If Buying Today, Would You Still Choose the Tacoma?

Definitely no questions asked buy another Tacoma. I have had Toyota Pickups for many years. My first was a 1988 SR5 V6 5-speed loaded and various Tacoma's also. Great truck and if you maintain them they last.

 

If I had to purchase again today, I probably wouldn't go for the Tacoma. If i'm honest with myself most of my needs for a truck are home depot trips and throwing muddy camping gear in the bed. The truck is far more capable than I need.

It does have some positives though, even in a normal climate it should hold its value far better than other vehicles. After getting out of a Mercedes, that's certainly an admirable trait. The analog feel of steering and old school 90's feel of the interior is a positive to me as well, nostalgia!

I'd have a hard look at a Maverick if I were to do it all over again. Probably a better size and more 'suv with a truck bed' which would serve my purposes better.

 

You could probably sell your Tacoma now and get a new Maverick with money left over

But after my dad bought a new first gen Sporttrac when i was a teen, I will never get close to another ford - that truck suckkkkkkked

Best thing that ever happened to that truck was my brother totaling it about 5 years ago in a blizzard

and frankly, the Maverick just looks like a reskinned Sporttrac

 

Short answer is no and that is not any fault of the truck. My biggest issues are space and wind, both of which I created by having a child and slapping 10ply 33's under it.

 

Tacoma is the last reliable vehicle available with MT but I'm not in love with this '21...

 

Yeah, I'd rebuy a Tacoma. Only thing different would be a vague desire for the d4d engine.
I am super happy with 2TR-FE, though. If for some reason my 4 cylinder gas engine wasn't enough horses, I'd have skipped anemic V6 and gone straight to a 5L F150.
As things stand, I am more than happy with 4 cylinders. This is the truck I will die with.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kdmax-pro-tune-by-paparee-and-twtaco.713699/

 

Yes, but the perfect sized truck of all time was the first generation Tundra. Full-sized load capability (for a half ton), great ride and road feel, cut the highway wind better than any truck ever, top notch quality, etc. Tacoma wins for urban driving, parking and turn radius (Tundra's weakest point even 1st gen.) I like Toyotas, either size.

 

Right So your saying that the extra 120 bhp and 3,000 lb more towing capacity of the V6 is anemic? What does that make your 4cyl? By your definition of anemic, the 4cyl is basically a Golf Cart?

Oh and the price of difference of only 2-3k, makes the 4cyl a no go for me...ever.

 

I'm saying if 162hp wasn't enough for some reason, for me, (because towing, cargo, camper shell, something) I would have gone straight to naturally aspirated 5L V8 Ford. If I needed more powah than a 4 cylinder, I would have skipped the small Toyota v6 entirely.
I keep my situation super light, tho, and so the 6 cylinder is unattractive. I needed the 4's reliability.

 

Makes sense that you don't need the power. With many examples of v6's going well over 200k miles and some having already hit 300k miles, I am satisfied of the reliability of the v6 to be typical toyota. Which the Ford 5 liter will not be, comparatively. Good truck, but not as good as any toyota reliability wise. might as well jump up to the 6.7l desel F250/350, which is known for reliability.

My first hilux was a 4cyl, and that was my last 4cyl. It's fine until the road turns up in elevation. Mpg isn't all its cracked up to be in the 4cyl. Except for cost, the 4cyl has no advantages.

 

I'd probably go with a new tundra hybrid. I'm getting tired of driving a stick when I commute and the Tundra gets better fuel economy anyway. Plus towing capacity and more room for the family makes it a no brainer. Alot has changed in the 6 years I've owned it.

 

I was first sold on Toyota 4 cylinder manual 4x4 pickups in the late '80s. I hoped and figured the modern 4 would be good for me, took a small chance, and was proved right. If I had needed more, I wouldn't have jumped 1 size up, I would have jumped all the way to 5L Ford. The F150 WAS a distant, 2nd choice. And their 5L is the "best" engine they have in that vehicle, in terms of power and reliability.
The Car Care Nut on youtube (Toyota mechanic) doesn't know anything about 4 cylinder Tacomas, because they never break, so he never sees them. He knows plenty about the Tacoma with 6 cylinder...

 

That's your third post touting the superiority of the 2.7L over the 3.5L. Do you have any actual non-anecdotal evidence or statistics to back your claim?

 

nice

 

Revisiting this: Since I sold my other car taking up space in the garage I would not buy the Tacoma at this time. I only bought it to fit two cars in the garage. I would go to a full size now. However, Idc enough to sell this one to get another truck and I don't drive that often anyway so not a big deal

 

If i could get a maverick 2nd year and at msrp i'd consider it. For now, happy to plod along and not have a payment.

 

I have owned 7 pre Tacoma trucks 2 4x4s, and 2 second gens 1 4x4 and one 2wd. Every single one was a super reliable truck. Now I have a 22 trdorlb coming. Other trucks I looked at were Colorado, Ford ranger, Ford maverick, Nissan Frontier and even full sized ram and Silverado. The full size were just too much truck for me and the price was 10gs higher. Most important was having a 6’ bed which neither Ford or Nissan had. I almost went with the diesel Colorado but kept reading bad reviews of engine problems. That was the only truck with 4 doors and longer bed. So it was Toyota that won. I am confident I made the right choice but we will find out soon.

 

I see what you did there. A bit Disingenuous, lol...... Your comment was correct until the last sentence. He says he knows nothing of the 4 cyl because he has never been in one. But the next comment was "I have been inside every single engine n the modern era" . Unlike you he didn't target or imply anything about the 6 cylinder. He actually had pretty good praise for the engine and it's design and said it is shared in some form with the avalon, camry, highlander and sienna but being in a truck has some differences. So this V6 is going into a large quantity of vehicles, including a few lexus lines. That's a good thing for parts. Should also say something about the reliability. But he obviously has high praise for that 4cyl and called it bullet proof.

 

Sadly I see this was started in the turd gen section. But bought my gen 2.5 right at 3 years ago used for 17,500 and still
I wouldn't trade it for any other vehicle. Sum bitch is amazing!