4th Gen Tacoma (2024+)

Living in the Midwest this would happen after a week of ownership anyway

 

Not really hard to find. People are just buying them before delivery like you said. They will be happy to reserve one for you at thier terms.

I’m like you. No way I am buying a vehicle sight unseen. Give it a few months and they will be piled up like the tundras.

 

Car Stealerships are one of the many, many business entities that are still trying desperately to cling to Covid and its immediate aftermath. They’re trying to perpetuate their glory days. Not going to happen.

 

Tldr: drove an SR5 rental. Mo' power (yaaah!) , sounds like shit(boooo), interior doesn't feel any more or less cheap than my 3rd gen. Overall, it's aight.

I got a brand spanking new SR5 rental and drove it around for a bit. It drives and handles a lot better than the 3rd gen as expected, and rides much better/less bouncy. It was super quiet on road and I was wondering why my ears felt a bit like they were plugged up until I remember reading about toyota adding sound canceling. Does the SR5 have that feature, too?

The power train delivers power way better and smoother. You actually get torque down low and the tires can spin if you give it too much throttle. Transmission doesn't hunt and you don't really get that vtec-like kick around 4k rpm like in the 3rd gen. The 4cyl sounds terrible, noisy and grunt. The turbo spooling sounds great though. Kinda like a mini Cummins. As for the interior, it's an SR5 so I don't know how the higher trims feel but this one feels cheap. The dash feels solid in some places, cheap and thin on others which tbf, my 3rd gen is the same way. The door panels in the back seats feel cheap and flimsy and the headliner feels like shitty vinyl spread over a hollow surface. The steering wheel felt solid though. The left bottom spoke on my 3rd gen creaks and has some give to it when you press on it. The 4th gen doesn't seem to have any cheapness feel to it. I did a few 0-60 pulls (Trac off, 2wd only truck, and in tow/haul mode, I live in Sonoma County, CA) and I got 6.89, 7.08, and 6.88 lmao.

 

The engine sounded like old man ass, right? That was my perception of it.

Did you notice any turbo lag?

 

Old man ass is definitely one way to describe it

I noticed a tiny bit of turbo lag but I was paying more attention to ride quality and driving/handling traits. Funny thing is even though it has way more torque and better power delivery than the v6, I never got that "thrown back in your seat" feeling when you floor it but the speedo was definitely going. Compared to my truck with 60lbs 33" pizza cutter MTs which does 60 in 9.6 seconds, 6.88 feels like a super car lol.

 

I was impressed with the 0-60, too. I tried it in a fwd highlander with the 2.4t once and got over 8 seconds. None of my runs are perfectly scientific though. One hand on the steering wheel, one hand on my phone using the timer app, and hoping to go fast.

 

Full throttle runs on the street while on your phone SMDH

 

Doesn't the 4.0 sound like as as well though lol. So in short toyota is good at making engines sound like ass lol

 

I'm waiting impatiently on my dealer to get one in as a rental so I can spend a day in, truly get a feel for it before deciding to drop that kind of money.

I do believe the SR5 also has the active noise cancellation but I did not get a sense of my ears feeling plugged like when using NC headphones. I read on here someone said you can turn the feature off in the settings which is nice.

 

No Toyota truck V6 has ever sounded good in my opinion. Not my 3.4, not the 4.0, and not the 3.5 (the 3.5 sounds awesome in Lexus sports sedans though.)

 

I dunno I have heard the 4.0 a few times and it sounds like a jet engine

 

I do kinda like the sound of the dual VVTi version from the 4Runner, it screams in the upper revs.

 

Same. I’ll just enjoy my 3rd Gen

 

you’re right. They want me to beg them to sell me a truck. Not going to happen.

 

So I was able to test drive two new trucks yesterday, a 24 trd off-road with the premium package and a ford ranger lariat with the fx4 package. Here are my initial impressions

trd off-road:

Interior quality felt similar to my third gen maybe better in some regards. That being said it for the price point it wasn’t impressive, but it looks like it will be durable and hold up just like my 16 has. It is definitely quieter than my third gen, less overall wind and road noise.

The ride quality was improved, the most noticeable improvement was the rear end. It’s more composed with less lateral movement and felt overall more sturdy. Keep in mind I’m coming from a 6ft access cab. The long bed with the c channel frames are inherently flexy, making bed stiffeners absolutely mandatory. I’m sure double cab owners would feel less of a difference. Overall the coil spring rear and is a huge improvement and will probably feel much better out on the trail. The electronic power steering felt better than I thought it would. More nimble than our hydraulic steering, but still heavier feeling than the tundra of other EPS systems I have driven. I want to drive it on the trail to get a better comparison. Our trucks have great feedback at low speeds allowing us to really feel the terrain and obstacles through the wheel.

The engine and transmission are a great improvement. They work together perfectly compared to the 3.5 and 6 sp. I didn’t feel any noticeable gear hunting and the shifts were very smooth. The low end torque is noticeable. It’s not a rocket ship but it actually has mid range power and feels much les strained than the 3.5 here at altitude. It has power when you need it and is able to cruise rather efficiently at highway speeds. There was always more power on tap when needed. It really feels light years ahead of any other gen in terms of power delivery. I think the max will actually be thrilling. The engine sounds like shit, like a noisy loud tractor.

seating position has been fixed finally. Your lower back will thank you and overall it has a more commanding truck like feel. Felt like shit stepping back into my 16 and sitting on the floor again. For those of us that like to do long road trips in our tacos, our backs will thank us.

Styling looks good in person, a little busy but pretty similar to the third gen. I liked it.

Ranger:

The interior was alright, huge improvement over the old version, but it felt a little cheaper than the taco. I also personally think it looks worse. I think it might be a little quieter than the Tacoma.

The ride quality didn’t seem to be any better than the previous gen. It’s not bad but the leaf springs ride much rougher than the coils on the taco and there was overall more body roll. I think they only offer a coil sprung rear on the raptor version. So Toyota has them beat on overall handing and ride comfort.

The powertrain was good, but so was the previous gen ranger. Great low end torque but the Tacoma felt smoother and more refined. I preferred it to the ranger. I didn’t notice any advantages with the 10 spd. The engine sounds much better than the Tacoma.

Styling wise it looks better than the old gen, more conservative than the taco and less aggressive, but a little boring and uninspired.

Overall the Tacoma felt like higher quality product and a more expensive vehicle. It better considering the price difference. 56k for the taco and ford was 51k. I would pay that premium for peace of mind and most likely lower cost ownership on the back end with the Toyota. People keep bitching about price but any comparably equipped ranger is close in price. Just like the third gen was more expensive than comparable rangers and Colorado's. I can’t wait to test the ranger raptor as that looks like a better deal on paper, but I’m really liking the trail hunter and the fact that you can still get a 6ft bed with the taco.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6DeXXAoy94

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN5WCqGIkyc

 

“Nothing against Mexico, but you get what you pay for.”

 

I happen to park right next to a 24 taco at the store. Trd sport loaded sunroof and pretty much every option also lifted but probably just leveled with 33’s . I have to say it looked nice I mean really nice and I love the looks much more in person. The tail pipe had a TRD slip on that made the lower then normal tip look much better on the truck.The owner happen to come out when I was walking around it and we talked for a while. Super nice guy even let me sit in it . It felt really good very comfortable and looked awesome although it had the super big screen it was huge ! Nice but maybe a little to big for My taste although I’m sure much more user friendly. He was kind enough to tell me sticker price which was about 56,000 and with the lift/level it was close to 70,000 which I’m sure was with tax
I was very impressed with the looks and feel of the interior and truck but wow that’s a lot of money and even if it drives nicer I have no problem with the ride of mine. Also with my OTT tune it has plenty of power and no gear hunting at all. I love my Gen 3 so think I’ll be hanging on to it for a while longer