Consumer Reports Hates our Tacomas

Fake news. American company since 1930

 

Yep. I don't think the kind of person that has a full time job writing reviews in Consumer Reports magazine is really the kind of person that should even be allowed to drive a Tacoma. Give them a nice sensible Volvo Cross Country or Subaru Forester and have them go take their kids to gymnastics and ballet class.

I mean, the Ridgeline? What soccer mom wants a minivan converted to a truck? What off-roader or work truck guy/girl wants a truck that's converted from a minivan? It has no market.

 

I take my daughter to gymnastics ... in a Tacoma. Just sayin'

 

I knew that would happen... just due to the nature of posting wild stereotypes onto such a broad and diverse community...

Half expecting someone to post, "Hey, I'm a CR reviewer!"

 

What $35,000 ish vehicle isn't. Pretty much the average price for average vehicles. That said, I think it's a pretty decent truck. Drives nice (in my opinion at least) and does well for what I wanted it for. My 3.6 outback has better pep but it's also smaller. It also has a lot of rattles after 6 years but still a decent average vehicle.

 

It could be guys who see a car as just a way to get to work and they want the minimum amount of fuss to do that. Tacoma's are for folks who need a truck or are enthusiasts. It's a good truck, but I can see why someone would prefer a Ridgeline. I don't, but I can understand.

 

I have a Forester too.... no kids though.

 

Average, maybe... but not boring.

It's carved out a unique segment of the market that lends itself to enthusiasts and fans.

It's unique styling and emphasis on off-road worthiness create that differentiated product.

So it's average, but not necessarily bland or boring.

Want to see average and boring, go check out the first page of the Nissan Versa forums page thread, "What did you do to your Versa today?"
1. I didn't do anything today.
2. I tidied it up a bit!
3. I put in new air fresheners.

And my favorite:
4. I went to the driveway to look at it, and went back to sleep.

 

Got to look at the source. Consumer Reports is more concerned about the number of airbags, carbon footprint, and ride. Never do I recall them actually loading the bed with stuff, taking it out on pitted dirt road, and generally doing "truck" stuff. They don't mention the durability of a ladder frame vs. unibody. What unibody vehicle will tow more than 5K lbs? CR also uses surveys of uneducated soccer moms for their reliability instead of data from those that really know whats going on. Take a look at the earlier 2nd generation which I have. They rated the interior A/C heating system as failure prone. It was because the blower would chirp. That's a 10 minute fix by anyone with a 4.5mm socket but they rated it as if the blower would start the whole truck on fire. How about a survey on resale value. That's where real satisfaction is. Car and Driver/Road & Track are a little less biased but looks mostly at 0-60 times, cornering, and braking distance during the first 40K miles.

If reviews really wanted to give an opinion, why don't they include how easy it is to do normal scheduled maintenance by the consumer. How easy is it to change the oil and filter? How easy is changing the engine and cabin air filters. When are spark plug services due and how easy to do it? What needs grease and how often? How much wear and tear is there really on the recommended long term oil changes now vs other trucks? Why don't they send out oil samples after a certain number of miles and report back to us? How is the engine compression holding up? Is the battery junk after 2 years or 5 years? Does it eat tires? Do the bushings squeak after 75K miles? Do the springs wear out from actually putting something in the bed of the truck? How does the plastic hold up to sun exposure? I'm just getting started.

 

They try to rate vehicles like they are a refrigerator

 

I've had many Tacoma's, Tundra's and other Toyota vehicles over the last 20 years and have had excellent experiences with all of them. I just bought a 2017 TRD AC that is so much nicer truck than any of my other Tacoma's. I think I will be keeping for a long time but if not, the resale value lets me know I won't lose that much. Where is that in any CR review?