At $6,000, Is This 1988 Toyota Pickup Simply A Steal?

Yahoo

07-02-2025

Top Gear couldn't destroy one, enshrining Toyota Pickups like today's Nice Price or No Dice standard cab as one of the best bets for anyone looking for a long-term truck relationship. Let's see what that might reasonably be worth.
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland is supposed to be the most complex device ever conceived by humans. In the early aughts, Volkswagen gave it a run for its money with a series of vehicles that took innovation and packaging complexity to new-found strata. The 2014 Volkswagen Touareg TDI Sport we looked at yesterday represents one of those models—the W8 Passat and Phaeton are two others—and its complexity proved a defining factor in the voting. The idea of an out-of-warranty fancy VW didn't sit well with most of you, especially not under the auspices of paying the $11,300 price asked for our Touareg. The result? A solid 80 percent No Dice loss and a collective sigh of relief not to have to deal with potential future entanglements.
If complexity and the unknown are off-putting, could simplicity, expected durability, and the promise of a recently refreshed heart be a far more attractive prospect? We have all that and some sweet rubber 'Taz' floor mats with this 1988 Toyota Pickup. In fact, aside from an automatic transmission and Air-Con, this little standard cab trucklet seems to offer nothing in the way of excess frippery or clowning-around-ness. That's all good, right?
We all know how legendary the '80s Toyotas as a whole and the Hilux/Pickup have come to be seen. As a testament to that vaunted reputation, this truck has done over 200,000 miles and still looks like something you wouldn't mind being seen in. Quite remarkably, for a Toyota of this era, those miles did extract a toll on the truck's fuel-injected 2.4-liter 22R four. That has been extracted, cleaned up and rebuilt, and then re-installed with its multitude of hoses and wires looking all intact. Good job, seller!
If still rocking its factory specs following the rebuild, that engine should make around 110 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque, which was par for the course for small four-pot pickups back in the day. Would it be nice for this to have the turbo 22R or the 3VZ V6? Maybe. The extra oomph would be appreciated, but the added complexity and poorer fuel economy probably wouldn't be. Plus, who exactly are you racing to the home center? The three-speed automatic also puts a damper on any tire-spinning stoplight theatrics, so there's that.
As noted, the rest of the truck seems to be in pretty good shape. The bodywork shows no major insult or injury, and the bed isn't overly scraped or dinged up. A sliding rear window offers excellent ventilation at the back of the cab should the A/C not be called into duty. That sits above a wide bench seat, perfect for three as the shifter is on the column and not getting in the way of feet on the floor. A nicely-fitting cover makes the bench all the more inviting, while another is doing a less successful job of snooding the dash. The dashboard below is noteworthy for having what looks to be the original radio and an oddly positioned fisheye mirror next to the glovebox door. Don't wear short skirts when riding shotgun in this truck, folks. Door cards and floor coverings also look to be in equally serviceable shape.
Other plusses here include newish-looking Big O tires and a clean title with current registration. The asking price for this simple as a pimple truck is $6,000.
Where do you land on this truck at that asking? Does the engine rebuild turn you off since you don't know the skill of the rebuilder? Or does the whole package add up since it is a Toyota of a certain age, and you can't break those no matter how hard you try?
You decide!
San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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