Anyone miss your full size truck after buying a Tacoma?

Do I miss it? Yes. Am I happier now with the Tacoma? Also yes. Loved my F350. Miss the power more than anything. Hard to beat a turbo diesel V8. That being said, no longer needed it after selling the large trailers I bought it to pull. It was a pain to park. Found myself taking the $500 beater Subaru everywhere I went and letting the truck sit weeks and weeks at a time because lets be honest, a crew cab 8 ft bed diesel truck is a pain to park anywhere. And being leaf sprung front and rear it rode horrible unloaded.

 

I have a 2018 F-150 Screw 2.7L EB 4x4 STX. It has spent weeks in the shop due to the transmission. Hard shifts, clunks, slipping after going from R to D, Downshifting 6 gears in rapid succession on interstate with cruise on at 70mph on level ground. The last time, the dealership replaced the valve body and after 1,000 miles, right back to poor behavior. To the dealership's credit, they have been very accommodating but Ford's quality is poor.

I would stay away from the Ranger 2.3L EB, too. That's the same motor as the Focus RS. Do a search and see how many RS motors have cracked blocks. Not good.

I have never owned a Toyota and I'm 52. I'm getting too old to deal with poor quality and unreliability. I'd like to find a truck that I could trust and that's why I joined this forum, to see if a Tacoma would be a wise decision. I start out as almost 6'4" in the morning but shrink down to 6'3" by the afternoon. I'm a little worried about the headroom but I've driven a couple 2020 Taco DCSB TRD OR and I felt like I had plenty of space. I like the 6MT the best. I believe the adaptive learning algorithms in the 10R80 automatic transmission is what's causing the failures in the Fords. With the 6MT, I'm the adaptive learning module and that's fine with me. The only thing that annoyed me with the 6MT was the high reverse gear ratio. What were they thinking?!

I do worry about back seat space because we occasionally take my 17yo daughter with us in the truck. But she has one year of high school left and then she'll be off to college. Then it will be down to me, the wife and Sprout, our rat terrier. Sprout isn't picky, either.

Chris

 

I had a 2004 Tundra as well. Technically speaking, the 3.5 V6 in the tacoma actually has a good 40+ hp more than that version of the 4.7 V-8 that were in those tundras.

 

Since there is some tundra talk on this post I figured i would post this video of a tundra rendering i found. It looks like it could be legit and if so it looks pretty good to me. Sitting a little low but they may have air suspension on some versions.
https://youtu.be/Y4D8X22TgBo

 

this. I had a Chevy 2500hd diesel/Allison 4x4. Awesome truck. Lots and lots of power. After a while it was beginning to just sit there. The sun was baking the interior so I realized to downsize. I miss the power only and ability to tow but the Tacoma is just 10x more practical. I also have a 40min commute.

 

Gotta drive what you love haha.
I owned a bmw m3 back in my college days and loved it.

 

I went from a 16 Ram 3500 4 door 4x4 single axle to the Tacoma. Cummins was a great motor and the only thing I ever did under the hood was change the oil and both fuel filters and I did so religiously. 360,000 miles and not so much as an injector or hose needing replacement, only 1 battery. Rode like a skateboard in the city though and didn't do very well in then sand at Pismo, but when I pushed the start button I knew it was going to start. Ram had a lot of features, some in common with Tacoma and some the Tacoma doesn't have.

After 6 weeks of daily driving, I am discovering little quirks here and there, mainly in the ride quality and steering. I had it aligned by Toyota for the second time and I feel like we are getting closer to my liking as far as steering drivability is concerned.

I would like to lift it but would like to start with a blank canvas. Much research to do!!!

 

The Tundra is paid off so I just kept it. No regrets here

 

I got my Tacoma for daily driving due to convenience and kept my F-250 to tow my trailers since it’s paid off. The F-250 is great on the highways and long trips while the Tacoma is better off-road and driving in the city. Both are practical with how I use them.

 

I only miss the full size Titan I had when I'm hauling stuff in the bed. The fit and finish was way better in the Titan. Otherwise I'm very happy with the size of the Tacoma. We had to sacrifice 2 new vehicles for the 1 TRD at the start of this Corona Junk.

 

Many more things does the taco do better than a tundra. The Tundra obviously has advantages as well, but the interior quality is definitely not one of them.

 

I had a loaded 5.0L v8 F150 and although far superior in interior quality, amenities, power and comfort, I have enjoyed my Tacoma 3 times as much. Tacoma might as well be a toy. Such a fun vehicle. Do I miss my f150 sure, do I regret going with the Taco? Nope.

 

The whole reason I am looking at a Tacoma is for the smaller size. I have a one ton Ram diesel and it's getting more and more difficult to find parking when driving it. Sure, it's a dually, but the problem is that they are making parking lots much smaller, spaces much smaller, and everything is just crammed together now. More than once I have had to back out of a parking lot because there was no way for me to turn around or park or anything. Just stupid. The developers were able to convince the planning departments to relax ingress/egress laws, spacing, etc. At any rate, something smaller for running around will be greatly appreciated. I will keep the one ton for the heavy hauling.

 

Like?

 

Sounds like we have the same luck with Ford and their problems!

 

Yeah I loved my 250 and never thought I'd get tired of it. It just become a pain being a daily driver and not really needing that much truck.

 

I had a Dodge Dakota from 2001-2014, until I totalled it in a rollover at almost 200k miles. I loved that little truck. It had the V8 magnum and that sucker was still running after it rolled 3x.

I bought a 2009 Ram 1500 Laramie a couple years later, and while I did enjoy that truck I did miss the practicality of a mid-size truck. I live in an RV full time and was moving around every few months so it was practical to have the full size. But then I got a more permanent job and didn't have to move around anymore, so the Ram just sat unused. I do miss that 5.7 Hemi, and transitioning to the quirkiness of the Tacoma was a but difficult at first. It doesn't help that right now I'm using a Ram for work because when I get back in my truck it seems sluggish in comparison.

But I love driving my Tacoma and I enjoy throwing money into it because that's how I know I really like my vehicles. My Ram got no upgrades, it stayed stock. But it made a great trade-in for my Tacoma and I'm glad I made the switch. The Ram is just too big for my needs. I'll be honest though, if the Dakota was still around with that gas-guzzling V8, I'd probably have gotten another.

 

I used to be a ford tech, rear end issues were very rare, but i can certainly understand the frustration, especially after having engine issues with your previous Ford. I’ll warn you that Toyota has a very well known rear differential howl, that they will not fix if your truck has it. Luck-of-the-draw kind of thing.
I’ve found Toyota dealership’s customer service across the nation to be pretty atrocious. Quality control isn’t great, with weatherstripping peeling, hood skin separating from the skeleton, loose front clips you can shake with your hands, undersized rear shocks, poor NVH in general, the list goes on. My brother-in-law’s an engineer, and he’s quite certain they had the interns design it.

All that said, i use my truck harder than most, and as a previous technician, i know when things aren’t right. Unfortunately, “not-right” is how they built them, and there’s no fix.

Insofar as the size of it — i love the small size of the tacoma for hitting trails & fitting into parking spots, but it bites you when you’re actually trying to do truck things. The difference in capability between it and my 05 silverado with the shortest 5’8” bed was laughable, when we moved we could barely fit anything in the tacoma. I’ve only towed a 4,000lb boat with the taco, but with the stickshift it’s a tragic, clutch-roasting affair up the boat ramp. I’ve pulled 10,000lbs or more without a sweat in the silverado.

Lots and lots of aftermarket support for the taco, and it’s an instagram worthy vehicle for sure. But don’t expect it to be up to the 2020 standards of any competitor, short of the ol’ nissan!

 

That's what low range is for, and also why I am loathe to buy used vehicles.

 

It’s also what torque would be for, but it has none