Take the leap?

Hello everyone. So I currently have a 2018 Silverado 1500 Lt Z71. I have about 29k miles on it and have been thinking of trading it in for the 20 Tacoma Off-road in QS or a 21 in CG. I’ve always loved the quick sand color and how aggressive the tacos look.

The features I have in my 1500 are leather, heated seats, z71, tow package, nav, CarPlay so I think I could get a good trade in.

I do the sound of the V8 with my carven exhaust, but hard acceleration from lights is my issue on mpg lol. I don’t ever tow with it to justify the half ton, but having the cab room is nice. It’s just me and my gf, so I don’t have kids to worry about.


I would appreciate your thoughts if anyone has also jumped from a full size to a Tacoma. Possible regrets or even if you are happy with the swap.

Underpowered and sluggish seems to be the most common comment on them.

 

mpgs wont be any better in the taco lol

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld

 

i would imagine you will miss having the v8 and the space.

test drive several times to make sure you are cool with it before buying

 

Former Sierra owner here. In regards to MPG the tacoma really isnt all that better once you start modding it. As for under powered....yes its going to feel like a go kart compared to your current truck lol. If you dont need the extra power its really not an issue. Definitely had more smiles per gallon though. I really do miss the V8 sound with my borla exhaust. TBH I would have stayed with my Sierra if it wasnt for my engine failure at 129k which was very frustrating. I loved that truck and took really good care of it. It was a 2011 and didnt have a spot of rust on the body which is incredible for a northern truck. I decided to go with the tacoma due to budget. I test drove a new ranger and colorado and wasnt all that impressed. My 2021 OR is fully loaded and a Sierra with simliar options was pushing 60K (this was back in Feb probably higher now). I will say though I really do enjoy my Tacoma. I dont tow very much I maybe had a trailer on my Sierra 4 times in 10 years of ownership. If you are curious go test drive one if any local dealers have them on the lot. I had a Tacoma as a rental for a month in Florida for work and was thinking of getting one then prior to my Sierra issues. Kind of forced my hand. In my current situation ie no kids or having to haul very much this truck is more than adequate for my needs. I love how it looks and drives and can say I am truly happy. TBH if I didnt have a budget Im still not sure if I would have went with the loaded Sierra or not. Ive always been and always be a GM guy when it comes to full size but from my experiences now I would say the Tacoma is the king of the midsize and I think their track record shows that.

 

Great looking truck BTW

 

Yeah I definitely need to test drive one. I just feel the Chevy is meh when you see it in pics compared to the taco. I don’t really use the power really other than hard accelerating which I shouldn’t do anyway lol

when you say fully loaded what do you mean? I looked at the trd leather which adds the premium package. I’d like the blacked out badges and probably the glass break sensor. Try to get the interior features as close to my Silverado.

 

Every package you can pretty much get. Premium tech package. Heated leather seats. Front and rear facing cameras. Its got everything I could ever need and some things I dont. LED headlights and fog lights.

 

Do the blacked out badges on your own. I think toyota charges over 100 for them. You can get the covers online for like 35. Thats the route I went.

 

would this be it?

 

Mine did not come with bed light kit. Bought my own oem one for less than 100 took 10 minutes to install.
Black out package is not worth 415 IMO if its only chrome deleting the badges. My rear bumper end caps were color matched instead of chrome or black.
not sure what the glass break sensor is
Mine came with tailgate lock

same color and same premium package as well.

 

You wont know until you test drive. And real talk- go test drive a colorado so you have a baseline for comparison.

Dont go by looks alone, remember that the majority of time your eyeballs are looking from the interior out, not from the exterior in.

 

Exactly. I knew I didnt want the colorado after driving one for 3 years as my company provided truck. Did test drive the ZR2 with the diesel but close to 55k for a midsize seemed a little wild.

 

The full $415 blackout package includes a black exhaust tip, black badges that sit on top of the chrome badges, and a tailgate insert where the standard is just the stamped lettering. While it's not worth $415, it's definitely more than just leaving off the chrome badging.

You can get all that separately as well. There's a separate option for just the tip (hah), the side badges, the rear badges, and the tailgate insert.

Color matched bumper end caps are part of the trim, and afaik not something you can get options for. Sport trim is fully color matched, and I believe so is the Limited. Off-road and I think Pro trims come with matte black fender flares, front and rear bumper caps. I would have preferred the black flares on my Sport, since I did the full blackout package (had the dealership apply them though, was half the price of factory installed).

 

Welcome to TW!

 

I understand sir. It still the stamped letters though which the inserts are placed in there. which could be had for about $40

 

Just the tip....Thats what she said

 

You don't need payload? What was the Chevy originally bought to accomplish? Just curious, maybe you just wanted a full size so you bought it. I went the other way.. I had two Tacomas and then the toys got bigger and the trailers got bigger, so I couldn't tow with the Tacoma. I bought a well optioned '17 Sierra that puked the transmission at 93k miles. I guess it happens.

As far as mileage, my daily drive is almost all highway and the 5.3L V8 Sierra got better mileage than my Gen II Taco with the V6- consistently. Maybe it would be a different story if I did more city miles? Towing forget about it, the Sierra would get double the mileage. I'm saying this because the people saying you mileage will improve I don't believe are correct. My current '20 F150 with 5.0L V8 making 400 hp gets better highway miles than my Tacoma. It doesn't make sense but I am living proof.

The Sierra was only slightly more money that what a TRD level Tacoma goes for and it's LOADED. Heated seats, LED lights throughout (not a single incan bulb on the vehicle) integrated trailer brake controller, bed lights, remote start, NAV, power adj. pedals, rear e-locker, auto 4WD... my point is, be prepared to be shopping for a Tacoma and being suprised at the level of luxury/features (or lack thereof) for what you are paying.

 

Yea the color matched bumpers is part of the trd off road premium which is a must option for me. I blacked out the badges on my Silverado it was just a pain to get lined up and all the glue off with an eraser wheel.

glass break sensor is your alarm goes off if someone smashes your window.

 

Why did you prefer the Tacoma over the Colorado if they are the same size?