Are Tacomas ACTUALLY reliable?

My '16 (bought in '15) has been fantastic. Zero issues other than the rear diff leak that was fixed under the recall.

 

If you don't perform proper PM, any rig will fail.

I've owned these Toyota 4x4's with no issues.

85 PU 590k miles (junked)

91 runner over 400k miles (totaled)

88 Fj62 over 300k miles (sold)

2020 Tacoma 30k miles.

Non-4x4's with no issues.

77 Corolla over 200k miles (sold)

08 Yaris 230k miles (totaled)

06 Scion Xb 277k miles (trade-in 4 2020).

 

996 and 997 may be some of the best automobiles ever made. Wife got me a 997 Carrera S for 24 hours once. 12 year old convertible without a single creak or rattle. I was never into German cars before, but now we are Porsche converts.

 

Ha!! I was kidding about having to redo it 3-4 times, but it was probably similar to your friend’s Porsche. Regular maintenance is stuff like RTAB’s every 50k miles, cooling system overhauls every 100k miles, Vanos adjustment, chain guides, gaskets, spark plugs. It added up for sure, but it was all “regular” maintenance.

The car was ridiculously reliable. Never leaked a drip of oil, and I have never been stranded once with it. Ha!! I was stranded within the first year with my Tacoma. It made me laugh

 

Just curious, how did your taco left you stranded?

 

ha battery at a year (I had to check) Nothing insane, it was just inconvenient. Like I said, it all depends on your definition or “reliable”. The taco has not done anything that would make me rethink it at all. Battery was annoying, brake light was annoying. I still can’t figure out my radio issue (it will spit out the CD and then just stop responding.....). I’ll figure it out eventually.

I’ll swap stuff out without thinking about it (bearings, bushings etc). Just because they do wear. I don’t count that as unreliable at all. As long as the drivetrain stays solid, I’m good to go

 

Ok. Glad it was because I love BMW's. I had an M5 and a 328, both of which never let me down. I still regret selling the M5

 

I think anyone who buys a Porsche becomes a convert.

 

ha!! Oddly enough the Tacoma is my only vehicle that has left me stranded. Thankfully it was something simple

 

I’ve had a 1989 Porsche turbo, 911 Porsche, Audi turbo and a BMW,

WORST cars I’ve ever owned breaking down consistently and costing mega bucks to fix.
NEVER AGAIN,
Dumped 10k in one year on repairs on the turbo Audi and had not even hit 80k miles, uggg,
AND unlike a Toyota you will NEVER see a Porsche, Audi, BMW with 665,000 miles running strong,
If you don’t have a warranty your in trouble when it breaks

 

It’s actually the opposite for durability, cost effectiveness and longevity,

You become a convert for its speed and power yes,

 

Strange, my battery has been great so far. Been 3 years. Other than that I had 0 issues besides few minor recalls.

Yeah, my definition of reliable is so that your vehicle doesn’t leave you stranded. I don’t mind doing maintenance at all. I always follow severe use as well, just helps me sleep better at night, ha!

 

Yep.

You might see a Honda with 665k miles but that’s about it.

 

My 2nd gen was reliable in that I never once saw the check engine light and it never left me stranded.

It always had drivability issues and some of the engineering was just.. bad. As far reliability, It seemed to just fall apart beyond the 180,000 kilometre mark, by 280,000 kilometres it wasn't worth throwing parts at anymore. I was losing the corrosion battle and it's a real pain to work on a rusty truck. I do not miss it.

 

Witnessed something explode in a 2015+ Silverado in a parking lot earlier today. Explosion so loud you would've been able to hear it 6 blocks away and it stopped moving not 15 feet away. The only thing that exploded in my 2016 Tacoma was a shock and that didn't even explode... More or less started weeping and replacement was so easy a 10 year old could do it.

Sure wear and tear happens on these trucks but I've rarely, and I mean rarely (maybe 3 posts in the past 7 years I've been here) heard of a portion of the power train going on a Tacoma. Yeah I don't go looking at it, but us third gen owners seem to love to complain.

 

Tell me you've never owned a GM product without telling me you've never owned a GM product...

 

No, nor the 2nd gens.

The enemy is electronics and emissions equipment.

I'm not saying those things are bad. But they both impact longevity and long term serviceability.

This is not unique to the Tacoma, or Toyotas. I think diesels suffer the worst from this--people go out and buy a 2021 Powerstroke or Duramax because they saw their pawpaw run a diesel on Peanut oil. It's a damn far cry from that, now. With regens, high pressure fuel pumps, DEF, and diesel particulate filters, modern diesel setups are a goddamn nightmare.

 

Toyota Tacomas are very reliable. Right up until someone decides they know more than the folks that designed an built it and start to tinker. Quite a few threads start, I did X to my truck and now Y is happening.

 

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cu...bo-for-sale-has-an-absurd-590000-miles-on-it/

"You Can Own this Porsche 996 Turbo With an Absurd 590,000 Miles"

 

my question is why would someone who has “bad luck” with Toyota continue to by 9 of their vehicles if each previous purchase was problematic.