This 1996 right-hand drive Toyota Dyna truck is equipped with a 2.8-liter, 4-cylinder, 3L diesel engine, solid front axle, 4WD with locking hubs, and a 5-speed manual transmission. It boasts one of the most reliable engines ever made. While it doesn’t achieve speeds above 70mph, it is incredibly durable. The windows and locks are manual. The radio and interior speakers are non-functional, but the siren and PA system work perfectly!
Until 2021, this Dyna served as a firetruck for Matsuwaka village in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan. When they upgraded to newer equipment, I acquired it with fewer than 5,000 miles, it currently has 61,845 miles.
I named the truck BONZAI and most of the miles she and I put on together are from highway driving while exploring the United States—Washington state to New Hampshire, down to Florida to help perform relief effort works for hurricane Ian in Florida, and back to the greater Boston area—while I ran my Property Mend LLC jobs all across the greater New England and Boston areas.
BONZAI was great for work during the week and to take camping on the weekends. It does great on rough terrain but needs another inch or two of lift to do any real off roading. But she’s totally capable!
The exterior of the cab is in excellent condition. The paint is still very crisp, and the interior is clean. I used the truck bed to haul building materials and tools for my business. It received frequent power washes, including the inside of the frame rails.
There is some rust on the Dyna, the worst on the passenger side mirror and on the floorboard to the right of the gas pedal. Both areas are shown in the pictures. The interior of the truck bed is in working-truck condition, please see photos.
The comfortable cruising speed is around 55 mph, which provides a smooth ride and approximately 18 mpg. Beyond 60-65 mph, it starts to feel shaky, and fuel efficiency drops rapidly.
The heating system works well, but there is no A/C.
All emergency and other lighting works, except for the dome light in the bed canopy.
For the two winters Dyna and I lived in New England, I performed pre-winter rust maintenance to include applying a mix of power washes, surface shield, angle grinding, and rust neutralization to treat the rust and maintain the bed in good working condition. I've tried to show the extent of rust on the undercarriage and in the bed, though the pictures may not fully capture the rust on the canopy bars across the bed's top. Please ask if you would like further descriptive photos or a video call where I can show you.
The truck does not include any sort of water pump or pump mounts. There is a pump hookup, but I didn’t need it so never checked its functionality. There are small hose accessories and hookups I’ll include, but nothing over a couple of feet long.
Two brand new unmounted all terrain tires, a spare wheel without a mounted tire, ten oil filters, and the above-mentioned hose accessories are included with the purchase.
The license plate registered to the vehicle is BONZAI in the state of New Hampshire If you’d like, I’ll include one of the original license plates with purchase.
The website Megazip has been an excellent resource for parts although I haven't needed to order many, they seem to have everything you could possibly need for this truck.
Driving this truck has been an absolute joy. Getting accustomed to driving on the right side is surprisingly easy, and I'm happy to offer tips and answer any questions you may have before and after your purchase.
Delivery of this truck is possible anywhere in the lower 48 states. I would welcome taking it on one last cross-country trip if purchased by a buyer on the west coast. Delivery is a reasonable fee based on a per-mile rate from Boston, MA.
Driving—and talking about—this truck never gets old. Please feel free to reach out with any questions. I can share more pictures via Google Drive or email if there is something you’d like to see that I’ve not included in this listing. I've done my best to accurately portray the truck's condition. The photos are un-edited and should provide an accurate representation of the truck, and the photos are also an important part of the description of the truck for sale.
I absolutely love this truck, but I’m moving into a new phase of life that requires a more practical family vehicle or I wouldn’t dream of selling my Dyna! The last three years of driving BONZAI have been unforgettable. It is hard to have a bad day when everyone lets you merge, people smile and wave at you, and firefighters will even honk at you when they are on their way to calls. If you prefer the utility of this vehicle over the attention it garners, it would be easy to remove the lights and markings. However, meeting people, waving, and sharing laughs was by far the best part owning it. BONZAI!!!