Trusty Toyota Tacoma Truck Records Rare 500,000-Mile Mark

Keeping It In The Road for 500K Miles

With the onset of the new calendar year, 2018 should be the year that multiple milestones are achieved for the humble blogger with a passion for the Lowcountry Outdoors. This blog began in January of 2009, meaning that the 2018 campaign will be my tenth year of coverage for all manner of outdoor events, sporting endeavors and the pursuit of conservation. Almost every mile of that journey came behind the wheel of my 1998 Toyota Tacoma pick up truck, a 4-cylinder 5-speed auto that I have been able to maintain over the years as reliable transportation. It wasn't a foregone conclusion that I would reach 500,000-miles in this truck, but I am comfortable that it came in 2018, after 20 years of history as the sole owner and driver of this Tacoma.

Oil Change at 500K - You Betcha!

My Lodging while Quail Hunting at a Lowcountry Plantation

Most of these miles are highway miles, traveling between town and country for work, and I have always told folks that the truck drives smoothest when in 5th-gear. My Tacoma has not been 'babied' though, but it has not ever been mistreated either. Driving this truck around on our family farm means that dirty, muddy and dusty conditions are always present, and changing the air filter on this truck is a regular duty just like changing the oil filter. One time I drove the truck out into a cutover corn field to retrieve a deer, and that field was plenty rough to drive over, and I ended up taking a corn stalk through the radiator. A trip to my auto mechanic for a new radiator was the solution, yet most of the original equipment on this Tacoma is still in place.

The feeling of driving a vehicle that wants to keep on truckin' is special, and friends marvel at its endurance, even while they are changing vehicles. I am not sure when the passage of time will demand a change for myself regarding transportation, but for now I plan to stay the course with the Toyota that is already part of my narrative from the Lowcountry Outdoors.

To view pas blog entries from my Trusty Toyota Tacoma click on 450,000 miles - 400,000 miles - 350,000-miles

To view past blog entries from my New Year's Eve Toast click on 2017 - 2016 - 2015- 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009   

The Morning After Hurricane Matthew in Charleston