2021 TRD Off Road Tacoma - 1 Year of Ownership!

Today marks one year ago that I bought my 2021 TRD OR 4x4 Tacoma, and I love it now more than ever! Haven’t had a single problem. These are such great trucks. I went back and forth many times about whether to get an auto or manual (after reading the endless complaining about the auto), but I thought about how much I hate having to shift in traffic, and living in Southern California, it’s inescapable. I also figured since the autos have “S” mode, they’re kinda the best of both worlds IMO.

So after a long test drive and not feeling any of the issues with the tranny I read so much about on here, I went with the auto and I’m glad I did. I’ve had zero problems with the way it shifts, no gear hunting, no jerkiness... nothing like that. We’ve owned a 2017 4Runner Limited for 4 years also, and I can tell you my Tacoma shifts every bit as smooth and predictably as the 4Runner (but the Taco is a lot quicker). I think TW has helped remind me just how much the power of suggestion influences people. I don’t know about all the earlier 3rd gens, but personally I would never have given a thought to how my auto tranny operates if I never read all the complaints on here first. Even with subconsciously looking for a problem with my tranny, after a year I have yet to find one. That’s my experience.

When I bought it I figured I’d be keeping it stock, but then... Tacomaworld, haha. It started with some 265/75/16 Wildpeaks, then I got a hard tri-fold tonneau cover and OEM bed mat and swapped out grilles... Then I blacked out the chrome inside and out, got a Sprint Booster for it. I tried a tune first, but wasn’t stoked on it for a few reasons that I won’t bore you with, but I ended up with a Sprint Booster and I like it a lot. And last week I installed a 1” lift. I ordered a Snugtop topper for it a couple months ago and I should have it on very soon (the shop said it’s built and they’re just waiting on some windows that are probably sitting in a container in Long Beach, haha). Anyway, I typed a lot more than I planned to, so sorry for the essay. I love my truck and have no plans to buy anything else for a long long time, if ever. Cheers!

 

I know the feeling.

The automatic never seemed to be in the right gear. Too many rolling hills, If I set cruise control (resume tap) engine would take off like crazy. So I learned to just accelerate up the hill with the flow of traffic then engage the cruise control.

Need faster acceleration, tap over to "S" mode and use it to keep with traffic. Popping back to normal for freeway cruising.

A lot of little things have just faded into the background, liking the truck the more I drive it. Small enough to make parking easy, big enough for my needs. The back seat is typically only used by my dog or cooler.

 

Stopped reading after you said no manual. Just kidding glad you like your truck. I can almost guarantee that I wouldn't be driving a tacoma if I couldn't row my own gears. FWIW lived in OC, LA, and the Bay and had manual vehicles in all of them. Still worth it to me.

 

Beautiful Cement Taco! Blackout everything seems like a trend, so many people doing that. I will do the same.

 

I love standard transmissions. From "rolling down a hill and popping the clutch" to just having the right touch when rock crawling.

Alas, gotten older. Need to replace my knee (one of these days), and I like my automatic Tacoma!

Oh, my 1999 Nissan Maxima was a 5-speed manual. 2nd gear was good from 5 to 60 mph. It came in handy for those stop-and-go rolling traffic jams.

These days my recumbent trike (30 gears, 3 x 10) is my fill of shifting. Keep my pedal cadence at 80 rpm, keep those legs spinning and use gears for the speed.

 

I would be driving a frontier pro4x if taco didn’t offer a manual.

 

I have to say I agree with this whole-heartedly. I didn't know this website existed when I bought mine, and surprisingly I was super happy and stoked on it for the first 3 months. Once I found this website, I discovered that my truck's transmission sucked and immediately needed to set out to rectify it. So, fast forward to 9 months later and I've gone from getting tuned by a local guy several times, to owning the software and cable and doing it myself, to.....my truck learning my driving habits and now driving like it did when it was stock, but yet it's still tuned and my wallet is significantly lighter. I know I can reset the learning values whenever I want and get that "new tune" feeling again, but am starting to err on the side of maybe it's not necessary for a stock (no lift / armor) truck. I am flash back to stock for a bit just for my own piece of mind.

Congrats on your one year!

 

Which tonneau cover did you get? Looking for one right now

 

I got the Rugged brand hard tri-folding cover. I paid ~$700ish with shipping (I think prices have gone up since I bought it, like everything else). Mine’s the “premium” version (which was about $100 more than the non-premium), so it came with 2 built-in LED lights, heavier duty mounting hardware, and 2 tethers to clip onto the rings at the front of the bed to keep it from flying off if the clamps ever broke. I did a lot of research and this cover was the best bang for the buck I could find. It’s the simplest and quickest design to install because it just lays on top of the bed and clamps down with hardware that slides right into the factory bed rails. It only takes me a few minutes to take on/off. I think it looks great too, and still pretty low profile.

BTW, if you or anyone else in SoCal is interested I’m going to be selling this tonneau as soon as my camper shell gets installed, hopefully in 2 or 3 weeks. The tonneau is still in almost new shape, no issues or any damage or wear to speak of. Probably will ask $500 OBO (I’m in the Redlands area). Here’s a better shot of how it looks on the truck...

 

Great write up. Awesome truck.

 

Time for an OVTune. Just got mine last month and fell in love with it even more

 

Bravo, Mr. B. Looking good!

 

I did the KDmax tune before I got the Sprint Booster and it just didn't agree with my truck and where/how I drive, so I went back to stock tune. Maybe the OV tune would be better for me, but I'm pretty happy with just the Sprint Booster because I never had any issues with my shifting or the tranny, I just wanted some better pedal feel/acceleration.

 

Well, it’s been 2 years and 17.5K miles now since I wandered onto the Toyota lot and bought this thing (I got reminded by a “happy anniversary” text from the dealership). It was raining when I drove it home on the 1st day, and it’s raining again today. In the past year, I’ve added a camper shell, Yakima rack, 17” 4runner SEMA wheels and some 255/75R17 Duratracs… all of which have been perfect upgrades for me. I especially love this tire size on my truck (equivalent to 32x10s). IMO these tires are the sweet spot for a mildly lifted taco (mine has a 1” all around). Love this truck more than ever and I still plan to drive it till the wheels fall off!

 

I completely agree with your original post about the gear hunting. If I hadn’t been on Tacoma world I would have never knew that was a thing since mine doesn’t do it. My brother had a 2020 sr and when I asked him he looked at me like I was crazy. Same thing with the supposedly horrible seats. They are great to me. Glad you enjoy your truck, and it looks great.

 

Agree, I’ve quit asking about gear hunting. Outside TW, nobody seems to have ever heard about it. Love the auto, and glad I didn’t get swayed! Drove the other day with ECT on and couldn’t believe folks drive around all the time with this on. Love the shift point in drive, maybe it’s because I drive like grand pa with my arm hanging out of the window enjoying the scenery.

 

I think driving mellow is part of being content with this trans. I’ve noticed when I do drive more aggressively, the trans doesn’t always keep up with how I’d shift it myself, but I find S mode takes care of that fine for me in about 99% of those situations. The 1% of those times aren’t any worse than any other auto trans to me. But yeah, when I’m just cruising, which is by far most of the time, I’m fine with how it shifts.

 

I highly recommend getting your truck tuned. It fixes all of the AT shifting problems you describe and greatly improves overall drivability.

 

haha, I was reading the first post thinking that was your first year! It's funny how you said you were planning on "keeping it stock." Hahaha. Hahahaha.

I'm on month 9 of my Tacoma. Love it too. SB works good on my truck too. I have manual and never had any complaints about traffic. Never.

BUT, WTF? That 4runner in the background?!?! Frick, my most favorite Toyota ever made. Crap I miss mine. So bad. That picture makes me sad. I had almost the same set up but mine was sport trim. Flowmaster sounded so good on that thing. Rumbling all over town. Sigh.....

 

Thanks, I’ve owned this ‘97 for almost 22 years! Been thru 4 different suspension setups including stock, a donor motor (w/ 127K) at 205K, and it’s at about 235K now on the original trans that shifts crisp and tight still. 34s, Dual ARB lockers, 4:88s, full skids, drawer system...