Consumer reports Tacoma review

2018 dclb sport v6 auto here, not a problem at all.

CR sucks.

 

Ah yes, they do love those jeeps - wrangler is their #9 pick in the midsize suv category. Out of 11.

(It’s above the bronco and another jeep - which haven’t been tested yet)

 

T’was I !!!
I was right wasn’t I ….

If consumer reports did not exist, there would be no Mazda in your driveway. Don’t get me wrong though because I like Mazda’s and think they are awesome cars. They keep other makes on their toes when it comes to design and handling. I also see plenty of Mazda B2200 pickups still roaming the streets of LA . If Mazda made pickups again for the states, I bet it would make a run for the money on Nissan. Real Mazda not rebaged Ranger lol

 

You are going to really enjoy the Mazda CX5. We bought the wife a 2013 CX5 and it's been a Great vehicle and the gas milage she gets out of it is amazing. It's comfortable for 4 adults to take for a decent trip. And the motor is quite peppy.

 

I hate to wade into this but I am curious. Isn't the 4 banger the same as it has always been for a decade or more? The transmission I would believe maybe but......

 

We got (for the wife) a 2016.5 CX-5 GT. Great car pretty much. 93K miles. One breakdown sort of. A coil pack went. 2 minute repair. I think they suggest replacing all 4. I only replaced the bad one. Also had a front differential seal leak (AWD). That was a warranty repair. The LED DRLs went out which created a safety recall. Mazda replaced both headlights. OH and it has LED light's from the factory which started in the 2nd half of the 2016 (my car) My '19 Tacoma cant make that claim. Maintenance wise one of the drive belts is a weird stretch to put on belt. That was a little awkward but I got it on. I use all OEM parts even the motor oil, (it's a moly oil from the factory) ALTHOUGH I did put one size wider tire on it to smooth out the rigid ride from the low profile 19" tires. I could easily talk the wife into a RAV-4 or Highlander but this car just seems to be aging nicely.

 

I have more confidence in CR when they are testing washing machines and lawn mowers rather than automobiles.

 

Owner of a dark grey metallic full boat 2018 TRD sport 2WD here, auto/6 cyl. 3 years and 50Kmi. and not a single issue. No squeaks, no rattles, one recall that didn't make a difference but did it anyway (radar sensor in grill), 4 oil changes (synth.) I drive the flats and hills/mountains a lot around N. CA., and I have issues with the transmission's behavior, but just the usual. Doesn't seem to affect reliability, but if I were in charge of how a trans behaves, this one would be totally different. I have a cap and ladders and interior tool bin, a dead load of about 900 lbs. O.M.U. rear springs keep it just a bit more than level. My solution to the trans issues is simple: use the S mode. Esp. if you carry a load,you don't want that trans shifting up to 4 or 5 or 6 if you're going to slow down soon--when it detects low load it upshifts but can't keep constant engagement and feel going, so you have to place it in a gear range where you can feel it and expect it to respond without dropping down 2-3 full gears and hitting 5000 RPM rather suddenly. It's a Toyota. Reliable, gas mileage is ok (I get 17-21), looks good. Be forewarned: expensive to do body or glass work on. Got good miles off factory tires (50K), handles ok, but could use a lot more soundproofing in the cab. Tech works well. Could use a 300% improvement in the backup cam (come on, Toyota, you've been using the same inadequate cam for years....take a look at a Ram pickup cam image). I got the Taco when my 2006 Tundra got too pricy to maintain after 12 years and 185Kmi. The build on the 2006 was rock solid, much better than the Tacoma in feel. But now I have the Tacoma and 3 years have gone by in a good partnership.

 

We looked at the Rav 4 before the Mazda since I had the Tacoma. But she saw a few of the CX5's in town. So she started researching them. And everything she found came back positive. So we went and drove one at the dealer and the rest is history LOL. We took it home that day.

 

I trusted some youtuber on what vacuum to buy after my $20 black friday dirt devil died.

The new Shark vacuum is great!

 

I wish every car or truck I ever purchased would have been reliable as my 18 Tacoma

 

CR knows nothing about automobiles. They should stick to what the know best. Mundane household appliances.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electric-kettles.htm

 

I used to own Silverados/Sierras back in the 99-07 generation, was generally familiar with the common problems. My family owned a half-dozen+ of them. All of them were pretty reliable but for fixed-in-warranty defects that were defective at factory.

I read CR's buying guide on these. They had radically different ratings for different model years on individual parts (engine, transmission, etc) despite nothing having changed in those years.

But the truly amazing thing was they had the Silverado and Sierra listed separately, as though they were unique trucks. These Chevrolet/GMC trucks were exactly the same except for hood, grille, front quarter panels, front bumper, lights, wheels, and badges. CR's reviews for a given model year Chevy vs GMC were *completely different*. You'd see the 04 Sierra have a 1/2 red circle for transmission (4/5*), but the 04 Silverado would have a solid black circle for the transmission (1/5*). The part numbers for the transmissions on those trucks were all the same.

 

Can someone snap a pic of the Tacoma reliability ratings? In the dark here.

 

They do a google search and find 5000 posts that went way off track on Tacoma World and draw a conclusion based on the 4990 trolls out of the ten good replies

 

Almost every thread in the 3rd gen section would corroborate CR's findings. Having said that i liked my 3rd gen, But every other thread is somebody highlighting the downfalls of the 3rd gen platform.

 

I am fine with the transmission in mine ('21 2.7 4x4) 90% of the time but it really sucks on the highway when speeds are over 70 MPH. The cruise control is only usable when the terrain is totally flat, otherwise it shifts from 6 to 5th every quarter of a mile and then down in to 4th immediately after hitting something like a highway overpass. I spend a lot of time with it in S5 but wish I could put more power down in 5th and 4th before it kicks down.

I would be SO MUCH HAPPIER with it if the S mode was a true manumatic that would lock it in a gear and prevent kickdowns. If you can catch the engine at a point in the rev range where the transmission can't downshift, if you floor it then, it feels strong. But normally if you give it a lot of gas it just does a multi-gear kickdown which is loud and annoying. Our old Hyundai had a true manumatic where you could lock it in 4th (top gear) or 3rd in the mountains and you could use cruise all day long and it would just power up the hills at full throttle using the torque instead of downshifting and revving to the moon over and over.

Even if it just had some grade logic where it would sense the presence of a hill and hold the gear for 15 seconds would be great. I have had mine drop to 3rd, hold it for a few seconds, upshift to 4th, go back to 3rd in the space of 10-15 seconds.

I have never had a vehicle that shifts so often - hope it doesn't wear it out.

 

3rd gen

 

CR should stick to reviewing Kitchen Appliances.

 

You should look into the KDMax tune, it solves all of the transmission issues and really makes its a pleasure to drive.