Those of you who frequent other Toyota forums probably will recognize me. Ive posted under the name, "Captain_Toyota" and "Octane" and for those of you who recognize those names, no introduction is neccesary.
For the rest of you, here goes. I bought my first Toyota in '97. It was an '85 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4x4 with a 22R-E and a 5-speed manual tranny. I loved that vehicle and it never really gave me a moment of trouble. I actually often wish I would have kept it because it was just such a cool rig. Not much power, but plenty to get the job done and it was built like a tank.
After I got out of highschool I wanted something newer because I was driving farther, so I sold the '85 and bought a '91 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4. I liked that 4Runner too, but not as much as I did the '85. The '91 had an automatic tranny and it just wants as much fun to drive as the '85 with the 5-speed was.
I drove the '91 for a couple years and I began to see the need for a truck. I looked and looked for a good used Tacoma, but I just was never able to find a good one for a fair price. The dealers all wanted almost new prices for trucks that were 5 years old.
I finally got fed up and just settled for a '99 Ford Ranger. I got the Ranger for a couple grand under list price and they gave me a lot more on trade for my 4Runner than the Toyota dealers were willing to give me, so I jumped on it.
I drove the Ranger for a couple years and found it very uncomfortable on longer drives, so I traded it in on a '99 Ford F-150. Im still driving the F-150 to this day.
I enjoyed my Fords, but I never lost my love for Toyotas. Now my F-150 is at 160,000 miles and Im looking at getting a new truck in a couple years. I really like the new Tacomas and Im leaning towards one of those.
Im sure I wont be the most knowledgable person on this board, but it is my hope that I will be seen as an positive contribution and I hope that I can learn a lot.
Im hoping that I will have as much fun and meet as many cool people on this forum as I have met on the other Toyota forums Im on.