Tacoma v. Tundra

I struggled with the same choice recently and considered a Tundra. But we have a second car (Highlander) which is perfectly fine for shuttling the 2 kids and gear for longer winter drives. I also have a small utility trailer for hauling bigger stuff (the DC Tundra's bed is only marginally bigger than DC Taco's anyway). Last, the size of the Tundra would have been a problem for me because I have to go in and out of people's driveways because of my job all the time. Tacoma is a breeze to manouver in and out of tight spots. I feel like a lot of people around my area who get 1/2 tons as family vehicles really need a Suburban or a Minivan, but don't want to admit it.

 

yea i have a pilot for shuttling kids. Realistically if I got a tundra I would just be driving it to daycare..
taco is fine for that stuff for me, and going to the beach during the summer.

Really depends on your needs.

If you have 3 kids taco probably wont work.
If you need to tow 6000 lbs or more regularly for your job or for leisure taco probably wont work.
Most other things taco will be ok.

and if you really really need a full size for something you can alaways rent one for a weekend.

 

here is something i considered before buying (for the tightwads out there).
TAX
i might be moving into WA state. the taco squeaks under the limits of what can be brought across the state line without an excise tax.
the tundra will be charged a tax on FMV due to its stronger cargo hauling. taco will not. it amounts to thousands of dollars. and the taxes will likely
keep on giving when reregistering. for sure some other states will do something similar, especially those without an income tax.
something to consider if tundra's advantages over tacos are not important to you.

 

I'm a little bit over 6 feet tall. Most people look surprised and act like they expect me to be 6'2 or 6'3 or something. Don't know if it's my body dimensions or something that makes me look taller.

Anyways the Tacoma pretty much fits me. My main complaint is that coming from my previous vehicle it seems like the top line of the view out of the windshield is pretty much cut off by the low roof line of the Tacoma. It was cut off in my previous vehicle vehicle too. But I have to crouch down a lot further now than I used to to be able to get a view of some traffic lights overhead. But I don't have to do this often and am kind of used to the view out of the windshield now. There's decent headroom but I don't have a sunroof as well.

The rear seat room is tighter both in width and legroom from my previous midsized truck. But my older child can still fit behind me in their forward facing booster harness seat. The difference is in the previous truck they had a couple of inches between their feet/legs/knees and the back of my seat, now they have to turn their feet sideways to fit behind me. I think that once they transition to smaller car seats there will be more room for them. Since it's more narrow, I think it's doubtful in getting three seats back there. Where we have issues with trying to fit an older/larger kid between the car seats without a car seat. The car seats that I have might be more on the bulky side but that wasn't really an issue in my previous mid sized truck.

The first gen Tundra is one of my favorite trucks in theory. Never actually owned one. And if I had known back then what I had known now I probably would've shopped more for a first gen Tundra or maybe even a first gen Tacoma back then when was I was shopping for my first truck about twelve years ago. I still played around with the idea this time around when shopping for trucks. But the first gen trucks are at least thirteen years old now. For my purposes it didn't make sense to trade in my previous truck that I loved for the most part for an even older truck, especially given that my vehicle is our primary family hauler. I might have considered the first gens more if I wasn't also using the vehicle for a family hauler. I also seriously looked at first gen Titans and would probably lean towards one of those over a first gen Tundra now, just due to the fact it should be easier to find a newer one.

Then for new full sizers, other than maybe the RAM, I didn't see the minimal price differences between full and midsizes people talk about when optioned about equivalently the way I wanted it. I think the difference was at least $8k to $10k, which is pretty big to me. For my purposes, the only reason why I would go to a full size is for interior room. And I figure I should look into the Ridgeline before looking into a full size, which might've been just a grand or two more than the Tacoma.

 

Tacoma:


Tundra:

 

I won't have a vehicle that doesn't fit in the garage.

 

damn nice I guess thats one way to get around it lol

my tacoma long bed just barely fits

 

unfortunately i maybe had 3" spare with my 1 car door and 11" lenght wise extra in my garage if i got rid of my loading bench. It would make for a challenge every time i parked it in my 80s garage.

 

The payload capacity on my Tacoma was higher than my Tundra. I don't know how the tax is determined tho.

 

I regret not getting 1st gen Tundra back in the day when i got my first Taco. I'd still be driving it today. I hope to one day find a 1st gen that's not rusted out.

 

my roomate in college had a 2001 tundra AC and i thought that truck was just the perfect size almost 3/4 full size

 

i don't know much about tundras...i assumed they would easily have a greater capacity. there are tacomas that will fail the capacity test i am about to post.
the situation is called the "use" tax...specifically bringing a truck into WA (a sales tax state) from OR (a non-sales tax state) if "load capacity" is over 1500 lbs regardless of when you bought it.
exactly my situation so i was careful to get an AC that just squeaked under the "load capacity" (i forget all the details...i had WA DOR people trying to make sense of it all).
so, if i move to WA from OR i won't have to pay a "use" tax (i think around 10%) on FMV of my truck...significant bucks. probably similar state to state issues elsewhere.

https://dor.wa.gov/get-form-or-publ...-topics/vehicles-brought-washington-out-state

related tax issue: in CA many years ago i had to register my pathetic little nissan 720 as commercial because it had a truck bed. if i put a canopy on it i would not have to...but it had to be bolted and not removable. CA is so f...ed up.

probably an endless supply of state gotchas...just something to think about when comparing trucks and how it might affect you.