Talk me into getting a Tacoma again

What were the tow TSBs that were done?

 

I just went from a 2011 GTI that I had for 7+ years to a 2nd gen Tacoma. BTW, I go better mpg than you on my GTI. Not sure if it's because I had a manual or if that extra 20 or so HP in the MKVII made it worse.

I miss the tech & beautifully designed interior of my GTI. The plastic blah interior of the Tacoma sucks. I miss the seats (most comfortable in any car I ever owned).

In the Tacoma, I love floating over the busted roads that only get fixed once every couple of years. I love the utility. I'm a trail runner & hiker and many of the trailheads I hit require driving down a dirt road ... not fun in the GTI. I'm actually surprised how comfortable I feel going faster around narrow roads of questionable quality. The GTI could hug the road, but I always felt like it was so on the edge that if I hit a bad bump it would throw me in a ditch. Also, the Tacoma wins at the drive through and intersections where you have to look over the car next to you to see traffic.

For my own entertainment ... here are a few pics ...

 

The auto transmission is a bugaboo and the 3.5l motor will leave you wishing for more

 

This is about how I felt driving my 2nd gen :/

I honestly don’t drive very hard at all. I hammer down a bit getting on the freeway once in a while but that’s about it. Never WOT. I think the poor mpg’s is a combination of winter gas, driving in town, hills, and a lot of short trips. My MK6 usually got ~28 city but I’m thinking the MK7 is lower because of the bigger IHI turbo in the MQB platform.

Been doing some more thinking and I think realistically the smart thing to do is stick with my car for now.

 

Glad to hear you are gonna stick with what you got at the moment OP. I have a second gen myself with the best interior it could have had from the factory in 2012. Sure it’s still simple compared to today’s standards as you well know, but for a guy like me who is used to being behind on the tech stuff it’s just fine.

I too am not one who likes to punch it in my truck, but just cruise around for the most part. That said, I don’t have an issue getting up to speed to things and can do so without going crazy on the accelerator. I tried driving my buddies third gen and stuff like starting after a light, hitting a big uphill, or entering a freeway is where I felt the dog of the vehicle. Again, I’m not a speed demon, but the third gen will be a slug in situations where you never had to worry about power before. Nothing wrong with punching the accelerator harder, but my buddy pretty much drives his in overdrive all the time to combat these symptoms.

I guess at the end of the day it would bother me to be that dude that causes disruption in the flow of traffic cause my truck had no juice to get up to speed. That said, I hope my second gen never dies.

 

I've been watching the OV Tune threads. Seems like that handles most of the 4-6th gear problems and trans 'wandering' in general. Something to consider, that is what is keeping you away.

 

3gen is faster than a 2gen. But the power is up top, instead of the bottom. You just cant be affraid to rev it a little.

 

What's with taco owners and gti's. I went from a 2011 gti to a 2013 taco then to a 2017 taco when my 2013 got blasted in a hit and run.

Love my gen 3. I'm not stock at this point but at stock I was getting 19 hwy / 17 city. Now I'm 17 hwy / 14-15 city. Great trucks but not the most fuel efficient. Personally I'm a taco guy and will be for life but if you're driving is 100% highway some of the competition has caught up to the tacos and can be arguably better for city life.

Test drive and go with what best fits you.

 

Best kayak hauler I've owned was a 93 Honda Accord. Low and easy to load/unload. Back seat folded down for rod storage. Trunk big enough for gear, ice chest etc.
Now back to Truck discussion , I agree, find a 2nd Gen with low miles. Yes you're going to pay a bit more than buying most other 2nd hand vehicles. But worth it imo.
Buy new if you're looking for warranty and can afford to eat the depreciation. But the first time you bang the kayak into the tailgate or fender you'll wish you bought something broke in already.

 

Same scenario here, I drove a 2001 TRD DCSB for 11 years and just gave it to my son on his 16th B-Day. I got a 2008 Audi A4 manual and had a blast for 7 months teaching my son how to drive a stick (mandatory man skill!). Anyway I got rear ended and it totaled out in the A4... Sooo I couldn't help it I wanted to get back into a Tacoma. Just bought a 2017 SR5 Black DCSB, super sweet ride! However, who does research on Toyota's anyway? Well maybe I should of because there is a lot of traffic out there about the rumble strip effect during decal and shifty transmissions on the 2016+ Tacoma's. I just took it in and had the TSB applied.. replaced both leaf springs and added a steering damper. It's about 80% fixed and it's just something I know I will have to deal with, sucks but if you search this forum you will find plenty of discussion about the subject!

 

Get a Tacoma.

My job is done here.

 

Rod storage...hehe.

 

sounds like what you really want is a ridgeline.

 

Love mine. I owned a Dodge Ram 1500 that had plenty of balls and was nothing but a POS that needed nearly everything replaced on it at some point. After that I moved on to a company vehicle that I hated.

My dad has a 2nd Gen Tacoma utility truck that he puts around town in and loved it, so when it came time to switch jobs and buy a vehicle I put Tacoma on the list. Spent a good deal of time shopping around and looking at a ton of options. For me right now I don't need a full size. I travel all over the Northeast for work and this is my DD (company pays for gas, I average 18-19 AT). I wanted a truck to be able to do projects around the house and for trips up to VT to go off-roading.

Yup some people have had issues with their Tacoma's. I haven't had any with mine. Nope it doesn't have the balls most other trucks have but that's not important to me. These trucks are reliable and capable when used as intended and I drove one extensively during test drives before buying so I was aware of the choppy transmission. I was originally thinking of going used til I realized the price difference wasn't worth it (resale value is another bonus IMO).

I'm comfortable when driving 2-3 hours to a job-site. It hauls all the gear I need it to and then some. MPG is average but again doesn't matter in my situation. It is capable off-road without dumping tons of money into it, I don't plan on having to worry about anything major going on it for years and plan on running it into the ground. And I think it looks cool as F*** when I'm driving around. Good luck on your search, based on what you stated it would be used for I think a Taco would be a good fit.

 

I have a 2017 DCSB OR4x4 6MT and am loving it! I've only put about 1800 miles on it here in Bavaria, and have had zero issues. I also had a GTI a few years back. It was a 1997 5MT that I ended up putting over 200k on before it died. I also owned a 2007 Tacoma AC Sport 4x4 that I sold before moving to Germany in 2015.

The Tacoma/GTI connection is interesting. I wonder if there is a common design, or even marketing, that appeals to certain people...

A couple notes:
- Yesterday, I drove a round-trip of 4 hours each way on the autobahn, at about 80mph and averaged 19mpg. At 80, the tach was at about 2.5k in 6th gear. Had plenty of power to accelerate around slower traffic. (Yes, there are speed limits on sections of the autobahn. Even worse are the construction zones that cause huge jams...)
- Driving through tiny roads in German villages and compact parking lots has made me truly appreciate: the great turning radius, rear view camera, blind-spot monitoring, and parking sensors! Other than the turning radius, my 2nd Gen didn't have these features.
- Towing: I haven't towed anything in my new Tacoma yet. However, it is funny to read that many people insist that a full-size truck is needed to tow anything. Over here in Europe, you see station wagons and crossover SUVs hauling RVs, boats, and trailers all over the autobahn.
- Access Cab v. Double Cab: My 2007 was an Access Cab, and it was fine when my kids were smaller. Double Cab has much more interior space and comfort for rear seat passengers; although, with the MT it lacks the Long bed.

 

Former GTI owner here as well currently on a market for a light truck. I'm torn between TACO and Ridgeline, Frontier is my option too, but it is SOOO OOOOLDDD!(new one in the pipeline they say) Anyway, nice crowd here. I test drove the 18' Tacoma with AT and didn't feel nothing bad about the transmission, my main concern was lack of seat height adjustment. I couldn't quite find the most comfortable seating position here. Maybe I'm so used to bucket seats of my previous rides but the driving position was somewhat uncomfortable.

 

I will never buy a ridgeline. Ever. The GTI-Tacoma connection is probably because both are awesome at what they are designed to do. And we probably all enjoy driving and like doing outdoorsy type stuff. You can fit a ton of stuff in the hatch of a GTI and still enjoy driving, spend ~$600 on a tune and have over 300hp (in the new ones) and not look like a street racer. So much more refinement than a Japanese or American “hot hatch.” Tacoma’s can do basically everything you’d want to do in a mid size truck, they’re just not really ‘driver’ oriented I think is the best way to put it. Weekend warriors can take them in the hills to go camping or whatever, or they can be built into gnarly off road rigs or overlanders. I just need to win the lotto so I can have both because even getting a used 2nd gen without a shit ton of miles won’t be cheap.

 

The last VW I had was my Golf, 11 years and 200,000 Miles and some Asshat hit & ran and totalled it.

 

I've always wanted a Toyota truck, so I knew when it was time to shop for trucks, it was Tacoma or nothing, and I've been a Honda guy for the last 25 years. The Ridgeline wasn't even in the consideration.

I started looking for a Tacoma seriously about 3 years ago, and after starting in the $10k range, and seeing mostly trucks with 200k+ miles, I worked my way up to $20k and was still seeing trucks with 80-120k miles on them, albeit in good shape. At that point, it just made more sense to buy new and get a warranty and pick what I wanted color/style (Access Cab) that I wanted. I had searched for a 2nd gen exclusively, but in the DC area finding a good used one costs almost the same as new.

I love this truck! At the end of the day I am glad I waited for the 3rd gen. I think the interior is more upscale and I also like the 3.5 and the increased MPGs. There's a lot of dislike for the trans, but IMHO, some of it is misplaced. You can get the tune or press the ECT button and mash the gas and it takes off. On the other hand, I got 24.6 MPG on my last road trip and that's averaging 70+ mph with bigger tires and mixed driving.

 

I get 23 mpg combined in Canadian gallons and my transmission does not hunt. It downshifts quite easy but that is for fuel mileage. My truck sits level and I pass anyone I want. And I am not nuts, maybe you are. If you are that unhappy, sell your truck.