Bought my first ever tacoma and dont know what to expect

A few months ago I destroyed my 2020 corolla by hitting a deer on the highway, so after I decided to buy myself a truck, and i chose a 2023 tacoma trd sport. What can people tell me about this truck? The good and the bad? When I popped the hood it was a sea of plastic parts and it got me worried in terms of reliability. But also the tranny on this thing is weird and cant decide what gear it wants to be in. I live in the north east it snows here a lot, so what will rust that I need to know and make sure it does not rust.

PS: i already put on some mods for my truck as shown in the picture and only had it for a month now.

 

Congrats!

Welcome!

 

So you just woke up and decided to buy a 35-45k truck … now what do you want us to tell you about it ?

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Don't over think it, just enjoy it.

 

Edit: so this isn't a complete shit post here is something you may not know about your Sport... the ABS valving sits up near the passenger firewall so when you see dual battery setups where a battery is installed in that location, it is a TRD OR or TRD Pro with a dual battery setup. They are able to use that space because of crawl control and the ABS valving being in a different location. Sadly, the ABS valving in a sport eliminates that space from consideration.

Now here's a little story I've got to tell
About three bad brothers you know so well
It started way back in history
With Adrock, MCA and me, Mike D
I had a little Tacoma named Paul Revere
Just me and my taco and a quart of beer
Riding across the land, kicking up sand
Sheriff's posse's on my tail 'cause I'm in demand
One lonely Beastie I be
All by myself without nobody
The sun is beating down on my baseball hat
The air is gettin' hot the beer is getting flat
Lookin' for a girl I ran into a guy
His name is MCA, I said, "Howdy" he said, "Hi"
He told a little story that sounded well rehearsed
Four days on the run and that he's dying of thirst
The brew was in my hand and he was on my tip
His voice was hoarse, his throat was dry, and he asked me for a sip
He said, "Can I get some?"
I said, you can't get none
Had a chance to run
He pulled out his shotgun
Quick on the draw, I thought I'd be dead
He put the gun to my head and this is what he said
"Now my name is MCA, I've got a license to kill
I think you know what time it is, it's time to get ill
Now what do we have here, an outlaw and his beer
I run this land, you understand, I've made myself clear"
We stepped into the wind, he had a gun, I had a grin
You think this story's over but it's ready to begin
"Now I got the gun, you got the brew
You got two choices of what you can do
It's not a tough decision as you can see
I can blow you away or you can ride with me"
I said, I'll ride with you if can get me to the border
The sheriff's after me for what I did to his daughter
I did it like this, I did it like that
I did it with a wiffleball bat
So I'm on the run, the cop's got my gun
And right about now it's time to have some fun
The King Adrock that is my name
And I know the fly spot where they got the champagne"
We rode for six hours then we hit the spot
The beat was a bumping and the girlies was hot
This dude was staring like he knows who we are
We took the empty spot next to him at the bar
MCA said "Y-y-yo, you know this kid?"
I said, I didn't, but I know he did
The kid said "Get ready 'cause this ain't funny
My name's Mike D and I'm about to get money"
Pulled out the jammy, aimed it at the sky
He yelled "Stick 'em up" and let two fly
Hands went up and people hit the floor
He wasted two kids that ran for the door
"I'm Mike D and I get respect
Your cash and your jewelry is what I expect"
MCA was with it and he's my ace
So I grabbed the piano player and I punched him in the face
The piano player's out, the music stopped
His boy had beef and he got dropped
Mike D grabbed the money, MCA Snatched the gold
I grabbed two girlies and a beer that's cold


^ that's what I can tell you about this truck.

 

Where in "My car was wrecked a couple of months ago and I finally decided to buy a truck" do you get "woke up and decided?" I'm glad this wasn't my first interaction with this site...

I would start on this site with looking at the 3rd gen forum and checking out the maintenance guides and modifications that folks like. You can find several "mods" that are actually simple little improvements and better maintenance options. Some things to think about... If theft is high where you are you may want to do some things to protect your tailgate and catalytic converters. The manual is a good first stop to check if what your dealership is saying you need to replace/refresh is true to schedule.

FYI, whether or not you did months of research or simply stumbled into a decent deal on a Tacoma, you picked a good truck!

 

I own a manual so I can not speak with authority on autos but my understanding is that the auto transmission “learns” a driver and adjusts overtime… but is not good enough for many drivers. Those disgruntled drivers buy a tuner code for engine and transmission and that makes many much more happy with their auto.

 

Welcome. site is full of great info. Have a look around.

 

Expect crushing disappointment realizing after spending $40K+ on a truck, it is underpowered, cannot haul or tow much, has bi-polar shifting and fetches miserable fuel economy.

It should however be reliable as an anvil, and you end up loving it anyways. “Kissing don’t last, but cooking does!”

 

@SomeDude&Tacoma welcome to TW.

I hope you’ve got thick skin, this place can be both informative and a $hitshow.

Congratulations on your new truck, I’m happy to see your already making it suit you. Lots of threads on the transmission gear hunting, and just as many differing opinions on what it needs or how to fix it.

Some found the trans gets better with miles, others have decided to tune the ECU gaining new shifting parameters.

Can’t say either is right or wrong. Just like mods, it’s all in your personal perspective.

You bought the truck, you’re making the payments (presumably), have fun.

 

Congrats!

Just enjoy it. 95% of what you might have a question on is damn near covered. There’s also plenty of good folks to help out a long the way.

 

Welcome. You will want a better deercatcher than that.

 

Just know your Tacoma will never leave you stranded. Take care of it and it’ll take care of you

 

Toyota has greatly improved it’s corrosion resistance but it’s important to keep road salt off of it , especially the undercarriage. I spent @ $250 to have a lanolin based protectant (lookup Fluid Film) applied in the fall. It gets a lower cost touch up annually, as its not a permanent coating. If you have the time , space, and know how, it’s also something that a lot of people DIY. So far im very happy with it , and my frame is in perfect shape after 2 NE winters.

 

Welcome and congratulations. Nice taco btw except that soon you’ll realize that front end add on won’t do you good. It’s a force multiplier in terms of front end damage. Money spent on that would have been better spent on better tires or a tune if you don’t want the trans behavior . Anyway it’s your taco and do as you please .

 

It doesn't drive like a corolla. Biggest thing I can try to tell you....it doesn't drive like a corolla. It drives like any other body on frame mid size truck. A lot of the complaints are people coming from WRXs and other small cars to it.

It DOES hunt for gears. 5th and 6th are both OD, so it likes to drop to 4th for torque, then hunt back to 6th for efficiency. It runs smooth as butter at 55-60, but at 75-80 it hunts.

But for the most part it just drives like any other mid size truck.

Hold onto your wallet.

 

welcome!
this V6 makes torque/power in a higher RPM range, plus the torque convertor is allowed to lock up and slip in lower gears, making it seem like another ship. Add the dip in the power curve and yeah it's different. Just press the pedal and it will run with the best of them, don't overthink it, you paid for an auto, let it do it's job.

 

There are sooooo many here that should read this line and take it to heart. LMAO

@SomeDude&Tacoma ... welcome to TW! Nice looking rig! I'm pretty new to Tacomas myself, but believe we made a good decision.