How can we know that 2nd gens are of lower quality

a little duct tape can fix that

 

You guys are crazy, we have trucks not BMW's. If my truck didn't make noises I would be worried. It has never let me down (knocking on wood). I don't have dash rattle, I don't have heater fan squeal, Engine tic does not bother me because its running fine and I have upgraded myself out of other small issues. No Complaints here.

 

These type of threads serve no purpose. The thing is very few people can remain objective in their posts. I equate it to this, if you have low expectations, then you will be surprised by the quality of the Tacoma. If you have high expectations from owning a Toyota from the 80's and early 90's then you are most likely disappointed with the quality of the 2nd Gen.

There re several things Toyota can improve upon on the Tacoma, but like every other Car Manufacturer, it doesn't make sense finacially to redesign items on a vehicle mid cycle. Expect Toyota to address the issues brought up here in the next desing, only to have newer issues come out. All companies have these issues. Find me the perfect car with no problems and no complaints, and I'll point out the perfect Human Being....

 

all car, truck makers are building them cheaper, cutting costs, using cheaper materials, I have vast experience with Ford trucks, the 2004-2008 models have a super beefy frame, in 2009 the frame was half the size, the interior got generic, inner fenders are plastic
Toyota has to build them cheaper to compete, but Toyota never cheapened up the engine, transmission, the important stuff.
You guys need to relax, there are worse trucks out there and you know it!
In 5 years the Tacoma will be considered the full size truck, Ford, Chevy and Dodge future models will be downsized, the same way the cars are downsized 10 years ago a Toyota Camray was considered a small car, now its a full size family sedan.
I have a shitty smile on my face standing next to the gas pump filling up my Tacoma for $30, while the guy with the full size Dodge is filling his truck up and it costs him $70.
You guys have no idea how much money you are saving by owning the Tacoma instead of owning a full size pickup, I know cause I once owned the full size!
I am very happy with my Tacoma

 

It only coasts you $30 to fill up your tank? What is gas $1.50 where you live. I pay $50-60 to fill up my truck from near empty. Gas at 2.89/gallon x 17 gallons

 

$60? really? I never got close to that and I'm at $3.11 a gallon.

 

I have had no problems with my baby!

 

I get $1.00 off per gallon as per buying food at grociery store.
My last fill up:
price: $2.199
gallons 11.801
amount: $25.95
savings: $11.80

miles since last fill up 179.7
MPG: 15.2

thats a fill up at around 1/4th tank, without my discount it would have cost $11.80 more
all I have to do is spend $250 in food and I get $1.00 off a gallon, but the limit is 30 gallons, some guys bring gas cans and fill them up to get as much as the 30 gallons they could get, I also hang out at the produce asile in the food store to pick up women, my favorate lines are "lettuce be together" "your my honeydew", and "we cantalope"

 

Every truck ever built has had problems in someone's eyes, why should ours be any different. Just enjoy it and fix it, truth is it's all just a way for the big car companies to make more money from the average Joe, because cars and trucks are running better and lasting longer!

 

Never got close to 21 gal, mate! LOL I gas up pretty soon after the light goes on...just hate gambling with the last dribbles of fuel.

17 gal * 3.11 = 52.78

I'm usually at about 16.5 when I fill up...once I got 18 but gas was 2.80 or so then...

Totally agree mileage sucks - but compared to what? It's still better mileage than my '94 Rodeo got and it had a 3.2L V6.

I think the 2.7L would have suited for my purposes. I blame myself, not Toyota.

The noises isn't from lack of quality, it's from lack of sound deadening. I'd agree this is a truck and you should expect it, but for the money ($30K range) we're shelling out on these Tacoma's Toyota could have put a few bucks more sound deadening in them.

 

Dave I understand being pro union. I used to be a member of IATSE. but the feather bedding was too much for me. We had to go to shows and concerts, movie sets, and do nothing because the contract said they had to hire x amount of locals for every stagehand they bright in..I quit after three years.

Here in South Carolina, every BMW and sold in the US in made her in a non union shop and the workers do not want the UAW near them as well as the Toyota plant. Never had to strike and deal with the labor vs management mentality. Its all one family and because of it they build better cars. Happy people build better cars. When Toyota retools a plant they pay their workers HOWEVER their workers have to either volunteer in the community or paint the factory. They KEEP them working. Still the workers voted down any involvement with the UAW.


Boeing is opening a plant in N Charleston. It will be interesting to see if the Union follows. Yeah they get paid a few dollars less here but they still are very well paid considering the cost of living is low.

Management screwed up GM for sure by agreeing to and signing Union contracts that practically buried them with pension costs. Unions worked at one time and we thankfully got real labor laws because them. But they like everyone got greedy and pitted workers vs management and divided good companies. that never works out for the consumer of those products which is why I believe Toyotas, Hondas and BMWs made in this country are better built by happier workers who decide their own fate and pay based on how good of a job they do rather than simply how long they have been a number. . You can say import auto makers tend to build plants in the in places that have a low average wage for laborers. But ther COLA is low as well The Toyota workers in Georgetown, Kentucky are now being paid more with better bonuses than UAW workers average at domestic plants in. 1979 the union had 1..5 million members. 600K by 2005 Unless the transplants slashing pay a lot or eliminate e benefits, I think Union membership will continue to fall, Detroit saw how the Unions could not protect them when things got tough. But people being people are very stubborn in their politic. Welfare recipients would never vote against receiving those checks and going to work

 

Unfortunately I think that is true, These trucks have become more bloated and larger every few years. I hope someone makes another mini soon.

 

Re-read my post I said between $50-60 So if I fill up my Tacoma at a 1/4 tank down it only costs me $20??? That's considered a fill up??? Anyways based on your calculations 17x 3.11=$52.87 so yes i costs between $50-$60 to fill up my truck not $30 as BartStar claimed.

Your comment has to be the biggest display of flawed logic I have ever read on TW...How can you claim that it costs you $30 to fill yout tank that when you get a $1.00 of a gallon yet compare that to folks who pay full price...Apples to Apples and Oranges to Oranges my friend. What it costs to fill up a tank is irrelevant. What matters is the you get mpg you get. So if I only put $5 of gas to fill up my truck can I honestly say that my truck costs $5 to fill up?? Based on your post...yes I can!!!

 

X2 on that, exactly what I thought when reading the post. Makes me think of ppl saying things like "I can do 2 weeks between fill ups" and take it as how much their cars is economic or not.

 

When people post crap I call it out....fair and simple; I'm not trying to start an argument, merely stating a point for discussion. Yes, I picked apart a post of your on the "Used vs New" thread awhile back, something you said was speculative at best....welcome to the internet my friend. If you can't handle reason and logic of discussion, than you'll be sorely disappointed. Anyways, I digress, if you can't see how one claims it only costs to $30 to fill up his Tacoma regardless of discounts, but claims full size trucks cost double to fill when the tank is only 5 gallons bigger. Maybe it would be more reasonable to compare the cost of filling up a Tacoma vs a full size using the same price of fuel but that's not what he said and if you don't see that than I'm sorry you lack the sense of reasoning. Wouldn't it make sense that possibly the people filling up their full sizes are getting the same discount? It's called a controlled experment my friend. Again Apples to Apples Oranges to Oranges.

 

Hey Dave I did not intend on offending you. I worked in New york City and was involved with many of the trades which were all unions. From my experience and speaking with friends involved in unions in other major citys the feeling was mutual accross the board. The upper managment was killing us with out and out stealing monies and being on the take. Some jobs they would claim and get paid for 15 workers when in actuality there would only be 12 workers, (can anyone say ghost employees). I could go on and on. I know the premise behind unions is great although greed has long gotten the better part of that.

 

My 96 Ram had a fuel tank capacity of 35 gallons, some of the newer ones are now 52 gallons. I would not want to fill either.

 

I only get my $1 off a gallon on one fill up per month, but I fill up once a week paying the full price, and when it gets below 1/2 tank thats my signal to fill up and its always around the same price $30 range.
Maybe I don't pay attention to my gas mileage, but all I know is I drive the Tacoma the same distance everyday as I did when I owned my full size Ford pickup a month ago and I filled it up once a week when it got below 1/2 tank and it always cost me $45-$50 to fill it up.
(yes I know the Ford had a bigger gas tank)
but I look at the bottom line I am saving $15-$20 a week on gas
(gas is $3.19 here, same price a month ago)
my logic is my montly budget, I pay for gas with a credit card and I get a statement every month and my costs are down, cause i paid a lot more on gas the previous month.
(yea, you're right I don't keep track of the mileage, maybe I did more driving last month than this month and didn't account for that)
in maybe 6 months I can average out my fuel budget and compare it to the past 6 months, but I know I am saving money already!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egbnCIK3_CU

 

So bottom line is it really doesn't cost you $30 to fill up your tank as you stated earlier considering you have to buy $250 in groceries and you only get the $1.00 of a gallon once a month, but you fill up every week...got it. I still stand by my initial assertion that your logic is flawed that it costs $30 to fill up a Tacoma but $60 to fill up a full size as you stated a few posts back. A friend of mine has a 07 Silverado, sure it costs him roughly $15 more to fill up his tank than mine, but his tank is 5 gallons bigger, but mpg wise, he gets 1 less mpg than mine. Considering he has a bigger payload and more room, there is no way I can say my truck is vastly superior to operate than his full size as you did. No matter how you cut it, simply looking at the cost to fill up your truck doesn't reflect the overall efficiency of using your truck. If I drive my truck 1 day a month and it only costs me $5 to top of the tank, that doesn't equate that my truck is so efficient that it costs $5 to fill up.....that's how you stated your previous post when comparing your current truck to a full size. Then again the bootm line is if your happy with your vehicle, that is all that matters....

 

YES! I Love my new Tacoma, I love it more than my former F250 and F150, its easy to drive, the brakes work, it fits thru the bank drive thru.
When my F250 was new less than 1500 miles on the odometer I was getting 8 MPG, when it was broken in, in the summer, highway driving its best gas mileage was 11 MPG
I just got my Tacoma a month ago, the first fill ups were around 13-14 MPG, my current fill up is 15.2 MPG
New Ford 8 MPG, New Tacoma 14 MPG, thats a 80% increase in mileage
1 month old Tacoma increase to 15 MPG thats a 90% increase in mileage
When my Tacoma is fully broken in and the weather is warmer I expect 17 MPG on the low side and 19 MPG on the high side, lets average it out to 18 MPG where my former F250 was getting 11 MPG at its best, fully broken in, 11 MPG increasing to 18 MPG is a 60% increase in gas mileage, so I figure in the near future my gasoline budget will be 60% less! (if the price of gas stays the same)

The price of food is going up, spending $250 at the food store doesn't get you much, have to eat, why not just buy the food there and get $1 off a gal of gas?
I am downsizing everything in my life cause hyper-inflation is coming, I spend less on my truck loan payment, less on gasoline so I have more money to spend on food, shelter and clothing!
and as a friend , being nice, I am suggesting you do the same thing.