I have a 2005 4 cyl. Toyota Tacoma, 116,000 miles, which has had a new frame installed from the recall. Little other work has been done other than regular maintenance. I’m wondering how long I can expect to drive it without a costly major repair. I’d rather replace it before something happens so that I can leisurely look for a new one.
Just like any 14 year old vehicle , who knows what will break or when.
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Agree with @VOLVO_V70. Even if I knew you and your use profile and driving habits, had time to look the truck over with a fine tooth comb I still couldn’t predict when a major repair would hit. That is impossible to know.
Start saving up for a new truck now. Make payments to yourself every month without fail. Keep driving the truck. If a major repair is needed, you’ve got the money to pay cash to repair it. If it doesn’t need any major repairs before you’ve saved up enough for a newer truck, you’ll have the money ready.
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No offense, but can you even afford a new truck . . . ?!
They’re not exactly reasonably priced nowadays
And your Tacoma only has 116K with a new frame
Provided you’ve been doing oil changes at least every 5K and trans services every 30K, there’s no reason to think you can’t easily drive the truck another 10 years
But if you do sell, do your homework before. Tacomas have INSANE value retention. Don’t just sell it to the first lowballer that shows up
Here, in southern Arizona, it is very common to see the 1995-2000 Tacoma with well over 200,000 miles selling for $5-6k, and it’s even more common to see the 2001-2008 generation for sale with over 200,000 miles, and people are still asking $7-10k for them! I would say that with reasonable maintenance, you can expect at least 200,000 miles out of yours, unless of course the body rusts out before that.
I don’t understand why some question whether or not you can afford a new truck. That’s no ones business and that’s not what you asked for.
My own opinion is, if you take care of the truck and keep the maintenance up, you should easy get another 100K miles out of it, if not many more.
I have a 1999 Dodge Durango. I do 95% of the maintenance and repairs myself. I was told years ago that the car would not see the next day. It has now almost 300k miles on it and I would not hesitate to take it across the US from Maryland to California and back.
I have a 2005 base model 2wd Tacoma with nothing extra living in New
England. It’s been very reliable but rust does take it’s toll.
Rear bumper nearly fell off from rust and I replaced it. I’m just
wondering about something more crucial failing. I know people love
their Tacomas, but just trying to be prepared for when it does go.
Opinions on Colorado/Canyons, Rangers, Frontiers welcome. I’m 6’4"
and Tacomas are tight so considering other options unless
reliability brings me back to a Tacoma.
It’s a free country
I asked a simple question . . . and I even prefaced it
We have a lot of current generation Canyons in our fleet. They’re okay as far as reliability goes, but definitely not above average. I personally don’t like the shift knob placement. Even though we’ve only had them a few years, I can tell the quality isn’t at Toyota levels.
I presume you’re going for the biggest gasoline engine available, rather than a diesel?
You didn’t say whether you owned this from new or have the complete maintenance history, but about the only thing that would keep from hitting 200k would be a complete lack of preventative maintenance or a collision. No one can predict a collision, it could get totaled in a parking lot just minding it’s own business and sitting in a parking space.
It can go 300k with normal maintenance, not just oil changes but coolant changes as needed, chassis lube if you have grease fittings, ATF change if it has an automatic transmission and anything else you find in the maintenance section of your owners manual.
But now would be a good time to start saving for a new truck. Set aside some amount you think you would feel comfortable with as a monthly payment if you bought something now. Since this is a potentially long horizon before you need the money, feel free to take out money as needed for the trucks maintenance, tires, repairs and maybe even insurance, it should still build up. Then when you need it, it should be more than enough.
Asking if someone can afford a new truck is not that rude. Even people who pay attention can be surprised at the sticker prices on a well equipped truck these days .
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It sounds like rust is already working on your truck. Start saving now for its replacement.
The honest answer is no one but me can accurately predict how long a vehicle will last. And my prediction is…it will last exactly as long as you can afford and are willing to fix any problems as they arise.
Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.
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As others have noted, now is the time to start saving for a new vehicle. It might last another 10 years, or 10 days, or get totaled in an accident tomorrow, but the day will come when you need to replace it.
Take it to a trusted mechanic and get it inspected, especially for rust. Then you’ll have a better idea.
Current: 08 Tacoma Access Cab, 4 cyl. 2WD, 217,000 miles. This replaced a 94 Ranger. Both trucks were bought new and kept and used under the same conditions. The Ranger rusted away in under 13 years. Before I got rid of it the front brake pads, brake lines, fuel pipe in the engine compartment, spring on the belt tensioner, brake drums, rear leaf spring shackles had all rusted away. The spare tire fell out on the road not because the retaining bar had rusted but because the cross frame piece to which the spare and retaining bar were connected had rusted to the point of failure. When I complained to the dealer I was told it was normal, so I consider it normal that I never buy a Ford product again.
So you ditched ford over frame rot issues and went to toyota. It’s kind of humorous because the frame rot problems with 95-04 Tacomas is well documented. I hope your '08 does better…
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I’m amazed that Toyota stepped up and replaced the frames on some of the higher mileage, older rigs. So you’ve got to give them credit for that. I’m not sure what the time/mileage limit was on the recall. My opinion, if you’ve gotten 10 yrs and/or 200k miles out of a vehicle, the manufacturer doesn’t really owe you anything even if it disintegrates in your driveway at 200,001 miles 
.
On the other hand, I don’t think owners should generally have to expect to do anything more to the vehicle than basic maintenance for the first 10 years or 200k miles.
The warranty enhancement for the 2005-2010 Tacoma frame corrosion is 12 years from the date of first use, time is running out or may have already expired for that 2008 Tacoma.
My manual transmission Corolla’s engine started showing signs of aging, i.e. needing stuff beyond routine repairs & maintenance, around 180K. If you want to avoid that part of older-vehicle ownership, suggest to start looking for a new truck around 160K. By continuing to follow the recommended service intervals, you should be good to go until then. If you have an automatic might want to bail out a bit sooner.
Thanks for the heads up. Frame was inspected and treated by a dealer a few years ago. Let me offer you some perspective: my wife’s daily driver is a 97 Honda Civic with 450,000 miles on the original engine and transmission with only one clutch change. I make the shop put it on the lift every year now for its inspection just to check on the inevitable rust. The most threatening, on the so-called rear beam that holds the steering rack, was addressed a few years ago with replacement from a used piece from California. The rest is all superficial. No way to know what will kill it or finally not be worth fixing.