Used Car of the Day: 2002 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner TRD

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Today's UCOTD is, uh, interesting. This 2002 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner TRD has more than 283K miles on the clock, it's 21 years old, and the price is $15,000.


This two-wheel-drive truck has a lot of aftermarket parts. Here's the list from the post:


TRD supercharger (Nose cone replaced twice for maintenance)
K&N drop in filter
Front Suspension: 3” Toytec lift springs, Bilstein shocks, SPC adjustable upper control arms
Rear Suspension: 2.5” OME Dakar leaf springs with bushings, Bilstein shocks
Extended Steel Braided Brake lines front and rear
Pioneer Double Din Receiver
Polk Audio front and rear components, tweeters, two 8” subs and amplifier
Dashcam forward and rear facing
Clifford alarm (mainly for keyless entry)
ARE tonneau cover
Line-X Bedliner
Front and Rear Tint
18x9 +0 Volk Racing TE37’s with custom hub centric rings (old school center caps included)
Project Kics R40 NeoChro Lug Nuts
275/65R18 General Grabber A/T tires

The seller says the truck has used Mobil 1 and has been well-maintained, and the battery, starter, valve-cover gaskets, and spark plugs.

The seller also still has some original stuff, like the floor mats, audio components, original wheels, and intake manifold. That last will be necessary should you want to remove the supercharger.

Apparently, the truck is in good shape cosmetically, as well, but does have wear and tear issues such as paint chips.

Check it out here.

[Images: Seller]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by  subscribing to our newsletter.

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 17 comments
  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Jul 28, 2023

    My neighbour had a stock PreRunner Tacoma. Unless you are going offroad in bad places a 4x2 with LSD or locker will take you everywhere you need to go.

    • See 2 previous
    • Norman Stansfield Norman Stansfield on Jul 28, 2023

      Drove a Ranger 2WD with an open differential in the Northeast for 8 winters, only got stuck once, on a patch of ice. If I had to do it again the only difference would be I'd get an LSD or locker. 4WD is extra weight and complexity that for most drivers is overkill.



  • Zerofoo Zerofoo on Jul 28, 2023

    Even though this truck is two years prior to the dreaded Tacoma frame rot issue, buyer beware.


    I've seen Tacomas split in half on a lift....scary.

  • Ash78 Interesting take on the pricing...superficially illogical, but Honda has been able to sell the Pilot Junior (er, Passport) for more than the Pilot for several years now. I guess this is the new norm. I have 2 kids, who often have friends, and I feel like the best option here is buying the CX-90 and removing the third row completely. It won't be pretty, but it adds useful space. We've done that in our minivan several times.I've been anxiously awaiting the 70 for over a year, but the pricing makes it a non-starter for me. I like the 50, but it's tight (small, not dope/fire/legit); I like the 90s, but it's more than we need. This "Goldilocks Solution" feels like it's missing the mark a little. Mazda could have gone with more of a CX-60 (ROW model) and just refreshed it for the US, but I suspect the 90 was selling so well, the more economical choice was just to make it the same basic car. Seems lazy to me.
  • FreedMike If you haven't tried out the CX-90, do so - it's a great driver, particularly with the PHEV powertrain.
  • Ajla I don't understand why it is priced above the CX-90 (about $2500 at every trim level on the I6 and $5k on the PHEV), unless a CX-90 price increase is on the way soon. It will be interesting to see how this does against the CX-90, that one isn't packaged well for a 3-row but with a lower price, very similar exterior styling and identical exterior dimensions I'd lean towards it over the 70. The pricing on higher trims is a bit dear for a nonpremium badge and it is annoying that Mazda and the press pretend that the lower nonS trims don't even exist. Why even bother making them if you won't take it to your own media event?I would expect the engine and chassis configuration to be a killer app here but it seems like engine/transmission is only 80% baked and the interior is what sells these. Reliability is a big question mark as well. In the end outside of a specific buyer (this seems like something Corey would like), I'd recommend getting something cheaper and more established.
  • Dave M. I love what Mazda stands for and how hard they try. Their cars are well crafted and pretty reliable. But they must simply get their mpgs up to be competitive against the Lexus RX450h and Toyota Highlander Platinum hybrid if they're going to play in that $45-60k price range.
  • 1995 SC In order for the UAW to gain traction in the South you would need the cost of living to rise significantly in the areas these plants are in and wages to not keep up or some significant abuses by the owners of these plants to come to light. You talk about job security but the only plants that aren't closing are non-union. The US makers can't ship production to Mexico fast enough. People aren't dumb...they see this stuff.
Next