Why did you choose a Tacoma?

Of all the trucks out there why did you choose a second generation Tacoma?

For me i knew exactly what i wanted, a combination of nostalgia and reliability.

My dad had a 1st gen single cab 4x4 4cy when i was young and a 2nd gen v6 a few years ago.
I wanted my own to carry on that nostalgia, i had a lot of good and bad memories in his trucks.

I've also heard a lot of good things about them in terms of quality. One was a comment in Peterson's 4wheel & off road ..."we'd wheel up in the mountains and thered be groups of toyota guys beating the dog shit out of their trucks and not breaking anything..."
That and just hearing the roumers over the years of toyota having "legendary reliability".


I knew i wanted the king cab modle, not a 4 door - maximum cab carrying space and still keeping the wheel base the same and bed the same size.

I also knew i wanted a balance of power and fuel economy the the v6 was the logical choice, and being mines an 06, thats still the 4.0L engine. The 3rd gen tacomas have the 3.5L....

So i chose the tacoma for very specific reasons - plus i eat a lot of rice so i had to choose a Japanese truck right???

 

The 2014 Tacoma regular cab was the smallest, cheapest 4WD available.

When I went to the dealer, they had a new 2013 regular cab manual, and a new 2014 regular cab automatic. I wanted an automatic. As it turned out, buying the 2014 allowed me to upgrade the radio, first to an HD unit, then later to the 2015 HD and Navigation unit. The 2013 used a different radio setup.

 

So it was ment to be!
No regrets?

 

A Tacoma is my dream vehicle.

Most people dream of a Mercedes or expensive luxury car as their dream vehicle, but mine was always a Tacoma. I just loved how they looked and how practical they are in every sense. After 9 years of ownership I still feel the same way and catch myself staring at my truck admiring. Not many people can say that about their vehicles after 9 years

 

As you can see, I have a 3rd gen, but I always thought they were the coolest looking trucks and they hold their value like a Wrangler does. I know a guy who had over 700 K miles on his 07 and never pulled the head, only stopped because he totaled it. He now has another 07 he bought with 270K. I wonder if these 3rd gens will be as good? I have my complaints but there is something about this truck that I love.

 

I chose a 2nd gen because the 1st gen are no longer made. Would take a 1st over a 2nd any day of the week.

True story.

 

It came down between a Ridgeline and a Tacoma, the Ridgeline was to damn ugly...

 

I bought the Tacoma because it has 4 doors, for what was the wife and 2 kids. I also needed a long bed. Factory towing was nice having a boat, and 4wd is very nice in the winter.
If the Ford explorer sport track had a 6' bed, I'd probably be driving that. I'm glad it didn't.

 

Because I want a truck that will out live me. The vehicles I buy for me to keep, I keep them till the wheels fall off. Love my taco. It’s my 3rd one. I had 2 first gens before. There are more powerful trucks out there but this one is mine!

 

My first Taco was a 95-1/2 extended cab 5 lug. I loved that truck so much, but we had a kid on the way. So, I had to get rid of it after 11 years. It broke my heart to see it go.

When it was time to replace the Taco replacement, it was a no brainer. Right back into another Taco, my 2015 TRD Off Road DCSB.

 

I bought my truck because it's all there was out there to replace my 1991 mini truck that had worn out. Jumping to a Chevy Colorado wasn't an option and I could still get a stick shift.

Not sure I'd do it over again. It's been 4 years since I sold that 1991 and bought this truck and I still regret it. It's starting to be obvious that it's not made as well as the old truck.

 

Not much of anything ever is....

 

Been a Chevy guy since Rover was a pup (still am). Had a '91 Corolla as a beater work car a long time ago, sold it w/220+ on the clock to a buddy who ran it a few more years. OK, Toyota makes a pretty durable product I figured. Move ahead many years. I was looking for a reg cab, shortbed, 4X4 used Chevy or GMC. A pretty useless combination to most, but fuck-it, that's what I like. Needed to replace my reg cab '99 2wd S10 that was getting pretty long in the tooth, but still ran fine. Always liked the look of the Tacoma's, second gens especially. Ran across this one by chance and after a brief thought, pulled the trigger. Couldn't be happier, so far. Really like the access cab's room for my 'stuff'. The stick & 4 popper won't set no records out of the gate, but once it's rollin' it does just fine. I got a go-fast car in the garage if I feel the urge to rip...
Learned a bunch here, cool place.

 

I got my 2007 4wd 4cyl reg cab Tacoma by pure luck. My old truck had failed state inspection, and would have taken a ridiculous amount of cash to maybe nurse it along for another couple of years. So I needed a new truck. The problem was that I needed it right away - I was going on a trip in a couple of days.

The place where I get my truck worked on is also a small Chevy dealer, with a used car lot as well. I said "what do you have in a small pickup, 4wd, manual transmission". And all they had was a 2007 Tacoma. Looked very clean, only 56,000 mi (this was in 2014). At first I was shy - I'd always bought American trucks (unless you count VW beetles in the 70's) - but after a test drive I was sold. I paid cash for it then and there.

A few years later, I heard about the frame recall business, and last summer, got a new frame. I'm old enough now to where this could very well be my last truck... which would suit me fine - I have really become quite fond of my little rig, and I hope to keep her rollin' for many years to come.

 

When my daughter's 2005 RAV4 turned over 200,000 miles I realized that there was something to the rumor of Toyota reliability. Also, the turning radius is one capable of parking in a structure without fourteen tries to stay in the lines. But the real winner for me is that great sound system (sarc).

 

Reliability & resale value...………

 

I was in the market for a new vehicle in late 2008. I had a great job at the time and my wife and I were pre kid so we had the income to support it. I had always wanted a truck, and had never owned a brand new vehicle before. My cars were always used pos's or old volkswagens. Until the tacoma, about 25 years of driving, I had never had working a.c. or a vehicle where everything worked!

I looked at big trucks but didn't really need a full size to haul parts and tow light weight VW beetles and personal landscaping and project stuff. I'd rather have the better gas mileage of a smaller truck and something that didn't feel like I was driving a land yacht.

My wife's family is a Toyota family. She had just bought a highlander the year before, so I had their experiences of reliability to lend weight to Toyota.

I looked into comparable mid sized and light trucks. Consumer reports at the time gave its highest overall marks to the Tacoma and the frontier. I liked the looks of the tacoma much better, as well as the interior design and things like the composite bed and some of the gimmicky features like the bed outlet and cubby holes. The frontier I test drove felt cheap and anemic with the hammer down and the interior layout did not please me. The only thing I liked is I think that was the one that had those bed cleats on the outside of the bed sides, those were pretty cool.

Anyway the wife suggested we should have at least one 4wd in the fleet, and I wanted the tow package and the larger bed, and a back seat because we were planning for a kid. Thus, I ended up with a '09 double cab long bed trd sport 4×4 with tow package.

I wanted the green, but after going to a few dealerships in the area and playing them against each other for price I got the best deal on a black sand pearl truck and ended up with that. It's my only regret on the purchase that I didn't stick to the color I really wanted. Black shows everything, but I admit it's been easy to buy accessories because everything goes with black!

I love the truck. I intend to keep it until there is something I can't possibly fix. After 30 years or so of DIY wrenching, that's going to be something pretty significant. I'm more than willing to swap an engine or trans or any of the running gear if needed. I just got a new frame from Toyota and I'll be treating it with boiled linseed oil in the next few weeks so hopefully the new frame will hold up.

I hope to be with this truck for a loooooong time!

 

Right place, right time for me I guess. I'm not really brand loyal, I've got a Camry, GTI, and just a little while ago a Chevy, so an odd collection. I needed something with more room, power, and 4wd and my current Tacoma popped up on a search, but a little bit more than I was willing to spend initially. After looking at all the lower priced rotted junk it was a no-brainer. Now said that I'm happy with my decision over the other brands of trucks I looked at. Now my garage doesn't look as odd with 2 Toyota's and a VW, lol. We've had several Toyota's over the years and it's interesting to see how similar the layout is across the board.

 

This ^^ ...and after test driving both 2nd & 3rd gens, narrowed it down to 12-15 model year because IMO they look the best.