Thinking about a Tacoma

New member here from NC and I've wanted a Tacoma since I bought my first truck in 2003. I'm 29 now and when I first started looking at trucks I couldn't find one in my price range so I settled for a 99 Nissan Frontier. Then in 2008 I traded the Nissan in for my current truck, a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500HD 4x4. My wife and I have a 9 month old little girl and I'm thinking about trading or selling my truck and buying a Tacoma. I got about 12 MPG with my stock size tires(245/75/16) on my silverado and now I put 285/75/16 on last year and I'm guessing I probably get about 10 MPG. Needless to say we don't drive it at all on the weekends. I drive it to work M-F for a total of 15 miles a day. My wife and I were talking and I asked her if I traded my truck for a Tacoma (assuming I will get better gas mileage), would we drive it on the weekends and she said we would and possibly take it on trips if we ever go on a vacation. Anyway, I do hunt and we get some snow in NC so I would like 4x4 as its good to have. I don't put my truck in anything deep just muddy paths but nothing extreme. I guess I need a double cab for putting the car seat in it. I only owe about $3,400 on the Silverado, do you guys think I should trade it for a Tacoma? I'm also trying to save money since we have our first child. I would like to finance as minimal as possible and definately at or below current truck payment ($210) Sorry for the long post, I know you guys are thinking the new guy is a blabber mouth.

 

Welcome to TW

Yes go for the Tacoma, just don't expect exceptional MPG. Good luck in your search.

 

The money your gonna spend on a new tacoma (28-31k) considering they only give you 6k for your truck, your payments may be upwards of 550 if you don't put anymore money down. By paying off your silverado you are using what you would owe on a new tacoma towards your fuel bill. So for example once your truck is paid off, if your spend 550 a month on gas, you make out cause you dont have a Tacoma payment. However by getting maybe 5 more mpgs you are gonna spend about 350 in gas, plus 550 in Tacoma payment...So you will probably be looking at 800 a month, plus insurance. I was in the same boat two weeks ago, I made the mistake of doing it.

 

I know I can't afford a new Tacoma and I have been looking anywhere from a 2001 to 2008. Trade in value for my Silverado is atleast $12,000. I'm looking for something no more than $20,000. I've read on fuelly.com where Tacoma drivers are getting anywhere from 16-22MPG

 

Welcome to Tacoma World. 16-20 mpg for the V6 is what Toyota has them listed for. Some get better, some get worse. Just remember it's a truck, and accept it. Hope you find what you're looking for.

Frank

 

I know trucks don't get that good of gas mileage but going from 9-10 MPG to atleast 15-18 sounds like a big difference. Right now I average about 6,000 miles per year but may go up some if I get a new truck and we use it more