My first 24 hours with my new Tacoma. My impressions- good and bad

Here's the deal the way I see it......NOTHING or NO ONE is perfect. Not least of which is a motor vehicle of any kind. I think that's a fair statement. While a $30,000 vehicle may seem like it should be all that AND a bag of chips, 30K ISN'T a high end vehicle by todays standards. In fact, as far as 4wd trucks go, it's a mid pack price point vehicle. It would be absolutely unreasonable to expect it to have every single detail known to man at or above the highest levels in the automotive industry. Now, toss in the fact that the "2nd Gen" Tacoma is an older design relative to some vehicles on the road today, and again, you can't reasonably expect it to be at the top of the list on every detail.

Buying a car or truck, you look at the total package, the initial purchase price, available aftermarket accessories, and just what you expect from a vehicle, and you make compromises. That said, the Tacoma is as close to a "perfect fit" to what I wanted and/or expected from a truck in the price range I had to spend. From there, it is what it is....If you want different touches, you make changes, OR, adapt to what Toyota has to sell. All things being equal, I'm on Tacoma #4. They must be doing SOMETHING right.

 

I agree, especially after owning many Chevy's, Fords, and Dodge cars and trucks. I think Toyota has done a great job with the Tacoma's but you can't please everyone with every little detail. If you read through the negatives most of them are nit picky minor things with the exception of the rusted frames, that just shouldn't ever be a problem especially year after year. I came from an 08 Dodge Caravan, bought it new and in 90k miles I had to replace the AC compressor, power steering pump, rack and pinion, rebuild the tranny, all 4 wheel bearings, endless amounts of sway bar links, 3 radios, automatic sliding doors that never did work right, key fobs, and some other things I can't remember. That is unacceptable, that van was a complete POS.

 

I bought my white TRD OR AC AT last Friday. Been driving my '93 Toyota pickup for 20 years. Bought the '93 used in '95 with 24K on it and it's been a great truck that's never let me down. Yes, it's had it's share of maintenance/replacement items in 184K miles, but nothing too unusual. I'll be sad to let go of it.

That first truck is why I bought a 2015 Tacoma without even taking a test drive. I'd been waiting to see what the 2016 held and decided I didn't want to be a first-year guinea pig. Plus, the pricing difference between the discounted 2015 and full MSRP for a 2016 made the decision easier. FYI, taking inflation into account, my two trucks actually cost about the same when new, and the 2015 is a much more sophisticated platform.

I found a deal online and picked my truck up 1400 miles away. I drove it home over the weekend and can say I understand how some might find certain things they would like different.

For instance, I'd like to have an outside temp guage. I could upgrade the mirror, but the new ones are $400 and I figure there *might* be a reason, other than cost, that Toyota dropped them. For $200 I'd take that chance, but not $400.

I'd like the Entune Plus to be louder with better quality sound, but after fiddling with the settings, it will work until the time I upgrade the speakers and/or add an amp. Personally, I'm happy that I don't have NAV for the reasons stated by others. Check out threads on this forum on how much it costs to update. My Garmin updates are paid for.

The ride's a bit bouncy, but it's a TRUCK. Plus the handling beats my '93 by a longshot.

I like the interior of the OR and, after 1400 miles in two days of driving, I can state the seats are comfortable.

One of the best parts? My wife really likes it.

BTW, thanks for the tip on bedding the brakes - I'll go do that this weekend.

 

Wow, Ive been on this site less than a week and I think Ive found out who most of the A-holes are.

30K was my budget for this truck and thats what I came in at. I could not wisely afford the extra few thousand dollars to upgrade to the 'limited package' and get the NAV, sound system, etc. So for those of you who are telling me 'you could have bought it'.....well, not really. But I made my choice and Im happy with it. I just dont understand why Toyota would leave out such basic amenities that are standard on most other models. (MPG, compass, more engine data in general) I didnt expect a friggen Mercedes level of whiz bang stuff, just equal to what the competition carries. No worries though, I mean the pros still outweigh the negatives. I still LOVE 95% of the truck. The other stuff is just going to take some getting used too.

Im watching this Ultragage group buy......that may be what Im looking for. I dont know if I want and extra display hanging from my window, so I may keep looking into the cheap ODB plug in and using a phone app.

 

Toyota refrained from adding the MPG calculator so Tacoma owners wouldn't drive around with tears in their eyes.

 

You can't take everything people say to heart on the internet.

You can't complain about the NAV feature if you had no intent of buying it. So I am assuming your just bummed out the SR5 tier didn't come equipped with it.

As far as MPG, you just bought a 10 year old truck, with a 10 year old engine. Comparable mid-size trucks were getting about the same. Yes, we all would like it to be a little better. Toyota seemed to bump that up a tad with 2016's.

Anyways, enjoy your truck...if you like 95% of it, then you have a fun 5% to work on and improve if you plan on keeping it for the long haul. Modification gets really fun!

And the Ultra Gauge should start filling those gaps for you. Solid device for the price though I run a ScanGauge II.

 

No worries man. How people interact with others on the net tells me a lot about them as a person. The ones with the sarcasm, cinicism and subtle put downs are usually the guys that dont have much else in life to look forward too.....

 

There are several creative and nice ways to mount these devices. At least the ScanGuage, and I'd assume the other.

On my Highlander the Scanguage sits on top the steering column cover tucked down by the dash. No blocking of the OE gauges, but easy to monitor when looking at other gauges. I just used on of those 'sticky pads' that grip things with no adhesive. The cable is totally hidden, yet I can have the whole shebang out of the vehicle in under 5 min if I wished.

On the Tacoma, I tried to fit it in the same place, but it blocked some things I wanted to see. So, I mounted it above the rearview mirror using Velcro (the male half) glued to the ScanGauge. The Velcro binds in the headliner just find. The cable is run under the edge of the headliner, down the A pillar (behind) and you see nothing. This is a mod I found searching here. There is a thread called 'cheap/free mods' you might enjoy.

I found my truck (a '13 base) was prewired for a backup camera, and the correct connection was in the headliner console to run a smart mirror. I found in the for sale section here an OE mirror with rearview display, temp and compass, autodimming. Didn't need/want homelink, I mount my garage opener under the dash and install a SPST pushbutton in one of the switch blanks.

 

The point of posts like mine is that it isnt really fair to complain that your truck didn't come with this or that if you had the option to get it. We all knew (or should have known) what the vehicle came with when we bought it. Sure, complain about the quality of xyz, but don't complain that your truck doesn't have gps if you weren't willing to pay for it. I'm not complaining about the lack of a locker in my limited. It was a trade-off between getting an off-road with a short bed and adding some features, or getting the long bed limited with all the things I wanted minus the locker and suspension. I knew what I was missing going in. We all made the same decision when it came to choosing the taco over a similarly priced domestic with more features that may not last as long.

However, I'll complain all day that a limited tacoma lacks (and any tacoma doesn't even have an option for) certain things like heated mirrors or power, height adjustable seats. These things are available on many other toyota models from the height adjustable seats on a base corolla to heated mirrors on a highlander. So I'm right there with you on that complaint. That's just toyota being cheap.

 

OK....Just thinking out loud here......A person post's his personal opinions of something we all have in common. We are all allowed to have OUR opinions. Some of us have different opnions that the OP. When we express our opinions that may be different than his, "WE" are "assholes".....

SO....Following that pattern of logic, would it be fair for those of us who express our opinions only to find the OP has DIFFERENT thoughts to call HIM an asshole?

But then again, I'm not generally that rude. I respect other peoples opinions even if I disagree or find them to be overly critical. Some people.....not so much.....Just sayin'.......

 

Also keep in mind that if Toyota offered all the Bells and whistles it would kill other models. They have to keep up demand for the rest of their lineup. A Tacoma with everything would certainly sway others from purchasing a different model.

 

'Zactly! We have a BINGO! The Tacoma is marketed to a degree as the "economy truck" in Toyota's pick up truck line. If it were stuffed full of features as standard equipment, the cost would be almost that of a full blown Tundra. The auto/truck industry is just like the restaurant business in this regard. If a steak house has too many different steaks on their menu, none of them will sell well enough to keep the inventory fresh. Too much competition from within...

While some of us see Tacoma as our #1 choice because of size, etc, many buy them because they're CHEAPER than a Tundra. Typically, "bean counters" don't care if you get a premium stereo system. They don't care if you get several suspension options. They just want return on investment driven by big sales numbers and reduced cost of production.

 

Im very happy with mine. The only complaint I can come up with is the damn vibration noise near my center console that I cant find. But since thats the only complaint I can think of, i'd say its a pretty damn good truck.

 

Meh, I know price points sort of dictate what comes standard on one model versus another, but I don't think inclusion of some mundane basic features is going to kill off all their other offerings.

For the record I could care less about things like adjustable seats, but that's because every Tacoma generation I've been in fits me perfectly. But I see the argument people make.

 

This is my view ... a vehicle is the second most expensive thing you buy behind your home ... ya need more than 5 minutes.

 

I traded in my 2002 Tacoma for a 2015. This is my 4th Tacoma. I did not bother to test drive one, just figured I would love it as much as the one I had. I put 500 miles on in two days and have no complaints about anything. It drives like a car, does well on winding mountain roads, is comfortable. I love it! And I am in love with the back up camera! It can take me 20 minutes to hook up my stock trailer on a bad day, even tho I've been doing it for 30 years. I can now do it on the first try. I wanted a simple truck with the fewer bells and whistles the better. Just wanted a CD player, but got stuck with entune plus. I've finally figured out how the screens work, as I don't even own a cell phone. I am just so happy! Even got them to switch around the electric brake controller they installed in a lousy place today so everything is now perfect. Okay, one thing I don't like are the head rests in the back - they block some of the rear window. very small complaint.

 

Sounds like I'm the only one here that has an issue with the low seat height? My short 5'8" ass uses about a 1" butt pad & it still feels like I can't see over the steering wheel. No complaints otherwise.

 

Wait, it does that? OMG I had no idea, I would always pu tmy keys in to get that when entering my millage on my phone....

 

so the Japs think about the ODO but forget that most people in America are use to the plug in receptacles being always hot. I do not have a problem with the back seat headrests because it has been over a year since my seat was up. Also, I have standard stereo and volume is fine. I think the OP needs to have his hearing checked or check the settings on the radio. I had to adjust the auto dim (or whatever you call it) along with the HD setting on mine. @ other complaints I have on this truck are my speakers sometimes buzz on rough roads and it could use some sound deadening on the rear panel.

 

I would drive the truck for 6 months and then make an updated list. My guess the brakes need to be broken in a little bit. I think the simplistic design is one of the reasons that theirs so much aftermarket parts made for it.