Is the 4 Cyl. more reliable?

Of course if I load up the bed in my 4-banger I will expect it to be slow, that's just the way it goes and I accepted that truth before I bought it. It has done everything I ever asked it to do.
And everyday driving, no load in normal traffic with moderate throttle, it does great.
Would I win a race? Hell no. Does that matter? Not at all. We all have to stop at the next red light

 

That's a good one. A 2.7 west of Denver? I couldn't even imagine that climb. I'd be in 3rd gear at 4000+ rpm all the way to the tunnel and that doesn't count the rest of the trip over to UT and that's mty.

 

I don’t think wanting a truck with respectable passing power is “racing”.

If stopping in a shorter distance is a potential safety advantage, so isn’t acceleration.

 

Anything is possible with enough tail wind.

 

I don’t doubt that getting out of a POS Ford is better. But really, 150 fewer HP isn’t more responsive by the numbers.
Besides, if low end is important to you, the 4.0 is the way to go. The 2.7 doesn’t give away much to the 3.5 around town. But the 4.0 below 50 is a deferent ball game. The 3,5 is more like that Ford you think you have to wind up just to wake up the squirrels in the cage,

 

The 2TR-FE is an ancient design. It is one of the very few engines available without direct injection, it has the block from the previous 4 banger, closed deck cast iron, and, other than VVTI, has basically nothing remotely fancy about it. It has a conservative redline (stress rises as a square of piston speed). It is heavy, inefficient, and simple. That makes for reliable (think of other known excellent engines like the 6BT 12 valve cummins and 4.0 jeep). No other current engine (other than the soon to be discontinued 5.7 toyota V8, the 4.0 toyota V6, maybe the also on its way out 6.2 ford V8) are even close.

The fact that it ships in hilux to third world countries and is much loved in abusive situations also bodes well for reliability.

And tacos ship with and toyota recommends synthetic oil and very good lubricants. Likely completely unnecessary, but again, good for long term.

Most telling, where are the owners complaining about engine failures? They don’t seem to exist AT ALL. Go to any other vehicle forum and its all “my car is broken” ... “they all have that break.”

When I went vehicle shopping to replace my TDI VW, (I have a lot of cars, but I want an extraordinarily reliable driver), I did a ton of research as to THE most reliable new vehicle and it was painfully clear that was a 4 cylinder 5 speed taco ... so I bought one. You know what’s gone wrong in 4 years? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My only complaint is that there is about 1mm or play in the rear view mirror so over big bumps it moves a very slight amount. It uses zero oil, and I mean not even a fraction of a quart. It has never done anything weird at all. It’s always the same.

I have $100 worth of Eastwood products to maintain the frame because, as far as I can tell, 4 banger tacos die from frame rust and accidents and that’s about it. That’s my solution after almost having the frame removed and galvanized when new (I have issues, don’t ask).

To be sure, the 4.0 V6 is also a very good engine, but I fully expect that I will die before my 4 banger Taco and I am not that old. Especially because I maintain it to the same standard as my GT3 Porsche. Both only get the best of everything, and they get serviced at half the miles as recommended by the manufacturer. Given that I have managed to not so reliable cars (land rovers) to high miles and long life, I think Taco will be fine.

There are almost no other vehicles that I have anything near the confidence in as a 4 banger taco — TLC, tundra, corolla 6MT maybe, but you can’t find anything like the reputation of the 4 banger tacos. Layer on the facts that, because of their value proposition/relatively low cost that they are often bought by those of more limited means who may be less inclined to proper servicing and are often used in hard duty applications such as commercial use, their reputation for reliability is all the more impressive.

 

I am also curious as to what new vehicle is actually slower than a 4 banger taco? I can’t think of one ....

 

That's because you've (understandably) forgotten that the Mitsubishi Mirage exists.

I've found the Tacoma plenty capable for my driving style, especially with the ECT Power button pressed because I could only get an Auto for 2019.

 

Hopefully Ford's new 7.3L pushrod will fall into that class. It has port-fuel injection and power of 58hp/Liter which is on par with the 2TR-FE's 59hp/L, and both lower than Toyota's 5.7 at 66hp/L. They say the engine is all low-end torque with nothing up high; made to tow and last forever. We'll see.

 

quite a few. so many companies have gone to shitty engine/transmission packages in the name of fuel.

we were going to buy a Subaru Forester XT but it was discontinued. we took a 2019 out for a test spin and it was god awefully slow. it clocks in at 8.3-9.6 seconds for 0-60 depending on the reviewing company

 

. You’re right, nothing new except.....ready, the Subaru crosstek would give it a walk for its money. They are super dogs.

 

This is an important point. My friend has a 2011 Dodge Ram and he recently replaced his engine at about 150,000 miles. That's probably not surprising to Dodge Ram owners. It's probably far less likely that Tacoma owners need to drop in new engines because theirs failed on them. Imagine the added costs associated with repairs on non-Toyota trucks.

 

I have had my 4 cylinder 5 speed for 7 years with normal maintenance (oil changes, filters, brake fluid, etc.). It has never given me any issues and I do load it up with a little over 1000 pounds several times a year. Not often enough to stress it. It will last well past 300k at this rate since we rarely salt the roads in western Washington.

I also have an old county 1997 Ford F250HD that I got at an auction and beat the hell out of it to save the Tacoma. It has 150k miles, I put 3000 pounds of gravel/sand/concrete/whatever in the bed, and keeps running. I put more maintenance into it and it has never left me stranded.

In my opinion, if you use today's vehicles within their capabilities, maintain appropriately, and drive them often, then they will likely be a reliable vehicle*.

* Excludes FCA vehicles w/o Cummins.

 

Recently watched a video about the do's and dont's of which trucks to buy and avoid and pretty much anything with some kind of fuel management system that turns off half the engine is wisely avoided (be it GM/Dodge etc). Most trucks pre 2008 are actually pretty reliable powertrain-wise as long as you avoid known problem children (Ford 5.4 3v).

(The guy did mention that you can do no wrong with any Toyota truck, by the way.)

My boss' '08 Dodge Ram is closing in on 200k miles and still looks and runs like a clock and he plans on owning it even after he gets another truck and another co-workers '04 F150 with the 5.4 2v is nearing 300k and has only experienced minor issues that are usually resolved with a sub-$10 part. But new off the lot, Toyota is the only brand I would buy anymore. I appreciate the innovation the American brands put into their trucks but most of it ends up looking half baked after the 10 year mark.

 

Original Dodge truck owners maybe more likely to trade or sell thier Trucks way before 150,000 miles. If the wife is from a “ non Toyota family” , she's easy to convince that’s normal. Otherwise, Toyota bred wives don’t put up with that s.h.i.t and get pissed easily with these repair bills.

 

Good points.
I too owned a couple of American trucks before I switched to Toyota’s. I had nothing major go wrong with either. But, tiny ill conceived fuel filters that clogged easily ( and needed after market replacement) gear shift linkage that would jam in second gear in traffic, and a carb spacer that loosened up every oil change it seemed and sucked air till you pulled the whole unit and retightened it, got wearing.

There was an alternator here and a heater fan there, and a plethora of switches and falling roof liners too. I just decided to give super boring Toyota’s a try. Other then routine fluids and filters, the repairs were all off road related like damaged underneath parts bouncing off rocks going places I never attempted in the my Chevys

The big convincer was trade in time ( when selling them outright was better) when I always sold Toyota trucks used to the first or second looker. These things literally, sell themselves for a fair price. Dodges and Chevys....be prepared to loose tons of money when you drive them off the lot.

 

If all the hype on the new Tundra comes through, nothing will beat the torque of a couple of electric motors, not even diesel power. Pound for pound, electric assist is easily the best bang for the buck......and no gas motor lasts as long. It’s a hybrid so batteries aren’t the issue when after market batteries for a Prius sell for little more then a major tune up at 150-200k miles.
The gas engines on hybrids are relieved of doing much grunt work and literally, can double their working life. That’s why you can expect the 3.5 to last as long as the venerable 5.7 it will replace........bug IF, all goes according to plan.

 

You're not the only one with those issues. Now have a t4r and would love to lift the body off the frame and galvanize everything

 

I think it’s too late.

 

Still waiting for my 4cyl 22RE to die (1993), but then again still waiting for my 5VZ to die as well (1999).

The 4 and 6 are all pretty bulletproof so to speak up until the turd gen CUV/minvan engine. That said it’s pretty widely noted that the 4 is marginally more so.