Why did you pick your Tacoma over another choice?

They withstand mistreatment and neglect , which I happily dish out.

 

Watch the top gear episode when they try to kill a Hilux

 

Probably has to do with where you live

 

4th Toyota truck since 1988. All of them great trucks. Reliability top notch and none of them have been shy about working. Even the lone 4cyl one I had I towed cars on a trailer and never broke a sweat. Solid in the looks department too. All of the ones I have to date saw very high mileage on them.

 

Long story short for me.....

I had a 1996 Blue Tacoma 4x4 that I loved.
I lost it in a messy divorce in 2000 to a vindictive women who knew I loved it, didn't care won it in court and turned around and sold it.

I was pretty bitter over it. I owned other Pickups since then, A Chevy Silverado 1500 4X4, Dodge Dakota, Land Rover Discovery II.

Then middle age hit and I bought a brand new 2011 Mercedes Benz E350. And all the camping, kayaking and exploring ended.

With the COVID crisis I got sick of sitting at home, working from home.
I missed camping being out on the water in my kayak or my Hobie Adventure Island Sailing Kayak.

So I went to the dealer with some cash in my pocket made a deal on a 2016 SR5 Tacoma 4x2 with 68K on the clock. Drove it for a few days and realized I really wanted a 4x4. I knew I was going to regret it. I went and looked at a Chevy Colorado, the Ford Ranger and even a Jeep Gladiator. But I was drawn back to the Tacoma. It was time to have another.

I made a deal on a brand new Tacoma TRD Pro and just about had a heart attack with the final out the door price. So I decided to be sensible for once in my life and save a bit of money. I made a deal on a 2020 SR 4x4 Fire Engine Red. It's a clean slate and mine to build.

Front ARB Air Lockers are going on.
Warn Winch with a Hidden Winch Bumper mount
5100's with KO2's 265/75/16
A Bed Rack system to haul my Kayak and put a tent on top.
Anything I want really. Maybe next year I'll put a lift kit on it. Who knows?

I have had it 2 weeks and I already have nearly 2K on the odometer. It had 6 when I drove it off the lot =).

 

It looked cool, was enjoyable to drive and I wanted it -- and the Toyota reliability reputation. I wasn't looking to buy anything (I'm cheap) but the Tacoma caught my eye, then I started reading this forum and driving my wife nuts cruising through every Toyota dealership within 100 miles. For due diligence purposes I looked at the competition, admittedly without much interest as none offered the visual BANG of the Tacoma.

Just a bit more seriously: I've had a lifetime of cheap clunkers and wheezers that I got for the second hundred thousand miles, with good care they all gave me good service but most were just vehicles of opportunity -- cheap but reasonably healthy, just need a bit of work to go.

Looking cool and being a hoot to drive is nice but the reliability reputation was a big selling point too. I'm headed for retirement and intend to keep this thing until the end of the line. With only summer weekend running 100K miles is a long way off (yes, I bought a 4x4 to NOT drive in the snow). My daily is a $1200 van -- yeah, I'm cheap.

 

Just a funny note:

My little sticker on the window says first oil change at 5K or 6 months.

I chuckle everything I look at it. At this rate it will be in for a oil change at the end of September lol.

 

It was the only MT they had although the orange has grown on me

 

I always wanted a Tacoma ever since my dad purchased his '04 SR5 Taco.

Wanted a "do it all" vehicle since its just nice to have. Guess to say I'm over the sports car scene and rather have a reliable vehicle that I can drive the wheels off. Lol!

 

Bought my 2017 SR5 in November of 18, it was a CPO with 12000 miles on it. I was driving an 08 Ford Expedition that the rocker panels had all but rotted away, the 4WD was getting finicky, and the gas mileage stunk out loud. I work for a construction management company, and while I'm not hauling a bunch of crap around every day, every now and again I need to throw some stuff in the bed. I also spend a considerable amount of time on the beach, either taking a boat out or driving on the sand, and was tired of the cargo area of the Expedition getting dirty.

I was looking at Tacomas and Colorados. I found that I could get a Z71 Colorado for around the same price as an SR5 Tacoma. Did a bunch of research, and found that the Colorado seemed to have more problems than Tacomas, and any of the problems that the Tacomas had, like the automatic transmission being weird, Toyota was standing by and fixing. Over Veteran's Day weekend, I test drove a Tacoma at a dealer close to my house, I really liked how it drove, so that made my mind up on getting one. I spent the next few days looking for either a silver sky or magnetic gray, found the one I have now, test drove it, and played the dealership game for like 2 days until they could get to a point where the numbers worked.

I've put just shy of 40K miles on it since, the only issue I had was the charcoal canister taking a dump at 17,500 miles, which was fixed under warranty. I found a few other people who had the same issue so maybe it is a known issue? Getting ready to put another set of tires on it and keep it rolling for a long time.

 

Ford was not making any "Baby Rangers."

 

FIFY

 

I bought a 99 Tacoma back in 2005. 3 years later on new years eve, I was driving to a party while one of my friends followed me. It had been raining and when I took this long sweeping turn to get onto the freeway; my bald tires started slipping and my tail started stepping out, but I calmly counter steered and it would have been fine if I had more road. Unfortunately I got too close to the raise dirt patch on the side of the road and flipped my truck.

My buddy behind me saw my truck flip over, spin on its roof, and was so much in shock that he froze for a bit and just looked at the situation -all of a sudden he sees me crawling out the passenger side door, do a quick check on myself and throw my arms like I just became a UFC champion and yell, "WOO-HOO!!!"

What actually happened was I already checked myself when I was upside-down in the truck. My driver side door was stuck so I had to crawl through broken glass(with my brand new sweater) so when I got out, I was actually checking to see if my sweater was OK and was really happy that it was. No injuries to myself, not even a bruise the next day. Cops came out for a report then hung out with me until the tow truck came and we still went to the party after. LOL.

Then to top it off, I got $9k for the truck as a total lost. 3 years earlier I bought that truck used from Toyota for $12600 otd. This truck was used and abused, but never gave me problems.

This truck saved my life and my wallet. Also my truck at the time was a manual transmission and my current 3rd gen is also a manual. I'm one of those snobs that refuses to buy vehicle if I can't get it in stick.

And no, i wasn't t drunk or been drinking that night.

 

A mid size truck just suits my needs. I had a Tundra for about 6 months and it was just too big for daily driving and I didn't need any of the added space or capability of the full size. The Tacoma works well as a daily driver, it'll tow what I need to tow, haul what I need to haul, and it's fun off road. The aftermarket support is phenomenal and being able to do so many different things to make the truck your own, is really great. It looks good and I think it has the best interior of any mid size truck. It's simple, clean, and functional. This is my 4th Tacoma and I've not had any real issues with any of them. None of the competition really appeals to me.

 

Yeah, I was going to lead w/ that. But glad somebody else posted it for me

 

You made the right call not getting the ZR2. I traded my 2018 ZR2 diesel in because it was garbage. I should have never got rid of my 2017 Tacoma to try the ZR2. Just happy I’m back in my beloved Tacoma. Live and learn I guess. I’ll never make that mistake again lol.

 

I would like to hear more. I actually persuaded some family to the Tacoma over the ZR2 recently and so far so good but I worry a bit because if it goes wrong then I guided them wrong

 

The ZR2 in the V6 version may be awesome. My experience was in the 2.8L baby duramax. I put 30k miles on it before I dumped it for my 19 Tacoma. In the 30k miles, more than 10 dealer visits to fix things. Mainly it was the exhaust system with all the sensors that are on it. Also had tons of issues with the regen cycles. DPF failures, fuel filter failures etc. If the truck could have been deleted from all the EPA crap they require on diesels nowadays, it probably would have been an awesome truck. Suspension wise, yes it was pretty epic. At the end of the day I wanted a truck that I didn’t have to worry about after the 3/36 ran out. Diesels get expensive really quick on maintenance. I just wanted to be one of those “fan boys” who needed to try that diesel hype. Just not for me, not modern diesels anyway. Hope this helps.

 

I'm in Texas, which is the capital of trucks. All of them are on the road here, with plenty of Tacomas. I didn't need anything as big as a full size nor do most people, ruling those out. Bought my Tacoma SR5 2WD DCSB in 2017 and had driven all of the other midsize trucks beforehand. The Colorado/Canyon are nice, but had concerns about long term reliability and performance. I was disappointed in the Ranger for multiple reasons. Nissan stayed with the midsize truck like Toyota and both have good heritage, but even the 2017 Frontier is really dated. Ridgeline, no thanks! I don't want a mini van body with a truck bed, though it is functional. Not only was I drawn to the Tacoma for the reasons above, but for the reliability, toughness, versatility and position as king of midsize trucks. The aftermarket for these are incredible, as is the resale (not that I plan on selling anytime soon). Good luck on the presentation.

If your NY audience doesn't get it, make field trip to Texas and talk to some of us.

 

Love the look of the 3rd gen .offered in a manual transmission. Truck envy from others lol . Resale value and reliability is great on these trucks .