Recent 3rd gen years... Are you happy?

I have always been of the opinion that you should sell a vehicle before value really starts taking a nose dive because of age/miles/etc., but after many years of struggling to find a vehicle I really like, I'd say keep the 06 as long as you're happy with it and it gets you where you need to go! I like my 22', but I'd take my first gen back in a heart beat and rebuild anything it needed.

 

The most money effective method is to keep the same car for as long as possible. If you are worried about depreciation, the largest hit is when it rolls of the lot. So if you keep repeating that every 3-5 years vs doing it once every 15, you are losing a lot more money over that time period repeatedly replacing cars. Now add in what you are paying in sales tax each time and you are even further in the hole.

 

Tell me more about this tune. I've got a '23 on order and trying to prioritize mods before it shows up.

 

if I posted this twice, I apologize…this “Boomer” is more comfortable on a horse than an iPad.
I wanted to give my perspective on the 3 rd Gen:

I recently (last week or so) posted a 200k Mile update on my 2019 Tacoma - if you’d like to read it, you’ll see I am a fan of this Generation. My son has a 1st Gen with around 300k miles and while I like his truck; my truck better fits my needs.

I find the truck a terrific size for the pastures and trails of our (horse ) farm. I find it comfortable on my lengthy commutes to my office, visiting my kids at college and taking my lovely wife of 30 years to dinner. We have owned, and currently have, more powerful vehicles, and vehicles that have more creature comforts. However like MY horse, there may be faster and more expensive horses, but I’m comfortable with what I have.

I’d certainly not hesitate to purchase a new 3 rd Gen Tacoma….if I needed a small/mid size truck I would not look at any other brand. Good luck!

 

Hopefully I didn’t miss someone posting this already, but this thread might be useful for anyone curious about
the reliability of the 3rd Gens, or at least what we know so far:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/who-has-the-highest-mileage-3rd-gen.694646/

 

When you take delivery of your new truck, drive it for a few thousand miles and see if you're satisfied with the stock tune. You have to let the truck learn your driving habits. I assume you have an automatic tranny on order. I was never a fan of the stock tune that launches OK from a dead stop and tries its' best to find 5th and 6th gear by the time you hit 35MPH. I didn't like the fact that at 70MPH it would downshift to 4th or 5th when traversing a very minute overpass on the interstate. When I had the truck tuned, all of that went away. The 3.5 liter engine in these trucks is designed to make HP at higher RPM's. The tune allows the shift parameters to occur at higher RPM's giving it more grunt to work with at less pedal pressure and the truck demonstrates a better torque curve at lower RPM's. That's about the size of it. Read about satisfied customers from OVTune, KDMax Tune in our forum. It will be one of most satisfying mods you do to your truck.

 

Thanks for the response. I 've only heard about OVTune as it relates to regearing but I'll do some more reading.

 

This is another popular tune, and it’s the one that I decided to go with after I drove my truck for a few months. It’s the best money I’ve spent on my truck, hands down.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kdmax-pro-9-0-tune-by-paparee-and-twtaco.713699/page-352

 

Also Utah...also Barcelona Red 22 offroad. Wave when you see me.

 

I've owned Toyotas since 2000 (4Runner/Tacoma). I always buy new. This is my favorite one so far.

2020 TRD OR DCSB V6/Auto 4X4.

 

You don't need a tune unless your truck turns out to be a pooch. Some only do a tune if looking to make this truck something its not.

 

Lot of tunes and tuners out there. OVTune (orange virus) is older. I do t know much about them now, but had it on my 2019.
OTT is my tune now. It's fantastic. Every characteristic of the truck has improved.
Some will have their negative thoughts on tuning. I suspect they have no desire to turn or have had a bad experience. Too many people (thousands or more) all have the same positive response to proper tuning. And on ALL platforms, this is nothing limited to the Tacoma.

 

I was thinking about doing the KD max tune. It’s really not that bad at times it’s struggling to figure out what gear it should be in but the skinny pedal will fix that? Not sure I’m willing to take the chance of fn up the computer.
So much tech it scares me!

 

There is a Toyota network with many tuners all using the same platform spanking the country.
Some will even travel.
Truly, there is nothing to screw up but I get know the feeling. You can always have a trusted, licensed tuner do the install. Takes all the worry out the equation.

 

Yes. I’m at 90k Km in 2 years and have had no issues.

 

I mostly agree, but Tacomas (and trucks in general) are a weird animal. Most newer used trucks are barely off MRSP. I'd much rather buy a brand new truck than a two year old one with 30-40K miles for a few grand less than new. Vehicles carry most of their value when people perceive that they won't have to worry about major expenses.

Someone that trades a 5 year old truck for 30K on a new one that costs 40K OTD isn't taking a huge hit in depreciation or sales tax (you only pay sales tax on the difference in trade in many states). So the cost of ownership would only be 10K in 5 years because it really wouldn't need anything outside of basic maintenance. Compare that to a 40K truck you drove into the dirt for 20 years and now is worth 5-10K and had another 5-10K in maintenance items during that time. Now your 20 year cost of ownership is 40K; just like the person who swapped every 5 years for a new truck. These are all hypotheticals, obviously sometimes one side or other will be better. Case in point, i traded a 4 year old Highlander in on my Tacoma, and I got 3K over what i paid for it new. Weird car market times contributed to that, but still, it basically cost me nothing to make that happen, and i drove that car for 4 years for the cost of gas. Add another 10 years and i'm in a much different position.

 

I've had my taco for a whole week and just over 400 miles. I love driving it and so happy I chose this truck (my first). The seats are more comfortable then I was expecting, I don't really notice the transmission issues everybody talks about and the JBL audio is good enough for me. Here's what I've noticed that bug me a little bit:

1. Bluetooth audio sound quality for music is pretty crappy so I stick with car play. My previous car had pretty good quality via bluetooth
2. Backup camera resolution is pretty bad but its still useable. I'm not watching Netflix on it.
3. At 45 mph I start hearing this high pitched whistling sound that is kind of annoying, read various theories about what it is/if it works itself out over time. Will keep an eye...ear on it.
4. Lack of power folding mirrors...I've had these on last couple cars and got used to the convenience. Now I'm just being nit picky.

 

I picked up my 22 OR on September 13th and I just crossed 8400 miles today. I love it more than when I picked it up. I don’t have any gear hunting issues and the seats feel great to me. It feels and drives like a truck. I just put 255/85/16s on mine and that’s it. I hope I make it to 300k.

 

ahaha Its the camera angle. 33s are super nice. They are enough for me to go over most of the trails I do without having to do a CMC or heavy modifications. I pair these with the SPC UCA to get away from the cmc.

 

I'm new here. I just purchased my first Tacoma. I traded in my 2018 Ram 2500 on it about 3 weeks ago. I know it's not going to have the power or torque of a 6.7L diesel engine, but I definitely feel like there's something lacking with my truck. My wife has a 2022 Highlander with the exact same engine. When I press the gas and try to go in it, it goes. In my Tacoma, I feel like I have to press it to the floor unless I want to take a mile to get around some slow jackass driving in the left-hand lane. That's the main reason I'm here. I'm looking for options to "fix" it and I'm just curious what other people have done. Is the pedal commander good enough, should I re-gear, should I look into tuning? I am planning on putting larger tires and wheels on mine and I definitely don't want it to get worse.