Are Tacomas ACTUALLY reliable?

At 103k miles and 7 years old my 2nd gen 4x4 transfer case actuator went out. $1700 for the part+labor since due to Toyota's shitty design the t-case needs to come out and be split for the actuator to be installed. You can remove the actuator with the t-case in place but it messes up the positioning of the actuator shaft. I was pretty faithful of keeping everything lubed up by running the truck in 4x4 once a month or every 6 weeks at a minimum if not more often. I didn't find out until I was out in the desert and tried to go into 4x4 and it wouldn't engage. Luckily I was able to fenagle myself out of the spot I was in in 2wd but that could've been bad if I was somewhere more remote and in more challenging terrain. And then learning about the 4x4 system design gave me many "why the fuck did they design it like that" moments. Way more complicated then it needed to be.

I still won't buy an American light truck but it definitely was a shitty situation and expensive. There's no way that actuator when I took apart the old one is worth $900 just for the part, it should be $200-300 tops and for fucks sake design it so it can be replaced in-situ. No reason for it not to be.

 

2016 with 130k not a single failure or mechanical issue. Sure I did get a tune but most people do for their vehicles anywho.

 

2nd Toyota in the family. Wifes 14 Corolla is at 145k and hasn't had a single issue.

Had a water pump go out on my 18 Tacoma with only 10k miles on it but it's been fine since. 27k miles now

 

I’ve had a bunch of Toyotas, like literally a bunch.

This will be my second Tacoma, if it ever gets here from Mexico, and the first one I had that was built outside the US.

I’ve had Toyotas break on me before because I’m really tough on them, hopefully this one will last.

 

Also have a 2017 Corolla with 155k no problems their either still runs like a champ.

 

There are some guys on the forum claiming 250k on their yota, I'm at whole 2,000 miles and I've owned it for 8 months haha... But I drive a Tesla Y for my daily b/c well why pay $5 a gallon when I pay $5 to recharge 200 miles.

 

Why pay 50-70k for a car to save $5 at the pump?

 

Better than anything else out there. The amount of issues I read on the 5G Ranger forum is nuts- granted Ford has had really bad QC the last few years.

 

So you can brag about saving nature by driving a car that can’t access nature made by mining rare earth delivered by a diesel truck

 

My other car is frequently rated as an unreliable car with a transmission forged from satans semen. but 13 devilish years and 150k miles later it still runs and hasn't stranded me. Its even puttered around the maze district in canyonlands (a CUV!). So my tacoma has a lot of mileage before it earns the reliable title. fingers crossed.

 

Folks who find Tacomas unreliable clearly havent owned a Dodge Ram or any VW lmao

 

I've owned my Ram 1500 for 6 and a half years, and 188000km. Had 14km on the ODO when I took it for a test drive and put my money down. Only non-service non-wear repair I’ve done is to replace a front wheel speed sensor. Had to do that same repair on my previous truck, a 2008 Tacoma. Maybe I’m amongst the lucky minority, but the Ram has been a fantastic vehicle for me.

 

That's a keeper.
Ram has left me and many folks I know stranded on the side of the road so many times.

 

When I had my 85 Hilux I lived with my cousin and his 97 Dakota. His truck still had a carburetor and still had tons of issues despite the fact that he and his diesel mechanic buddy worked relentlessly to keep it running. The icing on the cake besides the fact that the only maintenance I did to mine was to add oil cuz it leaked, was during a big ass winter storm he was stranded at the bottom of a hill and I came down and got him with my two-wheel drive pizza cutters.

 

hahaha thats epic.

I always kinda liked the old gen Dakotas. Or maybe it's just nostalgia I feel when I see 90s era Dakotas on the road. Takes me back.

 

I think so too. The plan is to hang onto it at least until I'm reasonably confident that I'm not buying something that's been sitting in open air storage for months waiting on microprocessors. At least half the mileage on mine has been easy highway driving.

 

I’m spending $100 not $5. And last I checked even tacos weren’t free. Lessee, 52 weeks x $100 is $5200 so in 5 years it would pay off something costing 26k more. Gas isn’t getting any cheaper either.

 

Gas prices are literally dropping lol.

I'm just saying, until they make a 4x4 with 4 doors, an open bed, and a $30k price tag ( no reason they can't, other than greed) I won't be getting onto the EV craze.

Esp since the current average price of an EV is $66,000..... More than double my Taco price. More. Than. Double.

 

Agreed. Your original post made it seem far more absurd than it really is though and that “more than double” is still not far removed from being recoverable. Glad I am as well that gas is going down again but I’m not deluded enough to think it won’t ever go back up. I started driving when it was .45/gallon.

 

It was intended to be Absurd. Lol

True, but even to two years ago prices is what people are cool with I would think.

Recoverable.... $35k is a lot to recover in fuel (plus add cost of electricity and.... *Gulp*.... Maintenance) BUT..... I can't afford a $1200/month note. So there's that.