biggest gripes about 2nd Gen.

Two complaints:

Not even close to enough interior lighting
No locking compartments in the truck (glove box, console, etc)

Other than that, love it.
Need to get the transmission TSB done though.

 

drivers side armrest on the door should have had padding! drives me nutz!

i can't turn off or on my passenger side airbag(no key hole) it is auto depending on wether someone is in the seat or not.

No locking glove box

No locking gas cap

Should have been a better design behind the rear seats to maximize storage capacity.

Would have liked a bench seat option for the front(maybe thats just me).

An on/off switch to be able to lock the doors while they are still open, also with keys in the ignition ( for when i warm up the Taco and want to go inside the house).

Console compartment lock needed.

Audio jack for mp3 players in the face of the stereo needed!(it was 2007 man! i know older vehicles than that have them)

Tailgate!!!!!!!! enough said

Damn Cab mounts ( all i would be asking for is a freaking inch or two!)

Breathers for everything that needs it not just for some and leave the rest short.

gas mileage on the Manuals!

Thats all for now i'm starting to get dissapointed...but then i'll look out at my Taco and it will all go away as i am reminded that Tacos are so much better than the others

 

this is my first truck that ive ever owned and i am pretty happy with it except for that the engine sounds week i wish there was no knocking .. it sounds like something is wrong with the engine but i guess thats normal with these trucks /

 

1. Yep, I kind of wanted a bench seat when I was first looking for a truck years ago. I think the bucket seats are more comfortable though. Still, I think a good compromise would be to have a sort of seat in the middle and a center console compartment that folds up, rather than the stationary one we have now.

2. I am also kind of surprised they don't have a jack to plug in an MP3 player or something. That would certainly be nice.

3. And gas mileage on the manual trans, I already talked about. But it bothers me enough I decided to just go ahead and quote it again.

 

Notice though that most of these are personal preference and minor bitches. none are really deal breakers. the greatness of the Taco offsets most of these bitches, gripes, complaints!

 

Why? Rear drums work fine. They do much less of the braking than the front brakes, so they don't need the heat-soak resistance of disc brakes. They are lightweight, they resist contamination and they work well with the ABS. What deficiency would be solved by switching to rear discs?

Metal beds go away on their own after a while.

 

Nobody mentioned this yet but they are so damn expensive, new or used. I know, they hold their value but its hard to get into a new one. I drove multiple Taco's (TRD,s SR5's, dbl cabs, etc..) and liked them all until I sat down with the sales guy and discused pricing. They didnt even offer to throw in a tube of anal lube during negotiations.

I guess rant #2 would be dealers attitude toward Toyota. Two things that I heard when shopping that I wont forget:

"Looks like your looking for a great deal and you wont find that on a Toyota"

and

"You should probably buy the Nissan then" (when discussing cost of the a similar brand new Frontier).

This was last May when the recession was in full effect. Cars were just sitting on lots and not moving. I really wanted a Tacoma this time too and I swore I was going to buy one. Its not that I couldnt afford a Taco, I just couldnt stand to pay that much. Maybe next time around...

 

x2

 

Back when I was looking in May and June, Nissan could not do any better on prices than Toyota did. Even though Nissan had a $3,000 rebate and Toyota had a $750 (or was it $500?) rebate.

I took the specs I wanted in to several dealers and asked for the best prices, expecting the Frontier to win by at least $2,000. They couldn't even find one with the options I wanted within 1000 miles, and when they did find one they just barely matched the cost on a Tacoma.

 

Really? I was looking at a double cab SR5 4wd auto short bed and it was around $27k ish. My Frontier crew cab SE VTP 4wd auto short bed (same thing) was $22,200. Both were brand new. Agree that Frontiers were few and far between, the dealer I bought mine from only had the one I bought which was fine as it was pretty much what I wanted (White on grey)

If anyone is able to pick up a brand new double cab SR5 4x4 Taco for around $22k, they got an absolute steal. I just cant imagine it.

 

Get whatcha pay for, etc.

 

Just a FYI to people reading this thread who are speculating on buying this truck or are new owners who are worried:

-A number of the problems people have posted have been fixed/are no longer an issue in newer model years than the ones the posters own.

-A number of the problems are specific to that persons truck and are hardly widely spread issues

-A number are personal feelings on things that aren't really problems


Obviously it's a gripes thread, but don't get worried thinking your truck has most of this stuff wrong with it.

 

Would've liked for the truck to come with forward tie-downs below the bed-rails (easy enough to fix that on my own though), and I miss the locking gas door from my '97 (not to mention placing the gas door on the edge of the fender flare so even after-market solutions are difficult.

Also would prefer the bolted-on tailgate that the 1st gens had and a dash configuration that's more acommodating of after-market head unit installs while retaining a stock appearance as well as real rear speakers in the doors of the access cab instead of the headliner-mounted junk that's common with the std cabs.

Other than that I've got no real complaints so far (1100 miles into ownership).

Would've been nice if the truck came with Olivia Munn's cell phone number, Im just sayin'...

 

You have to remember this is a small excerpt of 100's of thousands of Tacomas produced. Every manufacturer has to deal with issues that occur during production.

Things I wished the Tacoma had:

Heated Mirrors
Rear Cargo Light(this amazes me)
Lighted 4x4 switch(I didn't realize this would be an issue)


The one luxury item I wished it had:

Auto down and up on the driver's side window(my Accord had it and I loved it.)

 

actually my tacoma was $5000 cheaper than a frontier se...the frontier was $25k and mine was 20k....they don't offer a regular cab 4x4 4cyl frontier..if i was going to get a v6 i would've gotten a frontier cuz a tacoma v6 is 30k

 

I haven't had an issue with my drums. But I have owned several 4x4's in the past that I used on some most of the open trails throughout the southeast.

Situation 1: A drum set will load up interally with mud or muck or whatever viscous substance you are riding in and they will not be effective. A disc can't load up like that.

Situation 2: Off road in a reverse scenario. In situations where precise control is required and you are having to reverse. Rear drums can be overcome by the powertrain much easier than disks. Where when disks are on the rear the clamping force isn't affected by direction of travel. I converted all of my off road vehicles just for this purpose alone.

Honestly a rear disk swap on any streetcar or off roader that I have owned really made little or no difference on the street. Most you couldn't really tell. But on the trail disks shine, no pun intended.

As for complaints I really only have 2 minor ones:
Heated Mirrors (dixie dew is 4 months a year)
Headunit (Lack of volume/power)

 

The truck doesn't give me a BJ while I'm driving it. That just sucks!!!!

 

These questions are answered above by another member. Add to that list that disk are much easier to change when needed.

The plastic one is to slippery. I have also heard multiple cases where people have stepped in the middle of the plastic bed and fallen thru.Sun, and chemicals seem to have more effect on the plastic. I have seen metal beds in 50 year old trucks still in perfect shape. That's alot longer than I'm going to keep one. I'll take a metal bed any day.

 

well its not really plastic...more of a composite type material. i drilled through it to run my CB antanea and it is some pretty wicked stuff. definitely not your typical plastic.

metal adds weight and rusts. this does not. im a fan of it.

To add to my complaints...D rings on each of th ebed bolts would have been nice! but of course we have a mod for this.

 

No complaints from me!