Is it wise to buy one of the first 2016 Tacos off the assembly line?

Personally, the only things I would be concerned about are the transmission and differential locker. The auto transmission has been used for a bit of time in other vehicles, but only about a year or so, and I am not aware of any other Toyota models that use the new differential locker.

Beyond those items, the rest of the truck is basically an improved upon 2nd gen, it's not an all-new design, they spent 10 years building the 2nd gen and when it came time to give it an overhaul they did it top to bottom, but not on a clean sheet of paper. Doing so, I feel, will lead to very few problems compared with an actually all-new design.

Jeff

 

Mine is being made on the 12th of Sept. I think Toyota has this shit figured out already. We are not talking about "Saturn".

 

Isn't wise to get the first batch of a model. Never.

Is too much of a risk.

 

If you look at all of the things car and truck buyers put their vehicles through, you come to the conclusion that the buying public is the best test bed.

 

He must have owned a GM product in the past.

 

Ya know...I used to think the same thing. But now that I'm older ... 1st year doesn't scare me. Sometimes you gotta go with the devil sitting on your left shoulder.

I've never done it before ...But seriously... Why not? You've got 3 /36k bumper-to-bumper warranty and 5 /60k drive-train warranty. If you have issues or complaints (within the warranty period) and you're not up the dealerships ass getting things fixed - that's your problem and not the fault of the truck.

And if the dealership isn't taking care of things....then you have to polish up your boots. LOL

 

Find a different dealership.

 

Since the advent of the computer technology in manufacturing along with robotics, there are definitely fewer problems in the actual manufacturing. My only concern, is owner driven complaints on the ergonomics or maintenance ease. Though the 2 nd gen is generally unchanged for a lot of years, there were a lot of subtle changes over the years to enhance reliability. When having a windshield replaced, the glass people mentioned changes over the years relative to safety requirement changes and better fitment and installation of the windshield. Having said all that, Toyota seems really good at minimizing problems in the first year. I waited a year to buy the 2004 4Runner instead of the 03 when it first came out. There were problems it seemed with body integrity including wind noise etc. that I never saw....my neighbor who bought a 2003 was really upset at some of these items. So the few problems I am aware of of seemed to be easily corrected under warranty.

 

I bought #1400 off the line with my 05. Only had two minor problems that were from assembly. My windshield wiper came loose and my power window fell off its track. Both were fixed under warranty and have never popped back up. 245k hard miles later and she keeps chumming along just fine. I wouldnt worry to much about being an early adopter.

 

There is an advantage of this being gen 2.5.

 

Thanks everyone for the comments. The die is cast, so I'll just have to see if problems develop. First off the line or not, I'm more confident in the Tacoma than I would be getting a second or third year Colorado. Either GM or Ford once had the motto: "There's no substitute for quality." And then some wit said: "They oughta know--they've tried everything else".

 

If you don't mind me asking how much did you end up paying for this truck?

 

I'll be paying the MSRP of $32,950 plus $900 + $599. So the total will be $34,449 not including tax and tags.

 

Exactly what i was thinking but I am doing the TRD Sport DC either manual or automatic no Packages. It seems crazy to pay for those packages that are just pointless in a truck .

 

I agree on the packages, although it may be true as was pointed out in this thread that the oil and ATF coolers might extend the life of engine and trans. Every dealer I asked to make a quote automatically added the towing package, mats, and sometimes wheel locks. I was told that most of the 2016s will come out of the factory with the towing package. But I read somewhere that in the research that Toyota did for the new Taco, present owners listed towing way down their list of priorities--I think it was number 19. In other words, it seems that most Taco owners don't care much about towing. If this is true, it seems that the dealers order most of their Tacomas with the towing package just to make money, not because most buyers ask for it.

 

I agree with you but to tell you the truth I am one of the ones that do not tow . I use my truck more for payload and recreational. The day I need to tow something i will buy the hitch and install it myself. Don't get me wrong if people want to spend that much money in those packages go ahead, for me is wasting money. Anything over 35k for a Tacoma is a lot of money

 

If what I've read about Toyota's research on present Taco owners is accurate, you're attitude about towing puts you in the majority.

 

Enjoy your 2016 Tacoma!I purchased a brand new 2007 Tundra(completely redesigned from the ground up)that yr.I had absolutely no problems with it for 3yrs!Unfortunetely i had to sell it for family reasons or i would probably still have it today.Yeah it's a Tundra and not a Tacoma but it's still a Toyota!Enjoy your 3rd gen.Tacoma!Best of luck OP!

 

Thanks! I've never owned a Tacoma before but look forward to having some fun with it, or at least being able to get to work on the steep dirt mountain roads I will have to traverse this winter.

 

I work at honda. Have seen a few model changes. For a new model change there are little tweaks here and there. Also a few option changes occur. We have never had a huge issue you should be concerned about. Small little kinks you wouldn't even notice. Like making this wire a little longer or making that fit a little different so on and so forth. If it was the first time where they added a turbo or something...that's a different story imo