30 day ownership review

Technically 32 days anyway.
1,700 miles on the odometer
2016 double cab short bed TRD Sport, 3.5L v6 6 speed manual 4 wheel drive.
Options are premium and tech package, towing package, door sill protectors, factory tri fold bed cover. Sticker Price: $36,9xx. Purchased Price: $34,5xx
For reference, I am 5'11" and 240lbs

I do a pretty solid mix of city and freeway driving, although maybe 60% of my time is spent on city streets. I find the driver seat to be fairly comfortable. I have not taken a trip over 30 miles consecutively yet though, however I feel the shape of the seat padding is about the same as my 14; I do not notice a significant difference. I thoroughly enjoy the seat heaters, being a Wisconsin resident. I love the large radio display unit. I like the features the navigation offers, such as traffic, and noticed it is fairly accurate. You can even pre-program in regularly traveled routes and it will tell you what the traffic is like on that route when you aren't even on or near that route.

The automatic dual zone climate control is nice, however I don't really use the automatic function. I think I would have liked to see a different layout on steering wheel controls. The controls that are normally accessible by your left thumb seem ass backwards. Volume "up and down" is actually left and right on the 4 way pad, and track up and down is literally up and down. I think I would have switched volume and track/preset control like the Tundras have it... makes more sense to me.

I enjoy the 4.5" display on the gauge cluster, or combination meter as Toyota calls it. You can customize certain parameters about it which is neat. I also enjoy the blue dash illumination, and how pretty much every button and switch is now illuminated.

The engine is peppy, but really only above 3,000rpms, so the power band location is noticeably different from a 4 liter 1GR-FE engine. The 2GR-FKS has a pleasing rumble to me from inside the cab. I've seen consumer guides complain about it, but it doesn't bother me one bit. The engine seems to get slightly better fuel mileage than my 2014 4 liter got. With my mix of driving, I average low to mid 18's per tankful. My fuel mileage numbers are hand calculated by dividing gallons pumped versus miles on my trip odometer. I find that my hand calculated numbers are always within 2-3% of the dashboard statistics. I like how the tank average fuel mileage automatically resets itself when you fill up.

My truck came with the tri fold bed cover which is extremely easy to operate, and with the cover latched closed and tailgate locked, whatever is in your bed is fairly protected. I also like the easy open tailgate. My 8 year old step son can easily open and close the tailgate without adult assistance, along with my 60 year old 5ft tall mother.

The new projector headlamp assemblies are possibly one of my favorite exterior improvements on the truck. I have gone with the morimoto HID kit and the lighting is fantastic. I also like the LED DRL's in these new headlight assemblies. The large grill on the truck has grown on me, however I will be painting it to match the body color soon as I am not a huge fan of chrome.

So what don't I like?

The range of the keyfob (non smart key) could be a little longer. Seems like my mothers 2013 Chevy has better range.

Because I have a moonroof, my head clearance for the front seats is obviously reduced. I anticipated this when buying the truck. I am not a tall individual, however my head barely clears the roof liner. Although with that being said, my 6'2" friend has sat in the front seat and did not complain, nor hit his head on the roof liner.

My driver door window rattles when partially open (1/4 or 1/2 way open). I will look into how to repair this issue. I know it will be covered by the bumper to bumper warranty, but I have just been too lazy to have a repair order written for it at work so I can get paid to rip the door panel off and diagnose it. I also have been too lazy to do anything about it since it is cold out and the window is generally closed anyway. I noticed this rattle immediately after taking delivery, so this issue was present when the truck was absolutely brand new with 0 miles on it.

If I need to quickly accelerate on a freeway on ramp into rush hour traffic, I have to spin the engine up much faster than I needed to compared to my 2014 second gen. I wouldn't say I dislike it, but it is different and I suppose I am still adapting. Even when needing some more pep for passing, I find myself needing to downshift to get the oomph I want/need.

My climate control seems to be out of calibration, but only on occasion. I set my driver side temp to 70º, yet I sometimes get blazing hot air coming out of my vents (not in automatic mode). I have to experiment with this further and see if it occurs in automatic mode, but there could be a calibration issue with the desired temp set by the HVAC head unit and what the blend doors are doing. I have not yet addressed this issue, just something I've noticed.

Issues I do not have
I do not have the hood vibration issue like some have reported, likely due to mine being a sport
I do not have driveline vibrations, or vibrations of any sort, likely due to having a 6MT

Moral of the story
The small things wrong with it aren't of serious concern and are likely easily correctable. I know they will be covered under warranty anyway. After working on cars all day long, I am usually just anxious to woosh on out the door.

Overall, I love the truck. It's smoother and quieter than my 2014. Less wind noise noticed inside the cabin compared to the 2014. Engine seems to be a decent choice for a mid size truck, and I have peace of mind knowing I won't have my timing chain assembly self destruct like on GM's 3.6 V6 in the Colorado/Canyon.

The factory issued Toyo tires on my sport have been very good to me in rain and ~5" of snow. The 6 speed manual is smooth like butter, along with clutch operation. My fiance, who has 0 manual transmission experience, has been able to operate this truck without stalling it, or slipping the hell out of the clutch.

I did test drive a 6A transmission sport packaged truck, and did not care for the frequent shifting in and out of 6th gear on the highway, which is why I went with the 6MT.

If I could do it over again, I'd still have traded in my 14 for this truck. It's very enjoyable. I hope this review has been helpful, and I've attempted to write it as objectively as possible.

If anyone has tech questions about their trucks, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them.

 

6mt ftw

 

Nice review, one month in. Thanks............................. Frank

 

Nice review.

love the truck, dealership(Haley Toyota of Richmond) sucked balls, nothing but lies and bs, other than that, great truck.

 

Nice detailed review. Thanks for sharing!

 

The manual drives so much better than the auto. Wise choice. I think the 3.5 feels pretty dang torquey.

 

fantastic review didn't know a dealership could (suck BAlls) lmfao other than that sounds like you are pretty happy buying things from places that (suck Balls) we really need to watch some of the choice of words posted nowadays with all the kids coming onto these sites buddy thank you much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I had the driver window rattle as well and its an easy fix. Take off the "sail panel", the small triangular part at the front of the door on the inside. Just gently pull on a corner of it and it will pull off. be careful of the white plastic anchors, you dont want them to fall back into the door panel. Once you have that off (or at least the top corner) just put some foam or something behind the window seal. I did that and it has been working perfectly.

 

I work at a Toyota dealership. We have boxes of the white clips lol. Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a try tomorrow

 

Nice review man!

 

One Month Review on my Tacoma Limited, Metallic Sky. I got it and a week later drove it from Dallas to Chicago to see new grand child and spend thanks giving. I have mostly great reports for it, but a few minor problems. I too have the bad wind noise on the drivers window. It sounds like the window is down just a tiny bit and makes the noise. Every thing is closed, shut or tight but the noise continues. One thing that will cost some money is the top of the center storage box is not made well. When you are sitting in the drivers seat and try to open it to get inside the lid is right in the way, and you can't reach inside with your right hand. The lid doesn't go back far enough and you have to turn and reach inside with your left hand. I am just counting the time until mine is broken off by forgetting and breaking it off with my elbow. I miss the space behind the passenger side back seat to store things. The bass speaker takes it all up and there isn't space enough to put anything on that side of the back seat. On the way home of my 3,000 mile trip I was consistently getting 22 mpg. Not too bad but I want more out of it. But I guess I will have to drop the speed down from 75 MPH to get it.

I thought the Drivers seat with the back control was great. I never had a back strain or problem and it was perfect for this old man to drive all day and not have a problem. ( I am 70 ) I have the Top of the line radio/ sound system and it really is great. You can BOOM BOX the kid in the car next to you with twice the sound and vibration if you want. and the speakers are high quality for any type of music you like to listen to. I am not a fan of the GPS system. It is too generic and plain and not enough detail when you want to see it. For me , my other car has a much better one, so I just used my IPHONE and let this one go. I hope they update it and clean it up. The Entune system, has an upgrade I will not download. It has Apps I will never use and it uses the data time off of your telephone to work. Lousy idea for such crappy apps as Yelp, Movie Tickets, Restaurant info etc. I can get it quicker and for less data right off my IPHONE.

My one biggest complaint, and I think I am the only one, is I HATE BLACK INTERIORS. HATE THEM. I grew up in Arizona and I didn't want an OVEN in side my car. I also hate black as it looks dirty so quickly even with just a tiny amount of dust or debris on it. Every single Truck has Black or Charcoal carpet. Also when I clean the carpet, it seems like a cheap low class piece of Walmart rug to put by your back door. Lousy. I might take it in and have carpet replaced with a beige to match the Hickory Leather, or even lighter. Just hate Black. If it didn't cost so much I would replace the head liner too. I have to moon roof for more light but it isn't the same as a lighter interior. I am looking for some good all weather mats but most are black as that is what the carpet is on all the Tacomas. I am just out of luck.

The 18 inch wheels and the larger tires have sure given this truck a smooth ride, which is what I wanted. I had a 2005 Pre Runner with standard 16 in wheels and it rode much rougher than this one. I am not an off roader, will never take this one off road, I wanted a good vehicle for everyday driving and to be able to haul a bale or two of hay once in a while. I got it and am very happy with it. My next trip will be in Feb when I drive it out to Arizona and then to Colorado and back to Texas. My wife and I like this better than flying any more.

 

lol nice catch man. That place was the worst to deal with. Nothing but headaches from them. I've been contacting them
for a month and a half about questions and concerns with the warranty packages we purchased and not one of them will
return a call or provide any information. Funny thing though, I gave them a crappy Yelp review yesterday and in less
than 2 hours, the owner replied to me and then oddly enough AT THE SAME TIME THAT FOOL MADE THE POST.

 

Douche parking much?

 

That's at work, so I park how I please.

Actually employee parking is at a premium there. Inevitably someone always has to park there. Might as well be me. Notice the car barely in the left side of the picture? That's even douchier parking yet.

 

Ha! That's sad and douche all at once. Sorry, hate parkers who do that. Where I work, it would been towed before lunch.

 

Great reviews...my 30 day review is - I bet my FJ wonders where I went, cause Ive only driven it once since I got the truck.