Opinion of the 2005 tacoma

get the 6 gear. if you know stick well enough to enjoy it, you wont hurt this one.

it is kind of an akward transmission, but is easy to drive once you learn how to time it.
dont expect sports-car 6-speed, more like eaton-fuller on the ol' stakebed 6-speed. s-l-o-w shifts at low rpm. the syncros dont do much for you. they take their time. high rpm shifts go fast as the motor revs down faster. easy matching

an aal kit was the best thing i've done for my driving experience. factory springs wrapped bad and made shifts/launches jerky; as if the clutch/flywheel had hot-spots

 

I have an 05 TRD DCLB V6 auto 137k miles had light rear springs so had the tsb done and added load handler 990s now it can be used as a truck. Engine was great till 135k and had a head gasket leak $2,500 later and it is back to running fine. I had most of the of tsb that are listed done it was a dec build date later build dates have less problems. I learned my lesson not to buy first year of a model.

 

Also had 3 of the 4 wheel bearing go at 80k miles covered under extended warranty.