Are 3rd gens really as bad as they seem?

@LoganNolag

I would strongly recommend test driving the Frontier and GM twins.

Then, test drive Tacomas in different models, SR5, offroad, sport, and test drive them for as long a period as the dealership will let you.

That process will probably tell you more than anything you can read here.

That being said, hopefully by now you are getting a sense of just how great Tacomaworld is. It is like a 1,000 room mansion, and you are now standing in the foyer.

Good luck with the search.

And, fwiw, my 2016 SR5 has been flawless, 30k on the odometer.
Solid truck, very happy with it and happy to be part of this "community".

Cheers

 

real talk though every problem I've had with my tacoma has been because of shit I've done to it. if I left it alone it'd be fine.

 

Hahaha!

 

I definitely fall into the category of someone who wants a vehicle to be good and reliable. I have no intention of modifying it. I just want a durable vehicle I don't have to baby and that will last for years with basic standard maintenance (oil changes, filters etc.) Also if something does break I want it to be as cheap as possible to fix. I don't care how it drives I just don't want it break if I hit a pothole, I don't want to spend $1500 on tires every 15000 miles and I don't want to spend thousands to fix the engine the second the warranty expires.

 

I have a sport 4x4 and I keep it so nobody else has to suffer.

 

Seriously. I don't think I have ever seen this many responses this quickly anywhere else except maybe on Reddit. It almost feels like a chat room.

 

Why would you say that?

My point was that things get amplified online because people tend to post when they have problems.

 

Then the Tacoma is probably the truck for you. There are literally thousands of older Tacomas and Toyota trucks running around south Texas, and the only older compact/mid-sized truck still getting it done is the Ranger (and Ford made millions). Tacos are tried, trusted, and true.

The reason we're here on TacomaWorld is that we LOVE our trucks. We are enthusiasts in every sense of the word. Some have made more modifications than others, but that doesn't change how we feel about them.

We even have special Tacoma coins that commemorate our feelings for Tacomas and TacomaWorld.








It's obvious that we all need help.

 

You forgot to tell him aboot the cheesecake!

 

Love my 3rd gen. just broke 40k miles and no major issues. Take one for a test drive and if you like it, go for it.

 

My dad has a 2012(?) and I would gladly drive that if I needed a full size. Tows the 22' ski boat just fine! That said, I had a 2018 base v6 model a few weeks ago as a rental. Hard Pass, but the 24mpg was nice.

 

There’s wine bags here? Where?

 

because it's really tempting to start a thread with a dramatic title and just say that "everything's fine, thanks, how are you"

 

Couple of points to ponder.......

Some of my fav restaraunts have poor reviews

Some glowing reviews of performance tires on tire websites are some of the lousiest tires I observed on autocross courses

People spend hundreds on specialty lubricants and bolt on performance things like mufflers, CAIs etc. because advertising says they should.

Many things I've bought on Amazon/Costco have end of world reviews.

Things my sweet wife has bought me because they had top reviews, well.........

Its all a lot of perspective. Tune out noise, take lots of test drives, be a man and make your own decision, not based on internet think.

So while I personally have no desire for a 3rd gen, its because of other things, not what I read on the web.

Oh yeah. We really dont know much on longevity yet. They arent old enough. The few real high milers around are outliers; early samples. But sometimes time and conditions are factors as much as miles. Like rotted out frames in salt country.

Good luck!

 

I always take everything negative with a grain of salt on here.

I also understand that the average person is more inclined to write a bad review than any form of a review at all.

 

The 3rd gen is a great truck. And I suspect they will hold similar long-term reliability and resale values, but the execution on their build the first couple of years wasn't very good. Seems they rushed the new design out the door without proper refinements. None of the issues I've had have been catastrophic but they were concerning and very frustrating.

My truck needed:
Replacement crankshaft position sensor (CKP). rough idle, nearly stalling (but it never left me stranded)
Replacement leaf springs and a damper added for a rear end howl on the highway
Replacement rear drum from the factory causing wha wha wha noises on the highway and vibrations braking
Windshield literally cracked the first time I turned on the defrost (never saw/heard anything hit the windshield)
Dealer update to the factory ECU tune b/c my truck was getting horrible gas mileage and shifting weird
Transmission underfiled from the factory causing clunks and delayed engagement of gears
U-bolts were only hand-tightened from the factory (apparently) so my rear end hit like a jack hammer over bumps until I tightened them
Control arms howled / whistled with a crosswind, fixed with some grommets in the holes that were causing the noise
Replacement high pressure fuel pump that sounded like it was a belt slipping and a chirping noise that sounded like a thousand angry crickets.

some will say that all the bashing on here is just a bunch of whiney people that make something out of nothing. Any one of the above issues would have been no huge deal and most of the above issues were more annoying than reliability issues.

Between myself and the help I've gotten from a dealer recently (my selling dealer was next to useless) all of the above have been addressed and I love my truck. I am annoyed that I had to deal w/ all of those issues, yes but I also bought a truck that was built within the first year or so of production on a new design. Lesson learned. I'll wait until at least year 3 on any new design of any vehicle moving forward no matter how shiny the new ride may look....

My truck has never left me stranded, it has gotten me many places other vehicles would never attempt, it carries my family and all our camping, outdoor, sports, home improvement, landscaping, firewood, etc., without an issue and looks badass doing it. I love my truck and I'd buy another one in a heartbeat even with the issues I've had b/c most of those have been addressed as with any new generation....

 

It's been said before, but Tacoma World is like the WebMD for Tacos. I joined about 5 months before I bought my 16 and have not regrets. I've had some issues, but nothing that couldn't be fixed and was really minor. I probably made most of the stuff up from reading about other people's experiences on here. I love this place, lots of great info and helpful suggestions, as well as knowledgeable folks.

Find what you want, test drive it overnight and see if you fall in love. If not, find something that does. I love my truck!

 

Purchased my '17 Off Road in April 2017, 19+K miles to date, ZERO issues or complaints.

Other than not having enough $$$$$$$ for the various mods I want, I am a very happy Tacoma owner.

 

This is what I am talking about. All of those things seem like pretty bad problems. I have never had any problems like that at all with any of the 4 cars I have owned including 2 BMWs which are supposedly horribly built.

 

Tacomas are only as good as you let them be.