Four years in a Tacoma, a frustrating experience

I bought my Tacoma in cash brand new in 2019. I was super excited and loved it… at first. It was my dream truck. Now after 25k miles and many road-trips in the western US, I think it’s just OK for now, and I’m probably going to get something else. There are some things I like about it and many things I discovered I truly dislike.

I wanted to get my thoughts down for anyone considering a Tacoma because there’s a lot of positivity about these trucks, which is fine. They’re good trucks. There are critiques about this truck you might dismiss, though, because you’re enamored with the other good elements. That was me. You’ll see these people riled up in the comments.

Here’s my experience.

Likes:

• Good offroad unless there are substantial inclines. Doesn’t get stuck, goes anywhere. Smaller footprint allows it to be nimble on trails. E-locker, crawl control, etc work great. Good approach, break over, departure angles for a pickup. Good ground clearance.
  
• Generally pretty easy to work on myself.
• Pretty good MPG and general road manners on flat ground.
• Phenomenal aftermarket support.
  
• Plenty of cup holders.
  
• Old school in the right places, new school in the right places. Love the ebrake.
• Well built. Takes abuse and still looks new.
• Looks fantastic. Such a handsome truck.
• My 2019 was built in USA.
• Cheap price when I bought it.

Dislikes:

• Primary issue: The seating position is simply atrocious. I’m 6’ 1”, athletic build. My head hits the ceiling if I’m sitting up. I can’t even see the horizon out the passenger window on flat ground. I can’t see red lights if I’m the first or even second in line. My legs are cramped up on the surprisingly high floor. My legs have no support. Elbow support is all wrong and mismatched on either side. It’s the worst seating I’ve ever experienced in any vehicle. I thought I could deal with it, but I’ve found I cannot. It is so, so, so bad. Shame on Toyota for designing a truck that only fits 5’6”~5’10” people.
• In stock form I trailered 1400 miles across the country. Inadequate passing power at low elevation only towing 2600lbs.
• Noisy on highway. Diff whine, wind noise (esp. with crosswind). Amsoil helped but it’s still there.
• Low oil warning off road the second it points downhill. Oil at full mark. TRD “Off Road”? Uuuh, ok Toyota.
• Radar cruise control redlines the truck constantly when switching lanes out from behind semis. Also totally inadequate acceleration from 60 to 75. The cruise control is dog water, at best.
• Poor performance at high altitude above 8,000 ft.
• Maybe it needs gears? Put 4.88s in. Highway MPGs went way down, moderately better on hills, no substantial increase in highway acceleration. Cruise control is still on crack.
• Everyone talks about tunes, OK. Easy, I work in tech. Got a laptop, cable, and tuning software. OVTune 2.0 and KDMax - a little better responsiveness, but MPGs are now in Tundra territory while acceleration still feels in 1990 Tercel territory.
• Stock/modified - it doesn’t matter. Not nearly enough power. 1100 lb payload is pathetic.

I have come to realize, slowly, painfully that I absolutely detest the seating position and gutless 3.5L and clueless 6-speed in this truck. It’s not the right engine, plain and simple. I want to like it, I want it to work. But alas.

I know I can potentially try to “fix” the seating position issues with seatjackers but they’d just force my head even higher. I know I could supercharge it but that wouldn’t fix the discomfort.

I’m honestly looking forward to eventually getting something like an F-150, Titan, or Tundra. Maybe even Rivian. We’ll see.

Disclaimer:

Some people here seem to love to hate on the “complainers” for critiquing any perceived problems with this truck’s drivetrain. They seem to take any criticism of their perfect truck personally, and need to justify their own decisions for their purchases. If you’re one of these people, please be civil. You may find your reasons to pick me apart, invalidate what I say, and justify your own individual, independent reasons for purchasing these trucks for totally different use cases than mine. That’s fine. Just be nice. I have my experience, you have yours. I am unhappy with the drivetrain for what I need. It’s 100% fine if it works for you.

Addendum:

I’m noticing a redundancy in a couple reply themes. It appears the people posting aren’t reading this post in full, let alone the thread, so let me TLDR the following:

• Of course I test drove the truck. A 20 min drive at sea level on the Prius compound tires (hyperbole, relax). A test drive is not usually the length of I-80 through Wyoming, unfortunately. Moreover, it’s not reasonable to expect a thorough test of cruise control on a brand new vehicle on a test drive. That’s not proper break-in procedure. I will just direct these posters to read this and the rest of the thread henceforth.
• If you have a ‘20 or newer truck, your seat positioning is different. Your experience will therefore be different. You don’t need to comment on it.
• I disagree that my expectations were too much. Toyota already seem to have at least partially addressed the seat issue and improved the tune on newer models. I believe if they just went to an 8-10 speed transmission my hangups would be substantially reduced, even if they kept the 3.5. My parents have a Highlander and the shifting is much better, with greater ability to stay in a reasonable RPM for various situations. It is really not unreasonable to expect the Tacoma to be better in this respect, especially since Toyota’s own fleet contains vehicles with the 3.5 and better transmissions. Maybe I should have gotten a manual, you might say. It’s hard to argue with that, especially because the truck’s oiling issues on inclines off road keep me pretty tame.

 

Well to each his own. I'm 5'9" so I don't have an issue with the seating. None of your other points bother me or i care about. I love the truck.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I can say as a 6'3" guy, I fit comfortably in my 21 or. I've had it for 2 years and it's done everything I've asked of it. I've had to adjust how I do some things because of it's small size.

 

4 years is a long time to put up with the drive train and poor ergonomics.

 

I would have test driven it first.

 

Good luck with the Rivian. Perhaps we will hear about you in the news soon.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...wner-thinking-about-going-to-a-tacoma.796553/

 

I love my 2019. Definitely some quirks but that’s with anything. I also didn’t put a ton of heavy shit on it, as listed in your profile, and then expect it to be speedy, which seems to be much of your dislikes.

 

Test drives are not 1000 miles in a day.

 

Nothing I have done is heavy. It’s all aluminum and/or removed heavier bits.

 

You have documented the issues adequately.

 

Sliders, skids, bumpers, rooftop tent…

 

There are certain things that are impossible to tell in a test drive.

Not every vehicle is for everyone.

This is a well thought out and stated opinion.

 

Sliders are 50 lbs each. Skids aluminum, less than 40 lbs. Tent is removable, not currently on truck. Rear tube bumper actually lightened truck. Front is aluminum, added 20 lbs.

 

I love my sr5 tacoma. Left it all stock. It's pulled my boat over 2k with plenty of power, same for my 5x10 utility trailer loaded up. I'm one of those 5'10'' guys so it's fine for me. Cruise control works just fine like my tundra did. Even the rear differential has never complained.
Sounds to me the op might have got a tacoma similar to my buddies 2019 trd. One thing for sure I've learned over the years is not to go changing anything on a new truck, the toyota engineer's that designed it usually have it right.

 

Such a shame about tbe drivetrain. V6’s don’t have to be gutless.

 

Many people either like or dislike for many reasons. However, I do have a problem with people who complain when a few test drives would have pointed out most of your issues.

 

On the positive side you’ll get the best resale value on the market when you trade your truck

 

I would say your review is fair.
I love Toyota vehicles, always been a fan of them since my 1st one. A 1996 Tacoma.

I will be the first say, powerful it’s not.
But in general, They are rugged and tolerate neglect quite well.

I’ll take the “heat” with you.
If you want to get from point A to point B, with little to no worries or problems, buy a Toyota. If you want to get there fast, but don’t mind wrenching on stuff, buy an American vehicle.

 

I’m 6’2” and my head doesn’t hit the ceiling. But I don’t have a sunroof.

 

Fast but for a short time and wrench but when it's most inconvenient.