new to Tacomas, need some advice

Get white!!!!!

 

I have a 2 year old and the child seat fits fine in the center position. That said, as others have stated, I highly recommend taking the actual seat to the dealer and do a test fit. Seats vary in shape and you will never surely know until you try it.

Are you looking at a short bed or long bed? I came from an Xterra, and now have a DC short bed. they only transitions that I took time to adjust were 1) the relatively long nose and 2) the longer wheel base. Both factor in parking at the grocery store and parallel parking. I'd have your wife test drive one and see how she feels.

The Tacoma is awesome. Good luck.

 

It does look great all shined up (looks pretty cool with a coating of dust on it to after hitting the logging roads). And I love just looking at my truck but if you can avoid getting swirls after a car wash I'll pay you money to wash my truck.

 

I have 18 month old, front facing and it's pretty good. I can even put the car seat behind me and still not have to move up but a click or two. I'm not very tall, however, at 5'10". Rear-facing, it would be a much tighter fit, probably uncomfortably so to me. My wife's 4Runner is much more roomy in that regard, and has much more cargo space for family trips and all the bulky junk you always bring with a toddler.

If I was buying a 15 year vehicle I'd certainly not rule a 4Runner out, unless you're dead set on a truck bed. However, a $1200 trailer is cheap and no one cares if you scratch that up loading crap into it all the time. I have had trucks for 10 years, and it would be a hard habit to give up, but damn my wife's 4Runner is nice....

 

get it. best vehicle/price that you can get right now. the sport is awesome because the 7 inch screen that you can use when backing up with the camera. If there's no issues with the truck, you won't regret it. Even if it has some issues, you can trade it in and they'll give you a hell of a good deal for it. They are offering 3k less than what I paid for on mine and I have 21k miles on it already.

 

Thanks for the feedback. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like a promising deal. I have an appointment tomorrow to finalize (if it doesn't sell between now and then).

It is still 31K out the door, and it's a short bed which I think is more in line with my needs. I don't see myself doing THAT much hauling, so a short bed should suffice. I've always bought used cars, but it just doesn't seem to make since to buy, say, an older 2014 with worse fuel efficiency, especially when used Tacomas are almost as expensive as new ones!

And my son is forward-facing now, but I'll take the car seat just in case. Unless the dealer springs any traps on me tomorrow, I'll go ahead and get it.

 

Back seats are a bit cramped for kids over 2 ....long term I think you're better in a larger interior. Go full size. Price point, bang for buck and long term scalability will be more suitable for you than a tacoma

 

Back seat is tight with carseats in my opinion. My oldest son is six and dislikes riding in the truck. Our Rav4 is much roomier. Guess it depends on what you are coming from...

 

The opinion of children don't count.

 

Amen. I never was permitted complaints riding in the backseat of that '73 Dodge Dart across country.

Uh uh. Nope. No one asks 6 year-olds how much they're enjoying THAT ride.

 

Exactly! And for those that did have opinions, well, they had methods to resolve that.

 

I'm going against popular opinion and am going to say hold up.

What does your wife drive? What will be the primary vehicle?

I've got a couple of tiny boys and...man, they did not dig riding in the back seats. Especially with backpacks. I know you're a ways from that, but something to consider. To be honest, I didn't dig it much, either, because they would kick the damn seat which annoyed the hell out of me.

 

Very surprised at the lack of (must have 4x4, 4x4 or nothing or the 4x4 = resale value except it becomes a loss with everything else) requests. This might be the first person on tacoma world that people haven't talked in to a TRD OR 4x4 loaded for their street driving south of the mason dixon line needs.

Good luck OP, car seats may be snug (if you have two of them I doubt anyone is riding with you two) but will work for a while. If they grow up big though it might be tight, but the truck is for you and the family.

The GM twins I think have a few more inches of rear leg room if that is an issue. Otherwise good choice.

Tyler

 

Back seat is a little tight with a car seat. Especially for a kid with longer legs. I'd get the 4Runner until they're in a booster seat. The suv is better suited to hauling around baby gear.

I drove a Nissan Pathfinder, before they pussified it, until my kid was big enough for a booster seat.

 

Just came across this, will be sending to all my buds who are looking at or drive trucks. Rates all the full size and mid size players based on each seat type.

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2016/08/how-well-do-trucks-handle-car-seats.html

What Tampa said. I had tons more room for my 6'5 frame in the back of a Rav4 than any midsize truck we have had or I have been in. I was comfortable riding all day back there, truck not so much.

Tyler

 

I'm 6'3", weigh 180 and just hopped in the back of mine. Plenty of room back there. My kids are 6yrs and 4yrs and both love riding in my truck.

OP - Whatever you get, get 4x4, bro. Just think about when your kids are old enough to go play in the snow, beach, and mud.

 

Yea, but when you need it, you REALLY need it. But I live where it snows. If I was in Houston or Florida, maybe not so much.

It really is not that much more expensive for 4x4 and very nice to have.

 

I just bought it. My first Toyota, my first Tacoma, my first truck, and my first new car.

White, Tacoma 2x4 double cab trd sport. 31.5K

So far I'm convinced I made the right decision.