Question About 3rd Gen Tacoma TRD off-Road

Oh teh noes! Muh truck doesn't have cheap wood veneer dash or center console.

 

Ahhhhhh, the Cummins diesel. Totally badass

 

Hmmmmm, I kinda like the white accents. I was thinking of doing the red, but this does look good.

 

Welcome OP Great color choice. Have fun let the mods begin

 

The only interior I had to upgrade is the speaker system. Toyota factory speakers sucks, even their JBL. I put in 6 Alpine speakers, an amp and a subwoofer now I have premium audio. I Have no problems with the interior furniture and design, this is a truck that has all the features I need. I'll buy a Lexus if I want luxury modern.
I bought mine for usability and proven reliability or I would have gone with other branded modern pickups.

 

I don't care for a complex interior with all sorts of do-dads and huge displays - aka loaded Ram, Ford, etc. I certainly don't understand the complaints and criticisms of the Tacoma interior. It's all personal taste anyway. There is something beautiful about reliable simplicity.

 

There are 2 glaring negatives to toyota interiors, not just the Tacoma. The quality/texture of the plastics is sub-par. Also the placement of the armrests on the doors, it's level with my thigh, it's not at a usable height. Our Lexus ES and the wife's Rav4 also have the useless armrests, but the Lexus' material quality is obviously way better.

So yeah, I would definitely rate the Jeep interior as being better. But not because the Tacoma terribly dated, though it is slightly.

 

Spot on.

 

I don't want to roast you, like others have. Just think about it from a perspective of personalization.
You got to personalize your vehicle. thank goodness there is such a great aftermarket for these trucks.

 

Now that's a good looking vehicle.

 

My 1992 Toyota Truck gave me 14 yers of awesome, reliable service. My 2003 Pathfinder gave me 15 years of awesome, reliable service. My 2020 Sport is awesome and expect may years of reliable service too. Love the stock Tacoma TRD Sport 4X4 overall and think the interior is fantastic. Love the black with grey trim and the dash is just the right amount of convenience and simplicity. This is what I wanted in a new truck. Was a bit of a learning curve when we first got the truck coming from the Pathfinder. Especially the TSS. Truck has been fabulous in the recent snow storms once I figured out the VSC & TRAC.

 

Personally I think the OR model has just the right amount of everything. I’m used to a 2002 OR so my 18 feels like a space ship
Compared. Lol. Plus it is a truck so I don’t want to much as it’s just more to go wrong as they get older imo.

 

Does no one actually read the entire post on this forum? I said I like the truck. I'm aware I personalized it. I was aware before the first guy pointed it out and I'm definitely aware on this second one.

Lets not pretend like 3/4th's of the 3rd gen forum isn't just people trying to upgrade the weird things toyota did to this model as far as tuning, transmission, and paper 6x9s with tweeter sized magnets. Yall don't have to be defensive when someone points out what we all know. You get base level interior and speakers for a premium price. I still like the truck and chose it knowing I would be doing all of this. The OP asked for opinions on it. I gave him mine.

So if anyone else wants to quote me, please read and then process what I wrote through your brain and understand that my issue isn't the interior, its the price for the interior that bothers me. And once again, for the third or fourth time....I LIKE THE TRUCK. Which is why I own one.

But if someone is interested in opinions on this truck, straight up it is overpriced for what you get interior wise. Its a trade off for the reliability and some awesome offroad capabilities. Which is why I own it.

I have owned a 2012 Ram, 2017 Ram, 2015 Suburban in the last several years. All had substantially better interiors and cost me less than I paid for this truck. Oh and all averaged around 20mpg with v8's.

So if anyone else wants to deny that, knock yourselves out. If you're too tough for fancy tech and creature comforts because iTS a TreRk....then cool. I don't care. I gave my thoughts on it.

The 3rd gen is one of those things in life you are either attracted to for no logical reason or you aren't. Thats where I land. I just dig em. If you dig em, own one. If you went the best bang for the buck, this ain't it. Low end interior and horrible gas mileage. It is what it is. I like mine.

 

My complaint with most reviews is when they say the handling is vague and it has no power. I admit my 2020 manual TRD off road rode real soft and was kinda wallowy when I drove it home from the dealer. I realized pretty quick that the tires were under inflated. They were at 28lbs. Once I inflated them to 35 or so it tightened up nicely. As far as power goes, maybe the press vehicles were automatics. Easy guys, Im not crapping on autos im just saying my manual with its 4.30 rear-end has plenty of power for a truck it's size. When I'm running it hard I keep it above 3000 rpm and it is fine. There is a reason that every other truck in the category is compared to a tacoma. It's the bench mark for that segment of trucks. I always laugh when I read about some new tacoma killer.

 

I actually like the way mine handles quite a bit. Haven't understood those reviews either. Even on 35's mine is a blast to fly around curves.

 

Calm down dude. I'm not chiding you. Just pointing out a silver lining and keeping it positive.

Your words "I have a 2019 TRD Off Road and a good portion of my time and money so far has been into upgrading the interior" coupled with "Kind of insane how much needs to be done to a $40k truck"
just sounded like complaining to some apparently. Its all good by me.

 

Yeah that actually was a positive to me. Like a blank canvas. And its been fun building it. Besides the insane wait times on parts, but I'm sure most of us are dealing with that this year.

 

Have you ever driven a real car designed to handle curves? The Tacoma wallows its way through life more than well enough for a truck but it definitely doesn't blast around any curves and barely has moderately acceptable acceleration.

 

Yes I have. Several. I'm not comparing it to cars. I'm comparing it to trucks. Because its a truck. My RAM on 35's handled boringly. My 1996 suburban on 37's wanted to kill me. My tacoma is fun. Apples to apples. Not oranges.

But yes the acceleration sucks. The kdmaxx pro had helped a ton, and the super charger will hopefully bring even more fun. But I'm waiting on it to have a better tune without OEM style shift logic.

 

The supercharger helps but the bottom end under about 2500rpm is still pretty crappy in higher gears.