If You Did It Again, Tacoma or Tundra?

I had a Dakota with a V8 once as a rental. That thing would move.

 

I would pick a Tacoma over a Tundra if I had to do it again, but I would this time go for the 4 Door Manual Transmission.
These trucks are just the right size, had the perfect powertrain (in my opinion), looks absolutely amazing stock or modified and there is no better mid-size truck.
I have about 159,000 miles on it and the only thing I've had to do was oil change and change battery. NOTHING ELSE!
This truck has taken me all over the West Coast and has been a trusty companion in some seriously sketchy places!
I'm bias, I love my Taco and will come back to it again.

 

Tacoma I know some guys that are trading down from a Tundra to Tacoma. They say its because of the gas. Go for the long bed

 

Tacoma

No regerts

 

I'm trying to make this decision. The issues with the 3rd gen Tacoma plus the total lack of power and shitty seating have me leaning towards the Tundra.

I have a Ford Focus for fuel economy trips if needed.

 

That's why I got the long bed, these trucks are doing what full sized did not long ago.

 

what do you mean by not long ago? I hauled a pallet of sod for 25 miles in my 1987 F150. I would not even load one in my Tacoma much less get on the road with it.

 

If I found myself in the position of needing to replace my truck, it would most likely be another second gen Tacoma. However, I'd at least go check out a few first gen Tundras since they're cheaper and only marginally larger. I do hate the interior in the early Tundras though.

 

Had an 00 dakota RT. 5.9 V8. I wonder every day how 18 year old me didn't kill myself in that thing. Talk about hauling ass...

My dad has a 17 Tundra crewmax with the 5.7. Honestly I'm a little under impressed in the power department on that thing. However, it's one of the most beautiful trucks I've ever seen. He has the limited - all leather, every option you can think of. The power band on the motor is just too high for me. All the power is above 3k rpm. He gets 14.5mpg I get 16mpg with my tires.

He also had an 01 Tundra with the 4.7 V8 and that was WAAAAYYY more fun to drive. That motor was impressive.

If I didn't commute to philly I would have considered a tundra, but parking that thing in the city would have been too much of a hassle.

 

My Tacoma could do what my 87 Dodge Ram did. Now I look at it doing this stuff on ocassion. I wouldn't want to use it that way daily. Some on here do use it that way. These trucks can do what a full size does every now and then. Now the 3rd gen I couldn't say. That is another question. The second gen and 4.0 can cut the mustard from time to time lol

 

Had a 14 tundra 5.7L TRD OR with 3" lift and 35's. Traded for 17 tacoma 3.5L TRD OR.
I was getting 12.5mpg with the tundra on good days and now I'm getting 17+ average with the tacoma. The tundra is a BIG TRUCK. You don't realize it until you try to find good trail to go on and parking spots!
If gas and size isn't an issue, go for tundra. I don't pull a 30' camper anymore and I was sick of filling up every 4 days! Happy with the tacoma so far.

 

Hands down I would have bought the exact same truck again. I'm glad I had planned ahead with buying a prerunner 4dr longbed. I remember debating on just getting an access cab due to where I was in life 7 years ago, but I decided to get a doublecab instead. Boy am I glad. My Tacoma has everything I needed back then , cant think of anything I need more currently (additional options or the truck itself) , and hopefull in the future it still has everything I need.

 

Definitely a Tacoma. A full size won't fit in my garage at home and would suck in the parking garage at work. I'm not big or tall so I don't need the extra room. Don't tow or haul heavy shit. I also like having a 4x4 that gets 20mpg.

 

Send me a pic with a 2000 lb pallet of did in it or how about 30 50lb sacks of feed and 2 250 lb dudes in the bed

 

No idea wut ya saying here is a thread on some Tacomas doing the impressive work.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-us-what-you-tow.27460/page-178#post-14490912

 

Until the MPGs on the Tundra improve, i'll stick with my taco. I have a buddy with a Tundra though and man is the extra room in the cab and bed nice. The gas mileage.... I just can't make myself do it.

 

Taco all the way. The Tundra is too big for my daily uses and the Tacoma works for my actual work uses. It's a great compromise

 

Tacoma with a manual.

 

+1 I'm very happy with my Tacoma after driving 3 tundras. Since I no longer need the full sized capacity, I couldn't wait to hop into something smaller, more maneuverable, easier on the wallet, and overall more fun.

TL;DR - Buy what you need.

My humble Tundra credentials:

I've driven 3 Tundra's so far in my life: 2001 V6 reg cab 4x2, long bed (my first car), 2006 limited 4x4 (great truck!), and 2009 5.7L SR5 DBL Cab (work truck).

Between all 3, I probably have over 500k miles of seat time.

I've maxed out the hauling capacity on all three trucks -- motorcycles, machinery, 4'x12' sheets of steel, cement bags etc..

I've towed various boats, trailers, etc...

Tundra's are good trucks. They get the job done. They are beasts!

They are big. They are not nimble. They've forced me to develop a skill -- I unconsciously know where the cheapest gas station is in every adjacent city to mine as well the quickest route there.

The suspensions are made of 2x4's until loaded 500lbs+ in the bed or towing something heavy. Then you'll know what the money was spent on. You'll smile as the truck floats like a cloud to it's destination. You'll feel like Hannibal, riding on his elephant to conquer Rome.

But all of Hannibal's elephants eventually died. He could not feed them all or they got sick. He was forced to ride horse back on his trek back to Carthage.You will feel Hannibal's despair at the gas pump.

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I feel a mid sized truck will do 90% of what the AVERAGE person needs in a pick up. When I say average, it excludes professionals who require a full size truck day-in & day-out.

Ask yourself this: "How often will I max out the towing and hauling capability of my truck?" Be honest with yourself.

If you can pinpoint specific cases which require more capacity, ask yourself "How often do these cases occur?"

Would it be easier to borrow a friend's full size truck on those occasions you need the extra space/power? Fill up his tank with gas, drive it through the car wash before you return it, then take him out to eat... ? Maybe rent from U-haul for $19.99 per day?


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I would buy another Tacoma if given the choice. It's the right size for my current needs.

It's a 3rd gen and yes, it has many of the odd characteristics of 3rd gens. But my past experience tells me Toyota will take care of it, just like Toyota took care of my last 3 trucks.

Cheers!

Bao

 

I've loaded a pallet of 30 year architectural shingles in the back of my Tacoma.
Probably wasn't the smartest things to do. But I got the shingles home.