Why are most people disappointed?

I guess I have a different view on how a vehicle should evolve than most of the individuals that are disappointed with the new tacoma. The new tacoma is coming with a new engine, new auto trans (keeping the 6spd manual), new frame, new interior. I mean to me that's a completely new truck. The exterior of the vehicle remained somewhat unchanged excluding some minor enhancements (some of you may not like them... matter of opinion), but overall they made the changes where they count... engine, trans, frame, etc.

For those of you that were looking for a complete re-design of the exterior please be mindful of some of the most successful vehicles of each company. They stick to their heritage. If changes to the exterior are made they are made slowly and over the course of many years. Vehicles that drastically change their exterior styling often have no heritage and are likely to continue a trend of complete re-designs every few years in order to satisfy the "I want something completely new" crowd. The most successful vehicles of all car companies are the ones that make necessary enhancements, but remain true to their heritage.

Does the new dodge ram look all that different than the previous gen? From 2002 (3rd gen Ram) to the current 2015 4th gen, the overall appearance looks the same with minor enhancements made throughout the years. Much like what is going on between the 2nd gen and third gen tacoma.

The same could be said for the F150's 11th gen which debuted in 2004 to the 12th gen in 2009, to the 13th gen in 2015. I don't see it evolve any differently than the tacoma.


I think the slow and steady evolution of the tacoma is just right. And I believe it will grow on most of us in this community. Just my $0.02.

 

Concur. Waiting to take my offered allocation and spec it out just right. Can't wait.

 

To me it looks close to other competition, also when I think of a tacoma I think of a off road capable vehicle seems like they are going away from that. With that being said I think the new design will grow on alot of people especially when they see it with their own eyes in person.

 

I agree.

Even being a design from 2005, it's still a good looking truck even in comparison to the brand new ones from other makes. Why mess with it too much? It was the interior that was really outdated.

IMO, the Colorado looks horrible, but the Canyon looks good and the Frontier doesn't look bad for a 10-year-old design either.

 

To each their own. I'm assuming you don't like the 2nd gen then? I mean other than the grille and the lower valence it looks much like the 2nd gen. Like I said minor styling changes, but keeping the overall look/heritage the same.

Oh and the frame was enhanced with high strength steel. At least that is what I read/heard. So I guess you could say it's not an all new frame or rather we don't know if it is or isn't, but we do know it has been enhanced.

 

Agreed! We needed improvement in the interior (more creature comforts) and the power-train for those that wanted better mpg's/efficiency. The exterior was never the problem to me and I was hoping they didn't make any drastic changes anyway.

I don't like the way the colorado looks either. And I'd have to agree that the frontier isn't a bad looking truck for being ten years old either.

 

Metallurgy. By doing a heat-treated stamping, they're able to make the frame denser while also aligning the molecules to make the stronger. Result is less weight but equal (or greater) strength. It also loses britleness, which adds flexibility. Depending on the alloy, it reduces corrosiveness. They also don't have to make dramatic changes to the shape - they're simply creating that shape in a more effective manner.

They mentioned the methods they're using briefly in the presentation - I'd love to see more on how their annealing//quenching/tempering processes function. Unfortunately , they can legally hide it from the world as a trade secret, rather than patenting it. No special episode of "How It's Made" for the Tacoma.

My grandfather was a GM metallurgical engineer, and used to take apart my toy dart guns. He'd then bake the springs in an autoclave he had in the garage. When he put the dart gun back together, it would shoot those cheapo darts a good 60 feet.

Metallurgy is cool.

 

I don't like the 2016 because it is too much of an evolution and not the revolution I expected after a 10 year wait. It is Toyota catching up to some things that should have been on the truck back in '05. And the rest of it should have been on the truck for the first or second refresh of the second generation. This truck should have been released '09 or '12 and not '16.

 

8 tracks are coming back, I tell ya!!

 

I was going to say that it seems like most people like it. But I guess the poll further down in this section is about 50-50 if you add up the no, meh, and hell no.

Time will tell if people keep buying it or not.

 

What would have made the truck a revolution?

 

X2!

 

Not being an evolution? Haha. A from the ground up re-design, no re-used or fine-tuned parts from previous gen, some revolutionary ideas and engineering.

The truck, to me, feels like the Samsung Galaxy S5 for anyone that follows smartphones. Solid phone similar to previous iteration with some enhancements. But at the end of the day the masses were unimpressed, didn't sell great and the lead engineer got canned for it. Now they're scrambling to get the next great thing out there.

In the end what matters is how it sells. It may sell well. It may not. Besides the GM twins there aren't a lot of viable options in the category yet. But this one is just not for me.

 

Exactly! Also, everyone wanted change but they don't know what they actually want changed. It seems everyone loves the looks of the 2nd gen(including me) but the fact that some parts look similar is a negative. To me it is different enough that you can immediately look at it and tell it is a new gen truck but similar enough that it is still the Tacoma that I already love.

What they should have done is took the 1st gen, scale the size up a little to the 2nd gen, and put the new interior in it from the 3rd gen. Then offer a Hilux diesel or a small v8 as options in all models, maybe add a scooped hood as an option too. That is something I would buy, but unfortunately we only have the choice to buy what Toyota releases or go elsewhere. I will take less favorable looks to get Toyota reliability any day, and because my 10 year old truck still is worth 16-18k.

 

I'm not disappointed at all. They weren't going to change the looks that dramatically, being that the 2nd generation Taco sold so well and has a rabid fanbase. I think people will get used to the looks, and it'll become the new normal. All the rest of the changes appear to be consistent with where the market is as a whole.

Personally I'm glad that we have at least 2 (3, if you consider the GM twins to be two different trucks) good mid-size trucks to choose from in 2016. Hopefully Nissan and maybe even Ram and Ford see what's going on and decide to get back into the fight as well.

 

He mentions corrosiveness... but it seems you read only what you want to read

 

X3..Unreasonable expectations!

 

I think it looks funny. Has an awkward under bite. I would take my 2nd gen over it any day.
Posted this yesterday in TW live. It reminds me of a dog we watched once.

 

( /3)-1

Bwahaha

 

was expecting revolution and not evolution. just didn't live up to the hype.

the only thing the 3rd gen has done for me is give me the urge to mod my 2nd gen some more cause I know ill be keeping it for way longer now.