I went for a second test drive and I love the truck, but.......

Why are you even looking at a Tacoma? We used to have skidsteers….no way I would even consider buying a Tacoma for that duty, or even half tons. A Tacoma is the little truck you commute in to the bigger truck to tow the skidsteers. It is what I did, used 1-2.5 tonners to yank around ours, the Toyota was my commuter. And 3 teenagers??? They will only get bigger. What you should be looking at is a Ram 2500-3500 MegaCab.

 

And while towing needs to be recharged every hundred miles or less. That’s a deal breaker for me.

 

It's all how you drive...driving habits...payload, as you said as well as combined high speed/towing.

Launching from a full stop...every time.

I tend to drive like @SwollenGoat but I do have a launch every now and again.

 

I guess I'm in a different frame of mind for a truck. Yeah, ideally, I'd like a Taco to get better mileage, but this thing isn't going to be a daily driver; it's going to be for those days when I need to toss a jack and some tools in the back and go work on someone's car, or bring home some bags of dirt and fertilizer and plants and not worry about messing up the carpet liner in my wife's RAV4. Or bring home a load of materials home to build something. I just don't think of gas mileage as my prime criteria for a truck. But that's just me. Everyone's different. I want a Tacoma with this V6 because I like this generation of engines and I want to get one before they do the 4 cyl+hybrid redesign in 2024.

 

That's true now, but when supply meets demand within two years and they are had at their 40k MSRP this won't be true...

https://electrek.co/2022/01/04/ford-doubles-lightning-production-again-to-150000-units-per-year-by-2023-600k-bevs-annually-by-2024/#:~:text=As Ford enters its final,to massive overall BEV outputs.

 

These trucks are great for light duty work and play. Keep it half capacity and it doesn’t hurt power or fuel consumption too-too much. Push it close to max, and you’ll be hating it.

I’ll get into it occasionally, it will get up and go in a hurry. Find the power impressive for what it is. But yeah drive like there is an egg under the pedal…after getting a slew of speeding tickets and getting my license suspended will do that to a guy.

 

My 2002 7.3 diesel isn't going anywhere. Like it was said above, I need that truck to fill the nitch of the skid steer and dump trailer. The Taco was for pulling my 6x10 aluminum trailer. The CRVs that I have stink for that. They can do it, but they stink at it. I can put 3 teens in the back of a 2019 CRV and go NY to Fl and it is no big deal. The rear seats in the CRV are WAY roomier. The diesel has made that run 18 times, but like you said, it is big, more difficult. I love it, so I have to be careful where I park it. I was looking for something that was less emotional stress, smaller, could suit my light towing needs and get decent fuel mileage. The Taco seemed perfect and who knows, maybe that is what it will end up being. But, I do think it will benefit from a little redesigning. It seems like it is due. Great little trucks and I was going for it. The sticker said it would get 23, I believe. But, it sounds like it won't get that. So...... I will keep looking for now. I'll tell ya what though, they were everywhere when I was in Moab on vacation earlier in the year. Hell, they are everywhere in NY. They are very popular. If I was still getting 10mpg in a 351 v-8, this would be a no brainer, but that isn't the case anymore. Gasoline engines have come a long way.

 

Yeah the Tacoma is absolutely a joke when it comes to MPG for what it is compared to full-sizes that get better MPG. The people on this forum don't like to hear that reality though

 

Funny "true story" bro! (I'm laughing with you, not at you)

I tested the acceleration on my "out-of-the-blue" drive to Baltimore on a Thursday last week.

Drivers like to get right on my tail when I'm in the fast lane overtaking...which is when I decide to apply the throttle and feel the response from the OTT 8.0 Tune.

65 to 80 comes rather quickly and I think the vehicle behind me is surprised to be smoked by a mid-size truck.

My driving life has 2 speeding tickets that affected my Insurance: 1st on a motorcycle and 2nd in my Honda Pilot at least 5 years apart.

 

The Tacoma is not a fuel efficient vehicle, no arguing that. It's not what it was designed for. But to say that it's less efficient than full size trucks ... extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I'm not sure you're comparing apples to apples. If you go on fuelly.com and look at all the data they have on all the pickup trucks, I don't see a single full size truck with a V8 that beats the Tacoma, and most of the V6 full size trucks tie with the Tacoma, with the exception of possibly a few of the 3.3L Ford F150s. The data just doesn't back up your claim. And show me a 2wd gasoline full size that gets the same MPG as my Tacoma ... I'll wait.

 

My 2018 F150 supercrew EcoBoost got 24.6mpg for all 68,000 miles I drove, before I traded it in for a F150 powerboost.

 

That's darn good and much better what the normal ecoboost F150 driver sees but if you put a comparably equipped Tacoma through the same 68,000 miles, you would have been neck and neck.

2018 Ford F-150 MPG - Actual MPG from 535 2018 Ford F-150 owners (fuelly.com)

2018 Toyota Tacoma MPG - Actual MPG from 354 2018 Toyota Tacoma owners (fuelly.com)

 

Neck and neck with a full size that's a heavier vehicle that can tow more.... That's a bad look for the Tacoma...

 

It's also a lot cheaper when you compare as similar specs as possible.

 

My Tacoma only got 19.5 mpg same driving habits, but it was also a 2014 2.7L 4x4.

 

The Tacoma is cheaper or the f150?

 

You'd be the exception, not the rule. Anecdotal evidence is very convincing when it's your own anecdote.

 

Yeah a 2.7L 4 banger getting sub 20 mpg when the f150 v8's are out here getting the same MPG is such a joke.

 

2022 Tacoma MPG is 20 / 23. The 2022 Ford F150 5.0 V8 is 18/24. Ram 1500 5.7l V8 is 15/22