My quest for a 3rd gen Tacoma is over...

Looks like a nice truck. My 2013 Tacoma Prerunner is doing great and more important, it's paid off. Doesn't have all the problems reported here so I'm gonna keep it for a while.

Enjoy your baby. It's your money.

 

Plan on keeping it 8 to 10 years. Let's hope it spends more time on the road than at the dealership for problems. Then again it seems a lot of these gen3 are spending a lot of time at the dealership for problems

 

You are talking Apple and oranges here. A 4cyl motor can move cars faster but a 4cyl in a truck is a different story. It comes down to the weight of a vehicle.

 

All of the limited i have seen and I have seen about 8 of them are running around 37,400 Maybe you live on the west coast or northeast

 

Well that's because it is faster off the line. The 4.0 had better low end power versus the 3.5 being up high. I had an '11 and now a '16 so I can say that I've owned and driven both. Like I tell everyone who asks me about my current one. The '11 "felt" faster but the 3.5 is faster. It's just more smooth. If I'm going 50 and press the skinny pedal to the floor, it'll be up to 80 before I know it. This engine is faster, not just as quick off the line which is expected.

Nice looking truck OP. I almost got a new silverado before this tacoma. Sometimes I'd like to have the full size space but don't really have a need to make that change yet.


EDIT: read a lot of people talk about good luck keeping it for 8-10 years. My father had a '99 F150 4wd lariat. It had over 250k miles, lasted over 10 years, was still going until he let my brother trade it in on something else. Take care of something and it'll take care of you. That goes for any make/model really.

 

OP, congrats on your decision. It´s your lifestyle, you are the one driving it everyday, you are the one paying for it, disregard all the negative nancy´s here. Great color choice, I looked at the grey and the blue F-150 Sport, Grey is definitely the better route for the body style. I understand your situation, for me, my kids are grown so it will mostly be just me in the truck, plus we have the wifes rav4 when we all go somewhere, but if that is your family hauler, get what suits you best. Yes, he did compare full size to mid size, but what choice does he have, the only other mid size is the frontier ( I don´t count the gm twins, I wouldn´t look at them at all). Now, one question does remain that I haven´t seen answered yet, why the F-150 over the Tundra? Again, it´s your choice, I was just curious if you don´t mind telling.

 

I'm guessing, could be way wrong here, a lot of people who make the switch to F150 over Tundra is price versus what you get. A crewcab Tundra is in the same price range he paid, but less options are included. I'd love to have a Tundra, but I'll most likely do as OP did and go somewhere else if Toyota decides to keep raising prices and not give much more out of the truck.

 

While that may be true, one big thing to consider is reliability and customer service. I am a Certified Technician for a specific brand ATV( I won´t tell which one), but I actually own a competitors brand due to the warranty department and customer service. So, that would be a major consideration for me. Now, I am not saying this goes for all Ford Dealers as I have only visited three in my area, but each one of those the whole atmosphere just didn´t feel comfortable, the salesman was not very helpful and automatically assumed I would be leaving the lot with a Ford as soon as I test drove. My Toyota dealer treats me like a family member, I can just show up and not only does my salesman greet me, the sales manager greets me, as well as the service coordinator, and that´s if I am just stopping in to see what´s new. That kind of service right there will make my decision much easier.

 

If only that could happen to all dealers. I haven't found a dealer that I truly enjoy yet and I've tried multiple over the years. It's always been about making the sell. I've tried working with five different dealerships within a three hours drive of each other to have the same experiences. Some a little better than others, but none that really stands out and is something I want to tell everyone. As far as reliability and customer service, I've had multiple Fords and Chevys in my family over the years. They seemed to do just fine lasting to the infamous ten year mark so many people strive to get too. It seems like everyone will go out of their way to say something negative about a vehicle when something goes wrong, but you never hear about all of the good vehicles that are still out there. Makes are getting to be about on the same level as far as reliability and customer service now a days. Again, that's just from my experience over the years and yours may be different. I've walked into a Chevy place and was treated better than my local Toyotas places. Even with warranty work on my last Tacoma. It didn't end so well with them.

 

I still wonder why they did not put the 4.0 from the 4runner in the new Tacoma. More torque 270 HP great motor my wife has a 4runner with the 4.0 much more power and it its a much bigger truck. The trucks always shared the same drivetrain over the years but not this generation not sure why.

 

Wow, I have exactly the same type of dealership where I go. I have free truck washes at my dealership, and I have gone in many times to have it washed. Everyone is friendly and courteous. I think this is a great way to do business.

The only problem with this is the potential risk of stress of added financial burden because if my wife is with me and we are having a free coffee and muffin; she will say .... "As long as we are waiting we should test drive that Avalon ... or that 4runner, and OH you got a new truck so I like this 4runner and how much is it and .. "

 

Re: why not the Tundra? I've had three tundras, both motor configurations and they are indeed a nice truck, but as thirsty as the Dos Equis man! I think I was getting around 13mpg in my 5.7.

Stay thirsty, my friend!

 

That's how it all starts. The wife needed a new vehicle as the 16 year old Honda odyssey was just worn out. As I said the kids are grown so no need for a minivan anymore. Believe me, we drove just about every crossover out there, but Toyota won on the cust. service. Now when we are there, I say, you got a new car, I need a new truck. I did visit Ford and Nissan, but, Toyota wins on customer service for me. It may different experiences for others, and thats what makes the world go round. Glad to hear you also have a good dealership.

 

Valid point. I wasn't knocking the Ford, was just curious what the OP reason was.

 

I'm sorry to say but all your Toyotas look beautiful and classy compared to the 150 but I guess its whatever your comfortable with.. You must really look after your vehicles, I like that..

 

When I looked at mid-size trucks the Tacoma stood out as the best option out there (although the GM twins have put out a more competitive offering than most people on here will admit).

When I started looking at full size trucks the Tundra didn't really stand out (to me) as clearly better than the other offerings. The profit margin on full-size trucks is huge - I found that regardless of the brand you could get dealers to go $7K-10K off of their full size trucks pretty easily (including the Tundra). Heck, the F150 I bought had a sticker price in the mid 50's and I didn't pay anywhere near that. The Tundra seemed a bit dated compared to other full-size offerings.

Also, while fuel mileage isn't really going to be stellar with any truck the 5.7L v8 in the Tundra is horrendous on mpg's. About 70% of the miles I put on my truck are city stop-and-go traffic. The Tundra would have been lucky to get 13mpg with my daily commute. My Tacoma got around 16 mpg on my daily 7 mile stop-and-go commute (it did around 19-20 on the highway); so far my F150 is averaging 15.8 mpg on that same commute (I haven't had a chance to see what it will get on the highway yet). Over-all the Tundra would have been my second choice in the full-size category.

 

You have a 7 mile commute and you're worried about fuel economy?

 

stop and go will do that and short trips will also do that. I moved my truck 10 feet and only got .1 MPG!!! but I drive 5 miles non stop and get 22MPG.

 

If I was ever to go for a full size I would be very tempted by a 2.7L ecoboost, they seem very nice if you're not going to be towing.

Congrats on the new truck, I like the colour, haven't seen one of those yet.

 

Ford F-150 trucks leave the River Rouge plant with the transmission fluid at the correct level.