Looking for general opinions on your Tacoma

I’d already have bought one personally but I’m not sure I could live with the power drop. I’m onboard with the above post by stun gun for the most part but I think Toyota could step up their game and believe they will especially with increased competition in the market. In a dream situation I could get a new Tacoma with Ford 2.7 ecoboost

 

I haven't looked at earlier owners manuals, but in the 2018's it seems clear you should use 'S' rather than 'D', and manually control the gears when towing or with a heavy load. Makes sense as you do not want to tow in overdrive. It specifically says not to go above 5th when towing or with a heavy load. If you are using 'S' then hunting isn't an issue. It just becomes a manual without a clutch for towing. I don't have a problem at all with that as I knew going in that that was how it worked. Not an issue with my old Tundra, but I've driven manual's all my life so it's not a big deal. Probably would have gotten a manual if I'd found one that didn't have a crazy markup.

 

I’m a previous 2nd gen Tacoma owner and hope to purchase a new 2018 Tacoma OR in a few days. I loved my 2008 Tacoma OR 4x4. I bought that thing new for $27k in late 2007 and put 155k miles on it, towed my fishing boat everywhere, and never had any issues. The only thing that I did was the normal oil changes and recommend maintenance. It was always reliable and i had every intention to get at least another 150k miles before even considering a new truck. Unfortunately, I was in a pretty bad auto accident two weeks ago with my family in the truck. That 10 year old truck did its job and the family was able to walk away from it with only a few bruises and scratch. If you saw the truck, you would be surprised that everyone was able to walk away from it. And my insurance (AAA) just informed me that the truck is a total loss and paid me $21k for its replacement value. Yes, 10 year old truck, 155k miles, saved my family, and still had $21k in replacement value. My next truck will be another Tacoma. And after that accident, I’m getting the 2018 for the Toyota Safety Sense.

 

You have this too! I thought I was losing my sense of smell or something. How did you fix it? I also love my 2016 TRD off-road MT for the most part great truck.

 

I did just that, and saved quite a bit by not buying the 2018. Now's the time. I went month end and had quite a few things thrown in, including winter tire package. They literally threw them in, I wasn't even enquiring. That was a bonus....

I too owned a Honda Ridgeline and loved it. Especially the hidden compartment in the box. Wish Tacoma had that.

Good luck, cant go wrong with Honda or Toyota. I would recommend you stay away from Nissan, but that's just my personal opinion.....(Don't even get me going on N.A. trucks)

 

My wife has a compact SUV that was also smelling like manure over a year ago. I was thinking it might be the coil.

I had been cleaning and or replacing her previous vehicle (2009 Corolla) interior air filter on a regular basis because of allergies.

Her SUV had been used on some long, dusty dirt roads in the summer over a couple of years but I just hadn’t checked the original filter.

I pulled out the interior air filter and it was a nasty dark brown color. Replacing that thing was a bit of a pain as it’s located directly to the right of the accelerator pedal and you have to crush it down and bend it sideways just to install it. Thank you Nissan. It would perhaps be easy on a right hand drive vehicle.

It was replaced with a new ‘Fram Fresh Breeze’ charcoal impregnated filter and the smell was gone.

 

Mice also seem to like Toyota HVAC boxes. I had a co-worker with a Sienna that had a bad interior
smell. The heater box contained a dead mouse and its nest.

 

Sorry. One more thing. I really like my Tacoma a lot!

Just check your transmission, differential and transfer case fluid levels right after you purchase the truck.

 

I just rolled 10K miles on mine in 5 months. Overall, I'm happy with it. Am I completely in love? No...

My biggest complaints about it are:

It's not as easy to drive off-road as my 2004. It's difficult to see out of--particularly over the LONG hood and it's most definitely a good bit wider.

It lacks the low end grunt of the old 3.4's. My 2004 is a tractor and loves to be lugged around whereas the new 3.5 is a complete turd below 3K. The lack of low end torque can suck a lot of fun out of slow off-road situations.

It's not as responsive as my 2004. With my old truck, lay your foot into it at any RPM and it GOES. This one stumbles occasionally--mostly at low RPM--as the computer and drive-by-wire tries to figure out exactly what the hell you are doing. It's a minor annoyance that is easy to work around most of the time.

It has the diff howl. Cruising at 55-65 MPH has some noise but it's nowhere near as bad as many members here make it out to be ... and I have one of the louder ones I've heard. Throw some most aggressive tires on it and it's mostly a non-issue.

Reverse is utterly useless and WAY too tall. I have a steep driveway and God help me if I ever have to back a boat, trailer or something else heavy up it... Seriously, you could probably do 50 MPH in reverse...

Things I like about it:

It's comfortable and drives nice. Considering the stock off-road capabilities, you won't find a mid sized truck with better on-road manners. It's been a very comfortable daily driver and has hauled us around with a bunch of gear on several 4WD camping trips.

The gas mileage has been respectable. I'm still at the stock height but even with 265/75 BFG AT's I'm still consistently getting 21+ MPG on the open highway, even when fully loaded (roof top tent, bed full of camping gear, 3-4 passengers). 18-19 around town has been the normal and I've seen as high as 23 at the speed limit on the highway. Keep your foot out of it and drive conservatively and the mileage will not disappoint considering the class of vehicle.

The engine and transmission are very smooth. Like I said, power delivery is a turd down low... but once you get above 3K RPM, the engine really comes alive and it's a blast to drive with the 6 speed manual (GET THE MANUAL BTW!!!). The transmission is silky smooth compared to the old 5 speeds and is a pleasure to row through the gears.

Pay no attention to 75% of what you read on this forum. Despite what you will read, it really is a great truck and the minor quirks/issues it may have are completely blown out of proportion in most cases. Go test drive a few and make an opinion of them yourself but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better mid-sized truck that performs or looks as good as a Tacoma.

 

2015 performance and reliability is better than the current gen. i wish I still had my 2015.

 

Love my 2017 TRD. I pull a loaded 2400lb trailer and load the back with bikes and camping gear and have plenty of power going up steep mountain passes. It’s very smooth and feels relaxed in its 4000-5000 rpm peak torque range climbing hills with the trailer in tow. I get about 19l/100 km towing through mountainous BC.

 

Yet your still here on a Tacoma forum

 

gotta say I love my 17 DCLB OR.
Drives great, and if your not expecting race car performance from a midsize truck it drives great.
It’s a Toyota Tacoma! Best in class by far.

 

I could not have said it better. Except, I got auto tranny.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BG-Frigi-F...The-Makers-Of-BG44K-BG708-5-5oz-/280948515565

Frigi Fresh sprayed into the squirrel cage under the cabin filter 2 or 3 times during the summer knocks it down.

 

I use these cabin filters and it does nothing to rid the smell that lies deep on my evap coil. Glad it worked for you because this fungus/bacteria laden air is not good on a persons health to breathe.

 

Welcome to TW! Since you're considering a later model 2nd Gen. You may want to check out my"Thoughts and Opinions Thread" on my 2012 (link below)
Just some ramblings on my experiences after 5 years or so with my Taco.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...inions-after-6-years-and-40-000-miles.507341/

 

I'm considering a Honda CRV. Wondering how reliable the turbo on the 1.5 4 cylinder engine. I think it is a new set up on the 2018 CRV if I remember right.

 

A little history of my bad luck, or rather the lack of decent automotive engineering in recent years, before I tell you my opinion of the Tacoma:

Up until 2003 I had many different cars, but I'm starting with the vehicle I owned for the longest time.

2003 Ford Ranger V6 4X4 - Totally trouble free for many years and over 100,000 miles, but bad MPG. When gas climbed to $5.00 a gallon, I had to get rid of it. I started my search for another 10 year vehicle.

2012 Ford Focus with DCT - Interior must have been assembled with Elmer's glue, because there were rattles everywhere, and the DCT was just plain dangerous, with constant dead spots when you needed the car to move. Multiple software updates, but no improvement. Had to go.

2013 Subaru Impreza 5-spd - Went with the manual to avoid issues with an automatic. Car was fun to drive, but started burning a quart of oil every 4000 miles. I haven't had a car burn oil since I owned a POS AMC Hornet while in college. Subaru called it normal. I wasn't about to start carrying spare oil in a car again, and I couldn't trust it on long road trips, so... it had to go.

2015 Chevy Colorado Z71 V6 4X4 - A nice truck. Seats were a bit uncomfortable, the seat heaters never worked correctly, the head-unit had some electrical gremlins, and once again, the damn automatic transmission was never there when you needed it. It would do everything it could do always be in the highest gear possible. I spent thousands of dollars on tunes in an attempt to fix it, to no avail. I couldn't invent any more new curse words to yell at it while driving, so it had to go.

That brings me to my Tacoma - I have just under 2000 miles on it so far. I went with a manual, again, to avoid any issues with the automatic. I find the seats very uncomfortable, at least for any drive over 45 minutes. I have some rattles. I REALLY miss having stake pockets in the bed for a ladder rack. The interior is very noisy (road noise). The "premium" stereo system is sub-par, and the truck just feels like it's built to make Toyota every possible cent it can. It doesn't feel like a $30K truck. That said, everything I just mentioned can be addressed (aside from the stake pockets). I have already fixed the sound system issue. Most importantly, I enjoy driving the truck. It's actually *cough* fun to drive. Assuming nothing goes awry mechanically, and I don't develop any of the weird issues that some people have, which Toyota calls normal, this might be my next 10+ year vehicle.

 

If your close to Atlanta there is a barely used(6100 miles) Barcelona red SR5 2 wheel drive for sale at Loganville Ford. I traded it in back in September and they cant give it away. As of yesterday the price was down to 28,000 and change. So much for that spectacular resale value.