Buyers Remores (before the purchase)

Hey guys,

Ive been looking through these threads for months and have gathered a ton of information....but I need some help from you folks!

I always think for months/years before a major purchase and ive been a lifelong Honda guy.

...but ive always wanted a Tacoma....for as far back as i can remember...

But im faced with uncertain oil prices in the future, a new Camaro coming out next year with better gas mileage and of course my fallback....a new Accord.

Im trying not to talk myself out of buying a Tacoma because im sure id regret buying anything else.

I do want an Access Cab Pre-Runner V6 SR5 (no TRD for me)

Can i get 18 mph? How many miles can i get out of a tank of gas?

Sorry for this long winded post, but man i wanna get this right.

Thanks for all the help over the past months.

 

I have a V6 PreRunner DoubleCab and I usually get around 20 or so mpg with around 250 miles using about 12-13 gallons on i believe a 21 gallon tank. It's pretty decent mileage and i'm a poor college student with tuition and a truck payment to take care of and i'm still alive haha. I was a honda guy myself but i LOVE my tacoma now

 

In other words... Get the Tacoma!!

 

Welcome to TW

Get the Tacoma... my gas mileage (all highway at 55-60mph) is averaging around 23 mpg.

 

I'd get the Tundra. You already have a gas sippin car.

 

I always ask myself for example:

What can I do with a Camaro or Accord that I can't do with a Tacoma?


What can I do with a Tacoma that I can't do with a Camaro or Accord?


Now go get your Tacoma !!!!

 

I was getting 17-18mpg for the first couple of years. I swapped the air filter with an AFE Pro Dry a few months ago and have been getting 20 consistently since then. I haven't switched to synthetics like a lot of other people have and say help a bit, and I have a cap so the aerodynamics suck.

 

Exactly

 

You don't buy a truck because it gets good gas mileage.

You don't buy a Camaro or an Accord because you can carry a motorcycle or 10 sheets of plywood in the bed.

 

Dude, i am the exact way. I waited and saw good deals come and go. I watched tons of Tacomas go in front of me, and i just kept telling myself that i am being cautious, and i waited almost 2 years b4 i went ahead and bought one!! I finally was at the dealer when i saw my truck, and it was the most beautiful Tacoma i had seen, honestly, i had been tossing back between Black or White for awhile, and when i saw mine, black with black wheels, i couldn't hold out any longer. But moving on, since i have bought the truck, i continue to walk outside and tell myself every time i see her, damn that's a sharp truck, and i have not thought back about it once. So if you find a Tacoma that you like, and you let yourself move forward, i see no reason why you wouldn't love it just as much as a Camaro, i mean a truck can hit the dirt, the back seat is big enough to get into trouble in, you can throw a quad in the back, and it gets great gas mileage(compared to my Z71 Tahoe anyway, lol), plus its just badass.

 

You better really think about what you want.A pickup truck is very different from a car.The novelty may wear off quick.
I have a feeling you'll be happier with a Accord or the Camaro in the long run.More so if gas costs rise.
Just my .02.

 

You will not regret your new tacoma. The mpg is not that bad. The difference in what you get from an accord verse tacoma is substancial so I would think more about what you need the vehicle for.

 

I don't envy your decision! I love my Tacoma. I started off getting 20mpg but it has fallen off to about 18.5 mpg. I'll go about 320 miles on a tank of fuel. I want a Pontiac G8 or a Camaro also. But that would be for my wife to drive. I enjoy having the Tacoma because of it's ride height and I'll always have that bed in the back if I need to haul something.

 

That is some really good advice. I think the Tacoma is <ok>. Nothing special by any stretch. From an engineering point of view there are some pretty glaring misses. It is clearly not as refined as a car (duh!). That might be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your prespective.

Frankly, if I had to do it all over again I would probably be looking at a more refined SUV type of vehicle or something with a hatchback. I drive 50+ miles to work every day and doing it in a truck gets kinda old. Have my eye on a Subaru WRX STi....Figure the three or four times I actually <need> a pickup truck I can rent one for $19.99/day from U-Haul.

If I were you, I would look for a nice clean used one, and if after a year it didn't work out for you, just sell it.

 

well i have a tacoma SR5 prerunner v6 (no TRD) AND the girlfriend has a 2008 Honda Accord! SO my experience with this is we use the truck for everything.. hauling, beach, whatever. Then say, i want to drive to LA for the weekend, we take the Accord for the gas millage. My truck gets about 20 and i sit in traffic with knobby tires.. so if thats acceptable for you, then tacoma it is.. (when i drive to say, LA for the weekend with the Tacoma i get a good 22 WITH those knobby tires!)

BUT if i had to choose between the two, i'd take my tacoma.

 

It took me months before I bought my Taco. I have not been partial to any particular brand of vehicle, but I can say I really like my Taco. I would buy another one.

I considered the full size GMC, Chevy, Honda Ridgeline and the Taco. The Taco had everything that I wanted an nothing more. No BS stuff that may break. Great Reputation that has been tested for years and was not HUGE. The impression people have is the taco is small, but you can fit four good size guys in a double cab without a problem. Easy to drive and again no BS.

Not that I am going to sell it anytime soon, but it does hold its value better than most.

Plus you can drive a Taco all year round!

 

i think it all depends on you regular commute and the comfort level you are looking for. the only thing i can suggest is if you do decide you want a truck, you can't beat the tacoma. (any trim level trd or not)

 

For the record I love my Taco, but hate the mileage. It is a truck and I accept that. Currently with the cold weather here in Wisconsin, on my last tank, I was averaging about 15.4 mpg. I had been getting pretty much 17mpg on average since I purchased it used back in October of 2007 with 33k on it. That is mostly city driving. That mpg is with the mild lift and 265/75R16 tires.

 

With an Automatic transmission 20+ should be very easy to accomplish. Go easy on the gas pedal (keep the rpms under 2000). The manual transmissions are geared differently so their mpg isn't as good but I can get 20 on the highway with my 4x4 V6 manual.

How many miles per week do you average and how much of it is highway? Divide that mileage by the mpg for the vehicles you're contemplating to see how much difference it will make.

An Accord V6 will get around 19 city, 29 highway.

For example, if you drive 300 miles per week, a 20 mpg vehicle will use 15 gallons of gas. A 25 mpg vehicle will use 12 gallons. If gas were $5 per gallon that's a difference of $15 per week. A 29 mpg vehicle will use 10.3 gallons so it would save $25 per week at $5/gallon.

If you only average 200 miles per week:
20mpg = 10 gallons
25mpg = 8 gallons (2 gallons at $5/gallon = $10 difference)
29 mpg = 7 gallons (3 gallons at $5/gallon = $15 difference)

You might also look into the difference in insurance costs and weigh that against the gas savings. You would probably make up the difference in gas with the insurance on a Camaro.