New to Toyota in need of advice

[ottovonsam]

I have been driving a 1994 Jeep Cherokee for the past 11 years it has reached 280,000 + miles and its time to move on. I know that I want a Toyota but am torn between a 2001 2.7 L 4WD Tacoma regular cab with 120,000 for $8k and a 1996 4 Runner SR5 with 131,000 for $6,500.

I have always heard people swear by the "bombproof" 4 cylinders that Toyota makes. My issues is the Taco is well over KBB and it's a regular cab (I'm 6' 3"). I have read the posts here about red flags and known issues but I was hoping that someone could give me a comparison between the 2.7 and the 3.4 V6. I don't do a lot of 4 wheeling but hunt and fish all year and reliability in the snow is important. Thanks for any info you can provide.

-Otto

 

[JohnnyMack]

I'm 6' 3" as well and I owned a standard cab '00 Tacoma 4x4, 4cyl. Great truck but you do feel cramped, especially when you know there's nothing you can do about it. I camp and fish, the T4R is perfect. Gear is easily accessible, you can sleep in the back, I love everything about it. You'll rather have the V6 T4R on longer trips, I used to fight the wind on the highway in that little 4 Banger. 4Runner gets my vote.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Easily the 4Runner.

 

[Hepar]

Vote for a Runner too. If you are taller than average, the regular cab is going to get old FAST.

 

[the great him]

both motors are good motors, infact they are great motors, i dont think one is more reliable than the other, both have their small qurks and issues, bot are easy to work on though as well, and both are fairly cheap to fix and can be done by your self as long as you have a mechanical inclination and tools and can read a shop manuel. tacomas are great trucks and if it was a extra cab or dubble cab i would say get the taco, but with height being an issue yes you will love the 4runner much more. im 6' 1" and have issues in stadard cab toyotas, i wont own one cause i cant move inside one. i cast my vote also for the 4runner, not because its a better than a tacoma and not cause its inferior to a tacoma, only simply because it has more room