Considering a 3rd Gen Taco, want some advice...

Hi guys, new member here, not a Toyota owner currently but I'm considering it and I'd like your help on deciding. I'll give a little background first before I get into my questions. Also my apologies it looks like this post has ended up kinda long...

So I've owned a 2009 Ford Ranger Sport 4x4 for the last year and a bit. It's been my first truck and first 4 wheel drive vehicle. While the Ranger has been a reliable truck for work and play, a few things have started to really bug me about it:

The ride quality is just plain terrible. It makes for unconfident driving where potholes pose a serious control-loss hazard, and highway driving is just flat out unpleasant. My wife finds it terrifying at times.

The power steering is below average. Since passing my test I've started driving trucks for work, and my Ranger is probably the worst for steering out of any other truck I've driven. From what I can tell it's basically because Ford put a really wimpy pump in it. This especially sucks off road.

The cabin is cramped. I'm an average height guy (5'10) and I find my left knee presses uncomfortably against the door and the footwell is not quite wide enough for my right foot to rest nicely on the floor off the controls.

The headlights are, frankly, just dangerously bad. I've tried brighter bulbs and adjusting the aim, but no matter what I do the low beam barely reaches 50 feet in front of the truck. High beam is really poor too, and actually reduces the illumination of the road immediately ahead forcing me to use the fog lights. In fact, I'd say that even though it throws the light further, it's probably only 70% of the brightness of the low beam.

It's not just the headlights that are dangerous, overall crash safety is poor. It was behind the times even when it was a brand new truck, but it's just dire now compared to newer vehicles. It got a whole lot worse when I got a letter from Ford telling me that I *might* have a shrapnel grenade where my passenger airbag was supposed to be. That's right in front of my wife every time we go out in it. Sorry Ford but you lost a customer on that one.

The fit and finish is... mediocre. Going over bumps you can hear all the plastic panels creaking together and it overall just feels like a really cheap truck. The chassis also kinda just creaks and groans over obstacles like potholes and speed bumps.

Not the truck's fault, but I'm getting kinda tired of the retro look and have started to want something with a more modern "mil-spec" looking overland backcountry off roader. I'm also starting to dislike how narrow the truck looks when on the road compared to other vehicles out there... the more I see other Rangers the more I realise how kinda goofy they look.

So I've been looking at the Toyota Tacoma as a possible upgrade. It's a truck I've always liked the look of, but had some reservations about because of some things I've heard.

Curious to see what can be done with the Tacoma, I came across this: http://builttacomas.com/2016-tacoma-king-coilovers-35-inch-general-grabbers/

I love the way this thing looks and would like to do a very similar build.

Now I know that I should obviously go test drive a Taco, and believe me I'm pretty excited to do so, but a test drive is different to living with a truck and impressions can change over time. That's why I'd like your input. Taco owners seem to really love their trucks so I'm hoping your enthusiasm can convince me.

Taking into consideration the issues I've had with my Ranger, on to the questions:

How do you think the ride quality of a gen 3 would compare to my Ranger? Do you think I'd feel more confident driving it, both on highway and city streets? I've heard that the steering doesn't feel as confident as say, the Colorado ZR2, do you think there's any truth in that?

How's the interior for room and comfort? Fit and finish and sound level? I've heard that the seats and driving position are kinda uncomfortable. However that seems to run contrary to all the people who take these trucks on long road trips and overland expeditions. I'm not a sloucher, I like to sit a bit more upright while driving. Thoughts?

How's the power? One negative I've heard is that between the Atkinson cycle engine and the transmission it can be kinda gutless. I'm not expecting a sports car, it's a truck after all, but I do at least want an improvement over the Ranger. How are those of you with bigger tires finding it? Anyone have any problems with transmission hunting? Has anyone had any luck with tuners or intakes, or both?

What kind of MPG are you guys getting in your specific configuration?

How do you find the headlights? How's the road illumination? I've heard that they're the best in the segment, but still only "marginal" according to the IIHS. My interpretation of their test is that they've marked the truck down because of a lack of directional lighting, but in real world driving does anyone actually find it that bad?

And lastly, what do you love about owning your truck? What's something about it that if you knew before owning it would've made you jump on one sooner?

Thanks guys I really look forward to your input!

 

I know you mentioned it in your list, but an Extended Test Drive is the best thing you can do and will answer a lot of your questions. I have an Off Road Manual and it Rides, Handles, and Brakes very good and gets a pretty respectable 20 MPGs.

 

You are on a site filled with fanboys so most are going to tell you why it's awesome.

I think it had a pretty embarrassing transmission--it has no idea what gear it needs to be in. The rest of the driving inclures clunks, vibrations, and rumbles and over half experience a significant whining/howling from the rear differential. They have released service bulletins for some of these but they arent 100% fixes in most cases. The rear leafs sqeak like a wooden cart in the Sahara.

They look great. They might run forever but they aren't going to do it quietly. It has some cool features (eg crawl control) but it's also missing some pretty standard things (eg automatic seats, gas cap holder).

There are tunes available for the truck but it's another $1k+ iirc and it has been pretty rough on the already lackluster gas mileage. I was getting 18 combined city highway.

Edit : as far as power, it has plenty. I don't get why anyone thinks it doesn't. The transmission is what let's it down, but like I said, if you have $1k more to drop and are willing to risk your warranty, you can get a tune that helps. There is also the shift sense pro which was great.

The steering and handling was pretty great for a truck. I had no problems with it. The steering wheel feels substantial and it's pretty responsive.

 

X1000. Test drive
Don't take the word of a bunch of strangers on the internet! We welcome you to Tacomaworld and all, but everything you said in your post is objective and every opinion is different. For example, lack of power to a guy who drives a F350 diesel is different than lack of power from a fuy who drives a Yaris.
Test drive multiple times over multiple weeks. Get it right. Drive different routes. Drive different models. I did. Good luck and test drive test drive test drive.

 

The MPG will definitely be an improvement regardless of the model. I considered a used Ranger 4x4, but that V6 is a gas hog.

 

Dude. I love my truck. Read what I wrote. No bullshit as some of us are adults here, not a bunch of kids.

 

Yea I know. I was shocked

I also gave it credit where it's due. I'm still hanging around because deep down I want this truck to be great, so I can buy one again. I can't handle howls or buzzing brakes though. They sort that stuff out and I could overlook some of the smaller things.

 

Thanks for the replies guys I really appreciate it, keep 'em coming.

Just want to add that I'm well aware that I'm in a place where there's likely to be a lot of bias, I fully expect it. But I also know from experience with my Ranger that there tends to be a lot of misinformation floating around. Sometimes the best guys to ask are the guys who own the truck. All the information I have about the truck come from reviews, and guys who review trucks have a nasty habit of comparing everything to the best thing they ever drove.

Speaking of which, as for asking about the power and whether it's being compared to a F350 or a Yaris, I'm asking you to compare to a Ranger and also to what you feel the truck *should* be able to achieve for what it is in it's own category. I get that it's still subjective, but I know from my Ranger that it's honestly a bit slow for the amount of power it has "on paper". When test driving a Nissan Frontier with a very similar engine, albeit with a few more horses and torque, I found it was worlds apart from the Ranger - I had to be careful with the throttle because it kept wanting to break loose. I was expecting it to be slightly better, because it had slightly more power, but in practice it was *miles* better.

And yes, I should and will form my own opinions through test driving but like I said, you guys *live* with your trucks. Test driving a truck you're excited about is different from owning it. When I test drove my Ranger I had a grin from ear to ear and immediately rushed back to the dealer to sign on the dotted line. Now that I've lived with it I've gotten a very different impression.

 

Well things are a lot more advanced from when your Ranger was new, the Frontier you drove is like a 15 year old Platform so its not all that different from what you currently have. The Powertrain in the Tacoma is different and something you really need to test drive as much as you can to see if it is for you.

 

I bought a Tacoma because I’ve had A bunch of Toyota’s in the past a really like the reliability. I had a ‘12 SR5 access cab manual that I leased. Good solid truck, really in its element off the pavement. My ‘17 TRD Off Road AC MT is phenomenal off road, but the build quality of the interior is lacking( Lots of rattles for truck in this price range) and the audio/nav sucks (easily replaced).but like the others said take it for a test drive. All in all, I’m real happy with my purchase!

 

Two words - Resell. Value.

Seriously I love my Tacoma. First truck I've ever owned but I got the 2018 Sport Premium package (leather/sunroof) in a manual trans. I couldn't be happier with it.

 

@90yota, looks like you might need to share about some of the mods your ride has to offer!

 

None of this has really been representative of my experience.

Oh and why do people complain about a gas cap holder exactly? You can just string the cap in the gas door clip and it keeps it perfectly out of the way.

 

Or you can always get the “gasshole” gas cap attachment!

 

Is a gas cap holder really a complaint? You have to be f'ing kidding right? Some of these complainers need to just stop.

OP i love my truck. Test drive, see if you like it. If so buy it if not dont. Just dont do what most did here. Drove it, bought it then come here and do nothing but complain. That makes no sense at all

 

I had a 2016 Tacoma, and I loved it. It rode and handled great, but I had lots of issues start popping up at about 500 miles in. It got to the point I was very unhappy and traded it for a 4runner. Some issues have since been ironed out and I keep watching, because one day I really want to get another Tacoma. It is a very nice midsize pickup, I just happened to get a factory oops. Oh well, life happens.
The best thing for you to do is test drive extensively a bunch of different models with different features. Just because others like it, doesn’t mean you will. Test drive, test drive, test drive, test drive!!

 

Before my 17 tacoma I had an 01 ranger that I loved. But it's was getting old and kept having problems. I made the switch and will never look back. I went with an mt so I can't speak for the auto trans problems you always hear about but with the mt it is equal to or better than the ranger 4.0 power wise and better on gas. The steering is much better, ranger steering sucks. The overall build quality of the interior is also much better, but that could be partially because my ranger was already 10 years old when I got it. There are also basically unlimited options on the tacoma when it comes to modifications which is nice. Obviously test drive and see what is right for you but I personally love may taco and have absolutely no regrets

 

Ironically, I drove an 09 Ranger Sport 4x4 prior to getting my 17 tacoma. It wasn’t my primary car, but I drove it regularly and loved it......mine had relatively low mileage (50k) and was in really clean shape when I decided to trade it and downsize cars (number of cars) and get the Tacoma. Here in the Midwest, those rangers are very popular and one in good shape will fetch good money. When I traded, I was offered $13k in trade for mine!....it was bought off the lot within a couple days of me trading it. It was super clean, had leather, etc.

The two biggest gripes I had about the ranger was the fuel Econ and the ride. As you stated, if you hit a hole or dip in the road, it was bone jarring! Now I didn’t mind it so much not being my daily driver, but that was one of the reasons that kept me from just downsizing and driving it daily as a primary vehicle. That and the fact that the mileage on the 4.0 engine was atrocious. Winter time I was seeing 14mpg sometime. At best I would get 17. In general, the ranger was just dated in every way....which was fine, but i was ready for something a bit nicer.

Compared to the ranger, the ride of the Tacoma is immensely better and cabin noise is like a Lexus in comparison. That will be easy for you to determine for yourself when you test drive.

A lot of what you read about the Tacoma engine power and transmission issues is true.....there are some annoyances. The ranger was no rocket, but it had a fair amount of lower end torque. The Tacoma requires you to wind it up a bit more to get the torque in comparison. The shift programming on the Tacoma (automatic) is apparently intended to boost fuel economy.....it tries to get into the highest gear possible as quickly as possible. This makes it feel a bit gutless and underpowered at times and is what most folks gripe about on this truck.

That said, you may be perfectly fine with the power delivery of the Tacoma coming from the ranger......I’m betting you will be. My advice is to have a long test drive and be sure to drive the types of roads you typically drive daily. The shifting behavior that drove me the most crazy was on the highway doing around 70mph.....the fact that the truck would not hold 6th gear (hills, wind, etc cause constant downshifting to 5th) and cruise was not really very useable because of erratic shifting. Some people are totally fine with it as it is.

FWIW, there are a couple of remedies available to help with both the power delivery and goofy shifting of the Tacoma. I used a Shift Sense Pro for about 10k miles and it helps A LOT (go read about them). Recently I decided to buy the OVTune and it has essentially resolved all the issues I had with the truck. It feels quicker and shifts like it should now.

For some perspective, my other car (my daily driver) that I traded along with the ranger in order to get the Tacoma was a WRX. In all fairness, many of my gripes with the Tacoma were because I had come from a faster turbocharged (manual) car and driving the Tacoma daily as a replacement was a bit of a let down initially. I mean..... I knew what I was getting into, but still. the ranger was no rocket ship.....you may have no complaints with how the Tacoma drives.

 

I've owned seven 4x4 vehicles over the years.

The last time I went car shopping was in 2007. I looked at the new 2nd Gen Tacomas at a few Toyota dealers. It seemed (on the outside) to be the perfect sized truck for me (after always owning full sized V8 Chevys & Fords).

I'm 6'4" tall.

The 2nd Gen just didn't fit me well at all after test drives. There was virtually no wiggle room from the dealers on pricing either (was shopping in June).


I wound up buying a new 2007 Nissan Frontier double cab manual transmission 4x4.

It was an excellent truck and one that served me very well.

Last October I decided it was time to buy a new truck.

Went back to the Nissan place and couldn't help but notice the 2017 Frontiers looked pretty much like my 2007 did, lol. It's a classic look and they've not done much appearance wise to change it.

Test drove their Titan....then a couple F150's......and K1500's......and finally a RAM 1500.

The 4x4 versions of these were well above what I wanted to pay....in addition to feeling like I was driving a land yacht. I wanted sorta what I had....a daily driver that would get decent mileage, 4x4 for hunting/fishing and such and look good, too.


I headed over to the Toyota dealer and looked at Tundras and Tacomas.

Once I test drove a Tacoma it was all over. At 6'4" tall I was very comfortable and really liked everything about it. It drove great....looked great and just made sense. Good discounting, too....due to shopping in late October they were rolling out the remaining '17 stock.


A few days after getting my 2017 SR5 DCSB AT I found out about a group buy here on TW for Wet Okole seat covers. I went by a local shop and looked closely at them. I really liked what I saw....but their pricing was absolutely blown away by the excellent TW group buy.

They add some nice padding and really feel great. Their brand of soap works perfectly, too. I've had grease and such come right off. Same thing with coffee spills. I also opted for their lumbar adjustment & heated seat. Their lumbar is in addition to the lumbar adjustment that is integral to the factory seats. Very comfortable.


I run the seat fairly upright, too. Visibility in side window & windshield is better than my Frontier was. It's so good, in fact, that I'm probably going to add the Weathertech in-channel shades that will allow me to leave the windows cracked without worry about rain. This has been an impossibility for me in my Frontier.

You asked about power.....I was goofing around yesterday while out driving around town. I shot a couple vids while playing with the ECT button and just goofing around and loving the sound of the Flowmaster Super44 I added a month ago. The truck runs well, much to my liking. I have zero complaints.


The videos are slow to upload for some reason. Here is one right after I had the Flowmaster installed....getting on the interstate. Was going 70+ by the time I hit the bottom and merged onto interstate. Smooth power and I wasn't getting on it at all. Radio on 14, I believe...not too much unwanted exhaust noise. Smooth driving truck.


https://youtu.be/w4Gq-kv0QwY



It has been getting some impressive mileage, too.


This will likely change next Wednesday....I'm getting some new tires put on....they are much heavier than the factory Destination LE's that came on it (these rode really, really well).


Last week....coming home from work. 11 miles of rolling hills interstate along with 11 miles of stop & go traffic with a dozen stoplights. Didn't run the cruise control on these trips.












One of the first drives home from work after buying the Tacoma.










This next pic is a testament to the great comfort I have driving this truck. I'm 49 years old and both my knees are overdue for replacement. Football injuries, prior surgeries on each knee and just crappy genes have worn them out. Knee pain is actually one of the driving forces for me to buy a new truck last October. I was struggling some days coming from work....having to stop midway and walk around. It's only a 22 mile freaking drive and I was stopping halfway due to severe knee pain.

So....I buy the Tacoma and shorty after went to go visit my parents. I stopped at some point for gas and drove the next 311 miles non-stop. This was when I really knew....real deal no kiddin' KNEW that I'd made a wise choice in trucks.






The only downside I can see in owning a 3rd Gen Tacoma is that you will never run out of cool stuff to buy for it. Seems like not a day off work occurs without me buying something new for my truck.

Sometimes it's just little stuff....sometimes it's a bit more pricey.






Tires & tint coming this week. Still trying to make up my mind over black out or white letters out. I'm leaning towards black out.










Next will be light bar & ditch lights.

You asked about the lights on the Tacoma. I have been very, very pleased with the factory lighting for the most part. Part of my commute to work is through a heavily wooded area with deer crossing all the time. The times I make this drive is in the dark both ways. That's why I'd like to add the ditch lights and have the tied in with my high beams.

The one part of the lighting that I wasn't pleased with was the reverse lights. They were fairly weak and didn't perform as I wanted them to. Easily changed out. I also went ahead and changed the map & overhead cab lights at the same time. Low cost upgrades that simply took a few minutes. Dramatic difference.






Daytime comparison...factory on one side....LED on the other.







Factory:






LED:









Reverse lights at night. Tremendous difference !!!!







Great rear coverage on both sides of vehicle....very helpful when turning while backing up:







Simply hit the key fob remote to unlock doors and it now lights up really well:












Compared to my wife's 2018 RAV4:








Goofing around with the key fob last night while grilling some burgers 'n brats.




















Mean little afterglow on the amber DRL ^^^^ Would be wicked with some colored LED internal lights, lol

 

I've heard the cabin is smaller compared to other trucks (tall folks might have head issues). But I am 5'9" and have a 2017 offroad double cab and it's fine to me. Like the others have said, just sit in one and drive around.

Maybe taller folks can give their take.