New to Toyotas - Trying to Educate Myself

Hi Everyone, I am thinking of jumping the Subaru ship and getting a Tacoma. I am currently driving a 08 Outback.I never buy new cars but for a Toyota I would since the used ones are just as much as the used ones. I am trying to educate myself on the Tacoma’s before I decide to purchase one. I have 2 general questions.

1. In terms of snow, are the 4WD systems good? I don’t get snow days for work so I have to be able to get in regardless of the weather. I do run dedicated snow/winter tires in the winter but I don’t want to put myself at a disadvantage if I can help it. Or at least know what I am getting myself into.

2. How is the Tacoma’s reliability? I am considering leaving Subaru because their quality has gone down quite a bit of late. My wife’s 15 Legacy with 50k on it is having oil consumption issues but not enough to qualify for a warranty block replacement. Are these trucks still as good as their reputation?

Thanks so much in advance,
Steve

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld
I agree
Used and used cost the same
Snow✓
Reliable✓
Resale✓
MPG X

 

Welcome to TW, Steve!

Sorry, just giving you crap.

I'm not sure where you're located but if you're putting snow tires on it and buy the 4x4, I can't imagine there's much that would stop you short of what would stop EVERYONE. You'll be fine.

Reliability-wise, my only previous Toyota was a 2015 Highlander and it was solid until we traded it for a 2020 Highlander Hybrid, which has been good but it's only 6 months old and my Tacoma is just at 1 year...

 

I've owned five Subarus and loved them all except for the last one. I bought a new Brat in 1978 and toured the west coast with my new wife. Great memories of that. We had a '84 2wd wagon, and two late 80's 4wd coupes which were the best of the bunch. The new '05 turbo Legacy was fun but unreliable.
I bought my first Toy, an '01 Tacoma, new... and had a lot of fun with it. It lasted longer in my driveway than the '05 Subie.
But as soon as the 2nd gen Tacomas came out I knew they would be better. The early Tacos were scary in corners and tended to lean suddenly.
I bought a salvage title Corolla and we still own it, a great little car but not 4wd.
So when I had a chance to buy a wrecked Taco with light damage for a cheap price, I jumped on it. In the last couple of weeks I've bought another salvage truck to be repaired, so this tells you that I like my '12 Taco enough to own two. I just couldn't pass up a Baja Series Taco with 68K miles for 10.6K.
The only downside compared to Subies is that the Tacos are bigger and they don't drive like a quick little car, and the fuel mileage is less. The upside is that I don't worry nearly as much going off road and the truck has a much better load capacity and stereo... so camping and traveling is comfortable.
Yesterday I was in a foot of wet, heavy snow and turned around to get back to dry pavement. The kind of snow that in the Subaru I would have been high centered and stuck in a flat parking lot.

 

Welcome to TW

 

In the snow I take the ‘12 Tacoma, and the ‘16 cross trek sits in the driveway. When it’s not snowing the truck stays home and I drive the subie. I take the car because it gets close to 10mpg better, and I drive 100 miles a day for work.

 

Here is my experience with Toyota Tacoma I have had two brand new ones 06 sport and 17 OR. Love both of them and they performed well in the snow. Both were very dependable trucks and I did not have any problems with either of them. My 06 I put 246,000 miles on it before I traded her in for my 17 which I put 104,000 miles on it. All you need to do is make sure the maintenance is performed and you will get a lot of miles out of a Tacoma. I may go back to Toyota when the hybrid technology is out for their big trucks. You can’t go wrong with a toyota

 

Since owning a Tacoma, I don't ever feel the need to call into work when it snows or ices over. I've driven winding country back roads in the snow and felt no fear that I will slide off or lose control. (that's a driver awareness thing, but a good driver + a Tacoma is legendary)

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Snow is usually fine with the stock tires from Toyota. If it snows a lot or if its always icy, try look into the Bridgestone Blizzak tires. For the 16 inch wheels I would recommend the 265/70/16 and for the 17 inch wheels, go with the 265/65/17 (they are both 30 inch stock size)


4WD is good and reliable. Since you mentioned 4WD, I would recommend looking into the TRD Off-Road 4x4. The TRD Off-Road comes with 4WD, rear locking differential, Crawl control w/ multi terrain select. Nearly 50% of new Tacoma's come in the TRD Off-Road trim level so its not too hard to find new or used.

 

Welcome!

 

Thank you all very much for the feedback and the welcome. Still have some research to do as well as a test drive. I have been a huge Subie fan for about 20 years and I am loyal so it is a difficult decision for me to jump ship. However, if I can get 200/250k out of a new Toyota with little more than basic maintenance vs sinking thousands into a subie just to crawl to 200k which has been my experience, I have to look elsewhere.

 

Welcome to TW!