New Tacoma Shopper

Hello everyone. I have been a loyal Ford man since 1996. We have had many Fords and Lincoln products for our personal vehicles and my plumbing business uses Ford exclusively and we have been very happy with their products.
That being said, I have been solicited twice now by another company in a completely different profession. It looks as though it will actually move to fruition this time and the job will require me to be driving to our properties every day. I'll be on the road for quick trips around town for 70% of the day. I am concerned with the fuel mileage of the F150's and I'm enticed by the smaller size of the Tacoma for navigating in smaller parking lots ect. I'm thinking the size and the potential fuel economy increase with the Tacoma would be a good choice. I really like the off road features of the "Off Road" but there is no way I would take a 40,000 truck off road. In my opinion the Super White TRD Sport is just drop-dead gorgeous and would have plenty of off road capability for me. Not to mention the premium package now has leather which I would like very much (we have had 2 Navigators with leather in the last 21 years).

So, it looks like the TRD Sport 4X4 with Premium and Tech is the ticket, at least on paper and in pictures. I will be test driving soon in order to get impressions on the sport. My brother has a 2018 TRD Off-Road 4x4 with manual tranny that I have driven quite a bit. The only thing the Sport "needs" in my opinion is to be leveled out, and all terrain tires, but those mods are hard to justify with a new truck.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my thinking process?? Any flaws? Any ideas you could share would be appreciated. Thank you. Kevin.

 

How much weight are you going to be carrying around daily? If it’s not too heavy that requires a full size, then go for it. Test drive extensively the model you’re looking to buy, even load the back up with some typical stuff you haul daily and see if you like the performance. Then decide.
As far as mods go, personally I won’t change any tires out until the ones I have wear out. Some members on here negotiated different tires being put on before they signed any papers. Leveling kit, just drive it for a while, then decide if you really want it or not.

 

Just test drive it at least 25 miles through all speeds 30-65. We don't need another guy complaining about the transmission and engine.

 

Make sure you test drive and you should probably not expect too big of a gain in MPG.

 

Just to give you an idea, I can get 20 mpg on city with some traffic while driving normally, but if you like spirited driving and or there is heavier traffic, it can go down to 17-18. Highway is 22+mpg easily though.

 

As you stated that you are concerned about the fuel mileage of the F150, and as shakerhood already said above, I wouldn’t expect too much of an mpg gain.

I drove a 2016 F150 supercrew 4x4 with 2.7 ecoburst for over 13,000 miles and around town it was getting better fuel mileage than my Tacoma.

On one tank after driving highway hills and mountainous roads to the coast from Portland and back at around 55 to 60 mph I hand calculated 22 mpg with the Ford.

The 2.7 liter Ford and the Tacoma 3.5 are both rated at 18 city, 23 highway.

 

Dont buy a Tacoma for better mileage. I had a 2015 F150 SuperCrew with the 5.0 V8 and got better mileage than in my current 2017 Tacoma Sport.

 

with my 3.5 ecoboost I was averaging around 16.5-17 in the city and 18.5-19.5 on the hwy. with my Tacoma I get around 16.8-17.5 in the city and 18-20 on the highway. Not much of a difference and I can tell you I was heavy on the gas with my ecoboost because the truck would move, with my Tacoma I drive t like an 80 year old because I hate the engine reving up to 4,500 just to have some acceleration, feeling like some sort of asshole or getting people to think I’m trying to race them at a redlight.

 

Wow guys, thank you for your input! It's exactly what I was looking for. I will not be towing anything at all. Maybe a small trailer with a 4-wheeler once or twice a year.


We now have a 2013 F150 Platinum with the 3.5 eco boost and it gets consistently 16.5-17mpg around town. If the Tacoma can give me 20 (my brother is getting 22 in town but he has the manual tranny off road), I would be saving 40-50 dollars a month based on the miles they said I would be driving. That's something for me to consider.

Also, the parking at my office is on a lake downtown where parking is a premium. I would have a reserved spot but its not huge. I think getting the Tacoma in there would be a lot easier than the F150. Although I wont be at the office too long every day, there is a potential for me to come and go several times during the day.


Just some random thoughts. Thank you for tolerating my rambling....Kevin.

 

Whats your driving like? These trucks are really hit or miss on MPG. Sweet spot is 45-50MPH. My commute is 25 miles of that and I get 24-25MPG every day doing that. MPG really drops off at 60+ to 22 ish, then down to 20 ish or so at 70 depending on wind. In LIGHT city I've found the 18 mpg claim to be fairly accurate but if you have a ton of stop and go then its more like 16-17.

 

I have a 2017 V6 Auto Trans Double Cab. I service swimming pools in SoCal for work. My day starts with 10-20 miles on a freeway to a city then house to house in that city with most of the time less than a minute of driving between properties. I carry myself and maybe 500-1000 pounds of tools supplies and chemicals with me split between the backseats and the bed.
I've only owned the truck about 6 weeks now but my MPG is not what I hoped. My "Trip Summary" every time I stop the truck after driving from one home to another will commonly read less than 10Mpg. On my freeway trips I almost always get 21. Combined when i do the math each time i fill it I average 15 Mpg.

Just my experience.
Also forgive me if I missed something but wouldn't even 50 bucks a month in savings pale in comparison to the cost of these trucks?

 

Well its primarily city. But I guess "city" can mean different things to different people. There is not a ton of traffic here. We also have an interstate that I would use to commute between properties. 10-12 minutes on interstate each trip. Several trips a day. The commute to work is about 7 miles and there are roughly 10 traffic lights. My wifes 2017 Grand Cherokee is getting 22 on her 9 mile commute to work. The window sticker for her Grand Cherokee says 19 city. So I guess there is potential here to at least get the advertised mpg if not a little better. Sorry, thats the only way I know to describe my driving....Kevin.

 

No, your right, Its not a lot of money. However it would be nice to use that 600 a year toward my kids college tuition. That
stuff is killing me!