Three problems related to service brakes have been reported for the 1998 Toyota Tacoma. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Bought a vehicle from a woman off of craigslist. Met her in an unfamiliar area. Woman stated the vehicle was in good condition and runs perfect. Woman would not allow us to test drive the vehicle. My husband insisted on checking the VIN on carfax and she quickly pulled out an outdated title. The vehicle's odometer reading stated approximately 166,000 miles. After the transaction of $5000. 00 was completed in cash. She quickly left with a heavyset hispanic male that was with her. My husband looked at carfax and the last reported mileage on carfax for the VIN number was approximately 278,000 miles for that vehicle. The woman quickly blocked out phone numbers. About an hour later she had her number unblocked. We called her from a different number and acted as though I was ready to purchase a vehicle from her and she stated she had another vehicle, and could meet me at the same location (not knowing it was me) not only was the odometer reading false, the vehicle was not driveable and completely unsafe. The transmission was broken.
When weather temperature drops to 30 or below the brakes start to act up. There are no brakes until the truck is warmed up. The brakes seem to grab on flat roads but going down even the slightest hill and the brakes lock. Being a girl, I though I needed new brakes. I took the truck to the dealer and had a brake job done. The next year the temps did not drop to 30 degrees . The winter was mild. This year it is cold again and the brakes are acting up again. With all the Toyota problems, I though I should report it. Especially as being a girl, the dealer does not take me seriously. I see on the internet that this is continued problem with many Toyota owners. Your system will not except the vn number, so here it is [xxx]. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
My wife stopped at the edge of our driveway to let a pedestrian pass and then proceed to enter the driveway by making a right turn. As she accelerated to entered the driveway, the Tacoma took off with the engine screaming at a very high rpm and, despite her efforts to stop the truck by pressing hard on the brake, she crashed into the garage and east wall of the house. Despite the enormous damage to the front end of the vehicle, it is a total, I think, the air bags never deployed. Obviously the Tacoma suffered from the same accelerator problem that has plagued Toyota units. My wife, the driver, suffered bruised ribs and a headache. Fire and police responded to emergency call.