Faults:

MY FAULT :

Cable going from the battery to starter shorted on the hood because of my improper installation. I put a new battery in because the old one caught on fire, but still worked for a month.

I changed the alternator, starter, battery and tires; that in total it cost me $450. Everything was installed my yours truly with basic hand tools in -30* weather.

The truck needs a little TLC, but overall it's as tough as any vehicle can get. I would drive it to the moon.

The solid axle should not have been abandoned by Toyota after 1985.

Faults:

Upon acquisition, I ended up having to replace the brake master cylinder and brake pads; the 2 rear brakes didn't work.

At 165000, I had to replace the alternator and regulator, 3 times! Not Toyotas fault, beware who you buy replacement parts from!

Vinyl seats started to split at the seams, and the dash board is a bit cracked, seat covers and a dashboard cover fixed that.

190000, replaced rear axle seals, and master clutch cylinder.

General Comments:

Let me make one fact known here first, I bought this truck for $1! It was out in a field, under 1/2 a ton of weeds, and "biomass" washed it out, cleared out the spiders, charged the battery, attached the plug wires, added some gas,.. and drove it 400 miles home. The same day.

"Little Red" is as basic a mode of transportation as there is, barring the Flintstone Mobile, but it will not die.

I've driven that truck until there was no rotor left, and the ash of the remaining electrical system kept the truck working!

In the mountains, the Bay area, moderate cold and brutal heat this truck keeps going.

Interior comforts are virtually non-existent. No P/S, no P/B, no A/C, no radio, loud, poorly insulated cab.

The heater rocks though, and all the electrical works like a charm. Anything breaks, you can reach it, and fix it, if you can find the parts.

I will never get rid of this truck. Right now it's serving it toughest duty yet, my daughter has it a college!

Faults:

The bed of the truck rusts too easy.

General Comments:

The toyota pickup is absolutely the best truck ever made for its class. My 83' model has never failed me. When I purchased the truck, it was sitting in about two feet of water. I drove it for a week and it ground the universal joints to dust before I replaced them.

The solid axle four-wheel drive is bullet proof, minus the differential. I have tried to get it stuck, and being in Mississippi, it's easy. But for my 83', it just wants to keep going. Once, I knocked off the corner of the front bumper because the mud was that deep.

Although, I take the truck off-road a lot, I also used it for a daily driver. While short on cash, I drove the little truck for two years to work and back; round trip, 50 miles. I take great care of it, and seldom have any problems. I would trust it to go cross country, and back!

I love the Toyota pickup, but it does have disadvantages. The bed and other parts of the truck rust very easily, and space in the cab is minimal. It's definitely no smooth ride either, but come on, it's a truck.

Faults:

Alternator failed (100,000 miles?)

Starter motor failed (100,000 miles?)

Battery failed (100,000 miles?)

Ignition switch failed (100,000 miles?)

Water pump failed (50,000 miles?)

Some rust in the bed at about 150,000 miles.

Air conditioner developed coolant leak.

General Comments:

I purchased my 83 Toyota SR5 pickup in Fall 1988. It had 41,000 miles and had been driven by an old man who had died.

I drove this truck exclusively from 1988 to 1997, putting about 120,000 miles on the car. I drove it in all sorts of weather, and since I was a poor student at the time, I truly neglected it due to the fact that I had no money. I made sure to change the fluids regularly, but other than that, I did the bare minimum and all maintenance was not preventative, but reactionary. I think I only had it professionally tuned-up a couple of times.

This truck was bulletproof. It just drove and drove no matter how much I neglected it. I drove it on road trips of over 2,000 miles that crossed mountain ranges, in snow, in heat, whatever, it just ran and ran and ran. It's the only car I've ever owned that I actually had some true affection for and I miss it to this day. I wish I still had it!

Only issue I ever really had with it other than normal wear and tear (broken belts, brake jobs, new tires, etc.) was a string of electrical issues that came one after another starting with my alternator dying. Soon after I had to replace the battery, starter motor, and ignition switch, and each failure caused me great inconvenience since I had no other car. Still, compared to most vehicles, it was nothing and total cost to repair all those things probably came to less than $700.

My one complaint about this truck was the location of the alternator! You literally would have to jack-up the car and tear away half the suspension to get at it easily. It was a nightmare to replace and I would not DREAM of trying to do it on my own again.

Oh -- one other thing -- not the most comfortable car in the world by a long shot. It was a functional interior that was nice enough for a truck, but you felt every bump in the road and the seats, while durable (looked hardly used when I sold it at 161,000 miles!), were hard on the back for trips of over 2 hours.

Overall, I'm just writing this as a sort of love-letter to my long-gone SR5. It set the standard for my expectations for all cars that followed, namely, reliability and low operating cost. That's why I drive Acuras today. I would love to have a Jaguar XK8 but I would spit if I was driving an expensive car that continually had problems. There is NO reason why cars cannot be as reliable as my Toyota was!