Who’d much rather have a simple, compact, no frills 4x4 pickup?

OP, great question/thread topic

I’m actually 50/50.
I owned 2 door Jeep Wrangler 20 years as daily driver, MT, no power windows, basic gauges, no air conditioning for about 10 of those years (Georgia heat). Kind of miss it
Now have 2021 Tacoma, power everything is seems like to me, actually liking simplicity of Apple car play, safety features saved minor mishaps a couple times so really like having the stuff. Off-road locker, features MTS seem tuned nice and help.
So in the the end I really would like to have both, sound like cop out but I’m 50/50.

 

That thing will be dead in the water a "ghost ship" when something in the electronics fries up. Also if that haul is breached accidentally or purposely and she (can we call it a she?) goes down all those batteries mixed with the salt water... damn, that will kill off my off shore fishing.

 

First Gen has a modern engine, double over head cam, fuel injected. Not like it was carbed with points.

Interior is modern too, mostly plastic with airbags.

It isn’t like something from the old-old days.

 

They need to make these fuel cell. This ship is battery based, but fuel cell/solar would make sense.

 

Still needs a crew. To many variables on the open ocean, then navigating through busy bays or river ports.

 

Not the bed though. Jeez you throw 3 pillows back there and its full.

ha ha

 

Yep!

All generations of the Tacoma are insanely complicated compared to the vehicles pre-smog. That complication has made them more reliable, I remember the days if your vehicle made it to 100K you were considered very fortunate. My dad bought a ‘76 Ford F250 new, it had three engines in it before 70K miles. Rust in the floor boards, cab mounts, went through one bed because of it, after 15 years the frame finally succumbed to corrosion and it was junked. Ford had the market on rust long before Toyota and their frame fiasco. That thing like to eat power steering pumps, though think that is a Ford thing, most all of them whine.

People say they want something easy to work on, but why would want to do that? When today’s vehicles you barely have to touch.

 

you should avoid falling into the "enthusiast mentality trap". You're over-exposed to a small group of people who live and breath trucks, whereas the vast majority of owners simply buy them and drive them, take them to Valvoline for an oil change when the time comes, take it to a mechanic to trouble shoot a squeak, replace stock tire size w/ whatever the guy at Discount tire recommends to replace the stock tire size, etc


i had a '91 spec miata years ago stripped down to the bare essentials (no power steering, no A/C, no power windows, no radio, no heavy sound insulation, etc) and i lasted only a few track events before i got myself a trailer. Also having tracked an audi S4 for years prior to that. And that was only having to drive to PIR which is only 25 minutes away. No way in hell would i do 70-75 on the interstate for hours on end to get to Bremerton, PR, ORP, etc.

Toyota, and all auto manufacturers, add more features because thats what most people want. Even the people who say they dont want them, want them.

 

Ha! It does have a 6’ bed at least. Six footers used to be marketed as weekend play trucks. Which is what mid-sizes are, lifestyle vehicles, not really made for work but for hauling toys. That new Trail Hunter is a prime example of marketing for leisure time, an expensive toy just to go sleep in the dirt.

 

Yep. Want to save the planet? Quit buying shit. Believe we Americans are so used to living a life of excess, we loose sight. Go to any store, take a grocery for an example, just look at the damn near endless choices. I have a friend from Africa who is blown away by how many flavors of tomato sauces we have, asked why don’t we just have “tomato sauce”??? Well…we do, just kinda gets lost in all of “that”.

Just the amount of useless bullshit trinkets people buy, quit making those and it would do wonders. It isn’t really about petroleum emissions alone, it is everything. No one really talks about how much of the ecosystem we lay to waste that our infrastructure is built upon to keep it all going. Heads are too far up in the clouds…

“It isn’t a deer in the middle of the road, it is a road through the middle of the forest.”

 

I don’t want crappy old tech that makes 190 hp and gets 16 mpg. Been there, done that.

I want tech. I want both power and MPGs. I want cameras to see where my truck is. I want radar cruise. I want the better safety features.

 

I'll be going back to an old truck with my next purchase, likely an 89-94 Toyota Pickup. Wife wants a newer (2017ish) hatchback which will be our primary vehicle. Cars are so cheap to run and nice to drive. I can't justify another newer midsize truck, it's overkill for what I do anyway. Old, compact trucks are sweet. Amazing how capable they are stock height with some 31" MTs.

 

Going to agree to disagree. I like the old tech and simplicity. How much HP does one really need actually? That's great if that's what you want and can afford it, go for it. I can afford it but rather not pay inflated prices for shit the government is mandating and shoving it down our throats.

Enjoy it while you can, electric cars are going to be taking over... because of government.

I'll burn 15 mpg, go to the gas station and fill it back up, I don't care. Every gallon I burn is one less gallon China gets and I like the looks I get from the tree huggers anyway.

We have enough untapped gas in this country to go a long way... drill baby drill.

 

The gov’s not ramming shit down your throat, you are free to buy any used car from the past 30 year that you please. Spending more money than you need to on gas is not a flex. The only people benefiting from that are massive oil companies, those same same companies that artificially elevate prices and destroy our environment for profit, nothing patriotic about that. Keep that truck for 300,000 miles and you will have spent more on gas than new vehicle cost. Tired of giving big oil insane amounts of money.

 

Man, this 4th gen forums brings out all the archaic-minded people in TW. Was the 3rd gen forum the same back in 2015?

 

It was exactly the same, so many people were afraid of the 3.5 saying it had too much tech and would be the end of Toyota reliability. Here we are almost a decade later with members like myself getting close to 200k miles while off-roading, towing and beating the snot out of their trucks.

 

I dont know. Seems like the 4th gen divides the people that want a truck and those that want a car that looks like a truck.

Archaic minded, might also be the guys in the forum over a certain age that actually have more experience and know what they are talking about. Who doesnt like nice new shiny stuff. But if its a headache down the road, not worth it.

 

A gallon of milk costs as much as a gallon of gas. Which is harder to produce?

Should we also be mad at "Big Dairy"?

 

Not true at all. Better materials and tolerances have made engines and transmissions more reliable, not complication. As you said rust which proves my point, better materials. Has nothing to do with computers, batteries, cats, etc.
You think having all gizmos on the engine makes the rings and walls last longer now ?

 

Same here. I think there's a market for a smaller truck with good fuel economy. I was interested in a Maverick until I saw one in person.