Do you reverse-park your Tacoma in parking lots?

When a parking lot is fairly empty, you can forward park even a full-sized truck with an even larger turning radius than the Tacoma because you can swing wider than the normal row width and enter the parking space in a single swoop.

But if the parking lot is "standard" size and fairly full, and you need to park between 2 other medium to large cars, forward parking doesn't seem geometrically possible for the gen-4 Tacoma without backing up at least once.

So I was wondering how many of you reverse-park as your standard way of parking your Tacoma in a parking lot. Online comments say reverse parking is illegal in some states that only require 1 license plate but I'm not sure if that's true.

PS, the idea being that reverse-parking sweeps out a smaller vehicle footprint than forward parking so you can park larger vehicles in one shot that can't make it in one shot (without hitting adjacent cars) when forward parking.

 

I usually park far away from others and pull through. However I will pull in or back in depending on what is easiest. I have been to many job sites where backing in was required. Never heard of a state making it illegal.

 

I learned in the corporate world — working for DuPont for 20+ years in one job and visiting big mining sites in another — to always back in. The logic is that backing up is riskier than pulling forward, and it’s safer to do that operation “away” from potential traffic than “into” it.

I back into a parking spot 99% of the time.

 

Of course.

 

It depends on how much I give a shit and how much space I have. I usually park far away to begin with.

Although I will say I always smile when I park out far to grocery shop and come back an hour later to like 2 or 3 other tacos parked next to me the same way

 

You mean you don't just swing her in there, taking up 2 or 3 spots.
Then get out and walk as slow as humanly possible in the middle of the lane on the way in?

WTF......you are a rare breed my friend.

On a serous note:
It's all dependent on the place.
Which ever makes it easier for me to load the truck and get out as quick and easy as possible.

 

4th gens are a pig to park, I really have no idea why toyota made the turning radius so short.

 

lmao, I was looking at F250 tremors the other day and thinking about what a bi**h it would be to park compared to the Tacoma. Nice truck though.

 

Every vehicle I have ever owned I pulled in backwards. The reason behind it is safety this way u can see what’s coming when pulling out of a parking space . People now a days drive like a-holes … will drive across parking lots and u will never see them coming . And in case u need to run from the cops u don’t need to go into reverse lol

 

Always try and back in, far away from the entrance and away from cart corals. People are A holes , and lease crap they don’t care about or can afford. I’m fortunate to be retired and have a winter beater, then I park in the “front row “. Don’t get me started on “cart curtiousy “ inside the store.

 

Park far away from others where there are multiple open spaces...always. Reverse in...always.

Someone parks next to me anyway? Often. WTF?

 

You need to watch the youtube channel Cart Narc

 

I did a lot of work for oil and gas companies in West Virginia a decade or so ago. Their rule was "first move forward" meaning you always backed into a parking spot. I remember returning to the home office in Pennsylvania one day and EVERY car in the parking lot was backed into a parking spot. To me, it makes sense, and I still follow that practice to this day.

 

I back in at the back of the lot (mostly so I can stare at my truck on the walk back )

 

People can barely drive forward, let alone backward, what’s a turn signal, do all cars come with them, are they automatic.

 

Backing in or pulling through is just standard pickup truck etiquette.

For 2024 Toyota figured out how to engineer a small truck to park like full-sizer, so best practice is to pick a nice open area, back it in, get a little extra exercise.

Don’t overthink your spot though, b/c no matter how far out you go, we already know that some character in a beater Honda is going to creep up next to you anyway.

 

Always back into a spot

 

I just do what works best for the scenario but have a long bed where the back in can be better. It is funny when I forget to even use the screen and cameras but I once drove semi and still operate some machines that keep me at that visual way.

What will sometimes make me do something contrary is if others appear to be playing super trucker or doing something I find off putting or obnoxious. At two of my work sites some staff have pickups as their ego machines and they can behave poorly so when I see them all backed into stalls or sometimes taking two stalls I just stay away.

 

At scouting events, like camping, they require all vehicles to be backed into spots. This way if an evacuation is required, like for a forest fire, there is less chance of an accident and the evacuation is quicker.

 

I only ever really go to the grocery store but I tried parking far away and still came out to a big scuff on the side of my truck near the top of the bedside so I have no clue what could have even hit it that high up. Now I park on the side where its always empty and has a big camera facing right at me