Anything you hate?

Hi guys,

In late January or February, i'll be replacing my company truck and daily driver. I'll have the choice of driving another vehicle owned (and therefore free gas, etc) by my company that i obviously cannot mod or take on vacations, or what i'm leaning towards, taking a car allowance and buying myself a new truck.

What i'm wondering is your feedback on Tacomas as that is the truck i am really leaning towards.

Here is what i NEED to truck to do:

Drive me to work everyday in a busy downtown core (Calgary, AB) and park in an underground parking spot. My commute is only 2 miles (3 Km).

Travel in nice style with 2-3 clients about once a month to hockey games, golf, etc

Travel to oilfield lease sites (basically farmers' fields with crappy dirt roads in and out) about once a month

Drive 2-3 times a month 700+ kms (500 miles) in a day

Drive on long road trips quarterly. these are about 2500 kms a piece, primarily highway. I NEED comfort on these trips, bombing down the highway through the prairies is annoying enough as it is, add vibration noise and harshness and it's just no fun!

Nice to have

Heated leather. The new TRD sport/leather has this, and i was never a big believer in heated seats but 2 months ago i bought an acura tsx for my girlfriend which we both use on weekends and the heated leather is unreal. makes such a huge difference.

Navigation. This is going to have to be a dash mount as toyota doesn't list it on their accessory list (correct me if i'm wrong)

Now, if the truck is "mine" and in my name, as i really miss offroading, i will do some mods that hopefully will not detract from driveability. I'm thinking 3" lift, 33"s, bumpers and sliders.


Input, thoughts, what bugs you about your trucks, etc, would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance guys.

 

welcome to the site man you will get tons of info on here, if you plan to have people in your truck often you need the double cab because the access cab is not fun for an adult, i have the sport and i love my truck and would not trade it for anything, and it gets good gas mileage. you ever heard of Ledcor? just what you were describing sounds like the company i work for and they do a lot of stuff up there so thought i would ask. anyways welcome to the site!

 

Hey thanks man!

Yeah, i should've mentioned, i am only considering a doublecab.

And of course i know Ledcor! that's awesome, good group of guys over there.

 

yeah the doublecab is nice i like when they have the 3" lift on them and 33's good lookin trucks for sure, i wanted the leather package in my truck but they didnt have them available here in california but oh well. Yeah the owner of Ledcor lives here in Napa Valley so i see him a lot and its a great company, i figured you knew who they were i think they are all over canada haha

 

double cab sport as its a longbox and imagine you need it at times. some 265/70/17 tires and a threeish inch lift would do nicely and not rub or you could put on some 255/85/16 only ones i've seen are mud tired not A/Ts and this would require you to get new wheels and do a small amount of trimming. as for nav you could buy a small unit or change out the head unit to a kenwood they use garmin nav and is my personal preference but there are many other choices alpine pioneer etc.

 

Tacomas are great IMO – but just FYI – you will not get an impartial response on this site because we ALL love our Tacomas here… So that said, here is what I can tell you from my experience:


“Drive me to work everyday in a busy downtown core (Calgary, AB) and park in an underground parking spot. My commute is only 2 miles (3 Km).”

· 2 miles is a SWEET commute – I do 40+ miles one way to work everyday in my TACO and I (knock on wood) haven’t had a problem. Parking underground may be an issue – but that all depends on how tall the garage is and how high you lift your Tacoma.


“Travel in nice style with 2-3 clients about once a month to hockey games, golf, etc“

· IMO this truck would be perfect for this… Especially the Double Cabs. I have frequent outings with my friends/family and we all pile in my truck over the minivans (owned by my future mother-in-law). The truck is always the preferred option. PLUS, you can tailgate of the rear of it for those sorts of games… and you have plenty of cargo area to put stuff.



“Travel to oilfield lease sites (basically farmers' fields with crappy dirt roads in and out) about once a month”

· My Double Cab 4X4 Sport is great off-road. Unless you are going up steep hills or getting stuck in some deep mud – the Sport is a good option over the TRD Off-Road. However, if you want to do some serious off-roading – that rear-locking differential will come into play from time to time and really help out.



“Drive 2-3 times a month 700+ kms (500 miles) in a day”

· I have taken my truck on several trips (DC to Florida, DC to Upstate NY) and I get remarkably good gas mileage… Additionally, I find all the cup holder handy – as well as the ample storage room in the bed or in my Double Cab.



“Drive on long road trips quarterly. these are about 2500 kms a piece, primarily highway. I NEED comfort on these trips, bombing down the highway through the prairies is annoying enough as it is, add vibration noise and harshness and it's just no fun!”

· There is some limited wind noise at higher speeds that I have seen… But I think that there is some things you can do about that – I.E. sound proofing that will come in handy for your audio system as well.



“Heated leather. The new TRD sport/leather has this, and i was never a big believer in heated seats but 2 months ago i bought an acura tsx for my girlfriend which we both use on weekends and the heated leather is unreal. makes such a huge difference.”

· I hear that heated seats (over heavy use and time) make you sterile. Not sure if you care about that – might actually be a good thing if you aren’t having kids or are all done with that life mission. Heated seats are great in colder weater – but for me – I tend to stay on the warm side as it is – and my butt warms up the seat just fine. But this is a nice to have if you have clients that want to roll with you to games etc.



“Navigation. This is going to have to be a dash mount as toyota doesn't list it on their accessory list (correct me if i'm wrong)”

· You have A LOT of options here – particularly from an after-market perspective. There are all-in-one head units that you can have installed that have Nav, DVD, CD, iPod hookups, USB hookups, etc. Try the AVIC F90-BT or the more popular Pioneer DNX 8120, DNX 5120, or any other DNX model. I myself am going to spend the 800 and get the integrated Pioneer Head unit installed – so I can have that clean look. PLUS, the touch screen will wow your clients a little. J



“Now, if the truck is "mine" and in my name, as i really miss offroading, i will do some mods that hopefully will not detract from driveability. I'm thinking 3" lift, 33"s, bumpers and sliders.”

· Sliders shouldn't impact your driveability – and neither will a lift or some 33’s. The big thing is after doing a lift is alignment and proper wheel balancing… Should drive smooth. With the lift specifically – you need to decide if you are going to do a simple spacer lift – or something more intense… but that all depends on if you want to do serious off-roading or if you are just a weekend off-roader like I am…



Good luck and wish you the best!!

 

wow that was one heck of a response man, i think i will give you rep for that one haha

 

It doesn't fly....

 

+1

 

Thanks so much, Don!

I was definitely expecting biased responses here but i figured if there were hidden issues, who better to ask than guys who drive these everyday!

 

Sure thing... Let us know if you have more questions... I'll stay subscribed for a bit on this thread just in case.

Cheers!

 

On the personal side, i hike, mountain bike, fish, camp. So a truck should do those things just fine (and i'm not taking the acura camping!). I could use an SUV for my job as the biggest equipment i carry around is a tradeshow booth and occasionally a 6' meter run made of 2" pipe. But i think a pickup will be much more conducive to my lifestyle.

I've never heard that about heated seats, yikes! Here in Calgary, the weather's fairly mild, but when it gets cold, it gets F***KING cold. This morning was -35 degrees Celcius (-31 degrees Fahrenheit). So butt warmers are a definite plus.

And yeah, an all in one head unit with nav and bluetooth would be sweet. For years i worked in car audio and still get heavy discounts so should be easy on the wallet too.

Has anyone experienced electrical issues with water/mud and offroading?

I can't find anything on the Toyota site listed the TRD as still coming with an electric locker? Did they retain this for 09?

 

Yea - it sounds like a P/U is a better choice for you... And since you live in Calgary - I'd imagine the heated seats would be a plus too- especially with Leather. I failed to look at your location before you posted. Sorry...

Me personally, I've never really been in water deep enough to cause electrical probs - plus I have a 3" Tuff Country Suspension lift (spacer). Picked it up from www.suspensionconnection.com at a great price.

Unsure about the electric locker in the 09... anyone?

I also got the towing package... that is a plus as well. A rear hitch recover point is a good to have item...

With mine - I plan on making it into an expedition vehicle of sorts...

My idea is coming from something I saw online... Google Image search "Mayan Hunter"... That's what I want to do eventually.

 

I love my truck, but it does have some short comings. The double cab is nice, but it isn't very comfortable for tall folks in my experience. By tall, I mean over 6'. It is tough for a couple of 6' tall guys to ride comfortably in my truck. The ride is pretty good for a 4WD truck and the milage isn't terrible. I will have to add that I drove an 09 F-150 a few weeks ago. It was a larger truck with considerably more interior space, smoother ride (it was a 2WD and longer wheel base) and slightly better milage (it has a larger engine with more torgue and HP; I get 17.5 in the Taco and got 18 in the f150).

That all being said, I feel that the investment in the Tacoma was a better decision for me. It retains more value over time and is damn near bulletproof. Also, the Tacoma is much much easier to navigate in a parking lot. The F150 was a bit more lumbering and was in no way nimble. And it also cost a couple grand more.

I don't know that the F150 was in your list of considerations, but I'd deffinately recommend test driving one. All things considered, I still love my Tacoma and think it was the right choice for me.

 

Dude, that Maya Hunter rig is awesome! I really like that even modded with bumpers and a bit of lift, these trucks still retain a measure of civility. My last off road rig was a HEAVILY modded 1988 Mitsubishi Montero (dodge raider here in canada) that i absolutely loved and poured a ton of time love and money into. Unfortunately, i had to sell it when i moved in with my girlfriend (no space to park it and no garage to tinker on it), and an expedition vehicle is essentially what it turned into.

I believe the tow package comes standard on the trim i'm looking at. They 'squash' the option packages down here in canada (no regular cab for instance).

I did a quick google search and it looks like there's A-Trac in the new trucks in lieu of a locker. A buddy of mine has an FJ cruiser that he wheels and he seems to like the A-Trac.

We have great wheeling here, but you need to trudge through nasty water and mud to get to it. The first offroader i had was a Nissan Pathfinder, which ate alternators and starters from water and mud like candy. My same buddy with the FJ is constantly having issues with the idler pulleys on his truck, i wonder if tacos suffer the same fate. We have a Nissan/Import 4x4 club here that i co-chair but 2 of our members that have tacos don't offroad them, they use them for work and keep them totally stock and have trail-only rigs so i got the "their great trucks" speech but that was it.

And no worries on not checking location.

 

4x4 double cab v6....either the sport or the offroad.................equal the truck for you. find the one you like with heated seats, and then install a gps system!!! you'll be all set man!!

 

the trd offroad is the truck you want then, the sport doesnt come with the A-trac or the locker it just has the lsd.

 

+1

 

Can't comment on some of your needs, as my truck will never see anything worse than a gravel road, or maybe grassy fields... But I do drive mine about 20k one way in Vancouver traffic each day and it's a very comfortable ride. I've noticed some wind noise at higher speeds (100+ kph), but nothing the radio won't cover. I'm taking it on the highway for the first time next weekend on my way to Calgary, so we'll see how it is on the long haul.

 

Another from Cow Town! Yeah it was pretty damn cold today, Truck turned over fine though even without being plugged in.

I have no problems navigating Calgary with my Tacoma Off Road. Even without the heated leather seats the TRD bucket seats really don't retain that much cold, so your ass doesn't suffer too much.

As for oilfield stuff, I'm an Industrial Medic so I know exactly what you want to do on those roads. The Taco is perfect for them. Specially since those damn lease roads are barely big enough for a one ton to squeeze through, the Taco is the perfect size!

Any other questions you have about the Taco and how it performs in Calgary, gimmie a shout. This is my second winter with it.