2026 Hilux vs Gen4 Tacoma

More like GM making garbage diesel cars in the 70s and 80s, probably intentionally to sour consumers on diesel

but yeah EPA cares more about air quality and EU regs MPGs, along with cheap gas in the US, which I guess was enough incentive for consumers to not care about their MPG... until now apparently

 

Not like there's much choice.. what would you get instead? a Frontier?

Toyota might know what their consumers want but I don't think consumers really know what they want lol

People buy TRD OR to go to Costco, which is fine, but it definitely skews Toyotas data on their sales.

 

So everyone is buying Colorados, Rangers, Frontiers, and Tacomas only because Hilux's aren't available? All four manufactures misread what consumers really want? Toyota may not have made exactly what I wanted but it's a lot closer to it than the Hilux.

 

Consumers know what they want, and it's road faring creature comfort and interior amenities first. Four guys on the internet in the US who would take a Hilux vs a Tacoma, are literally just four random guys, who don't matter in the big picture of American preference.

 

Everybody says online that they want a small and simple truck with no frills. Non-fleet sales of SR trim Toyotas and wt trim Chevrolets and XL trim fords determine that to be a lie.

 

What people actually want vs what they want to be seen driving are two very different things

Edit: Also Toyota doesn't market the SR at all. Which is not surprising, they don't make any money on base models so why promote them. Not because they don't sell many, because the margins below $40,000 are probably fucked lol

 

While I agree there are a lot of stupid people, are you saying that because Toyota doesn't promote the SR people don't buy it? They do no research before going to the dealer and/or when they go to the dealer they don't ask about lower cost models?

They may make less profit on the SRs but they probably make less or lose money on the Pro/TH. Economy of scale - the cost to engineer/test/make/buy the Pro/TH specific parts means they're going to be more expensive than the common parts for hundreds of thousands of trucks.

 

Badges mean everything. People walk in, go "I don't want to see the base model, show me your lowest monthly on a TRD" and then walk out with a $700 a month payment lol

Relevant Grand Tour clip:

https://youtu.be/HV_xXSUCLM8?si=iOafjm125qN3lSno

 

Everyone says they want a basic standard cab truck with no frills, manual windows and locks until it comes time to write a check.

 

I think you meant "Everyone says they want a fully loaded truck with all the frills until it comes time to write a check."

Or "Everyone says they want a basic standard cab truck with no frills, manual windows and locks until they drive it."

 

This is exactly what is going to happen with the Slate truck. The trim everyone will actually want (AC/stereo/power windows) will be a few grand away from the base Tacoma, it won't make any sense.

I wouldn't mind crank windows and no dash iPad but I'm different I guess I woulda paid the same price too, less shit to break in 10 years

 

I agree with you 100%. When they release the info, I could not figure out why everybody was so excited. They are making an electric 1994 Ford Ranger.

 

No, I don’t think many people would buy one.

 

I only want it for errands around town and my 25 minute work commute. But as a main vehicle? No thanks

 

I had the original nissan leaf, a 2013. Great for a quick trip to the store and commuting 30 minutes to work. But sucked for almost everything else. For a while you could get low mileage 2 year old examples for less than $5000 and a bunch of my coworkers picked one up just for commuting to work.

But talking about diesel hiluxes, isn't it most people hear diesel and think 400hp and 1000lb-ft of torque. Cummins, Powerstroke, Duramax pulling 40 foot fifthwheel toy haulers up 6% grades at 75mph in 120F degree heat? Hilux diesels are about pulling 5000 pound trailers at 50mph across the outback at nearly WOT. They're fuel economy machines.

 

Cheap gas in the US has stifled the need for extremely efficient cars and diesel trucks. Hilux diesel can consistently get high 20s low 30s MPG, I wouldn't mind that I get 27 at best for an average of 25.

 

Hilux gets 8L/200km or 29mpg combined. Tacoma gets 21 combined. Average US unleaded is $3.16 and diesel is $3.71. Drive 10K miles per year and the Tacoma sets you back $1,505. The Hilux will cost you $1,279 + $160 in DEF or $1,439. You save $65/year.

The Hilux can tow more but if you're towing more than 6K, why are you want a Tacoma/Hilux?

Toyota gas engines easily go hundreds of thousands of miles. Why do we think we need a diesel midsize truck?

 

Tacoma is a truck, it should be turbo diesel too

Turbo diesel > turbo gas for trucks and there's no argument otherwise.

 

Hilux requires greater towing & payload capacities b/c Tundras are too big and too expensive for most markets outside the US, and so you might argue that requires commercial-level engineering. But taking a closer look, aside from c-channel, a Gen3 Tacoma and Hilux share a lot of design and parts underneath.

 

Interesting that the new 26 Hilux isn't going to be on TNGA-F

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/2026-toyota-hilux-spied-again-as-reveal-nears