Manual Transmissions Were Just 1.4% of 2023 US Sales

Despite the idiosyncrasies with the MT, its relative rarity ensures that these Tacomas will be sought out for many years to come.

There are half a million pickups for sale in the US. Less than 2,000 of them are manual.

 

I would love to know the number of manual solar octane trd pros sold in 2023. When I read the forums I'm still shocked buying mine was as easy as calling my dealer asking what was coming then putting a deposit down. 2 months later boom, manual pro.

But coming from a terribly unreliable colorado zr2 I wanted a pro, no intentions of changing suspension until it needs the be rebuilt. My brother still kicks himself for not trading his 17 sport on a 19 manual pro with 7k km on it in early 2020. They still sell for the same price they were asking back then now with over 100k km on them.

The lesson he learned was don't listen to the women in your life when it come to vehicle purchases. The only downside was the dopey snorkel

 

meh, new product release, early adopters, and those that really want it will get it first.

the subaru brz/ scion fr-s had a manual take rate of around 70%.

but more interesting in that discussion is the difference in order availability.

i can specifically order any subaru or ford i want. i cannot order a toyota.

 

and then there's me that's texting while eating a burger, and rev-matching 2nd to round a corner...

no, manual requires a mechanical competency. we as a country gave that up when we started pushing higher education over mechanical trades. there are no prestigious universities that pride themselves on teaching the core STEM programs while also offering courses to tear down and rebuild a motor.

forums are also a really weird spot, as we all are somewhat mechanically inclined, or at the very least, mechanically-amazed. the large majority of the world treats their cars the same as a garage door opener. and when was the last time you flushed and refilled the grease in your opener?

 

not with fords stupid 4x4 solution.
https://jalopnik.com/multiple-ford-bronco-sports-overheated-off-road-lets-t-1846450499

to be fair, i had also been interested specifically in fords focus ST and RS offerings, but went with the brz and it's mechanical LSD specifically because of fords implementation of an electronic-brake-controlled 'LSD' for the ST, and an undersized rear diff in the RS, but also plagued with a brake-controlled simul-lsd.

i just plain don't agree with ford's electronic implementation of mechanical solutions. a standard chain/gear 4x4 transfer case doesn't have overheating issues either, and the last thing i need in any vehicle is for something to stop working the moment i really need it because the OEM wanted to save $1,000 on the mechanical solution.

 

I'd trust a manual driver texting more than an automatic driver, their texts are shorter!Maintaining the valuable mechanical things that require regular servicing/maintenance is valuable in itself.. A garage door opener that costs $300 for 20 years of trouble free operation doesn't require maintenance, or at least it isn't worth doing a service to it for no real benefit. Automobile forums do generally have members who are mechanical and take care of their junk, the rest of the world treats their car like a garage door opener. It's easy to see that when looking at used cars. It is unfortunate that the education system doesn't spend more time teaching the STEM programs, we'd be in a better society today.

 

i feel strongly the opposite way. i pinpoint the focus on STEM education to be the root of many societal issues that we're only starting to see the end result of after decades of implementation. by focusing on only core 'higher education' competencies, STEM implementation has fundamentally disrupted the natural flow of people into the workforce.

it places an ultimate and overbearing emphasis on upper and middle management, despite the lack of placement opportunities, or acknowledgement of the valuable benefits of field experience contrasted to ultimately 'paying' for a certification that implies the same experience level. but in reality, 'paper experience' has little to no advantage in completing the real tasks at hand within most business structures.

it's no coincidence that there's less people than ever applying and working $20-50/hr trades 'no-experience needed, we train!' jobs while college tuition and admission rates are at an all time high. and while it seems many more complete college, many more graduate only to go back to a routine $14-18/hr job at Amazon.

i feel this is specifically because of the aforementioned front-loading of the societal push to upper and middle management, despite the inherent lack of capability for the significant quantity of people entering the collegiate path due to the governmental measures surrounding the push to equal china in STEM education back during the reagan administration.

 

Mine came spec'd as white 2023 TRD Offroad, double cab. Technology package, LED lights, bed light kit, door sill protectors, all weather floor mats, and door edge protectors. I lucked out and found a dealer in fairly rural Oregon that had it on allocation. Put a deposit on it to get first right of refusal. It came in about 3 weeks later. Payed 40,700 for it. Very happy with it. 5th toyota truck I've owned going back to the 80's. All manuals. Sold my 2015 jeep rubicon unlimited with 85,000 miles
for an obscene amount of money. Payed cash for the truck.

 

Man rural Oregon has the hookups apparently. My dealer, Toyota of Newport, had two in identical spec when I put my deposit down in March 2023 - ELM TRDOR DC with LED Headlights.

 

F - me! Should we open a thread on this??
What is the preferred grease for garage openers - and dare I ask about the optimal Change interval???

Regarding education; I will say that it depends on where you go... I see kids selecting some pretty impractical lines of study. Do what you want - but focus on acquiring a SKILL.

My Uni had (and still has) a 'Learn by doing' Philosophy. We built and broke stuff on a daily basis. The have acres set aside to experiment with things students designed. - This also makes you think about how to design things that can actually BE built!

They also had a requirement that you take a writing test as pre-requisite for graduation. You had a selection of 3 random topics to write a solid paper about. The topics were independent of your major and any field of topic was fair game... You had 4 hours to write an intelligible argument on one of the topics. A panel evaluated it. If a minimum score was not achieved - you did not receive your degree.

Unis are supposed to enable a broad EDUCATION - not just create a bubble for graduates to live in an be happy about being ignorant about anything outside of it...

 

I wouldn't necessarily say Toyota is making it less attractive. The vast majority of the buying public just doesn't care about manuals anymore. We are the fractional population that remains who actually care about it. It used to be you would associate having a manual as better performance vs an automatic. Nowadays, automatics are superior in performance to manuals. So there is very little reason for a car company to offer the manual other than to satisfy us purists.

And you may be waiting a while for a full electric Tacoma. The President of Toyota correctly foresaw the cooling trend in EV's which have all major car brands peeling back on EV production. He says gas is here to stay and the focus is on Hybrids. You may see a PHEV Tacoma in the near future, but a self sustaining EV won't happen during Gen 4's lifecycle.

 

Toyota has baffled back & forth on EVs. There is cooling on EV sales - just as with anything else requiring financing. And also the cooling is from some pretty silly recent growth. I think we need a much lower price point selection to supply more un-addressed consumers. As well as more practical models. People do not really need sub 2 second 0-60 performance!

But to be clear, I am not holding off for a Toyota EV - Just an electric replacement for the taco...

I'd be happy with a Rivian (my neighbor just got one), and there are some interesting EV UTEs and SUVs coming to market. BUT I am certainly not in a hurry.
I'm happy with my Manual taco for now. It is the only ICE vehicle left... and it seems so quaint now. Especially when I have to do maintenance...
Best of all - I really enjoy fueling EVs exclusively with the SUN that shines happily on my roof. (And with free electricity when traveling).

 

I’d be curious to know how many people out of the 1.4% have a TW account lol

 

Got extremely lucky with my MT pro. Saw it online on my local dealers website as "in-transit". Called them and they said they expected in "any day now". Put a deposit down and 2 days later it arrived.

 

I like the fact that no one wants to borrow my truck because it's a manual.

 

Love my 2018 unicorn! Test drove it late 2017 and again in 2018 before buying in March of that year, they were glad to be rid of it. They had 60 plus Tacomas at the time only one manual. Really lucked out that I ended up with. Couldn't be happier.

For mileage, I agree they do better, have a friend with a 2017 OR auto for comparison. Yes there's no crawl control but the atrac performs just fine. no muss no fuss.

 

lol. Man I’ve had 10 stick shifts throughout the years. Yeah they suck and you can’t out shift an auto on a sports car. In the mud through it in low and press the gas. No shifting. Even the 4 wheelers and side be sides are using autos.

 

I've driven numerous automatic sports cars, including ones equipped with BMW's DCT and Porsche's PDK. They are not as fun/engaging as a manual.