New Tacoma Buying Advice Needed

I have had a lot of Toyota trucks in the past, all the way back to the 22RE to the 3.4L 1st Gen. I am looking to downsize from my RAM 3500 Cummins (not going to be towing "heavy" anymore). I have no experience with anything newer than 2nd gen and up. I do have a 18' boat that I will still need to tow along with a small trailer, at times. I do have to back them up into my driveway which is sloped, so I am a little worried about roasting the clutch vs just letting the automatic ease its way up. I live in an area that is mountainous and winters can be very treacherous at times (mountain passes). Outside of these conditions, I commute to work in a mostly level rural drive - 30 mins each way.

What would be better, manual or automatic transmission? Most of my previous Toyota trucks have been manuals in the past and I have liked them, but I did zero towing. Also never lived where it is packed ice and snow over mountain passes, pretty much all winter. Heard that the auto gets better MPG than the manual, and that the auto hunts for gears a lot. Thanks.

 

Auto all the way. I downsized from a diesel F250 King Ranch when I bought my 2018 DCSB-OR three months ago. No regrets yet.

 

I am still waiting for my 6MT but others have complained about reversing with loads on slopes.

 

If I were going to tow more than I do now (10X/yr) and the trailer was 3500 lbs I would:
A. Get a half ton (Tundra, Chevy, Dodge, Ford, etc)
B. Get an auto Taco (nowhere as good as a half ton for towing)
C. What I have now which is a manual Taco.

That is the order I would go with if I had to tow more than I do now. 3500 is of course doable with the Taco but the 1/2 tons do it much better.

I put it in 4LO when backing a trailer up my driveway in order to keep from roasting the clutch. It's a pain in the ass but I only have to do it every now and then.

More than ten times a year, more than 3500 lbs, I would have a half ton automatic. My .02.

 

Make sure you test drive.

 

as much as i love the 6mt Tacoma, and i have one.. it's the most fun vehicle I've ever owned.. if i were you i would avoid it with 18' boat anda sloped driveway needing a reverse gear. like you pointed out that will be a clutch roast jamboree.. a fun one tho.

 

What’s the boat weigh? I pull my 17.5’ boat with my 6MT. It’s about 2500 - 3000 lbs. also have a camper that’s 3500 - 4000 lbs. I have not had issues backing some people complain about but maybe I’m not backing up as steep an incline as some.

 

I tow my 17.5’ boat from PA to RI about 325 miles every year. It’s an auto with factory tow package no issues...truck pulls it like it’s not even there.

 

Auto vs Manual - auto makes more sense for sure.

Towing with a Tacoma - this would depend on the terrain and weight of your boat. But if you're talking 4k lbs or more, and hilly terrain, do yourself a favor and just get a 1/2 ton. Something like an F150. It'll tow way easier, safer, and get the same MPG as the Tacoma.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about an 18' boat, but I would go AT mainly because I am older now and it's easier, lol. I've towed a U-Haul car hauler (I seem to always get the really old heavy ones) with an old Celica loaded on it with a couple of 2nd gens, probably at least 4500 lbs, and AT temps stayed good even on long climbs. I wouldn't want to do that on a daily basis, but they did fine and I wouldn't worry about it with my 3rd gen.

As far as hunting for gears, the transmission will settle in after a while, and you kind of learn how to use the throttle to get the gear you want. At highway speeds, it does shift a bit more than I would expect, but it shifts smoothly and doesn't really bother me -- it conserves fuel when it can and gives you power when you need it. People going directly from a 2nd gen to a 3rd gen seem to expect it to drive the same as their old truck, but it is a different engine and transmission (although I kind of agree that the ratios are a little odd). I'm a light-footed driver for the most part, and mine stays in higher gears more often without downshifting now.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. I pulled the trigger on one last night. It was hard to find Cement OR in a long bed. Had to travel 300 miles round trip to get it, but sure glad I did. I went with the Auto as well.

 

Very nice truck. Congratulations

 

Nice.

How do you like the AT?

 

very good choice and great ride

 

Congrats! Welcome to the DCLB Cement club!

 

I pull 5k and look in the mirror occasionally too make sure its still there its that smooth.

 

wrong with the gas mileage and and F150. I just traded in my 2011 F150 with 3.5L ecoboost cause I was only getting like 13.5 mpg without towing and like 9.5-10.5 mpg towing my boat. My 2018 Tacoma Sport DCSB is getting about 20-21 mpg without towing and about 16-18 with towing the same exact boat and in the same locations. No issues with my Tacoma towing it either. My boat is about 4k lbs and I live at 3900' elevation with lots of mountain driving.

 

Too early to tell, but overall shifts good. Seems to get up and go when it needs to. However, driving up mountain passes it is hard to get it to not want to shift down to 6th trying to get better gas mileage. Might need to lock out 6th when going up those longer passes. I also came from a truck with 900 lbs of torque at a lower RPM so it feels a little lackluster in how fast it speeds up, but that is not the fault of the truck. That is simply me being used to that huge Cummins.

 

You had an older F150. I had a 2.7L Ecoboost 4wd SCrew, aluminum body, and regularly got 23-24mpg Highway. I’m just south of you and live at around 5k ft.