The: "You bought your Tacoma because" Positive Thread.

So...on the forum we see a bit of negativity at times and some disagreement, complaints, etc. but the reality is we all chose to buy Tacoma's for a reason that made sense to us, our lifestyle, our current place in life....and the truck, good, bad, or ugly, was chosen to fill that role for us, and likely has done just that. I thought it might be nice to share our reasons so any prospective new owners might gain value from those thought processes on why we chose Tacoma - I'll Start.

I'm an older guy that has owned many vehicles (lots of Toyotas when younger) but drove full size diesels for 15+ years - but I'm now paddling toward retirement and chose to not have the larger maintenance costs interrupt that plan. I didn't want $1200 injectors, $400 starters, and $2000 fuel system repairs any longer. But, I also keep my trucks a long time and need one to last without great expense once they reach higher mileage.

Traffic has gotten progressively worse, more congested roads than ever, and smaller vehicles simply commute better as daily drivers.

I have a kid in College with $45,000 a year expenses, which makes the cost decision between a $35-40K mid size and $70-80K full size a no brainer.

I still needed a real 4x4 truck that could perform off road, to provide hunting, fly fishing, transportation and tow a small fishing boat.

I still needed a truck that could haul lumber, landscape materials, transport bird dogs, camping gear, and perform in mountainous winter conditions (I live at 7800' elevation and drive winding, dirt roads, daily).

I still needed a truck that gets 15-20 MPG. Not 11-13.

I generally hate vehicles, I owned auto shops for years and I view them all as just another POS I'm eventually going to have to work on. But some are better than others. That said, comparing Tacoma to other current vehicles that met my needs, they ALL have their issues, none would be a standout, and sadly, I don't think we can say there is an excellently crafted, trouble free, high quality, durable, super long lasting, standout truck choice out there any longer, and IMO there hasn't been for several years. So I picked, what I felt, was the least of all evils.

I also picked my particular setup DCLB TRD OR, because it fit my needs and overcame the personal objections that I (just me)had with my last Tacoma, 2nd gen DCSB MT....where I routinely needed slightly more bed capacity, would appreciate better highway manners, and didn't particularly like the manual in certain driving conditions.

Lastly, I doubt even those of us that keep vehicles longer, will argue that eventually we will sell them or trade them on another vehicle and a Tacoma's resale value is a very compelling buying reason.

Are there other vehicles I would have liked more? Probably. Were there other vehicles that checked all of my boxes at this price point, reliability, and resale? Probably not.

I think the Tacoma makes a lot of sense for my current needs.....what made you make the decision to buy yours?

 

bought a 2019 tacoma 2 weeks ago cause i ran my 2016 wrx through 2 foot high water late at night didn't see it until i was in it and had to power thru it almost lost it ,but after that i said screw it and sold all the aftermarket parts and traded up for a taco

 

My 2001 ranger lost 3rd gear

 

My 3 previous Tacoma's were rock solid and I wanted MT.

 

Because I wanted a 4x4 truck with a stick shift... and no one had a stick shift diesel option for under 40k.

 

Only truck that had a manual transmission, 4x4, and could fit a car seat, all while not being too big for the wife to say "Too big" (currently a 1 insured car family.)
Plus, I like going slow now, and this thing is as simple a truck as I could get.

 

Always wanted a Tacoma, had a car that was fast and always getting myself in trouble. Finally said enough tickets is enough, bought 2 big dogs which didn’t like sitting inside a cramped LOUD car. Grabbed my hunting license and didn’t want to put a deer inside my hatch and couldn’t fit a moose without LOTS of cutting(which is doable lol). The Tacoma fits my life perfectly! I love the look, respect the name, and couldn’t imagine myself in any other vehicle. Just had my 8000km maintenance(Donno probably 5000 miles) and still every time I start it I giggle and smile like a little kid on Christmas! This is the best vehicle I have ever owned and have never come close to regretting my choice! I have taken it on some good washout trails and STOCK it have gone where I never would of thought possible. It has more than enough power for what I need. Once again I love this truck and have never come close to a regret. Hope you feel the same!

 

Because I had to turn in my 2015 4Runner for escrow and I was mad bummed.

Then my bro-in-law showed me some Tacomas at his dealership and I really liked the way the they looked, so I picked one up.

 

Because I'm 55 and drive a ton of miles (32K a year) and I haul a lot of shit and pull trailers every now and then and have to go off road for work sometimes.
I wanted something that wouldn't nickel and dime me to death and be reliable and durable. I also just got through spending a quarter million getting my daughter through four years of college. That's why I have a Tacoma. Right now I am just too tough on vehicles to get something nice.

One word of advice: Test drive test drive test drive.

 

Right size. MT Transmission. Resale. Thought Marty McFly's truck looked awesome as a kid

 

Tacoma number 6 here, because let's be honest they are still quality, badass trucks. The 3rd gen section is toxic 99% of the time, not sure what the deal is as the 2nd gen section was never like that.

 

One more thing, and I am being brutally honest and talking about feelings and I absolutely hate feelings:
I feel that I can get in this truck at 2AM with 9" of snow on the ground and more coming down, drive 300 miles to the middle of nowhere Kentucky, drive several miles on a dirt road that was constructed yesterday and be gone tomorrow and meet with my team. Then I drive home. I feel This truck will do that with no special prep and the only thing I have to worry about is my playlist. I feel it will do it at 10 miles on the odometer or 100K miles on the odometer. That "feeling" is important to me. There you go.

 

3rd Gen... No really I'm not intoxicated er did he say Toxic? oh whatever! I went Toyota because the reason is just so simple I just can't recall being Happy with many other makes and how simple the Toy is to work on when required. I have had 14 Toyota's and currently have 2 Tacoma's a first Gen and 3rd Gen never had any issues with any of them except for self inflicted ones.....

 

Exactly word for word what he said !

 

I’m on my second 3rd gen. I had a 16 sport and really regretted not having 4x4 the whole time. I had zero issues on my 16 and drove it 65k miles.

I thought I wanted a wrangler so I took advantage of the killer resale value and sold the Tacoma. I couldn’t bring myself to get an American car, I’ve always driven Japanese cars, so I look to the ridge line since I was raised on Honda. It was a nice truck, but the Tacoma felt more like a real truck. After driving the Honda I wasn’t sold.

Long story short, now I have a 18 trd OR 4x4 with tech and I couldn’t be happier.

 

Well said!! I couldn’t agree more.

 

I drove my 1st generation 1995 Tacoma single cab 2x MT for 22 years. Hell ya I was gonna get another Tacoma—TRD off Road MT Access cab (long bed.) I passed on the 3rd gen and got the last of the 2015 with the 4.0 L engine. Love that truck.

 

3rd gen section...

 

I started a family. Sold my c6 z06 because i couldn’t justify adding another car to our household. I miss my c6z dearly, but have had zero regrets with my choice for a taco. I wanted to get back into activities that involved some off roading. I almost went with a 4runner because it had a bigger backseat, but the tacoma drove better to me, and it was a new gen vehicle. Therefore i wouldn’t be stuck with the previous model/gen anytime soon.

 

At 76 just didn't feel like doing or pay a large chunk of money to rebuild the front end and put leafs under it. 16 years, 180K of trouble free running. It was old I am old. So I sold our Ford Expedition with 170K relatively trouble free miles one and started looking around. Didn't want to spend 40K or so on a new truck to replace my 02 Tacoma DBLC and stumbled upon my 2010 double cab TRD Sport with 27K miles, history of dealer service all recalls and TSB done and a new set of tires, no body damage and smelled new inside, spotless engine and undercarriage so I bought and don't regret it I think TRD Fake Beadlocks did it, gave a neat look. At 76 figured if it last 10 year I probably would be and more than if I was would be driving much. So I got the basically the same vehicle, same color, 150K less miles and 8 years newer. Still have some to work or mod and looks good.