I love my 3rd Gen

It's been over 2 months and almost 2,000 miles and I love my Tacoma.

After selling my 2004 4Runner V8 to my daughter, I needed a new ride. I had a wild hair up my arse and purchased a brand new 2022 Camry XSE. Quick, fun to drive, but seats and the ride were stiff and I never really loved the car. Even my wife bitched about how uncomfortable it was.

So in December, I traded in my Camry for a 2023 Tacoma TRD Sport 4x4 in Lunar Rock. From the moment I purchased the truck and drove it home, I was happy. Then, I started to read all the "doom and gloom" on this site and questioned my decision. There are a couple of things I miss about the Camry. Lane assist, backup sensors, and the responsiveness of the 9" radio, but it's not a deal breaker.

Then, I did a couple of cheap mods, added a tonneau cover, TRD Pro Skid Plate, TRD wheels with Falken tires. The exact look I was going for. I've had more compliments from family, friends and even the cool kids at the local coffee shop.

Is the Tacoma fast as the Camry, no. but, contrary to what people say on the forum, I can pass other vehicles on the freeway. It rides better than my Camry. Yeah, the gas mileage sucks, but so did my 4Runner and I'm fortunate I work from home.

It was nice to take the truck out to the desert and spend some quality time with the family. We are planning on visiting some National Parks. BTW...if you're a Veteran, you can get free entrance with the Military "America the Beautiful" pass.

Bottom line, it's a Toyota. They don't make the most exciting vehicles and they don't have the latest in high tech but they're reliable and safe. My older daughter rolled our 99 4Runner and walked away from it.

 

Nice looking truck, enjoy the ride!

 

You hit the nail on the head!!!
Beautiful truck that will take you and back from beautiful places!!

 

I do think that Camry had the same engine under the hood as your Tacoma, although a higher output version and an 8 speed transmission. Powerband might feel familiar

 

Nice ride, I love mine and all the other Toyota trucks and 4Runners
in my past.

 

Good choice, best ROI on the road, along with 4R's. Waited 13 weeks on this one. Only mod, new Michelins and removed the TRD decals. This is my second
one, had a 2021, traded it to buy a new '22 4Runner, dealer gave us a check for $1355.21, and the 4R, drove it home.

B 1

 

I do like how the new Camry offers Cavalry Blue and you get the darker wheels on the XSE. I probably would’ve gone with blue if they offered it this year for Tacoma but LR is beautiful.

 

I had the XSE, 4cyl and not the TRD V6 model. Here's the trade-in pic.

 

That first pic looks a little like AZ

 

I had an 18 XSE v6 that I inherrited. Traded it on our 4runner shortly after just a boat of a car for me.

 

Yes sir. Castle Hot Springs/Lake Pleasant. Great "intro" drive.

 

That’s my neck of the woods sir lmao my profile pic is in the bottom of the fria south of the 74

 

I'm in Litchfield Park. Grew up in Glendale.

 

Glad to see another westsider on here! Not enough of us lol everyone seems to be in the east valley

 

Thats an awesome beginner trail and the views are incredible. I couldn’t imagine living in AZ without a 4x4 vehicle, the amount of trails and breathtaking locations are unbelievable. That was the first trail I took my truck on and I ended up recovering two SXS that flipped over off the side of trail within 20 minutes of each other. You either have to be drunk or stupid to to roll a vehicle on castle hot springs lol

 

Ya Mon! Nice truck there.

 

Awesome truck, thanks for sharing your experience. Of course I love the color.

Shortly after I bought my ‘16, based on a lot of the comments I saw here, I half expected the wheels to fall off & the engine to blow up. After actually owning & driving it daily, it impressed me so much that I ended up owning two more.

Never perfect, and never advertised as being perfect. But these trucks have absolutely carried the torch of Toyota reliability. Final year, so get one before they’re gone w/o any regrets. If you already have one, hang on to it, get your popcorn out, and let’s just see if Gen4 can raise the reliability/durability bar.

 

Looks great! Yes, this echo chamber can get a little negative at times.

 

I had a similar experience. Last year when I bought my Tacoma, I was really excited about my new truck. Then I came to Tacomaworld and after reading all about the "turd gen" I wondered if I should have picked something else. It took a while, but I've come to realize that a lot of negativity is from a small group of noisy people, some of whom have real problems and some of whom are just whiners.

I do appreciate some of the advice though. Thanks to Tacomaoworld, I got my undercarriage coated with woolwax and will be redoing it every year. I bought a tailgate lock after reading about all the tailgate thefts here. And I'll be relocating my AC drain when it's a bit warmer. So there's good advice here, you just have to navigate the ridiculousness to find the good stuff.

 

Here's a couple of the trucks that kickstarted my new journey. I was getting my Camry serviced at Larry Miller Toyota and they had these 2 Lifted SR5s for sale. With all the add-ons there was a huge markup.

I didn't take a picture of the back, but they had a cool hitch mount with a TV.