3rd Gen... one year later

All,
Now that you have a year under your belt with the new truck, what are your thoughts? How has is held up? Comments?

 

1 yr 3 months, 32000 on the odo,
And i cant stop loving this truck!!
I have no complaints. I have had issues and most have been resolved or are to be soon.

Came from a 2014 trd OR mt access cab if anyone cares.

 

What can I say. It's a truck.. That's kinda cool I guess

 

I got mine in October, 2015 and traded it for a 4Runner last February. I had some issues with it-personal preference type things. Not going to bash the 3rd Gen...

 

Gibson SG....noice

 

I haven't had mine a year. But the truck itself is a year old. At first I couldn't figure why anyone would trade in a 4 month old truck. But I get it. I am also a country club valet. I have literally driven everything. My impressions are as follows. I get why it was traded. Feels a bit underpowered. Etc off and it's fine but you drop mpg like crazy. It hunts gears like crazy on hills. I bought my DCSB because I hade a 2 door jeep jk and needed room for the kids. I wanted something that I didn't look at every day and regret selling my jeep. The taco does that for me. However the seating position is more of an issue getting in and out than I would like it to be. Chances are if you don't have an extra 10,000 rotations on your knees and hips from squeezing into other people's cars, you probably won't hate it. But I do wish I would have gotten a full size truck. Aside from these things when I walk up to it in a parking lot, it still makes me smile.

 

It's too small for my family. 3 Car seats fit but not well can't imagine a 4 runners that much better. 9500 miles, It's been good. Kinda want my minivan back. Next vehicle in two years hopefully sooner: 4x4 Sienna or Sequoia

 

Nothing compared to my 13 F150 fX4. Miss not having the power and the added room. Also I'm getting worse MPG with the taco.

It's alright, my biggest complaints is lack of low end power

 

*ucking wind noise.

 

Gotta get coked up for these threads

PROPER.

 

My wife has a 2016 4Runner w/3rd Row. Us and the kids, can squeeze into the Tacoma. In the 4Runner; kids could throw a Jumparoo party and still have room in it. You can have a rear facing behind the passenger front, and still slide all the way back. In the Tacoma, the little has to be in the center for room and of course safety.

 

This is the wrong engine for the truck, the manual transmission makes it a little easier to deal with, but it's still an annoyance.

I am incredibly upset that Toyota still hasn't fixed my howling differential. The second one they have installed they now claim is normal (can hear the howl still at VOLUME LEVEL 30 when playing a CD)

The buzzing vibration in the steering wheel is pretty annoying but semi avoidable with the manual transmission.

The other smaller issues (small rumble strip vibration coming to a stop at lower speeds, dash rattles, kazoo noise in cross winds, etc) I have just given up on.

Apart from that it's a decent truck and performs really well offroad. However, when people ask if I recommend it I am honest with them and tell them that if I did it over I would not buy it again.

 

Got rid of mine after 4-5 months and 14,000 miles. I wanted to like it and keep it as an all-purpose rig to replace my old 3/4 ton and my 98 Jeep Cherokee trail beater, but honestly the bed was too small for what I carry. Dealer support majorly sucked too.

Wavy hood? Normal characteristic.
Epileptic shifting? Normal characteristic.
Piss poor mpg? "Truck wasn't designed to get optimum mpg at Montana highway speeds." (Yeah- no shit they said that).
4-Lo only engages sometimes? "You need to be moving to engage it." Then it was " You need to sometimes go forward and reverse to make it happen".That really helps when you're stuck, huh?

Should have never left a full size. Bought a 2016 Silverado LTZ and have zero issues. Much nicer built truck than the Taco. Much nicer.

I'm also keeping the Cherokee as my trail beater. I may get an older single axle 80's Toyota truck as a project too. Maybe a 22RE with an SAS.

 

I just hit my year and 20K miles. Love the truck. Would buy it again in a heartbeat.

 

amusing

 

Mine is ticking along just fine at 40k.
I'm very hard on it. I overload it, take it through some rough stuff often, keep the pedal on the floor a lot... I love it.

I'll admit, that while the power IS adequate, I wish there was more at times. The 285/75r16's aren't helping, but it didn't hurt the performance or mileage that bad either.
Perhaps my largest complaint is how the power is delivered. It's a little quirky and sometimes I wish it did exactly what I want when I want. It would be nice to have the instant feel of a throttle cable. You could lighten the front a bit or break the rear loose off road for certain situations if it were like my first gen.

The door seals hummed like a kazoo, but Toyota put in new seals and it's been great.

Now that it's modified to my needs, and sorted out on some little nagging stuff... It's the best vehicle I've owned. The truck is holding up well. The plastic bed is surviving me just fine. I've worked around the not so sturdy rail system.

There just isn't that much to complain about. I fully understand the frustration of those with ongoing serious issues, but all the 3rd gen hate has me baffled. Maybe I'm just lucky... It's a great truck.

 

Still love the looks. Perfect size (fits in my garage, full size and long bed wont). Gets 18-20 mpg in town compared to my Tahoe at 12-14. Great ride and handling.

The only thing that I still can't stand is how cruise control loves 4th gear. I can go 70-80 on the freeway when in drive and usually keep it in 6th unless I am going up a bigger incline. If cruise control would do the same thing I would be golden.

 

Well smitty can you show us where the magical perfect vehicle is that has no quirks? There have been things that I liked and disliked about every vehicle I have owned.

 

I still have my truck. It's given me a lot of issues. I'm not happy with the experience. I came from a 2003 tacoma that was flawless for 10 years. Before that I had other toyota vehicles and it set the standard for me. I had high expectations for my truck but it's been a let down. Either way there are some things I like about it. I think interior and exterior styling is tops among all.midsized options. I think the off road capability and off road performance is great. It's a sharp looking truck. My issues have been failed rear diff (replaced), multiple problems with bushings and leaf springs squeaking and creaking, shocks leaking at 20k miles, odometer and trip meters needing replaced, low transmission fluid causing shift clunks an delays, unresolved shift flares and dead pedal accelerator characteristics with delayed kick down, also lacking low end torque and overall shitty transmission.

But I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to take a loss on trade or sale. It's livable and I want toyota to step up their game. I feel like they got lazy and dropped the ball here.

 

Obviously no vehicle is perfect, if they were then maintenance and dipsticks wouldn't be necessary. But let's get serious here, the 3.5L Tacoma especially with the auto has been out long enough to know it's not as reliable or even close to the 2nd gen. Definitely not up to where a Toyota should be.

The problems that Smitty and others have had are unacceptable for any new car, even a Daewoo leganza. We should make a poll thread asking how many PTO and vacation days have you used to get your 3rd gen issues worked on.