I love my new truck

I have had my new Tacoma (access cab, manual 2.7, 4X4) for just about three weeks. I down sized from a gas-eating Titan (loved the truck, hated the poor mileage, 11.5 in town). I travelled this weekend and in my two fills I got 25.5 mpg and 22.7 mpg. I had the criuse on at 60 mph for the first tank and 65 for the second tank. The trips were both with one stop along the way, otherwise it was continuous freeway miles. There was a pretty good slightly crossing tailwind on the way down and a strong crosswind on the way back. My only complaints about the Tacoma are the notchy shifting and the wind does affect it, tending to buffet it easily. Gas is $3.45 aroung here now so I'mglad I made the move when I did. The Tacoma seems to be a solid truck and I'm loking forward to the legenargy reliability.

 

Get back with us when you learn to drive a manual: And its a brick do you think the wind is going to blow around it?

I have heard hundreds of people complain about notchy shifting on the manual.
Im 26 years old and have been driving a manual since I was 14. I never thought the Tacoma to be notchy and It never has been for me.

LISTEN TO THE ENGINE, SHIFT ACCORDINGLY.
BY FAR THE BEST MANUAL i HAVE EVER DIRVEN!!!!

 

Thats good for the 4X4. Your mileage could get even better if you do little things like removing the secondary air filter and switching to synthetic fluids. (Don't bother changing the blinker fluid )

Toyotas are famous for notchy shifting manual transmissions Don't sweat it, it's normal. With over 400,000 miles of experience driving 5 speeds when I bought my 06 the 1-2 shift was bad enough that I thought there might be something out of adjustment. After a week I visited my father and took his 05 with less than 4K on it for a ride and it shifted about the same. Now I have 16K on the truck and can't remember the last time I noticed a rough shift so either the tranny has broken in or I've just gotten used to it's little quirks and don't notice it anymore.

 

Good choice on getting the Taco.

Nissan has major quality control issues.

 

^ Jesus, riding high on the horse are we......

and the wind does affect it more due to it's weight. The Titan is a full size and the taco is a light truck (my opinion). I dont want to hear about your $3.45 gas price I just filled up at $3.91 for 87 octane at a costco (cheapest I could find). Congradulations on your purchase I have had mine for 4 weeks now and I'm lovin it.

 

Congrats on the new truck! I know the feeling, I've had mine for a little over 2 months now.

As for the transmission, yes, it's not the smoothest, and at first I hated mine, but as I just rolled over 4,000 miles it has smoothed out a bit. The 1-2 shift still sucks, but it's not nearly as bad as it was when new.

 

hey man......play nice. no way to be seeing as you are a newbie here too. people drive differently............and he was just expressing an opinion.


welcome to tw,sodbuster!!! good to have you join tacomaworld!! enjoy your truck and your time here.

 

Thanks for the greeting. I guess I'll defer to you at the ripe old age of 26, wow! I've been driving manuals all my life as well(in addition to racing). I'm 50 years old this month. I love the truck. The shifting is notchy compared to just about everything I've ever owned or driven, end of story.

 

^Don't sweat it. The interwebz is full of idiots, as you can see.

I, too, found the manual to be less than desirable, hence the reason (one of) I drive an automatic. I'm also with you on the wind buffeting issue. Seems to be worse with this truck that just about any truck I've ever owned (which is quite a few). Love my truck, though.

 

Welcome to the site and I agree with the manual tranny in the 05+ tacoma's leaves alittle to be desired(my old truck had the 6-speed). Thats why my 08 has the auto tranny, Lots of luck with the new rig i just hit 800 miles on my new truck.

 

welcome to TW! i agree about the manual. i was shopping for a manual until i drove one and didnt like the way it shifted, so i ended up with an automatic. either way you'll love your truck and get used to the tranny eventually. hope to see ya around!

 

Yeah I find it a little notchy, but the miles will wear them in a little better.

 

Welcome to the site, enjoy your ride, we all do

 

Welcome to TW youngster.
I'll be 51 shortly. I have gone with auto's on my last two Tacoma's. Just getting lazy maybe. Really though they are rated better mpg than the standards for a few years now. Gas is $3.49 for 87 oct. around here these days. I'm getting 17-18 mpg around town with the V6 and auto. Later

 

dude, i dont think so. the frontier is the only midsize truck in the market that can give a Taco a run for its money. I think Taco's are still better than a frontier but not by much. I dont like the Titan but the Frontier is one badass truck

 

I don't know about the Frontier, but my last experience with Nissan was a god forsaken nightmare.

I had an '07 Nissan SE-R, as did my sister.

Here are the problems we both had:

• Before having 100 miles on both cars they had to have the power steering replaced, on both vehicles. Nissan corporate told us they where not going to fix our cars and lied about this being a known issue.
• The speakers randomly turn themselves on and off when listening to music in my sisters car. She has had the entire factory system replaced under warranty twice now and it still doesn't function properly.
• The entire car squeaks and rattles when you turn it at all and or when going over speed bumps or curbs.
• I have found (yet to be identified) parts lying underneath my sisters car (which only has 4K miles).
• So far two of the new SE-R's have blown an engine due to pre-cat failure which was a known problem in the previous generation.
• Rattles coming from gauge pod in front seat
• Tail lights filled with condensation every morning, replaced under factory warranty once.
• Fog lights lenses discolored and filled with condensation, replaced under warranty

This is why I sold mine with only 600 miles. The dealer was supposed to remove a scratch from the trunk of the vehicle. I told the dealer specifically not to buff my vehicle, not to buff my vehicle, and that they better not buff my vehicle. Guess what they did? The entire vehicle, including the roof and body kit had been buffed.

This is my car after being a body shop trying to get my clear coat and paint fixed. The car needed to be repainted to look new again (mind you when this picture was taken, only 600 miles on the car). I owned it for 6 weeks before selling it and buying my Taco.



My Moms '03 Toyota Sequoia just hit 75K miles. The only problem it has is that the rear window (on the lift gate) will not work. My Dads '07 Camry is problem free. My '05 Tacoma is problem free (minus weak tailgate). My Grandmothers '06 Solara is problem free. I will never buy another Nissan ever again.

 

Congrats sodbuster.....I purchased a very basic 4WD regular cab in early March, and have found that highway mileage is in the mid-20s if you keep a light foot on the gas. Around town is not so good. Mine doesn't have cruise control and I frequenly find myself having to back off as the truck does like going about 75-80, but mileage at that speed isn't great.

 

i actually haven't heard anything about their cars, but i really do love the Frontier and have heard nothing but good things about them

 

Ahhh...swirl-mark hell.

Rules for taking care of black paintjobs:

1. See every ding, dent, scratch...etc.
2. Stay away from carwashes at all times (see rule #1)
3. Park in the shade if possible.
4. Cars with black paint have headliner failures sooner (my experiences) due to higher heat retention/greater sunlight absorbtion.
5. If you get a crack in your windshield, keep a window cracked down a tad to release air pressure build-up during the summertime or else it'll grow exponentially.
6. Black cars with leather interiors tend to burn skin and split upholstery sooner due to heat issues.
7. Air-conditioning systems tend to wear out faster due to higher usage than a lighter colored car.

Otherwise...they look nice. LOL

 

LOL! you feel better now Dustin? Don't act like a 14yr old in here, it's not Craiglist.

The shifting IS notchy for a majority of them, SOME have actually been known to be smooth from the factory but that's rare. They are a great mid-sized truck and I find them to be pushed on pretty hard when it's windy. That's not really negotiable or arguable, it's a fact based statement.

I have had a couple Nissans, and now on my 2nd Toyota in a row. Nissan is decent, I'd buy one before I bought Ford, Chevy or VW.....but close to the same quality? Maybe close on HP and options, I'll never buy anything Nissan again.

My '05 2.7L Access cab 4x4 has 434 miles on my current tank of gas, yes 380 of those were a round trip drive to/from a mountainous city with 15 of them in 4-wheel drive, but that's damn good gas mileage for a 4x4. I am not 100% thrilled with these trucks, but I can work on mine myself, everything in it has been synthetic since 5k mile oil change, all synthetic tranny/diff fluids since 30k, GL-4 in the tranny....