Honest Discussion: Do You Regret Moving to The 4th Gen?

I have a 2024 TRD Sport 6ft bed. I moved from a 2021 SR5 4x4 with mods. There are parts of me that miss my 2021 a lot.

The main reasons are:

1. The ruggedness and overall build quality. The 3rd gen looked and is more rugged. The 2024, especially areas like the back top of the roof, and the "vents" in the front of the fenders. Both areas seem like a major point of easily attained damage/failure.

2. Cheapness feeling to the interior. The dash creaks/pops a lot, the "handle" next to the gear shift bends easily. Even the gear shifter seems cheap and flimsy.

3. The downgrade to a 4 cylinder. Sure, it has the same horsepower as the 3rd gen, and is a LOT better at not flip-flopping gears, especially when going up a hill, and puts it's power to the ground more efficient, BUT the competition has more power, and why not offer a turbo V6, like the Tundra has (since it is the same frame) so we get the power the competition has?

4. The noise the 2024 makes when at idle and in drive. I took my 2024 to the dealership to look and see if this can be fixed, they literally pulled around 3 other Tacomas and all made the same noise with zero miles. What makes the noise is the flex tube on the exhaust.

5. Skid plates and fender wells. Every Tacoma trim for the 3rd gen had a skid plate and plastic fender wells. My 2024 has fuzzy cardboard (like they use in trunks of cars) for both.

6. Mods are a PITA!. For example, to change the grille in the 3rd, it was 2 bolts, 2 clips, then the whole grille assembly came off. 20 minutes, and you have a TRD pro grille installed. The 4th gen requires you to pop the fenders out, pop the bumper out (all with pop-in clips that can and will break when removing) and remove the whole front of the truck to do it. Then the front bumper assembly has more parts to remove. I bought a TRD grille to do it on my 4th gen. I should have read into it more. I am returning the grille. Who wants to risk of ruining clips and have to Mickey Mouse your truck back together, or having to buy the whole bumper cover/fenders?

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my 2024. It's a great truck. It looks awesome and it runs great. BUT I think they went backwards with this gen.

My intention isn't to start a flame war. I just wanted others' opinions who owned a 3rd gen.

 

No regrets. I had a 2023 tacoma trd off road manual transmission with the 6 cylinder. It got totalled by an idiot who can't drive. At first I was like fuck, I can never get another.

Then I found my 2024 trd off road manual transmission. Put a deposit down having never driven one and have been happy ever since. Such a nicer truck overall compared to my 2023. 5500 miles in and I like it better than my 2023 in every aspect.

 

Time waits for no one. Every incarnation of the Tacoma will have changes. Some more that others. Pick your poison.

 

No regrets here. Best Tacoma thus far. I had two prior Gens (not the 3rd).

 

How dare you speak ill of the vastly superior 4th gen. All jokes aside, you are not in the minority, many of us Tacoma addicts have had a hard time migrating to the new platform, not saying it doesn't have improvements over the outgoing gen but it's far from perfect too but so was every other gen. Like I told another guy in here, Tacoma owners remind me of BMW owners you had guys who were in the e46 club, guys in the e90 and so forth, seems like each gen has a certain type of owner. I will say Toyota in general has really departed from its small changes over time and just simple and reliable, but one could argue such is the current car buyer.

 

The new engine does sound like gravel in a blender... The 3G's V6 was smooth and sweet while it was busy being completely outmatched against the 4500 pounds of a Tacoma.

I love turbo engines. But damn the 4G is coarse.

 

The 3.5 is a noisy little engine too especially during injector cleaning mode or whatever it's called, but not near the small tractor noise of the current gen, regardless don't think noise is indicative of reliability by any means.

 

Larger exhaust manifold and big ole’ turbo will make you forget the past.

 

I have no regrets but I didn't trade in my 3rd gen. I sold it several years ago (2017 TRD OR 6ft bed). I miss the 6ft bed, but have no issues with the shorter 5ft bed. I do miss the inferno orange color. I did love that truck, but that is the reason I bought a new Tacoma. And I really enjoy it. No regarts!!!

 

Glad to see someone else coming to the conclusion that the 4G interior is a downgrade. The touch-points are flimsy and I just don't like the aesthetic. It's over-styled and full of little geegaws and flairs, but still manages to look plain and humble compared to the other midsize trucks on the market! Worst of all possible worlds.

The 3G was simple and honest, even if it was "behind the times" in terms of interior styling. I'd take that again in a heartbeat.

 

Yep, can't stand the interior from the computer screen that wont age well plopped on the dash, the stupid little TRD door badges, weird seat patterns and overstyled grab handle, shifter, knobs, etc. just too much for my taste although more modern than the outgoing gen. I will say the GM twins interior especially in higher trims is so much nicer looking.

 

[QUOTE="TexasToyTaco, post: 30508515, member: 383590"
The main reasons are:

1. The ruggedness and overall build quality. The 3rd gen looked and is more rugged. The 2024, especially areas like the back top of the roof, and the "vents" in the front of the fenders. Both areas seem like a major point of easily attained damage/failure. Looks are subjective. The back top of my roof seems more than sturdy and could only be damaged if you were careless with oversize cargo. My fenders don't have vents so I can't comment on their sturdiness.

2. Cheapness feeling to the interior. The dash creaks/pops a lot, the "handle" next to the gear shift bends easily. Even the gear shifter seems cheap and flimsy. No creaks/pops from my interior but just over 100mi. The Pro has the soft touch door tops and other upgrades and doesn't feel cheap to me. My grab handle flexes/separates from the console a bit with a side load. It's plastic handle bolted to a plastic console but doesn't feel cheap to me. The leather covered gear shift does not feel cheap or flimsy on mine. The competition doesn't have a console handle so there's no benchmark.

3. The downgrade to a 4 cylinder. Sure, it has the same horsepower as the 3rd gen, and is a LOT better at not flip-flopping gears, especially when going up a hill, and puts it's power to the ground more efficient, BUT the competition has more power, and why not offer a turbo V6, like the Tundra has (since it is the same frame) so we get the power the competition has? Not as quick as a Ranger Raptor, but the Pro beats the Bison so I would say the power is adequate.

4. The noise the 2024 makes when at idle and in drive. I took my 2024 to the dealership to look and see if this can be fixed, they literally pulled around 3 other Tacomas and all made the same noise with zero miles. What makes the noise is the flex tube on the exhaust. Idling and accelerating mine sounds awesome. Don't know if its the underhood insulation, TRD exhaust, artificial sound, or the combination but I love it.

5. Skid plates and fender wells. Every Tacoma trim for the 3rd gen had a skid plate and plastic fender wells. My 2024 has fuzzy cardboard (like they use in trunks of cars) for both. The 3G factory skid plates were pretty weak but agree, definitely better than the current felt. Toyota does offer models with your choice of aluminum or steel skid plates. The felt front fender liners (rear are still plastic)? Maybe they offer some acoustic advantage. Are they significantly less durable than the thin plastic liners of previous gens? The fender liners aren't making contact with the ground like a skid plate would. They may be more resilient than plastic against rocks kicked up by the tires.

6. Mods are a PITA!. For example, to change the grille in the 3rd, it was 2 bolts, 2 clips, then the whole grille assembly came off. 20 minutes, and you have a TRD pro grille installed. The 4th gen requires you to pop the fenders out, pop the bumper out (all with pop-in clips that can and will break when removing) and remove the whole front of the truck to do it. Then the front bumper assembly has more parts to remove. I bought a TRD grille to do it on my 4th gen. I should have read into it more. I am returning the grille. Who wants to risk of ruining clips and have to Mickey Mouse your truck back together, or having to buy the whole bumper cover/fenders? If you wanted a TRD PRO grille, you should have bought a TRD Pro...

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my 2024. It's a great truck. It looks awesome and it runs great. BUT I think they went backwards with this gen.

My intention isn't to start a flame war. I just wanted others' opinions who owned a 3rd gen.[/QUOTE]

 

I had two 1st gen Tacos. A Prerunner and a 4WD.

Great truck. But when the 2nd gen came out it was a MASSIVE change. And a massive leap in comfort and tech.

This conversation reminds me of of all the moaning by first gen guys back then. Who eventually came to swear by their 2nd gen trucks.

Most everyone agreed the 3rd gen was a swing and a miss due to the anemic powertrain (which is why I skipped a generation) and “mild” improvements at best over the 2nd gen. But still, hundreds of thousands were sold.

The 4th gen, like the 2nd gen, is another MASSIVE change. And a massive leap in comfort and tech. And, finally, HP and torque even over the vaunted 1GRFE. With a mild improvement in fuel efficiency.

I’m incredibly happy so far in my 4th Gen. YMMV. My only real gripe is the fuel tank. WTF. I hope the aftermarket comes out with a bigger one.

 

As someone who had a few 2nd gens and then moved to a third gen I felt opposite, it was the perfect evolution of the 2nd gen with much needed comfort and tech and leaps forward for its time (crawl control, BSM, dual climate control, moonroof, proximity keyless entry, etc.) while maintaining the familiarity of the 2nd gen platform. I will say the transmission logic was a bit wackadoo but much improved later in with TSB then later standard. My 2019, 2020 and 2022 are smooth no issues and feels almost identical to my 4.0 5SPD.

 

Fake news! The 2nd gen was perfection!

 

I never owned a 3rd gen and I’m still waiting to take delivery of a 4th gen but I wanted to chime in here about the felt fender wells. My 2015 bmw x5 has this felt fender wells and most modern cars SUVs and trucks use this material for sound deadening, durability, and lighter material.

 

Quite and superior interior, excellent engine and suspension…to me this is the best truck they’ve ever made, but then again I didn’t even look at anything other than the Trailhunter. The 4th gen is my favorite midsize truck and I’ve owned seven of them. It must be very disheartening to feel you have made a mistake in your purchase, but don’t despair there are a lot of used 3rd gens you could go back to.

 

Sure doesn't read that way. As I was reading I was thinking 'time to sell it and move on. Or back.'

 

I haven't made the jump purely because I like owning vehicles that are paid off.

 

We have both at our house now. My 22 OR and a 25 SR5 company truck for the wife. I have only been in it a couple times. I was expecting more improvements, but would say I see no improvements in ride quality, it might be more harsh than the 22. The interior does feel even cheaper, which I didn't think was possible. The engine noise when it is idling in the driveway does make one wonder if it is working correctly. Other little things like seeing the links and mounts for the rear suspension isn't pleasing. The rear shocks hang down far, another visual miss. I haven't drove it yet, and probably will not, so I can't comment on power.