Today’s Nice Price or No Dice X-Runner is Toyota’s one-time performance truck. It’s got the hot looks and the goods where it counts to back those up. What you’ll need to decide is if its price makes it a hot deal.
When it comes to old Volvos, the general consensus is that boxy is better. Yesterday’s 2010 Volvo S40 T5 R-Design wasn’t all that old, nor was it all that boxy. It did have a laudable bit of kit, what with its capable five-pot mill and six-speed gearbox feeding all four corners. That seemingly wasn’t enough to overcome either its inherent lack of boxiness or its $15,000 asking price, which in the end brought the car down in a 63 percent No Dice loss.
The pickup truck is the best-selling automotive category in the United States, with Ford’s F-Series having led the pack for decades now. That popularity has led to attempts by automakers to spackle up every nook and cranny of the pickup truck market they can. That’s given us everything from over-compensating off-roaders to trucks that attempt to elbow the sports car out of that special place in our hearts.
This 2006 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner is one of the latter types of truck. Introduced in 2005 on the then-young second-generation Tacoma pickup platform, the X-Runner offered as standard equipment the same 236 horsepower 4-liter V6 that was optional in the plebeian edition. Instead of just a five-speed manual, however, the X-Runner went one higher with a short-throw six-speed. Along with that came a limited-slip differential in the back, and a 4x2 chassis as the sole option.
The improvements didn’t end there either. In the X-Runner, you got a stiffened frame to make good use of the truck’s revamped and lowered suspension. That features a double-wishbone set up in front, a new stabilizer bar in the back, and, from the factory, Bilstein shocks at each corner.
As you can see from the pictures, the X-Runner also received a wrap-around body kit and some extremely handsome five-spoke alloy wheels. This one comes with a clean title and a mere 53,800 miles under its tires. The arrest-me red paint looks to hold a shine and there’s no evidence of curb rash on the 18-inch rollers. A lockable soft tonneau prevents bedlam in the bed, but that seems to be the only add-on here over what was imbued by the factory.
Toyota only made the X-Runner available in its “Access Cab” body style. That features normal doors up front and a second set of suicide doors behind those for easy access to the fairly roomy but impossibly uncomfortable-looking rear seats. The cabin here is all gray cloth and plastics. This being a Toyota it’s all fairly tasteful stuff and appears to have held up well over the years. Amenities include power windows, mirrors, and locks, as well as A/C and cruise control. One cool feature is the pull-style parking brake which sprouts from the dash right above the driver’s right knee. That placement frees up both console and footwell space and should be emulated by more manufacturers.
There’s not much detail in the ad, although it does note the truck to be free of dents and dings and to never have been smoked in. One oddity is the note that the odometer has rolled over. That’s obviously not the case based on the mileage provided and the picture of the dash which shows virgin territory in the hundred-thousands column.
With its lowered stance and street-oriented performance intents, this isn’t a truck with a lot of versatility. Much like Ford’s F-150 Lightning, it’s a bit of a one-trick truck. That one trick should prove fairly entertaining and, with its utilitarian cabin, fun for the whole family. What might so tricky a truck cost?
The seller is asking $25,900 for the truck, which is high market for such a model. They are obviously banking on the truck’s low miles and seemingly smarter than the average bear condition to rationalize such a price.
What is your take on those efforts? Does this X-Runner look like it might be worth that $25,900 asking as it’s presented? Or, does that price make you think this Tacoma is washed up?
You decide!
Portland, Oregon, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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