What truck did you come from and how does the Tacoma compare - Not bashing

Honestly I fit in the Tacoma perfectly. I'm 5'10"ish and the leg room was very similar. That was also my biggest concern since so many complained about the seating position and general lack of room. When I test drove one the second I sat down that all went away lol! The only noticeable difference was the decrease in head room. I have the sunroof equipped so that lowers the roof about an inch or so. I have the leather seats as well and they are pretty dang comfortable compared to the 13+ year old worn cloth seats in the Dakota. My biggest advice is simply make sure you go for a long test drive!

 

I think I sounded a bit harsh talking about the Dakota in that post haha! I did love the thing or I wouldn't have had it for as long as I did. I fully expect to have a list of gripes about the tacoma in 10 years

 

Came from a 3/4 ton 4x4 suburban with 8.1L. Tacoma fits everywhere better, is more reliable, lower maintenance and running costs, tows much worse (no surprise, got rid of TT anyway) and is less comfortable. They both worked about the same in the snow.

 

Traded in a 2011 Nissan Frontier Pro 4X - Bought new in Sep 2010 / Traded up for a 2019 Tacoma Off Road in Oct 2018.

Driving Experience: Frontier - Smooth, handled pretty good, but kind of mushy. No real complaints. Got me where I needed to go.
Tacoma - Drives stiffer, handles much better, more responsive. Not mushy, love the traction control and how the computer senses things to compensate for ...quick turns or tight curves. Love driving it much more than the Frontier.

Gas Mileage: Frontier was probably 12-13 in city and 16-17 highway. Tacoma is averaging about 16 in the city and the last road trip (2 Hours on highway) I was averaging 20.

Interior: Frontier technology was basic, but had nice leather power seats. Tacoma is sharper and it is a night and day difference from the Frontier in the interior and Stereo. Technology sure did improve since 2011.

Offroad: Frontier was not really bad, but the Tacoma Off Road (When I took it off road in the old stock configuration) blew the Frontier away! Now with my mods / upgrades is not even a close competition now.

Miscellaneous: I have an addiction now. My Tacoma sure did put me into a modding / upgrading frenzy. Since I keep vehicles for a long time.. I wanted to make it "Mine" at the beginning and have the rig I wanted. I have found that I keep seeing things I want to do to it / buy for it. Good thing my wife is super cool.

 

I came from a long Dodge lineage and the last one I owned and used as a trade in was a 2003 RAM 2500 4x4. It was a beast. Had dual exhaust. Wife loved it but never dared drive it. Got rear end twice and nothing major. On one of those, it was an Escalade behind me. We were both at a stop. He thought the green light turned for us and floored it right into my truck. Got out. Looked at my bumper with a few small scratches and a dent. Looked at his Escalade and the whole damn front looked like it was on the front seat of his SUV. The whole front end was gone! That truck was my Mini-Tank. BUT times have changed. We live in a apartment complex in the bay area. Parking is a bitch, even more trying to find a spot when we go out. In a little over 10 years, I used the 4x4 a handful of times. And that was during some rain just to say I've actually used it.

It was time for a change. I wanted something smaller yet had to be a pick up. Our first Toyota was my wife's Camry. Back when she lived in SoCal, she lived in the high desert. That car was pretty much her rally car. It went through so much beating yet that car was amazing. From that point on, we decided we were going to stick to Toyota's seeing how reliable they are.

Our daughter was born last year. Few months before, it was time to get a newer and better shaped car. We got a 17 Rav4. 2 yrs after, I traded the black beast a 3 weeks ago and got a 17 Tacoma OR. I'm happy to say we are a Toyota family. Never gave it a second thought. I loved the Taco the moment I took it for a test drive at the dealership. That's my new commuter warrior. It moves so smooth through traffic. I came across this website and it's like finding the door into the dark web, with so many modification ideas, I'm like . I could've sold the RAM on my own and gotten way more than what I was given at the dealer but it was time and needed a car the wife can drive for any emergency with our daughter. I'm happy with that decision. I love this truck.

P.S. my dad still has his Dodge Nitro. Mom's still has her big Dodge Conversion Van (for the long trips). My brother still has his 02 RAM 1500 but has started converting to Subaru... they all love the Taco though

 

I drove an 05 F250 with the 6.0 diesel daily for seven years. Still use it for the bigger jobs, but it's partially retired and it only sees 6,000 to 7,000 miles on it per year now. For the most part it still runs good and drives nice for a truck with 285,000 on it.

 

2016 RAM 3500 Cummins High Output => 2018 Tacoma TRDOR DCLB

The RAM was a towing machine but I love going off-road and camping so I sold the big truck + big trailer and I down sized back to my favorite vehicle and a much smaller trailer.

 

Traded my 2013 FJ Cruiser in for a 2019 Cement TRD 4x4 Sport Access Cab automatic. Hated to give up the FJ but with 175K miles and in need of a fair amount of maintainance, decided it was time. Told the sales staff I was either walking out with a brake job or a new truck depending on the #s. Had to work him for a few hours but managed to get a decent price, fair trade in value, military rebate and 1.9 financing. Really miss the FJ but looking forward to having a pick up again. Too soon for much of a comparison, but think the Taco ride is a bit firmer, a bit more road noise, engine feels less torqey than FJ and stereo isn't as nice sounding but technology is much more current in the Taco. Hope it treats me as well as the FJ did!

 

Had an FJ cruiser too, manual transmission. Great SUV except for the scratch prone interior which wouldn't be such a big deal except for its supposed rugged nature. Barely an improvement in mpg since it had full time awd so it was expected to take a small hit in fuel economy. Supposedly had issues with throwout bearing, frame rails cracking, but I didn't see it personally. If they made an FJ truck now in manual, I'd buy one in a second, but the Tacoma is pretty good overall. The manual shifter is much better IMHO and less rev hang too.

 

I traded an ‘07 Dodge 2500 diesel for my Tacoma.
Fuel economy is pretty much the same.
Ride quality about the same.
I miss the power and I’m not fond of the 4,5,6 gear hunting.
I’ve never owned a Toyota so far no buyers remorse/regrets.

 

After a Woman Driver customized my 25 year old 2.3L Ford ranger, I went STRAIGHT to the 2.7L Tacoma. Similar mileage, Way more power in the Taco, more payload in Taco. The brand new radio works fine, station presets suck. Ground clearance now seems much better. My labs have given it their seal of approval (copious doghair). We'll see if my SKS likes living in the back footwell.

I'm making friends w/ the automatic transmission.

Do NOT like all the cameras, radar, seat belt dinger/door dinger nanny stuff. Wish they had given me an ARB air locker and a frontal Low Light Camera instead of all the TSS crapola. TSS should stand for Tungsten Super Shot, people.

Before it was totalled, I was going to drive that ancient rust free 4 cylinder 2WD Ford for another 10 years, so what do I know, anyhow. What I know, is that I could climb upside down under the Ford dash, locate that fing door dinger module thing and unplug it, that's what I know. WTH is it on the Tacoma? God Knows. If I ever commit murder, it'll be over the Tacoma door dinger.


My old Ford at the Charcoal Kilns in Death Valley. Rest In Pieces, old hunting/backpacking truck.

 

Technically coming from an 01 but I still drive it from time to time

 

I came from a 2010 F150 5.4 with 3.55 gears

I loved that I had a 35 gallon tank so I could stretch out my trips, sadly the Tacoma does not have that option.

the cab is much smaller but i can take this truck places i couldnt/wouldnt with the Ford

I had my Ford since new and put 160k on it i really enjoyed that truck i hope the Tacoma can be around as long if not longer.

 

95 T100 longbed reg cab V6. A bit more comfortable and modern. T100 would haul a bit more.

 

Came from a 1996 Chevy k1500 reg cab short bed. 4x4 350ci and 5 speed MT.

The Chevy had boatloads of low end torque compared to the taco. But rode harsh and got about 10-12 mpg city and 16-18mpg highway.

Tacoma is worlds better. Less road noise. Smoother ride. Gas mileage is better but not a huge improvement.

 

Well here we go....
Had a couple Subaru’s ... 2005 STi, 2013 STi, 2012 Impreza.... miss the hell out of my 05 and the fuel sipping 12.
Had a couple beaters, 1994 ranger and 2003 focus... both kinda fun with the 5-speeds and good gas mileage.

As far as the last few trucks it goes like this,

2007 Tacoma trd off road,
Should have kept that truck but I had wished I had gotten a manual and ended up going to the Toyota dealer with a coworker to look at Tacoma’s with him. Ended up impulse buying a the next truck because it looked awesome and the dealer gave me what I had originally paid for the Tacoma.

2014 Tundra SR5,

I thought it looked great, loved the way it drove, interior was absolutely massive, with a Corsa exhaust it sounded great, power was plentiful. That truck LOVED gas, and after living with it a while I decided I wanted the new Tacoma so I traded.

2016 Tacoma trd off road,

I liked the truck overall but found myself regretting pulling the trigger so fast. I wanted a white one with a manual but ended up with a silver one in automatic, poor decision. I ended up talking myself into a bigger truck again because of my daughter being born but deep down I was just unhappy I didn’t get what I wanted originally.

2017 Silverado LTZ midnight with a 6.2,

I absolutely loved the power this truck made in every rpm, it was fast for a full size truck. I had put a Corsa exhaust on it and had the truck tuned by black bear, it sounded fantastic. Interior was very nice, I miss the space, heated/ventilated seats, heated steering wheel. Fuel economy was pretty good for a full size but 93 octane gets expensive...
I decided I wanted to trade because I wanted less of a payment with 2nd child on the way and I absolutely HATED the 8-speed in that truck. That transmission was garbage and since I tuned the truck I got worried about warranty concerns. Black trucks are WAY too much work to keep nice. The ride was very rough on small bumps and road imperfections. I still had a love for the Tacoma and decided I liked the way the Tacoma’s drove better than the full sized trucks so here we are.

2019 Tacoma trd off road

I got the manual I had missed in the 16 and I love this magnetic gray. I am excited to slowly modify to my liking and actually keep something for a long time. . . Next vehicles will be something for wife, another Subaru (maybe the ascent) or a 4Runner, and I would like another “fun” car... maybe a corvette, shelby gt350, or another STi.

 

Whats gonna happen in 6 months or so when the Magnetic Gray Trd Pro's hit the dealer lots? Uh oh.

 

2015 Cummins to a 2019 TRD Off Road. With our first baby on the way, the $90 fill-ups and expensive maintenance had to go. Plus my wife was terrified to even try driving it... I miss my beast but I never really used it for what it’s made for

 

The red Tacoma badges look good on your truck. Did you dip them?

 

Yes, it’s Plasti-dip. I did red tailgate letters, did the center cap logos, and red shackles rings on front bumper. Just for some accent as well