I Love My New Tacoma

brian2sun · Jan 2, 2021

hossler1788 said: ↑

congrats on the trucks!

You pretty much did the same mods i did, well instead of the bed cover i got a softtopper

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Love it!

Cactuskid · Jan 2, 2021

brian2sun[OP] initial post: ↑

Long post warning, haha.

I really love my new truck. In 2015 I bought a ‘16 SR5 4runner and didn’t bond with it for many reasons and had almost immediate buyer’s remorse. It got astonishingly bad gas mileage for a modern SUV (15-16 around town, and never better than 18 on highway trips). It handled like a tug boat, and I work in the mountains so the lack of good cornering was one of the worst things about it for me. The engine felt anemic, slow, unresponsive... just a dog. It was a well-built solid and reliable vehicle, but it just wasn’t for me. My wife loved its practicality for our family though, and in 2017 we test drove and Limited 4runner and she fell in love. We still own that 4Runner and it has always felt more powerful than my SR5 for whatever reason, and although it’s still not the best handling vehicle out there, the upgraded factory Limited suspension handles the corners sooo much better than my SR5. It’s still a gas hog, but the +s definitely outweigh the -s. But this post isn’t about 4Runners, it’s about what lead me to my Tacoma.

After 2 years with the ‘16 SR5 4Runner, I replaced it with a 2013 Subaru Outback that I drove for 3 years. It got good mpgs, handled nicely, and was very practical for me and my work, but it was kind of a piece of shit. Seemed like every week something new went wrong... I had to add a quart of oil every 2500 miles like clockwork because the oil light would come on the dash (and Subaru kept telling me that’s “normal”). All of the windows stopped rolling down randomly and then would work again randomly, the windshield wiper fluid light would always come on and off, and the suspension was the most clunky, loud and roughest ride I’ve ever felt on a car (even though I had Subaru check everything out multiple times, and of course, there was never anything wrong). The engine would hesitate randonly pulling out into the road and almost caused a few accidents because it wouldn’t just get up and go like it should. I had random misses and shaking with the engine occasionally, and then after bringing it in to fix a rear diff leak, they found the head gasket was leaking. That was the last straw. People told me for years that Subaru quality was right up there with Toyota, but I say not even close. This was a 6 year old car that had more problems than most 20 year old Toyotas. I’ve always been a Toyota guy and that Soob made me realize that I’m still a Toyota guy.

I wanted to replace the Outback with something similar that had a Toyota badge on it, so I grabbed my mask, went to the dealership in November and test drove a Rav4 and a Highlander. I just didn’t like the way the Rav felt, but I did like the Highlander. Then I realized that the AWD Highlander was almost the same price as a TRD OR Taco. They had a beautiful ‘21 OR 4x4 (in my first choice of color - cement) sitting right there on the lot and it was like a light beam from heaven was shining down on it. I test drove the truck with 4 miles on the odometer, just brought out to the lot. I was the first (and last) customer to test drive it and it I fell in love. I am a truck guy once again, and after almost 2 months of owning it, I have zero regrets. I really love everything about it... excpet that the powered driver seat doesn’t have a memory button (c’mon Toyota). But that’s something I can definitely live with.

I’m not doing any major off road mods (because I already have a lifted/locked/geared ‘97 4Runner that I’ve had for 20 years). I love the way this Tacoma looks and drives as it is, but I have done a few cool things to it...

-I sold the stock Goodyear tires and got some 265/75r16 Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws.
-Removed the TRD stickers and chrome emblems, and I put a “Pro style” TRD Off Road badge on the door, and got some black tacoma letter inserts for the tailgate.
-Added a Rugged tri-fold hard tonneau cover
-OEM bed mat
-OEM bed divider
-Pro grill
-For Christmas I got center console and glove box organizers, and
-Garmin mini dash cam (which plugs right into the powered mirror with an adapter).

I’m pretty much done for the foreseeable future and I’m happy. If you’re still here, thanks for reading!

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NIce , I like the cement best....none here when I got my silver, I really like the tires you got, ......how do they ride on highway daily driving compares to stock which i still have? gas mileage same?

brian2sun · Jan 2, 2021

Cactuskid said: ↑

NIce , I like the cement best....none here when I got my silver, I really like the tires you got, ......how do they ride on highway daily driving compares to stock which i still have? gas mileage same?
Click to expand...

I think they ride as nice on the highway as the stock Goodyears. With the more aggressive tread, I have no doubt they will do better off road, and I got to try them out in the snow last week and they did fantastic (they’re 3 peak mtn snowflake rated for severe snow). I can’t say I’ve noticed much of a difference in my MPGs. I went up a size from stock, so after adding the 3.4% difference in diameter, my mileage stayed about the same - about 18-19 combined hwy/city and about 21-22 all hwy.

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