I've always been a Ford guy. 3 1/2 years ago I bought a 2000 Tundra after my then 20 year old F-250 got totaled. This is not the monster Tundra that they sell now. It's what at the time was considered a mid-size truck, with a smallish 4.something V8. It had 218K or so miles on it when I bought it. The radiator was leaking and the broker I bought it from replaced it at no cost to me. In retrospect maybe I should have taken that as a warning.

I have a daily driver car so I don't drive the truck very often. It gets used for taking dogs to the vet, trips to the rifle range, helping friends move stuff and so on. I got three good years out of it, including one road trip from Portland to Denver and back. Then things starting crapping out left and right. First it was the cruise control. Then one of the ignition coils failed. Next the airbag warning light on the dash has come on and stayed on. And it's always had a tendency for the battery to discharge if I leave it sit for more than a couple weeks. Most recently the passenger side window quit rolling down. Oh, and the brakes need work too.

So last weekend, after jump starting it from my car, I took it and had a new battery installed. Seemed to be fine. Then today after a Costco run I stopped on the way home to make another pickup. Got back in the truck, turned the key, nothing. No solenoid chatter, nothing but the normal turn-the-key-on beeps and dings. Tried it a couple more times and it caught. Wondered if maybe I just didn't turn the key far enough, though I've never had that problem before. Drove it home, parked it, turned it off, back on, nothing. Voltmeter indicates the battery is good. My guess is either the starter or solenoid, or maybe a connection.

Fuck! I'm already trying to pay down my credit cards, I really don't need this kind of shit right now.

</rant>

Just to be clear about your rant. You’re bitching that your used 24 year old pickup isn’t “long lived” enough? FML

Well, all the Toyota fans claim they last forever. And frankly, 220K really isn't all that many miles. My 250 had almost 400K on it when it got wrecked.

No, I get that nothing really lasts forever. It's just that everything seems to be happening at once. And I just this week finished paying off the bill for a medical procedure I had to have done back in November. And another one coming up in June that my (formerly really good) insurance isn't going to cover. And all of this while I'm trying to rid myself of debt so that I can start thinking seriously about retiring in another couple years.

I believe a 2000 Tundra is an import.

All imported pickup trucks get a 25% tariff so they have to be build a lot cheaper to be price competitive after the tariff is applied. Toyota put up with that for a few decades but now builds trucks in the US to avoid the tariff.

OP, I've had that kind of problem before and it turned out to be a bad connection.

I've had terrible luck with Toyota's as well. And even though everyone acts like they are infallible if you look at a recent post of someone asking if they have had this particular problem with their Toyota people forgot that they aren't supposed to keep that stuff to themselves and tons of people were talking about all kinds of stuff they have had go wrong.

With that said you can't use a well used model that you have no idea how it was taken care of to judge what you think of Toyota's as a whole.

Any time you buy used, you buy someone else's abuse, stupidity, and neglect.

I don't see how that's Toyota's fault. You could do a lot worse, I don't mind telling you.

You know all those calls that you sent to voicemail? You should have answered them. They were trying to hook you up with a warranty.

I think what would outlast everything else was any Dodge with a slant six.

Stuff happens. Am I a fan of Toyota? No. Would I buy one? No. While it would be easy to point out all of the shortcomings of any given manufacturer (weak frames, lousy brakes, etc...), it could also be said that any modern vehicle should last at least that long.

The ignition switch (the electrical part/not the key part) would be my first guess as the arcing of the switch contacts internally would wear them out over the years. You have just about the only vehicle that is not in my 200+ factory shop manual library, so I'm not able to tell you where the switch is located, connector pinouts, or the factory part number.

Some manufacturers equip their vehicles with an 'airport fuse' that you can slide out and it disconnects all parasitic load. Allowing for it to sit for long periods (about two months in my case) and still have a charge on the battery enough to crank, start, and run the engine (then slide the fuse back in).

Good luck.

My Honda had a relay in the ignition sequence that would cause this type of problem. They replaced mine for free after warranty was gone because of a recall or something. Worth checking into, if it's that--- easy fix!

As a rule of thumb, Toyota's not taken care of still generally go 100k miles.

Those taken care of generally go 300k.

Imagine a used Ford bought at almost 250k and what a wonderful journey that would be?

Slice up some cheese to go with that wine. It's an old truck.

I'm on my 3rd Toyota..
1997 4-Runner, only issue in 8 years, had to buy a starter at 80K miles.
2005 Tundra, only issue had to replace the smog pump at 96K miles
2014 Tundra, bought an extended warranty and never used it.
Knock on wood, going strong at 86K and plan to keep it another 10 years.

As others stated it's hard to bitch about a 24 year old vehicle you bought at 218K miles knowing nothing about previous maintenance.

My one, and will be only, Toyota was the biggest POS I ever owned.

The only one I might consider would be the Land Cruiser.

quote:

Originally posted by 83v45magna:
Imagine a used Ford bought at almost 250k and what a wonderful journey that would be?

If you bought the same Ford as the OP, you would get another 150k out of it (or be on your third Toyota).

2000 Tundra owner,

4.7ltr V8 SR5 4x4 axxess cab,

208K on the truck

I had to have the O2 sensors replaced in the exhaust (used cheap napa replacements, so the damn check engine light stays on)

had the air mass sensor in the intake cleaned but not replaced) (caused the truck to stall at idle, at about 80K)

and had a coil pack replaced,, the as soon as it was replaced, another died, so I just replaced them all (maybe $70 and an hour time one afternoon)

and,, the 4x4 solenoid broke,

it was my daily driver for 11 yrs, now it is the house truck/loaner/bad weather truck,


mileage sucks, but is still better than a new Tundra,
rides good,

and I usually drive it like I stole it

quote:

Originally posted by 83v45magna:
As a rule of thumb, Toyota's not taken care of still generally go 100k miles.

Those taken care of generally go 300k.

Imagine a used Ford bought at almost 250k and what a wonderful journey that would be?

I had a 82 hilux 4x4 that rusted out before 200K

I parked it at 186K,
we did have to put a new radiator and redo the head (overheated, at maybe 125K) and the 5spd needed a repair (known issue with that year)


79 Celica was at 165K when it was totaled, never did a thing to the drive train,

wife had a 93 Celica, 0 issues, traded on a 1997 Camry, that we sold to her sister at 225K and she is still driving it,

my 97 T-100 was 0 issues, and traded on a 2000 Tundra in my previous post

I bought a 2004 Silverado with 298,000 miles on it. Wonderful truck that lasted about a year before my son flipped it upside down. I purchased a 2005 with a blown motor, with the intention of doing a drivetrain swap. After pulling the motor from the wreck, I decided to pull the mains... then the rods... then the heads... then the cam... . It is now down to the bare block. Even though the truck was running great, there was significant wear to the thrust bearing. The cam bearings were about to show copper. The cylinder hash was about gone, so the walls looked glazed. This is why I decided to do a full rebuild while the motor was out.

My point? Nothing will last forever, no matter what you do. I’m the world’s biggest fan of the GM 5.3, but even they have their limits. Notwithstanding the Toyota fanboys trumpeting that they last forever, they are just machines, and have a finite lifespan. Your problem is probably a single issue. I’d start with the feed from your battery to the fuse box, and work my way through the starting circuit. Does the truck start when you jump power to the starter solenoid with the key on?

I'm on my second Tundra and that's only because my previous brand new one was totaled when a semi hit me. That one had over 100K miles and was still going strong not to mention I only did regular maintenance on it, nothing major. That would have been my last truck I would have purchased because the plan was to purchase a work vehicle and park the truck. Oh well....

The resell on these vehicles are damn good so I got a pretty good payout.

With that said, I used that money and put in a little more to get me another Tundra, only this time it was used, but barely. I've added 30K to the odometer without a hitch.

If this one takes a shit, I'll get another one because I just believe Toyota makes a solid truck. Also, I love how big the back seat is and the rear window roll down.

I've driven other brands, but none of them compared to the Tundra.

Seems to me a truck that old is going to have some issues. If it's not a daily driver, I really don't see the big deal. Fix what you can when you can and keep trucking. I kind of want one of those old Tudras too.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
I think what would outlast everything else was any Dodge with a slant six.

Yup, the old Darts were great for kids to learn on and the engine was bulletproof! Both my kids had one.



As for "old" cars, my boys and I all have 2003 models: Toyota 4Runner Limited V8 179.5k, Subaru Outback Legacy 62k, Honda S2000 36k.


Edited to correct 4Runner mileage

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