Buy preowned advice

I'm not trying shit all over your dreams. I feel the same way about the midsize truck market. The Tacoma is the clear winner...I just wish it didn't have these issues.

Some guys have had good luck with their trucks (or they don't care about the issues). Go into these test drives with your eyes open and decide from there.

 

Gotcha, my plan exactly. Thanks again.

 

My 2 cents on the matter is from the perspective of proven reliability, which only comes with miles and time. Within the last year or two I've gone through a catastrophic transmission failure on my wife's GMC Acadia, 2008. Known issue with the wave plates for 3rd, 5th, and Reverse. Sent it down the road when it first reared it's head. Known issue in the first couple model years of that Acadia redesign.

I'm now running into a situation where my truck is getting "tired" and needs a bunch of work done again. 2005 Tacoma Sport with 170,000 miles on it. Lift kit is about shot, rides like garbage, always out of alignment, eats tires, started using coolant about 6 months ago, and then, to the point of my rant, the issues with the rusty frames on the '05-'08 models. Mine got inspected, coated, and it all fell off in about 3 months.......during the summer, no less. Just about time to hang it up I think, before things really get expensive. I don't have the piece of mind or confidence anymore that it's going to get me where I want to go and back again.

Point of all this is what these two vehicles have in common. I like to think it's best to NOT be an early adopter, of anything, if you can possess the self-control. My wife's GMC was an early model year of that re-design. My Tacoma was the first model year of the 2nd generation of those.

Bottom line, yes, all the latest designs of new vehicles usually look amazing. I love the looks of the 3rd gen Tacomas. However, I wouldn't touch a 2016 or a 2017 with a ten foot pole. It's way too early to see how one is going to hold up over the years. There are a million electrical connections and parts in a vehicle and no one, I don't care how good you are, no one can think of everything to be concerned about when building a new version of a vehicle.

In my searches for a newer Tacoma to replace my existing one, my searches will STOP at a 2015 model. In my opinion the issues from 2005-2008 have had 10 years to get worked out. The last year of the 2nd generations, that being the 2015 model, should be the most bomb-proof model year that they make. They've had a decade to address issues along the way and incorporate the changes into the build. I almost look at a recently redesigned vehicle as a prototype. Too many things unproven. Get 5 years worth of salty Wisconsin winters on one or 5 years of blazing Arizona summers, along with 100,000 miles of all kinds of driving, and let me know where you're at after that. I don't think it's a good idea to get the first two or three years of any vehicle. Let someone else take the risk and see how they fair first.