The Cult of the Tacoma

[rockyfatcat]

My daughter is about to leave for college and has an athletic scholarship that she earned on her own. We are planning to replace her old vehicle with something more reliable. She said she wanted a truck, cool, then she said she wanted a Tacoma, I was thinking F-150. That made sense, they have always looked like girl trucks to me. But now I have been shopping for them and have actually test-driven them. What a worthless piece of crap. The bed is short and shallow, has no power, is sort of quick, has no room on the interior, and cannot pull or stop a boat. They seem like a glorified grocery getter to me. And before people try to say they last forever, all trucks last forever now with little maintenance, until you get into diesels.

So, can someone give me a reasonable reason why the people who like Tacomas will fight you for discrediting them, I just do not get it. The biggest question I have is why are they so much daggum money. I can see them having their place, but for half of what people are selling them for.

Google most reliable trucks. Honda and Toyota are top of list. Nissan has transmission issues, and Dodge, Chevy, and Ford are so far down in terms of reliability, they are off the list unless you need 3/4 ton or bigger.

I rented a Tacoma 4x4 for 2 weeks as a test drive. Its a great truck and the gas mileage is way better than the Tundra.

If you don’t need a ‘real truck’ with a frame, and towing capability, the Honda Ridgeline has unibody construction, a Honda car ride, Honda reliability, AWD, and better gas mileage.

BTW I ended up getting a 2wd 4.6 Tundra used for ‘payoff price’ (too good to pass up) it has a fantastic ride , A 26 gallon tank, and gets only 15.8 MPG

 

[blazedawg87]

Ive never understood the taco heads.
Worse gas mileage, lower towing, lower payload, smaller cab, less comfortable, less power, and higher priced parts that you basically have to buy Toyota brand in.
My 21 1500 Sierra gets 17.5 all day long highway and city. Straight highway i can get 19-20. More room, more power/towing/payload. Not to mention they update trucks and keep them modern. Toyota has a BAD problem with letting models go 6-10 years before even doing a refresh, much less a remodel.

 

[KAHRex]

The OLD tocoma lasted forever and had very low maintenance im talking 2005 ish and before, now theyre just insanely overpriced for what you get but thats basically any new truck ...all garbage

I had an '02 and it's probably still running strong somewhere. I traded it on a 2019 Ranger XLT. The Ranger is much more comfortable and the 2.3 4cyl turbo puts the Tacoma V6 to shame. The 4cyl Tacoma is a joke. Gas mileage with the V6 was not good. Best I could get, driving the speed limit, was 18mpg. I've gotten the 2.3 up to 25-28mpg on the interstate. The Tacoma handled a little tighter, but not by much. Hey, I'll be happy if this Ranger lasts 10-15yrs. It'll be my last ride.

 

[yardboss1]

The best thing about Ford trucks is you can always find them at the junk yards if you need parts. Mainly due to how many are sold and partially due to how poor quality they are.

Get her the Taco and have oil changes and service work done at a dealer and she will be driving it trouble free anywhere she needs to go long after she graduates from college.

 

[thorn]

college student on an athletic scholarship with a truck = college student who hurts herself helping "friends" move because she has a truck, thereby putting the scholarship at risk.

Used Honda Civic for undergrad, new Tacoma as a graduation gift.

 

[DirtySouth]

Love me some Toyota. I have 4 of them. My 2020 Tacoma TRD OR four door 4x4 averages 21mpg with a 6 speed manual. I wish I could’ve gotten it with the bigger bed but I wanted a manual so…

If I need to haul a boat, I’ll hook it up to the Land Cruiser and pull it anywhere I need to go.

I don’t swap vehicles out every couple of years so I need them to be dependable and long lasting. I can’t speak on other brands, but our 4Runner that we bought new in 2005 is still driven daily by my wife. When it came time to buy my daughter a vehicle, we wanted something that we could pass to my youngest one after my oldest graduates and then when my youngest is done driving it, I’ll keep it to drive back and forth to work. With that being said, we went with a Toyota (Scion).

I bought my truck with the intention on it lasting me 15 years and then I may look at replacing it with my last vehicle upon retirement. Sure it doesn’t have a big bed, but I can fit what I need from Home Depot in it just fine. The cab is plenty big enough to haul my family of 4 around, if we need more comfort, we have the Cruiser. Granted we aren’t a family of fat a$&es so I don’t need a f350 for runs to the drive thru.

You either like them or you don’t. I like other brands and models myself and if money was no issue, would own one of each. For me, I buy Toyota for the reliability, and that is based on my experiences and not what a Car and Driver magazine says.

 

[blazedawg87]

I would buy her a Rav 4 or similar small SUV. Big enough to haul junk around and very safe.

 

[Moondog1]

1st gen taco's had some of the most bullet proof motors ever made, 5VZ-FE, also low end power which is what you want in a utility truck.
2nd gen taco's 4.0 is also pretty good. Also a great power curve.
3rd gen taco's have actual minivan motors, they have to scream to make power. My 2020 Manual kinda drove me crazy at times. Even after OV tuning it, deleting part of accumulator on the clutch, it still shifted so goofy compared to a real manual with a throttle cable instead of the laggy drive by wire. Kind of crazy after a tune you can shift at 7k RPM though...

My 2018 Silverado gets 4mpg better than my 2020 Taco did, also has 100 more HP and can tow TWICE as much and costs less.... 3rd gen tacos don't make any sense for me, really wish I knew all that before I spent wayyyy too much money on a new one.

 

[Russell0331]

I drive a Tacoma. It's been a great truck. Only downside is that I can't fit a sheet of drywall or plywood in it without having to cant it. I'm 6'4" and the only time it gets cramped is if I have 3 adults with me (which is very rare).

 

[GFB]

I wanted the most reliable vehicle that met my needs as I saw them at the time. That was a gen 2 Tacoma. If your (her) needs are different or if you think a Big Three truck is just as reliable, go for it. None of them would make an ideal vehicle for a college student, I think.