3 Weeks of Owning a Tacoma from a former Raptor owner... Here is my review

I am a first time owner of a 2017 Inferno Tacoma OR. I am a serious car guy. I have owned a Ford Raptor, Subaru BRZ, Mazda Miata, Honda S2000, and numerous acuras and hondas. I purchased a Tacoma for the looks, the build quality, and the off road capabilities, specifically snow driving. I traded in a 2015 Acura RDX that ran pretty much flawless. Great engine, tons of power, and no transmission issues. The issue was I could barely haul anything with it and it's snow driving wasn't ideal. Plus, every 50 year old woman drove one lol. I owned a Ford Raptor before the Acura and it had gobs of power, looked awesome, but was gigantic and got horrible fuel economy. I would have kept the Raptor, but I actually sold it for more than I paid brand new, so it was a no-brainer.

I initially wanted the new Raptor, but did not want to spend $60k plus on a truck. Although they look and perform awesome, I wasn't in the market to waste that much money. I decided on the Tacoma because I felt it was as close to the Raptor as I could get within a reasonable amount of budget. Owning a Raptor means you can't even park in normal spots. I would double park everywhere I went due to how wide the truck was. The Tacoma fits in a spot perfectly.

I went to the local dealer to test drive one and I immediately noticed the lack of power when driving. I said to the sales rep, "Wow this has no power." However, I still purchased because I felt a 6 cylinder truck wouldn't have the same power as a Raptor and I really liked how aggressive it looked. I ended up spending $36k on my Tacoma OR with a list of $40k. I didn't even bother looking at the Pro, due to it's cost and the fact there is nothing upgraded in the engine or trans. It's an OR with some aftermarket items. It wasn't worth another $8k.


The first week of driving, I hated the truck. I have a 25-mile commute to work and the thing had zero power. The seat was almost unbearable. I am 6'3 and it just put so much pressure on my hamstrings that I would get numb while driving. I honestly though to myself, "did i make a huge mistake?!?!" I also noticed a burning smell when I opened the door after driving the truck. I smelled this on the test drive vehicle and the one i purchased. Both were OR. I remember thinking how happy I was when I bought the Raptor and had none of those feelings with this truck.

I am not sure what happened after the first week, but the truck has become much better now. I notice the truck has more power, which I can only attribute to me getting used to the pedal. The pedal requires a little more pressure to accelerate, but the power is there if needed. You do hafta rev it a little more than most vehicles to achieve this power, but it doesn't lack anything. The seat is actually more comfortable now too. I am not sure if my body weight has compressed the foam padding or what, but I don't notice it being uncomfortable anymore. The shifting has also changed as well. I truly think the truck learns to operate based on my driving habits and has made modifications to suit my needs. (This may be completely wrong, but it at least feels different now).

Here are my thoughts on the transmission.... Toyota makes quality vehicles that last forever. No one can deny that. People that preach how the Colorado is a far superior vehicle don't take into consideration long-term ownership costs and issues. If the tacoma doesn't shift ideally as some of us would like, but lasts for 300k miles, i'm ok with that. IF the Colorado has more power and shifts smoother, but ends up being a POS, then what did that accomplish? The tacoma transmission has been designed to get maximum fuel efficiency. Don't blame toyota for doing exactly what they intended to do. The auto gets better fuel economy than the manual, which proves this theory. I didn't buy a tacoma for the amount of power it put out. I could easily buy a Raptor again and burn rubber everywhere and get 11 MPG. I bought it because it was a more practical version of the Raptor and would be more reliable long-term.

My hopes are that Toyota made a new engine that will last forever, get great fuel economy, and still have enough power when you need it. Their only downside was they didn't make it user friendly like other vehicles. The driver has to work a little to unleash the power. Well worth it if I can keep it forever with minimal issues.

Side note pertaining to the diff recall....ALL VEHICLES have recalls. It doesn't mean the vehicle is crap. There are tons of F150s, Tundras, Colorados, Rams, and the like that have recalls. How many vehicles have been recalled due to the takata air bag issue? I'd rather a company recall a vehicle than let the consumer be at risk or unhappy.

We all bought the tacoma because we thought it was the right choice. Instead of focusing on the negatives, which every vehicle has, focus on the positives. The tacoma looks bad-ass and can go off-road anywhere, plus it's been documented to be extremely reliable in previous generations. Enjoy the things you buy in life. Living with regret only affects you. If you don't like it, sell it. I've bought and sold 15 cars over the last 20 years. All had positives and negatives and differences to them. I don't regret any purchase and I don't regret this Tacoma.

 

Thank you and welcome to TW!

 

Hey, welcome to tacomaworld and great write up.

Its nice to see some positivety here now and again. I love my tacoma 2016 with about 40k on her and i have no regrets. Ive had some small and a couple big issues but all have been resolved and i couldnt be happier.

 

Nice write up! I appreciate the perspective you brought to the review. I personally love the truck and I'm not concerned about the recall. I have yet to own a vehicle that I couldn't find some flaw with.

 

Nice writeup.

But hot damn, it must be hard to go from owning THE truck ( Raptor) to a Tacoma.

 

Welcome to TW. Any mods planned for the OR?

Personally I would love to have a Raptor, but I don't make that kind of money (yet) hahaha.

Out of curiosity, did you look at the Power Wagon? I know you mentioned the size of the Raptor being an issue, but I'm just curious.

 

Gotta use the ect button...

 

Glad you like your Taco. For me personally the Raptor is on of the ugliest vehicles on the road, but that's just me. Good luck with your new toy.

 

Have you driven an S2000 or Miata before? Both are fantastic cars on and off the track. Nothing to be discredited about. Just because its a Honda doesn't make it any less superior than an M3. Just my 2 cents before you laugh at someone.

 

Welcome to TW! Nice first post.

 

Welcome, thanks for the post.

 

Great review OP! I have driven a raptor before and loved it! But like yourself, I could not justify the 60k price tag on a truck. Hope your impression thus far of the truck stays the same throughout your ownership!

 

OP thanks for sharing. It makes me feel like there still might be some hope for me. Ive had the truck a month and can't stand driving it. I'm really hoping my experience is like yours and I warm up to it. Maybe I just take take aliite longer. Here's hoping!

 

So you illegally parked beside vihicles on city streets, leaving your Raptor parked in a lane of travel?

I assume you don't know what double parking is.

The transmission learned that you like to drive fast. It's shifting later and allowing you more time in the higher RPMs all the time. The truck did not gain any power. It did not break in and get faster.

 

A honda s2000 is quite possibly the finest sports car I have ever driven. 9k RPM sounds amazing with tons of power along the entire band. A miata is a blast to drive and has one of the smoothest manual transmissions I have ever used. The BRZ has amazing response and feels like a go cart with how fast it turns. All of them have forums where people bitch and complain about them instead of appreciating why they purchased it in the first place. All have issues, but I loved them all.

 

I think the Raptor is the least ugly Ford truck. But it is still ugly.

 

Good choice in the OR. You're not affected by the rear diff recall, where they can confiscate your truck.

 

My transmission refuses to learn what I try to teach it.