Best years for 2nd Gen Tacomas and why? discussion

My 13 has white/red gauges. Was white and blue on 15’s only?

considering going this route too. My 13 came with led tails and the passenger side one is dying.

 

The blue/white gauges were '12-'15. Both my '13 and '15 had them. My '09 was red.

Yeah...if one of my tails goes out it's a $2 bulb for the repair. If you decide to go the incandescent route there are plenty of aftermarket options. But if you're looking for OEM there were 2 different runs on those...'05-'08 then '12-'15. In my opinion the 2nd run lights look a bit more red and don't seem to fade as much.

 

Thanks for the tip, I’ll look for 12-15 oem ones.

As for the gauge cluster idk why mine is like that. Truck was originally shipped to and sold in northern Alberta. Maybe they swapped the cluster out when when it came back to the states. Cluster is in mph and not khm. All white lettering with white led backlighting and red needles. I’m the second owner and bought it in 17 with 36k on it.

 

I personally like the '12-'15 Tacos for the facelift and interior "upgrades". I had a 2006 prior to the 2012 that I just bought and it was great all of the way until I sold it at 231k. If I were you, look for 2007+, as there were some head gasket issues with '05 to early production '06 models that have the V6. Just my $0.02!

 

I have a small sample size to compare with ('08 & '14) but I prefer the looks of the '12-15 front end and some of the interior updates (gauges, radio surround, aux switch panel). However my '08 has the better front door cards (more storage) and the lack of SAIS is also a plus. To each their own though, they're all good.

 

That's correct. When I say blue/white I'm referring to the back lighting. It's mostly white with a hint of blue. The needles are red

 

Seems post-2006 for the 4 liter, given the improved head gasket. Other changes seem to be more about aesthetics and small consumer upgrades