Talk me out of the 4th gen

Okay hear me out. I am a first time Tacoma buyer. My mom had a 2nd gen v6 which I drove a lot growing up and never was a fan of its powertrain. I am coming from a 2017 Civic Si, it has a 4 cylinder direct injection turbo engine. It is very torquey, has awesome fuel economy, and maintenance is very easy. Spark plugs and ignition coils are practically on your lap when you open the hood. If I ever had to replace the head gasket, I could do it in a day.

I had a Ram with a Hemi at one point (I know terrible purchase) and maintenance on it was a PITA. It had 16 spark plugs, which were a pain to get to. Add to the fact that I hate V configuration engines, especially V6s, I completely discounted 3rd gen. I see the 4th gen as a winner with less cylinders all in a straight row.

All of that being said, I drove my friend's 2023 sport and was impressed with the powertrain. Much smoother and quieter than the 2nd gen. My final concern about the 3rd gen is its towing capacity. I towed my 500ish pound motorcycle across the country with a uhaul trailer in a 2nd gen and was not impressed. I have heard the 3rd gen is even worse at towing.

Now I am contemplating the 3rd gen over the 4th gen. I need an access cab V6. Originally I had my eyes on the 2024 prerunner, but after driving my friend's 3rd gen I have my doubts about the 4th gen. The 3rd gen has rear seats (not that I plan on using them daily, but that is nice in a pinch), rear doors, and they have worked out all of the bugs. I have heard rumors that the 4th gen with require 91 octane, which is annoying. I am not concerned per se that the 4th gen will be unreliable. Honda and Toyota generally do a good job of remedying and recalling any reliability issues, but I am concerned that the radio/climate control interface will have teething pains as did my 2017 Civic (2nd year of 10th gen civic).

As a 3rd gen owner give me your thoughts besides, "A N/A v6 is more reliable than a turbo i4."

 

I think if you haul a 5k lbs trailer across the country, a Tacoma of any Gen is NOT what you want.
Get a full size truck.

 

I researched and shopped around for some time before I purchased my 2019. In the end it came down to getting a reliable 3rd gen. that essentially has all the same features as the 4th gens, plus I ended up saving money on one with extremely low miles and a manual transmission. I've had diesels my entire life and still have one for towing. In the end, I don't think anyone really buys a Tacoma for its towing capabilities. Good luck in your decision!

 

Agree. Towing a 3k trailer is easy for a Taco but after that it's not great. The F150 I drive now beats the Tacoma almost in every way when it comes to towing.

 

I expect the 4th gen to be better than the 3rd gen in most ways related to driving experience and capability. I expect 3rd gen to be easier to maintain and long term costs will be lower. This is the usual trend.

 

I’m not gonna try to talk you out of shit.

The only thing I can say is if you want to jump into the fourth GEN dig yourself a favor to wait at least one year if not two. Let them work out the bugs before you jump into the new generation

 

Interesting why do you say that?

I hear y'all when it comes to towing, so maybe I should take back that statement. I do not plan on regularly using the truck for towing. However I am in the military and have had to tow my project car while moving multiple times. My buddy with the '23 sport towed his project car, which is the same weight. His truck did fine, but it did struggle in the mountains. I will mainly be using this truck to take my motorcycle to the track.

 

If I had known the 4th gen would've been available with a 6MT I would've waited.

 

Are the complaints about the 6 speed AT legitimate? I am not considering a manual. I've had plenty of manual vehicles in the past, and want to take a break.

 

This is muchly that turbo thing you mention at the end of your first post

 

My 2nd gen was mainly a daily and on the weekends I towed my landscaping trailer. I loved the powertrain on the 2nd gen though I know you didn't like it. If you don't tow every day then it shouldn't be bad at all.
Though it was a small trailer dont expect to pass many gas stations without stopping and filling up with the 21gal fuel tank. My current F150 gets about 1-2 MPGs better when towing than my old Taco and has a 36gal tank! Unloaded it'll do 700+ miles on the highway!

 

For me personally, the turbo and hybrid system = more things to go wrong. Also, not sure how a turbo will handle going uphill slowly in the heat - my understanding is it taxes the cooling system alot more. As these guys have said, for towing, go full size. If you're set on a 4th gen, I would say to wait for a year or two while they work the bugs out.

 

OP's brain be like....

Don't do it!

I mean go for it!

Probably a bad idea.

But then again, what could go wrong?

I know, let the interweb decide for me!

 

Based on this, you're going to hate either one. It's not going to be anything like your civic. You cannot compare a turbo compact to a truck with a small engine using turbos to compensate for the lost displacement. Apples and oranges. A turboed civic is overpowered for what it is, better aerodynamics, and built for a different kind of driving experience. The 4th gen is using a small 4 with forced air to match what the outgoing generation has for peak power and a gain in torque, but it won't even remotely resemble your civic.

The access cab does not have seats in the back... I mean, they call them seats, but I'm only 5'6" and I was crushed riding in the back of my buddy's for 20 minutes. You're better off removing them and just having it be storage. Unless you dislike the person you are giving a ride. Even then you really better hate them.

Both Tacos are not going to get great fuel mileage, so you should not get your hopes up there. Both Tacos are going to be slow.

Take the tow rating and cut it in half. That's your limit if you want pleasurable easy towing. That's an easy way to not get over your head with any truck. It will tow up to the limit, but it will suck for everything over half. Plan not to tow over 60-65 if you want it to suck less, regardless of how much you're towing. It gets you better mileage and makes wind or operator errors easier to deal with. Towing more that 3-4K pounds once or twice wouldn't be anything that would make me shy away from a midsize, but if you need to move 5K+ more than 100 miles and more than once a year, I'd go for a 2018-2021 Tundra with the 5.7 in it. Mileage sucks, but they are going to move that way more happily than a midsize.

General opinion is usually that the last model year of an old design will always be better than the first model year of a new one. If you can hold out for a couple years the 4th gen might have some kinks worked out.

 

Ive towed a 1000lb power hammer for 9 hours, i didnt even know it was there.

 

4G will not require premium. Although many idiots here will insist it “runs better” and gets “better fuel mileage”

 

From your opening very long OP I'd say get something else. You said you didn't like your Mom's 2nd gen. No reason you'd like a 3rd or 4th.
Go for another sporty car to replace the Civic.
By the way "TnShooter" I think he said 500 lbs not 5,000.

 

I’d say go with a 3rd gen and get either a KDMax tune or an OTT tune on it and call it one. I’m still not so sure of the 2.4L turbo in the Tacoma. Check this video out that car care nut put out. Yes it’s about the grand Highlander and a different hybrid system, but the new Tacoma will use this same engine. Car care nut says it’s a little more complicated to work on.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OYbi3iTk8Sc&pp=ygUdQ2FyIGNhcmUgbnVyIGdyYW5kIGhpZ2hsYW5kZXI=

 

All I read was the word “towing”.
Do yourself a favor and get a full-size. The fuel consumption will be about the same and the capability and comfort will be ther as well.

 

If you’re going to tow anything more than once or twice per year, consider a full size truck. The Tacoma’s chassis just isn’t optimal for towing (this goes for all generations). I also didn’t want a V6 which is why I got the 2.7L 4x4 base model gen 3. Very happy with it so far.