First impressions 4th gen tacoma

Thought id give my 2c as other peoples opinions helped with my decision to buy the 4th gen, mostly repeating what others have said but it might still be helpful. I won't go into every little detail but I'll mention what I think is most important. There seems to be a lot of misinformation going around.

Truck to be used as my daily for work in construction and regular roadtrips, I live in the mountains, need something reliable and good in the snow. So basically intend to use this truck for the purpose it was built for, definitely no mall cruiser.

I ordered my 2024 OR in underground grey in March. I didn't get the premium as I needed the 6ft bed for work. Sticker has build date of June and it was ready to be picked up 31st July. Ive always driven 20 odd year old vehicles, most recently coming from an 03 Dodge Dakota (which has been a work horse and never let me down) but ive wanted a toyota for a long time since I drove a '93 4runner 11000km across Australia 10 years ago without a single problem, and now being in a position to buy a new truck I just needed to decide between the 3rd or 4th gen. I spent over 3 months reading the forums and watching YouTube videos which gave me little hope for the 4th gen. The build quality, the fact its a 4cylinder turbo, it's the first year model, the issues people are already having with the trans and no data on long term reliability etc. I knew the 3rd gen is considered the most reliable midsize, so did toyota really kill the tacoma with the new gen like the internet says. Aside from all the negativity towards it online, I noticed one constant theme.... everyone that ACTUALLY OWNED one seemed to love it.

I was aware of the transmission issues some people have had, the grille shutter malfunction, the uneven tailgate gaps, issues with the quality of the interior etc etc, I came very close to canceling the truck, in fact I changed my mind daily about what I was going to do. In the end I took the advice of a wise old man, who said f*** it just buy the truck and drive it.

I already knew I loved the looks of the 4th gen, but id only seen them online and a couple on the road (none on the lots here in lower mainland BC, couldn't even test drive one) in person the truck was so much more impressive. I also love the look of the 3rd gen, but i think the 4th gen is a little more aggresive looking which i like. The best looking front end of any truck in my opinion. I like the OR having the black fenders and handles rather than colour matched. My tailgate does have slightly uneven gaps either side like people have mentioned, not bothered about that at all. I do think the handle to open the tailgate feels cheap and the tailgate itself has no weight to it, not a major concern but worth mentioning.

One of the biggest upgrades is the modern interior of the 4th gen, the dash and centre console is minimal and practical. The switches, dials, air vents, shifter all look the part. I have the 8" screen, maybe it's because I've never had a screen in any of my vehicles before but it's plenty big enough. Android Auto has mostly worked great for me so far, although voice command doesn't work, not sure why... "hello google" works but it won't pick up any commands after that which is frustrating as i cant make a phone call and the screen is restricted whilst driving. Also the toyota app hasnt worked for me yet, its a 2 star app so i guess its just buggy, toyota needs to do better with that. The glove box doesn't rattle like many have mentioned. The seats are very comfortable, driving position is perfect in my opinion (im 5'10") lack of legroom in the rear seems to be a talking point, its a midsize truck, if you need legroom in the rear get a full size. Plenty of room for my dogs. One thing mentioned a lot online is the build quality of the interior, I agree there could be more soft touch plastics, it's all very hard plastic and the type to scratch easily. There's slight gaps between some interior panels on mine which has also been an issue mentioned online, the sunglasses compartment above the rear view mirror seems especially low quality. Again not a big problem in my opinion.

So the most important part...I've put 1000km/600miles on it over the last few days. I've driven a mix of city, highway, dirt roads and mountain pass and all I can say is I absolutely love it. I averaged 10.7l/100km or 22mpg, I'm very happy with that. Just over 600km/375miles to a tank, thats completely stock, and not carrying much weight so thats max. The transmission is as smooth as you could ever want, gear changes are seamless. The engine is plenty powerful, all the comments ive seen that are concerned about the 4cylinder not being able to compete with the v6, thats not the case, this thing goes. The acoustic glass and the door seals do a great job of keeping any road noise out. The overall ride is just amazing. There's still lots of features I need to have a play around with. I can't chime in on the debate over what's best the 3rd or 4th gen, but I am very happy with my decision to buy this truck. Again I've come from a 20 year old truck so it's just night and day difference for me. This thing looks and feels amazing in almost every way.

I paid $66k CAD all up, that included silly dealer add ons like tire, rim and key insurance that I didn't want but had no choice in paying for. Yes it's expensive, but that's the world we live in at the moment.

Few small complaints, maybe the build/material quality is lacking in a couple of places but other than that I don't have anything bad to say. Obviously I'm only 1000km in, so can't talk on reliability but if an issue arises that's what warranty is for. I'm so glad I pulled the trigger on this truck, it makes me happy to drive it and I intend to put it to use for all the purposes it was built for and hopefully put lots of mileage on it in the years to come. Hope this helps. F*** it just buy the truck and drive it!

 

Nice review and congrats on the new truck.

Zach Bryan

 

Very nice write up I feel pretty much the same when I purchased mine. I must ask as I was about 60k CDN for my offroad with tax and my extended warranty...it is a manual but from online that should be only about 2k more and we pay 15% tax just wondering what options you may have got.

 

I was in your same boat. Ended up buying the same truck as yourself and I couldn’t be happier with it at 1600mi.

My minor complaints for such an expensive vehicle:

- No seat / mirror memory
- No auto windshield wipers
- No walk away locks
- No soft touch panels
- Infotainment finicky (CarPlay, still locked out of app / vehicle, ticket pushed to corporate)
- Cheap / nonexistent tow hooks

Then the more reported issues
- Tranny-gate
- Shock-gate
- Paint-gate
- Tailgate Trim-gate
- Shutter-gate

I’d still buy it again. Most of those problem vehicles were probably built on a Friday anyway.

 

No need to read the review. The dogs are happy so their review is good enough for me!

 

Not convinced anything with the taco is “Gate” worthy as all of those things are not even within the margin of error %. But whatever, be happy or trade it.

 

Great review and I agree 100%. I love my 2024 TRD Sport 4x4. I had a 2022 TRD Sport 4x4 and the 2024 is a better truck (IMO). And I also agree about the sunglass holder. The one in the 22 was better

 

Good points. I wish we had auto windshield wipers and walk-away locks. But one thing I love is the credit card key. I don’t have to have a pocket full of keys anymore. Just my wallet and cell phone

 

Upon hitting 1000 mi on my 2024

I made a post here on what I'm sure is a firmware bug for losing Bluetooth settings for Android Auto and CarPlay. I suggest comments in that as building evidence, and what I discovered might be helpful.

For "tranny-gate", I suggest reading the actual NHTSA complaints and comparing with other vehicles. By the numbers or traditional stats methods to find problems, there are few. No recalls against competitors shipping 2024 models. Of course I won't be happy if it occurs to me but now it looks like the auto transmission issues are from torque converter. Sadly, the whole industry is still doing a crappy job with parts availability post-pandemic.

For WI specifically, I think we have the perfect rig for at least the next few years. This week starts a combo of razing and restoration of our cabin property, my final 6-8 months before truly retiring, and more trips up and down I39. I'm super happy with this topper setup for the different roles my pickup needs to do. While past all our past gen Toyotas including 4x4 have been great, the 2024 is a whole other league for quiet, comfort and road manners but at same time it is every bit as good for the trail work and ski area crew stuff I do.

A white OR with Bucky sticker, chameleon bed (the Fas-Top below) and often a 1Up rack going up and down Highway 51 is me. My apologies to the keep everything fancy types. It has already done a good amount of dirty work in only 3 weeks and it will never fit in our garage. We all used these things differently but I confess to being excited about the Fast-Top.

My use moves to an Indy Ski Pass tour when my retirement gets serious this winter.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ne-tonneau-soft-topper-initial-review.839177/