Are Tacomas ACTUALLY reliable?

I hear you on the '86. I had an '87 with the same issue and slapped a Dodge (lol) bed on it for another 100K.

 

I feel good about Toyotas - for my world anyway. I am meticulous about maintenance so I'm certain that helps...son has a 2002 TACOMA (TRD OR 4x4) with 240K miles very reliable...I bought my truck new Jan of '19 and now have 99K miles on it...we both put a LOT of miles in 4x4 but we never abuse the trucks (they do get scratched up).

 

My 2016: Bought it new with less than 10 miles. AC blower motor failed at 4200 miles, replaced it and resistor under warranty. Recalled at 39k miles and replaced again (but it wasnt faulty then, just recalled). It was an early 2016 so it had the 1st trans programming. After the second reprogram it drove great. I traded it at 60k miles without another issue.

My 2021: Bought new less than 10 miles, 4500miles so far with zero issues aside from the steering wheel wrap is loose in the 10:00 position. Having that fixed when it goes in for its first service because its getting looser as time goes on.

 

I'm wondering why you keep buying them?

 

My first taco was a 2006...4 banger, no 4wd, stick shift, basic suspension, not the heavy duty suspension, no tow pckg....had just transitioned to being a school teacher....tight budget....kept her 9.5 years...fluid changes, 1 battery, about 4 sets of tires (sharp rocks, thorns, etc)....the only repair I ever had was changing the u joints....im a taco enthusiast...when I bought the 06, it was new off the lot....I traded it in for a brand new 2016...ive had some minor issues with the 16, but I still love my taco

 

My brother in law is still driving his 86 converted into a 93. Told me it nickel and dimes him. $5 here $10 there because when it does need parts he goes to the junk yard. It has over 270000 miles and 34 Ohio winters. The original body was so far gone he bought a 93 with clean body and rotted frame for $150. His 86 frame was still clean enough to keep going. He can afford a new car but he just keeps driving that Tacoma because it is still reliable. Its a game with him I think to keep it going until it wont go anymore. All these years and no car payments.

 

My ‘09 4.0 - 240k miles (& lifted), I’ve changed U-Joints, Driveshaft Support Bearing, Wheel Bearings, Headlights, & just now going to replace upper/lower ball joints. All over course of 6yrs/200k miles.

Dads ‘85 - 300k plus miles (odo was unplugged for several years also) head gasket job and crank bearings

My old ‘00 Prerunner 300k miles before totaled - I had to change plug wires once.

Moms ‘09 Camry - I think she’s at like 180k miles. I think dad replaced wheel bearings once?

Dads ‘12 4.0 - 110k miles, nothing yet.

mall these are minus standard wear items, brakes tires oil changes etc.

Yes Toyota’s are pretty reliable in my opinion, IF you maintain them properly. But that’s with anything.

 

I love my Tacomas. I used to run them for work so I have had 2 or more at a time for many years. None of the issues I experience are deal breakers for me. Its a lot of $800 here and $1500 there's types of repairs. I am just surprised that my Jeeps and Hyundais seems to have less issues than my Toyotas.

I will likely keep buying Tacomas because I love their versatility and they make just about the perfect sized vehicle for my needs. That said, I am curious what makes them more reliable than other manufacturers when they have some very clear issues. I mean, we are talking about decades worth of vehicles with frames than fall apart. You would think that would be a knock against their reliability ratings (or durability, as some of you pointed out).

I follow a group called "Failed LBJ Support Group" on Facebook. Toyota is the only manufacturer that I know of that has a design flaw so significant that the wheel will basically pop off when someone is driving it... and yet no ones seems to think that relates back to their reliability.

I suppose my point is, Toyota makes bullet proof drivetrains, but everything else seems to be no better than other manufacturers. I wanted to see if this is everyone else's experience. Looks like its not!

 

In owning Toyotas for 35 years I've gone through exactly; one head gasket leak (in 1988) and two timing belts (wife's Camry). That's why I keep buying them. If the quality changes, so will I.

 

Man, I have owned a lot of Toyota's in my life and they have all been great cars. Not trouble free mind you but pretty darn reliable and all gave years of service.

• 1972 FJ-55 Land Cruiser - my teenage years ride and we beat that thing into the ground and then some! We had a ton of fun with the Iron Pig. Sold it for $500 bucks when I joined the Navy. Wish I still had it!
• 1978 Toyota Pickup (20R engine) - cool orange truck and I drove this damn thing up and down the east coast during my 10 year hitch in the military. It had the Marty McFly roll bar and everything! Untold miles on it when I sold it to a student at the Navy training command I taught at. I would see that truck driving around Balston Spa and every time I saw it there was a different driver. I think students were buying it for the 6 months they were at the training site and the would sell it to another student when they were being transferred to the fleet.
• 1987 Toyota Pickup - butt ugly faded grey truck with a 22R engine and an air conditioner that would freeze you out of the truck! Again, untold rough miles on that truck before I sold it and it just would not die.
• 2000 Camry - bought it for my wife. She drove it for 10 years and then we gave it to my teen son. He then beat the living shit out of that car for another 7 years.
• 2007 FJ Cruiser - still have this one and it has 159K trouble free miles. Does not leak a drop of anything! I will never part with this vehicle!
• 2010 Camry - wife's current car. 80K miles and the only thing I ever had to do was replace an alternator at 75K miles.
• 2019 Tacoma - just got this one so I will keep you posted!

 

That wall of text is really difficult to read. Paragraphs make such a long dissertation easier to digest. So, no offence, and I'm not a grammar Nizzi, but beak that up a little and more people will read it.

 

Early 3rd gens have what I call 'New Model Kinks' that had to be worked out in the later model years. The frames were a hindsight issue which they address, albeit for a small window.
My 2nd gen has 133k and no issues and I don't exactly baby it either. I've only replaced the LBJ's because I thought they were bad with the grease caked on them. Peace of mind. My wife's Corolla has 270k and I've only replaced the starter, valve cover seal, and drain pan seal.

I'd say minor easy repairs aren't a detriment to the 'reliability' of a vehicle. Most parts have a lifetime and if you don't replace them when that time is up, you'll have more issues. Now how many Big 3 engines have grenaded over the years in comparison to Toyota? The big ticket 'insurance totaling' failures are what sets Toyota's reliability above others and it's proven with statistics. I mean Toyota's so confident in their reliability they sued Chevy for their commercials claiming to be more reliable than Toyota and won. That's my two cents. I'm no expert.

 

lol, sorry, yeah I should have broken it up. I kinda forgot the sequoia that I bought for my daughter as her first car which she proceeded to bang into other cars in parking lots, so I traded off. That was a good vehicle. But I do not consider it a true ownership since I did not keep it very long.

 

You've got to remember also that age always plays a factor as well. The 2nd gens (which sort of have the Tacoma its reliability reputation, in my opinion) are starting to age. Parts are going to corrode and seals/rubber parts will dry out. It's just a fact of life.

There's also the way it is driven. A lot of the times you'll see million mile trucks (from Toyota, among others), but usually they have one thing in common: long highway miles. 90% of your engine wear comes before the engine is up to temp. The Tundra that comes to mind was making regular trips between North Dakota and Alabama (or Mississippi, I can't remember exactly). There's a Tacoma 4cyl with 1.3 million miles (400k of which are on the current engine) and he drives 400-500 miles per day for work. The engine is at operating temperature, the suspension isn't being cycled that much, steering isn't being used and abused, and the brakes aren't being used and abused that much, either.

 

It’s not the 1990s (sadly), so the notorious reliability differences are no more. Either everyone else caught up , or Toyota is riding the reputation wave from decades past and is selling u basic crap and calling it “quality” just like any other profitable Corp.

I mean the main reason I got the taco was it looked better than a ranger, Colorado or frontier and I’m too poor to afford a raptor.

 

I fixed it twice. Sold it two months after the second time. Local kid rolled it three years later.

 

I drive a ton. 50k a year for work for the last 14 years on and off construction sites. I’ve had 1 Ford (180k) 3 GMs (167k,142k and 176k) and most recently a 2012 Tacoma I traded in last week with 200k.

Wear items like U joints, ball joints, etc all wear out on any vehicle. But the Ford and GMs were all done at 150k. The Ford and one Chevy were on the verge of needing new engines and all were rattle traps. You knew they were high mile trucks driving a mile down the road. The Toyota needed maintenance but still felt just as good at 180k as it did at 50k. Only reason I traded in my 2012 was that my company’s vehicle program has a max vehicle age. Otherwise I would have kept it another year.

 

The fact that Tacoma hasn’t succumbed to having to add the auto stop start crap or de-activating cylinders makes its reliability go WAY up on my opinion.