My thoughts on my tacoma

I figured I'd do a review for what I think about my tacoma so far after 18 months of ownership! I have the 2020 toyota tacoma trd off road longbed 4x4 that i put all 38k miles on. So here I go. I love my tacoma, plan and simple, it has a rather simple interior( no random buttons everywhere and every button is easy to understand), the ride isn't as good as my 4.0 in my opinion(the pedal response seems to have a bit of lag.), I don't really care about cabin noise or "car being too loud" but I think the truck sounds amazing (especially if you add a new exhaust system and cold air intake). There are times where I do feel like the power lags a bit as well, that's why I decided to get a magnuson supercharger and a regear kit from nitto. After these mods, the truck is an absolute monster! The oem drive quality was decent though, diffinitely not a fan of how it sat from the factory, so I'm getting 3.0 king shocks( send your prayers for the wait time). The problem I have is that I'm constantly spend large sums of money upgrading my truck(I wouldn't have it any other way). I would of liked to see the double cab long bed with a manual option though. Some of the few complains I did have is, when I'm driving for long periods of time, I do hear an annoying rattle here or there coming from the interior. Android play was a great feature until it started to bug out(music suddenly pausing, Google voice not working, maps not being able to type address on phone until you had the parking break on, and constantly having to buy cables because the connection between the phone and the wire would wear because inorder to use android play, it has to be tethered). I also upgraded my grill with the oem trd pro grill and garnish( the collision sensor turns off in the rain). I'm also not a fan of the oem tires(good year wranglers) they wear out quick and don't handle very well in the rain from my experience( I ordered Falken wild peaks 275/70/r18 and method 306s 18x9 -12 offset) hopefully they handle better in all conditions. I bought my truck for 37k in 2020 and I think it was worth every penny, the truck had a good oem ride and the after market is very supportive. The truck fills all my needs(towing, homedepot runs, fishing, and ect) the pros heavily outweighs the cons( the cons I've had with this truck have only been minor things that I don't really care about). All in all, I could see myself driving this truck until I pass it on to my kids(then ask my kids to drive it).

 

You can’t love it. This website has been carefully developed for those that hate 3rd gens. Now, git!

 

1. I have a solution for the interior noise. Turn the volume up. 2. You drive a lot bro, 38k within 18 months dame.

 

I spent 37k on it, I have to love it!

 

I would, but during my time in service, I blew out my ears and now my ears don't like loud sounds.

 

Haha..I didn’t mean all the way uuuuuuppppp.

 

Great analysis. Also, do I spy another Toyota in the driveway...? .. wait.. or not

 

Have you done any off-road yet? Or are you waiting for your tires and rims.

 

That's my uncle's tacoma!

 

Well, I did do some in the orange groves to test the Crawl control. But I almost got stuck, so I gotta wait for everything to come together.

 

It looks innocent until you open the hood.

 

Can't pass a gas station either!

 

I always wonder. What’s your gas mileage? I’m guessing there’s such a thing lol.

 

I'm getting anywhere from 14 to 17 mpgs. I guess my foots a little too heavy

 

That’s actually not bad.

 

Wait until I have my suspension and tires, I'm putting tape over my mpg reader.

 

So did you try and scam Toyota after you blew up your engine from negligence?

 

A couple of months ago, I sold my 2006 Tundra and bought a 2020 Tacoma. I bought the Tundra used, in 2006 with 6000 miles, and it was an outstanding truck. It was 2WD, and I wanted 4WD when I bought it, but it was a screaming deal. My wife recently wanted something smaller and easier to park, I wanted more efficient and 4WD, and we have (had) intentions of flat-towing the Tacoma.

I still believe our decision was sound, but the Tacoma is not the truck the Tundra was. It is louder, a busier ride, looks more plastic-y inside, shifts a whole lot when towing, and just does not feel as comfortable or secure. Unless I really stomped the Tundra accelerator, I did not feel or hear the engine. On the Tacoma, it is weird to look at the front fender through the open driver door and see styrofoam. Some of that is modern design, some is the off-road suspension, some is smaller truck.

We have a built FJ Cruiser for serious off-road stuff. I wanted a 4WD pickup for towing the ATV trailer, light trail stuff, and getting home during the monsoon rains.

About the acceleration lag... I have been letting it lag before acceleration, just letting it do its thing. I am getting 22 to 24 MPG. This with 75MPH highway runs, some towing, urban traffic... We sold my Tundra AND and my old CRV, so I probably have improved my overall average MPG.

I do really like the electronic stuff - a dramatic leap from 2006.

I am getting used to the issues, and hopefully the Tacoma will be the last truck I buy. I will go from it to my autonomous electric transport pod.

 

Interesting you find the Tacoma is both louder and has a busier ride, granted I've never driven a Tundra, but I'm coming from a 2006 Acura TL 6MT and the ride in my TRD Sport is softer than the Acura and the interior is roughly on par when it comes to noise.

 

The Tacoma sounds like the Tundra on rough-surfaced pavement with a back window down slightly. For the first few weeks, I kept trying to roll up the windows! My Tacoma model is a TRD Off-Road - I know the off-road suspension accounts for some of the diminished on-road ride quality. On rough dirt roads, the Tacoma rides better than the Tundra did.