Your First Toyota Experience

[jh504]

I was looking at my driveway full of Toyotas the other day and started thinking about my first experience with Toyotas. It was the first memory I have of ever really longing after a certain car. I was probably 4 or 5 years old and I remember seeing a new early 80s Toyota truck with a rollbar and KC lights. It was black and had mud splattered up from the tires. It had a large 4x4 graphics kit on the side and I told my mom that I wanted one of those four x fours. She told me that wasnt the name of the car, it meant that the front wheels and the back could spin in the mud. I have been hooked on Toyotas ever since. My love was renewed when I was 14 and visited Honduras on a mission trip. I saw my first 4 door Hilux truck there and have wanted one ever since.

So what is everyone's first Toyota experience? What kind of history do you have with Toyota?

 

[TEJASYOTA]

B2tF.... first Toyota I really loved.
When I was in Japan and Aruba (90s), I saw some Hilux DC and decided then that I needed a Toyota crew cab version.
Fast forward 2000, I get my Tacoma DC.... love it still after 118K.
Next to my little Z3, no major issues since my ownership.

 

[Toyotero]

The first car I remember liking as a kid was the 82-85 Supra. I thought that the front grill was killer looking and I dug the SUPRA across the rear side of the hatch. Little did I know that they were actually dogs when it came to performance

 

[DangT-100]

grew up with big "3 on the tree" Chevy trucks. Neighbor had a 4WD Toy. I thought that truck was cooler than anything....I still see it. It planted the travel bug for me.

 

[User_Name]

My first New vehicle was a 79 Toyota 4wd pickup (1st year production)

Best vehicle I have ever owned, wish Toyota made them half as capable when it comes to offroad ability straight from the showroom floor but sadly those days are long gone as they have a new direction in chasing the Soccer moms with all the creature comforts.
My current 08 Tacoma TRD Offroad can't even drive over a curb without making nasty noises as it scrapes the mudflaps

 

[CJCA]

My one and only Toyota is my 2000 Tacoma 4x4 that was bought when it was 15 months old. After a lifetime of owning and repairing vehicles from Detroit's BIG 3, I was finally fed up enough to swear off Detroit. Repair / failure ratio of GM/Fomoco/Mopar to Toyota, Nissan and Honda was conservatively 7:1.

After 8 years of ownership of the Tacoma, I've had ZERO problems with it. I expect to keep it another 10 years with recommended maintenance. It still looks, drives and performs like a new truck. Garage parking and routine wash 'n waxing are a big part of maintaining that new look.

In a few years, my next new passenger car will most likely be a Honda or Toyota.

 

[zidaro]

Back to the Future. The baddest black toyota 4x4 there ever has been

Bought my first 4x4 in '86 and promptly sank in to the sun visors before the odometer hit 1K at Azusa Canyon river crossing

 

[DaveInDenver]

Back to the Future. The baddest black toyota 4x4 there ever has been

Bingo! Same here.

Bought my first Toyota, a '78 FJ40 after having a bad experience with a Ford. Replaced it with my current Hilux in 2001 and haven't looked back.

 

[WASURF63]

Owned a 1969 Toyota Corona with surf racks mounted to the rain gutters during my last years in high school ('79 thru '81). Took it on many surf trips from Santa Barbara to Ensenada, while growing up in L.A.
Traded her in on a 1981 Toyota 4x4 with a 22R. I believe that was the first year for that motor in a Toyota truck.
IIRC that truck felt alot more solid than my current '10 Tacoma does.
Maybe I was just mezmorized...?
Anyhow, I've owned many reliable Toyota trucks (and a couple cars) since those days.

 

[NothingClever]

1st generation Toyota Cressida station wagon (red) in the late 70s.

1st car I ever drove before I was old enough to get a permit or license.

I wanted to put a lift kit on it and bigger tires.

Then we bought a 1st generation ForeRunner in 1984 which later became my faithful Rocinante for many years. Absolutely bombproof.

 

[laxtoy]

ahh yes, well besides my parents owing nothing but toyota cars from 1988 on, my first car was a 79 celica gt affectionately called the duck mobile, purchased for $450 when i was a junior in high school. it was quite possibly the perfect car for a destructive mischievous kid, and as hard as i tried, i just couldn't kill the damn thing. i took that car places other dudes in jeeps feared to tread, and since it was so light, it only took a few dudes to get it unstuck. we ended up rallying it on my friends dirtbike track, and when they finally put it on a wrecker and took it to the junkyard, it still ran :Wow1: simply unbelievable. since then i have owned 4 other toys, a 79 corrola wagon, an 89 camry, a 92 4runner and my current 99 tacoma. very brand loyal by this point, i hope my next will be a new tundra or 4runner trail

 

[eli]

First Toyota Experience

I was probably 12 yrs. old and my dad had a Toyota Hilux pick up. I remember those turn signals on the front fenders (like the older Fj's and land Cruisers). I learned to drive a "stick" on that rig and used to make runs to the local convenience store every Sunday morning for the paper and a bottle of milk or something . . . until I got caught by the Police. Those guys were pretty cool actually. They followed me home and I was so afraid I thought I was going to poop a cat I tell ya . . .

The beauty is I was teaching my daughter to drive a "stick" on a 90's model 2 wheel drive Toyota pick up also and thought "How Cool is That". :smiley_drive:

 

[SeattleMike]

Mine was a 1985 Toyota Pick-up. We called them "mini-trucks" back then and they were very popular with the customizers in Southern California in the early 80's.

She's sitting down in my garage right now, with 232k miles on her original drivetrain. She's always up for a trip to Home Depot, too.

 

[CA-RJ]

My first experience was when my parents bought a new 1981 Starlet. It was the cheapest thing on the lot with a/c. They raised a family with that thing. I remember going on family vacations with the 4 of us and pulling a small Harbor Freight trailer. It was a bullet proof.

Our family has owned a lot of Toyota's
1981 Starlet
1986 Pickup 4x4 Extra-Cab
1988 Camry
1992 Pickup 2wd Extra-Cab
1994 Tercel
1996 Tacoma 2wd (no p/s or a/c)
1997 4Runner 4x4
1999 Avalon
2001 Tundra Extra-Cab 4x4
2005 Corolla
2006 Tacoma Extra-Cab 4x4
2007 Yaris Sedan
2007 Scion Xb
2009 Yaris Sedan

My wife and I will probably not buy another Toyota.

 

[HINO SG]

first (non-truck related) Toyota experience was a rental in Hawaii, probably a '74 Corolla. Dad was happy enough with it that he bought a '75 Corolla some time after we got back; kept it well past 250k, then the floor rusted out.

they've had quite a few in the meantime, old man always trusted Toyota passenger cars but was never impressed by the "mini-trucks".

"they're too small to carry anything!" he always said.

is my 15 ton 250hp 8.0 HINO diesel a Toyota? same key blank as a Camry...