Are 3rd gens really as bad as they seem?

I was seriously considering getting a Tacoma for my next vehicle but now I am having serious doubts.

For years I have always heard about how reliable and problem free Toyotas are but based on how many negative posts and horror stories I see on this board it seems like the 3rd gen Tacoma is really bad.

My main motivation for wanting to get a Tacoma was for the supposed bulletproof reliability and great resale value but if this forum is to be believed they seem to be horribly built pieces of crap.

Most other competitor forums are full of people showing off their trucks and talking about how much they love them with an occasional problem here or there. This forum however seems like it is full of problems with the occasional positive thread.

Are Toyotas and specifically Tacomas really still good or has the company jumped the shark and is simply still coasting on their past reputation?

 

No, the third gen forum is just a mess

 

20k miles and Ive had 0 issues. Youre on a forum where everyone wants to change everything so it probably seems like were bashing everything stock.

 

Welcome to Tacomaworld.....

 

In my opinion, any 3rd gen with a manual transmission and 4-wheel drive is good!

 

i traded my 13’ sr5 4x4 in on a brand new 17’ trd ofrd 4x4 no regrets i have 10,000 miles on it

 

I love my 3rd gen. Forums in general make things worse than they are. I’d say 99.9% of buyers don’t even think about getting online and talking about how much they like them.

 

18k miles and zero issues...don’t believe everything you read a lot of wine bags on here.

 

People come online when they have problems. Most don't post when they are problem free.

My 17 is great. Don't be scared they are awesome trucks. Test drive all kinds of trucks before you buy and make your own decision.

 

Great truck. Some folks simply expect to be something other than a truck and can't stop bitching about it.

 

I've got a 2016 and this is my 6th Toyota truck dating back to 1986. It's as good as any of the rest; it's just different and nobody likes different. You'll always find people that crap on whatever they don't own.

I wouldn't own any other make or model.

 

going on Tacomaworld and observing "a lot" of problems is similar to going to the hospital and observing a lot of sick people.

 

^^^^

 

People don't come looking for answers when they don't have a question. You'll find that lots of people are initially drawn to this place because they have a problem, so your sample group is going to be skewed.

I've had a couple problems, but they were all known issues, fixed under warranty, and unlikely to ever occur again.

 

in all honesty its a machine put together by humans with the assistance from robots...everything will have issues at some point because of human error but that is why they have warranties and recalls, don't sweat it man if you get one enjoy for as long as you can and if it does break get it fixed for free, find another or find something else to enjoy...people get hung up on 30k or more for it just to fall apart...houses get destroyed, wrecks happen, volcanoes erupt, tornadoes take out whole blocks, floods destroy stuff.... life happens man enjoy it is all i'm sayin

 

No problems, then again I don't run spacers and 285s then complain about my gas mileage or transmission

 

Taco sales were up 21% in May. Weird how everyone is rushing to buy these terrible trucks. Also weird how these junkers are holding their value at resale as well.

 

Over 10K miles on mine, not one actual real problem or failure. There are a few small things that I don't love about the truck or that I feel could be better but all in all it has been pretty solid.

 

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I put 315s on my Tacoma and now I have a horrible rubbing/grinding sound, WTF toyota you suck so bad never buying another one of these trucks anyone got advice on lemon law/class action

 

People complain more than they praise, you should know that by now. You go to any forum you will see that. IMHO all modern cars have their quirks, find what you like most and buy it. TBH I bought a tacoma this time around because the dealer had the least bullshit with them. I looked at Ford, Chevy, and Dodge also. Dodge was a close second as they were offering great rebates, but the shady dealer tactics put me off.