted a spiffy gold, new Michelins and that thing ran like a top for 200,000 miles. Drove it throughout college and several cross country trips, grad school, marriage... ah, the memories of a great little car. It was incredibly easy to work on and rarely needed more than fuel and an oil change. Owning that car, I recognized two things: 1) treat a vehicle with respect and it should last a long time 2) Toyotas were just in a different league than the U.S. made cars of the day.

First Toyota truck was an '88 4x4 pickup. I found it used, thinking it would last me a few years. 12 years and 175,000 miles later, I sold it for my 2002 Tundra. And, drove the SR5 Access Cab for 16 years and 170,000 miles.

So yeah, 45 years of driving Toyotas. Sobering when I start to count it up.

 

I sold my 2004 Tacoma Dbl cab last year. I thought my dog would love it back there with the dog bed rug thingy. Nope, wanted to be inside so hence the 16 Trail. I’ve had a couple 5th gens and it was just family situations that made me sell them. As I try to find a 21 ORP with cargo tray, my wife just rolls her eyes and says whatever you want. Glad she understands my addiction to Toyota’s.

 

Maybe that should be a forum? Does your significant other understand your Toyota obsession/mod addiction? Something like that!

 

My first ever was a ‘88. 4x4 single cab 22RE manual with a 3 inch lift and 33s. Wish I would of never sold it. Had 274k miles on it when I sold it

 

I remember seeing them in old National Geographic TV shows from other parts of the world when I was a kid. I thought they looked 'cute', like a jeep sorta. Then one of my friends parents had one, I think it was a Corona, and they picked us up from school, and I kept thinking it was really small. My parents had a 63 Rambler Ambassador station wagon by comparison. Must have been around 1969/70... My first car was a 72 Corona coup, I was a starving student and that was what I could afford used. Bought it in 78. Drove the snot out of it till 84, when I bought an '80 Corolla wagon. That one had some issues, so made a big mistake and bought an 88 Subaru wagon new. BIG MISTAKE. BIG HEADACHE. Timing belt issues, constantly stretching, then replacing at 60k. Short in the dash, causing a hot spot on the dashboard and making the car seem to 'overheat' but it was just the gauge. Hit the dash over the gauge and it would go back down. By 94 I was DONE with it. Traded it for an 'emerald pearlescent green' 94 Toyota 4x4 v6 pickup new. Got tboned into a building in feb of 2002. Bought a new Tundra once I could turn my head again, and now my '19.

 

Was a young lad and saw Back to the Future. Wanted that truck bad.

 

The wife and I were having a long distance relationship. She needed to buy a vehicle and asked me what I thought of a 2 wheel drive Bronco II. I told her that that she almost couldn't pick a worse vehicle to buy so she bought it. When she moved to Colorado she brought that piece of crap with her. Four years later we went shopping for a new vehicle for her. I wanted to go to a Toyota dealership. She swore we weren't going to buy the first thing we looked at and that we weren't going to buy anything new. The very first vehicle we looked at was a new 1996 4Runner. We left the lot with a new 4Runner four hours later. Every since then when she got a new vehicle it has been a new 4Runner. Now we have a 2004 4Runner and a 2020 4Runner along with the Tundra I just bought.

 

It was the Tundra my coworker got. He bought a nice looking black 2010. When I saw that I had to have one. Of course I had to get one with less miles, and one in better shape...