Whenever I inquired about cost of repairs and ease of install and availability of parts regarding Toyotas (the Tercel/Echo/Yaris models to be specific) most garages I asked (around 5 years ago I delivered ACDelco parts for an entire year) said they knew very little; aside from tune-ups, brakes, exhaust and oil changes because they rarely worked on them. That struck me as pretty darn good advertizing! So I bought one. 6 years on my Echo still runs like a top and only recently has had brakes and exhaust work and endured a few (perhaps unnecessary) changes of plugs. There isn't even a timing belt (the bane of virtually all import and domestic overhead cam engines) on these cars; some thoughtful Toyota engineer had the foresight to give them a lifetime timing chain.
None of the dozen buddies of mine that bought a Toyota (any of the models, cars, trucks, SUVs) over the past 35 years have switched brands after their initial purchase. Some have jumped on something else flashier every now and again (big paycheque/mid-life crisis/retirement/boredom) for a short spell but ultimately returned after getting a thoroughly rude or unexpected repair bill.
Tacoma would be my choice (there will be lots of them in the auto crash and boneyards to scavenge parts from during the next few decades) and Lord knows there are enough of them around on the road to cause aftermarket parts to be common and inexpensive.
What is too bad is that the nimble and handy little Toyota trucks from the 1980s have morphed into over-size vehicles, and Tacoma is not small by any 1960s-70s definition. A current Tundra would have been viewed as a monster truck alongside a then-full-size Chevy C10 (not the later 'toy' S10) back in 1968.
The upscale, blown out and sanitized current LandCruiser never did anything for me. I was thoroughly impressed with the 70's originals (Toyota didn't bother trying re-invent the wheel at the time either, they kept it simple and installed durable Chevy engines and drivetrains in them) and they would go anywhere and were easy to fix (so I'm told) and could really take a beating. Unfortunately Oriental body steel was not up to par at that time and they all bio-degraded in salt belt country which is a real shame or many of them would still be plying the streets.
None of the dozen buddies of mine that bought a Toyota (any of the models, cars, trucks, SUVs) over the past 35 years have switched brands after their initial purchase. Some have jumped on something else flashier every now and again (big paycheque/mid-life crisis/retirement/boredom) for a short spell but ultimately returned after getting a thoroughly rude or unexpected repair bill.
Tacoma would be my choice (there will be lots of them in the auto crash and boneyards to scavenge parts from during the next few decades) and Lord knows there are enough of them around on the road to cause aftermarket parts to be common and inexpensive.
What is too bad is that the nimble and handy little Toyota trucks from the 1980s have morphed into over-size vehicles, and Tacoma is not small by any 1960s-70s definition. A current Tundra would have been viewed as a monster truck alongside a then-full-size Chevy C10 (not the later 'toy' S10) back in 1968.
The upscale, blown out and sanitized current LandCruiser never did anything for me. I was thoroughly impressed with the 70's originals (Toyota didn't bother trying re-invent the wheel at the time either, they kept it simple and installed durable Chevy engines and drivetrains in them) and they would go anywhere and were easy to fix (so I'm told) and could really take a beating. Unfortunately Oriental body steel was not up to par at that time and they all bio-degraded in salt belt country which is a real shame or many of them would still be plying the streets.
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