Unused Utility: 1988 Toyota Pickup 13K Survivor – SOLD!

March 14, 2023, Update – We confirmed the seller of this “Classifind” deleted their listing, so we’re now able to call this one “SOLD!” While this one got away, please reach out either by email or call us directly if you’d like to be informed when we come across something similar.

Scour Craigslist ads daily, and you develop particular pet peeves about the descriptions sellers use to pitch their vehicles.  One of mine is the inability of some sellers to properly round mileage numbers.  The latest example is this 12,869 original mile 1988 Toyota N50 HiLux DLX Pickup last listed in February 2023 on Craigslist in Rockwall, Texas.  Where I come from, 12,869 rounds up to 13,000, not down to 12,000 like the seller pitches in both their title and description. Other than avoiding superstition, correctly marketing your truck as a 13K versus 12k truck still qualifies it as a low-mileage survivor.

That nuance aside, this 1988 Toyota pickup features a like-new looking interior and a column-shifted automatic.  The virtually bullet-proof 22RE inline-four won’t win any drag races, but this truck has a lot of unused utility should someone decide to make this their daily driver rather than spend tens of thousands more on a new or even slightly used truck that’s much newer.

Currently offered for $17,000, Classic.com, the analytics and search engine for the collector car market, confirms that the ask is slightly below the six-month rolling average of this guide’s summary for fourth-generation Toyota pickups of all trims and drivetrains produced between 1984 and 1988.  By clicking on the green dots in the graph below, you can navigate to each comparable car sold as a way to help you evaluate the price of the HiLux featured here:

As a second data point, the  Collector Car Market Review Online Tool reveals the seller’s ask falls above this guide’s  #1 “Excellent” appraisal of $16,300.

Toyota produced its virtually indestructible N50 HiLux pick from 1984 through 1988. In 1987, the truck went through a minor interior and exterior redesign that included a new grille, one-piece front bumper, an updated interior with full high door panels with faux leather stitching on the DLX models, and the outside door mirrors were also changed to have a more streamlined appearance.  Most DLXs such as the example featured here came equipped with the virtually bullet-proof fuel-injected 2.4 Liter “22RE” engine that produced 105 horsepower and 136 foot-pounds of torque.  The example featured here includes a very rare column-shifted automatic transmission.

The Michael Reynolds YouTube Channel features this 1988 Toyota commercial pitching the N50 HiLux as a practical two-seater:

Trucks are only original once and with only 12,869 miles on the odometer, this 1988 Toyota N50 HiLux pickup presents like brand new and features plenty of unused utility should someone decide to put some more miles on it rather than continue keeping it as a low-mileage survivor.  The seller notes the only deviation from the original being a replacement hood and front fender some years ago.

Here’s the seller’s description:

Show or go: What would you do with this 1988 Toyota N50 HiLux survivor pickup for sale?  Please comment below and let us know!