Have you priced out a new Toyota Tacoma lately? How about a used one? In both cases, it’s simply astounding what prices they fetch. One would think that perhaps this leaves a door open for the competition. However, while there is more competition than there used to be, the Tacoma’s sales numbers have done the seemingly impossible. Over the last ten years they’ve gone up virtually every single year and likely only due to Covid will this year be slightly lower; even in the midst of the pandemic though there were months where year-over-year sales improved on last year, the Tacoma has been knocking on the door of a quarter million sales per year for the last couple now.
Well, obviously this must be a cutting edge truck then that works for all kinds of people, one might conclude. No, that’s not the case either really. In fact it has some odd limitations that if they were corrected might propel it to even greater heights. Its competition needs to hope that Toyota doesn’t decide to up the ante, as currently they seem to be giving others lots of opportunity, but to little avail.
I was very pleasantly surprised when this truck showed up as it was 1) brand new, with nobody else having driven it, 2) equipped with a stick shift (!), and 3) supplied with a very traditional metal bladed key topped with a plastic fob that only had three buttons on it – lock, unlock, and an alarm.
And no, this is not the stripper version of Tacoma, far from it, this is in fact the (as usual with testers) top of the line with some significant differences to the rest of the versions but similar enough in major aspects to be able to draw relevant conclusions from.
Of course being the TRD Pro version means it’s Toyota’s top dog as far as factory equipped off-road ability goes. We’ve recently seen its stable mates the Sequoia and Tundra here equipped in this guise and the formula is similar. Distinctive looks, some hardware upgrades, somewhat limited availability to cast a halo on the rest of the line-up that can be optioned with similar sounding but different (lesser) hardware, and minimal extra options.
Also, there’s often an exclusive paint color option and of course a higher price tag that unless one can make actual use of the upgrades doesn’t make a lot of financial sense beyond the fact that if someone wants to and is able to pay for something that makes them happy, then let them. It’s their money. Although in all fairness it’s likely not too difficult to get a lower trim level Tacoma and add a few bits to match what’s on offer here mechanically if not visually for perhaps less outlay, especially if this is just a starting point and not the end goal.
If Marty McFly decided to pick 2021 as his year to visit in the future, this may well be the Toyota pickup that he would choose this time around. Sadly the TRD Pro package doesn’t include any KC Hi-Lites or roll bar, but as with the others there are a set of LED fog lights provided by Rigid Industries who in this case is even allowed to display their name on their surrounds.
The grille is blockier with the TOYOTA script across it and a scoop on the hood, the wheels are black 16″ alloy wheels, and the suspension again contains TRD-tuned FOX-brand 2.5″ internal bypass shocks all around with remote reservoirs for the rear units.
There’s a beefy skid plate under the front, a special TRD exhaust with black tip, and inside embroidered leather seats with a special shift knob and floor mats. What there isn’t though is any kind of special tire, the 265/70-16 Goodyear Wranglers feature a decidedly ordinary tread pattern that pays dividends on the street with decent adhesion and low noise but likely aren’t the best choice for the trail or beyond. However, Toyota likely realizes that any serious owners will replace the tires with their own favored item as soon as they purchase the truck, so why spend more than necessary.
The color, which I shan’t fawn over but do find attractive is Lunar Rock, just like on the Toyota Tundra we reviewed recently, a sort of pale gray that takes on different hues depending on the light and is an exclusive TRD Pro color this year. Other choices include white, a charcoal gray, and black. The nature you will presumably be visiting with this truck will provide the sightings of other, non-grayscale colors, so consider the paint selections a motivator to get out there.
One of the biggest foibles of the Tacoma has long been the seat position. In this case it’s dictated by the height of the floor and the relative lowness of the roof. While I realize that my own height (6’1″ with a 32″ inseam) perhaps puts me in the taller segment of buyers in markets the Tacoma is sold in, I am hardly freakishly tall nor weirdly proportioned.
And the Tacoma is not even a world-wide model, that’s the Hilux, which while similarly sized in general, is a different truck. It’ll forever baffle me that the Tacoma doesn’t really take the target market buyers’ height into account. However, this truck seems to fit those under perhaps 5’9″ best especially when equipped with a sunroof as this one is as standard.
Getting in for taller folk involves first thrusting a leg into the cabin, then positioning one’s posterior on the edge of the seat, pulling the second leg in while sliding the first leg under the steering column without whacking it with a knee although it is now adjustable (tilt as well as telescope) and scooching one’s posterior across the seat, then bending the neck and pulling the head under the top of the door opening.
Once actually in, the best position turns out to be one slightly slouched to the right to avoid the sunroof frame, but the legs end up being fairly horizontal without much of a bend at the knee. Legroom isn’t overly abundant either, with a clutch in play as here it’s possible to just stretch the left leg around the pedal but it’s a considered maneuver, not a default.
Of course if one is closer to the size of a jockey, then never mind all of the foregoing and Bob’s your uncle. If nothing else, once inside, everything does fall readily to hand and is easily understood and adjusted. The seats, covered in a thick textured black leather with red stitching, are electrically adjustable, heated via dashboard buttons and the driver’s side features an adjustable two-position lumbar support. The steering wheel, while not heated, is well shaped with textured grip areas, and doesn’t block the clear, no-nonsense gauges.
There’s traditionally been a lot of guff about how plasticky some of the competition’s interiors are, specifically the other Japanese branded entry in this segment, and while the Tacoma’s interior is certainly more modern from a design perspective it is exactly as covered in hard plastics as that one. There is nothing soft whatsoever on the dash, beyond the seats the door panels each have one soft padded area as does the console lid. But you know what, as in that other truck, who really cares. What is there works, looks fine, is easy to clean, and if necessary, likely cheap to replace.
I dig the way the round air vents look and operate (slap them closed, twist the slats to move the airflow), the automatic HVAC is simple to understand with a minimal and logical display, there are a few buttons mainly for lighting and turning on or off the various safety systems.
Some others control bed lighting and the power port back there along with one labeled “Clutch Start Cancel” that allows you to start the truck in gear without using the clutch which can come in very handy in some off-road conditions, such as on a muddy hillside for example.
The touchscreen in the middle of the dash is similar to other current Toyota ones and to me is now more or less second nature. Anyone new to this truck or the system would get used to it quite quickly. As opposed to the very similar one in the Tundra it features a sort of matte coating on it and I had no issues with my sunglasses making it appear weird this time.
Image quality is acceptable but with plenty of room for improvement, especially as regards the camera resolution both backwards and forwards. Navigation response was good, and the music programming and selections don’t require any perusal of the manual either. There’s also voice command capability that seems to be improving with every generation of Toyota I drive, it’s very competitive at this point once you get used to how it likes to be spoken to.
Under the main dashboard lies a wireless charging pad at the front, as well as a few charging and connection ports, with the large manual shift lever behind it, and then the conventional handbrake alongside two cup holders. A large storage bin with soft padded lid rounds out this portion of the cabin.
While Toyota uses the DoubleCab nomenclature to describe the full crew cab version of the Tacoma, on the recent Tundra that moniker was for the middle option, with CrewMax describing the even larger one on that one. In this instance, the rear of the largest Tacoma cab is quite a bit smaller than that of the middle Tundra cab.
With the front seat properly adjusted for myself, I was mercilessly squished in the back seat here and wouldn’t want to ride in it. However my 11-year-old was just fine all the way to the south of Denver and back, although he did try to argue his 17-year-old sister into giving up the front passenger seat on the way back. She quickly and firmly made it very clear that wasn’t going to happen and he acquiesced without much bother so it worked out.
The seat bottoms do fold up (forward into the footwell) and the seat backs then can fold down once the headrests are removed and there are storage cubbies underneath. This also opens up some storage at the back of the cab behind the seatbacks and creates a flat load (elevated) floor. Overall there is more room for “stuff” back here than it appears at first glance.
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First thought: $2700 for an automatic transmission? Holy Moley!
I have not paid close attention to this segment, do any of the competitors offer a manual? I presume Jeep does since the Wrangler has one, but don’t know about the others. That alone would be a reason for me to chose the Toyota.
One would probably fit me better than it did you, and I will join you in the boggled mind caused by an American-market truck not designed for what has to be the top 40 percentile of the male population.
The only trucks offering a manual are Toyota and Jeep, all the other manufacturers have stopped offering it.
Toyota, itself, has chopped away at the models that are available with a manual, or at least which parts of the country they will make it available. Here in the Southeast you (apparently) can NOT get a manual unless you buy this top of the range model.
Of the Tacoma’s attributes, consistency is one of its bigger ones. Ford quit making the Ranger for several years before resuming. GM did similar with the Colorado. Nissan is Nissan. The Tacoma has a long-lived name with consistent availability since forever. That says a lot.
But having to swing your head 20 degrees? No thank you. I’ve read this will be addressed for the next generation (although it never should have happened for this generation) so there’s that.
A year or so ago I considered a compact pickup for about three days. The dilemma was which appealed to me most. While none really did, a little sleuthing revealed if one could find a stripper Tacoma (not an easy proposition, but possible) the price wasn’t horrific and was (going from memory) comparable to the Ranger.
The availability of a manual transmission would have certainly nudged me toward a Tacoma.
Manual isn’t available in the stripper “SR” and “SR5” models. Manual is only available in certain TRD Sport, TRD Off-Road and TRD Pro models.
I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about Tacomas; there must be, considering they’re so popular. I’m pretty much a dyed-in-the-wool, Michigan-born, Big Three guy, but every time I see one of these on the road (not all THAT often where I live), I find myself thinking how cool it is. I even love their current colors that look matte but are really gloss – desert tan and dusky blue, even that medium gray.
The fact that they still offer a manual makes it even better.
Toyoda lost me as a viable customer, for life, in 1986 when they chose to stop selling the solid front axle pickup here in the US, yet continued to offer it in other markets.Should have at least left it a no or low cost option. They would have sold buckets of them. So, no, I haven’t priced one. And they are so ugly, frankly I can’t even stand to look at them.
Very interesting review, and one that I can add some of my own experiences to, since (as I mentioned in a comment last week) my wife and I are considering buying a Toyota truck. Just this weekend, we took that consideration a step further, and test drove both a Tacoma and a Tundra. The Tacoma was very similar to your test vehicle; it was a TRD Off Road (not a Pro) with the manual transmission. Our test drive vehicle is pictured below.
We both loved it. In fact, something about this truck’s combination of qualities (being a truck, and with a manual transmission) made me feel about 15 years younger. It was simply fun to drive, not really in any quantifiable way, but just in the essence of what it was. If we were to buy a Tacoma, it would likely be my daily driver as well as our occasional fun vehicle, and I left the test drive thinking that it would serve both roles very well.
Unlike you, neither of us had any problem fitting into to it, though we’re both shorter than you are. In fact, it fit us both very well, and was quite comfortable. The rear seat was a bit smaller than I’d like, but was big enough for our 11 and 13-year-old kids… though long road trips with four people in a Tacoma would be a bit of a squeeze. The 5’ bed would probably be OK with me.
Like you said, the transmission was outstandingly fun, even with its slightly rubbery feel and long throws. Really fun. As in, I found it be the truck’s best quality (the thought of an automatic Tacoma isn’t quite so alluring). In last week’s comments, Paul had alluded to odd gearing, which I also found to be the case… it seemed that 5th and 6th gears were almost indistinguishable from each other. 5th gear seemed somewhat superfluous to me, and I felt that the transmission could work well as a 5-speed simply by eliminating the existing 5th gear. But really, that’s a minor nit and wouldn’t dissuade me from buying one.
Will we buy one? The answer there has more to do with our own inherent frugality than any quality of the truck. If I had to buy a new daily-driver vehicle right now, this Tacoma would be at the top of my list. Oh, and then there’s the Tundra… like I mentioned, we drove one of those too and absolutely loved it, though we’d use that more for long trips and towing than for a daily driver. We’ve got Toyotas on the brain quite a bit right now.
The cargo length in my Golf SportWagen is 180 cm, just enough for my to sleep comfortably in the back. There’s even ample room for my two dogs.
A five foot bed?
In other word, a pickup truck that cannot haul a motorcycle (and I’m talking Triumph Bonneville or 600cc sport bike, not Harley Electra Glide). It’d have a hard time handling a 125cc motocrosser.
In other words, absolutely freaking useless.
Why would you expect an off-road focused edition to hurt its off-road capability with excess length so it can haul a motorcycle?
Other trims of the Tacoma have an available 6-foot bed.
I see these as replacements for the BOF SUVs of the 90s, of which the 4R is the only survivor. 4-doors, high clearance, 4×4, and a cargo area that, even at 5-ft, is still very useful compared to a sedan. I see the short beds all over the place, so this format must be working for a couple hundred thousand people a year.
I’ve had the TRD OffRoad version of this truck, a 2016 which is the first year if this generation. Other than having the automatic and lacking the extra Pro features (really just suspension) and the few updates that were added in subsequent years, such as power seats and power rear sliding window, and Toyota Safety Sense, mine is identical. The 5’ bed is occasionally frustrating but pretty versatile compared to a wagon or SUV. I’ve hauled many a load of mulch and gravel – one yard buckets and a skilled loader operator insure that nothing gets dropped onto the fenders or tailgate. Open the slider, and in some cases the slider and the sunroof, and long pipe or lumber or flashing fits quite easily. Yeah, a long ladder has to hang out the back, but that’s what flags are for. And every time I’m in a crowded parking lot or parallel parking downtown, I appreciate the 12” savings over the long bed (6’) version. And though I’ve never hauled a motorcycle in mine, I’ve hauled plenty of bikes in my previous Ranger and Datsun with 6’ beds and you still needed to put the tailgates down. I’ve seen many short bed Taco’s hauling dirt bikes and sport bikes.
As for the review, spot on and in fact perhaps more favorable than I expected. I’ve never driven this gen of Tacoma with the manual, and I often wish I had found one. But after almost 5 years and 80K miles, I’m used to the foibles and it’s been 100% reliable. Mine has seen many hundreds of miles of desert washboard as well as lots of urban stop-go. It’s been washed about 4 or 5 times and still looks good. Thanks Jim.
Guess what? Not everyone hauls a motorcycle.
My son and his GF bought this exact same truck (with manual) and they are out almost every weekend. In the winter it’s skiing and touring. They have a hard bed cover, and they can keep all the wet gear back there, as well as whatever else the need. And in the summer it’s camping and overlanding. And again, the covered bed is essentially a big long trunk.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, most trucks these days are not used primarily to haul large items, although even with a 5′ bed, they still can when needed. They are sport utility vehicles. Far from “freaking useless”. Can you get used to that idea? It’s about time.
The number of times I see a pickup carrying a motorcycle is almost zero, and for all practical purposes rounds down to zero.
A Tacoma is much more likely to be seen with bicycles in the back with one of those glorified moving blankets on the tail gate so the bicycle can straddle the tailgate.
I should add that my Scout II Cab Top has a 5′ bed and it has carried a lot of things, gravel/dirt, engine hoist and engine, retaining wall block, lawn mowers, recycling ect. Definitely not a do all truck but the small footprint means I can take the load places a longer truck couldn’t.
The cargo length in my Golf SportWagen is 180 cm, just enough for my to sleep comfortably in the back. There’s even ample room for my two dogs.
I think it is pretty funny that people often claim they want an old school mini-pickup when the Tacoma invites criticism by not having as much interior room as a Suburban or a bed that can carry 4x8s with the tailgate shut. I suspect the current generation of Toyota trucks will be the last real light trucks sold, and that’s too bad. The reason the Tacoma keeps its value is because it is a truck built to still be serving its first, second, third or fifth owner when the left most digit of the odometer is a three or a four. Hard interior surfaces hold up better than vinyl sprayed onto foam and cardboard. Engines with redundant port injection hold up better than ones with turbochargers. Simple transmissions have better long term prospects than ones rushed into production to chase CAFE numbers.
Of all the people I know who bought new Tacomas over the last dozen years, only one of those Tacomas isn’t still in its first owners’ hands. One of my friends bought a Pre-Runner V6, extended cab 2×4 to use as a second car in 2008. A year later he replaced it with a TRD Off-Road 4×4, which he still has as his primary vehicle. I do know someone who bought a Tundra that they didn’t keep for more than four years, but it was also a case of buying a base truck and then realizing that they wanted a truck equipped like their luxury cars.
Fun review, and a lot to talk about with this truck despite how long this heavy refresh has been on the market.
Transmission engine:
Very pleased to see a review of the manual transmission. From what I can tell, the poor performance of the 3.5 in the Taco is the mismatch between its narrower powerband and the automatic transmission’s ratios and responses. It has a reputation for being sluggish to downshift, aggressive to upshift, and instrumented tests show a very long first gear that kills off-the-line response. The 3.5 is powerful at the top end but needs a transmission that allows this. The prior Tacoma with the 4.0 could crack off a 7-second run to 60 in instrumented tests, with the old 5-spd automatic. This new Tacoma is doing that in closer to 8 seconds. The manual brings that back down closer to 7. In either case, 18mpg out of this with the advanced D4-S system doesn’t strike me as remotely impressive—the balance between power and efficiency is poor, likely in favor of long term durability.
Seating position and rear
I’d always wanted a Tacoma. They came out when I was a teenager and they were cool. When shopping the 4-door offroader class, I was excited to check this truck out…and it drove me straight to the 4Runner without a test drive precisely because of the driving position and small backseat (kids were still in bulky car seats). The power seat is a recent addition, and helpful, but you’re still driving a roadster 3 feet in the air. My little Fiesta has far more seating space in the front.
Interior quality
Yes, it’s nearly as bad as the Frontier and on par with the Chevro-rado, although I remember some reviews from other outlets panning the Tacoma’s interior and praising the Chevy’s, which I never understood. My 4R has taught me to ignore hard plastics in non-touch areas and pay attention to the touch points of steering wheel and armrests.
Segment dominance
It’s the brand and the intangibles. The Tacoma has been synonymous with durability and off road capability and stayed in the market when others left, so name recognition in the marketplace is big. I also think these just look cool. Not every color and every grill, mind you, but overall the styling is distinctive, tough, and playful without being overblown (e.g. Gladiator). They get noticed on the road in a way the GM and Ford do not.
Overall, I’d be skipping the very expensive TRD Pro for a more modest TRD Off Road, also with the stick shift. Strikes me as the sweet spot in the lineup.
I probably sound a bit defensive in my defense 😀 of the Tacoma, but hard plastics doesn’t mean poor interior quality. That plastic is pretty darn tough, and the armrests and steering wheel are soft where it matters. After 5 years my Taco’s interior is actually holding up even better than my ‘93 Land Cruiser did, though perhaps the lack of small children has something to do with that. One tip for potential buyers is to forego the leather; my experience with Toyota cloth upholstery is that it holds up much better than the non-vegan alternative. I drove a current gen Colorado and the interior felt much nicer than mine, but in the end it wasn’t really better in any meaningful way except driving position. I agree that is just off for the average American male, though I’m only 5’10 and clear the sunroof trim – barely.
It’s funny, when I first sat in this gen Tacoma in ’15 I thought the interior was junky. I had a VW wagon dripping with all the fat VW used to put into their economy car interiors, so my perspective of what $35K should look like was a bit skewed. Then I started referencing all the XLT F150s and Silverados I’d been in and realized those were pretty terrible and cost even more. Then I sat in a ZR2 Colorado, very pricey, and it didn’t seem any better or worse than the Taco. Now, after 4 years away from the VW and the used premium cars I was considering, the Taco and F150 seem fully good enough for me.
Ever consider taking advantage of the resale of that 2016 Tacoma and seeing if you could find a new stick-shift with the power seat? That sounds like a forever vehicle.
I have thought many times about trading across to a 6 speed manual Tacoma. Though I get to exercise my left foot in my wife’s Golf, which does indeed have a MUCH nicer interior. But we recently added a third vehicle to our fleet so I have some decisions to make. I guess I should say fifth vehicle, as I still have my two motorcycles.
Why buy the newest when you can buy an old Toyota for the price of something new?
Very true, out here in NoCal a Tacoma 4×4 TRD double cab just like this but 20 years older and with 250K miles will still bring $10K. I’m not sure how to take that. Its either look how the Tacoma holds its value, look how I saved $35K by buying used, or that is insane.
Crew cab, 6 foot bed and manual trans is the only way I’d want it. And that’s really only because the manual makes it tolerable – apparently the automatic goes to great and annoying driver frustrating lengths to try to eek out another .01 in fuel economy.
Toyota does have the virtue of being the only one besides Jeep still offering a manual. Before the Frontier switched it’s engine/trans options I’d have much rather had a 6-speed manual Frontier Pro-4X over this. The price difference would buy you a lot of fuel.
The outgoing Frontier Pro-4X was a great deal, particularly because of the markdowns.
However, the less expensive TRD Off-Road Tacoma is a closer match to the Pro-4X Frontier than the Toyota TRD Pro reviewed here. Those start at $35.5K for the manual, $37.5K for the auto. The Pro-4X Frontier now starts at $38.5K, auto-only. Looks like leather and some other features are now standard on it, so while it’s still a few grand below a comparably equipped Toyota, the days of those appealing $30K steal-of-an-off-road Frontier are gone.
Here’s the 2020: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/new-car-review/curbside-review-2020-nissan-frontier-pro-4x-crew-cab-old-bones-new-ticker/
I see a big honkin four door car, with huge tires, an open trunk, and doesn’t handle worth a damn. Definitely does not check any of my boxes and it never will since I don’t see the logical point in it.
No doubt your sentiments will cause a sleepless night for somebody at Toyota.
It sounds an ideal vehicle for traversing my old stomping grounds in Oakland. The street treaded tires with thick sidewalls on 16″ wheels (hardly huge) to handle the actually huge potholes on Telegraph and the 880 freeway, a big cargo area to bring parts home from the junkyard for the other cars, and the right height for the window after handling the demanding curves at the BurgerKingRing drive-thru with aplomb. And when done with it in three or so years it’ll be worth more than it cost new. What’s not to like?
Lately I’ve been thinking about buying a “forever car”, i.e. one that will last me the next 20 years and 200k. The Tacoma came immediately to mind.
Over the weekend I stopped by the dealer to look at the absolutely most stripped Tacoma one can buy (1.5 cab, I-4, rear seat delete “utility package”). Out the door, it would be close to $30k, if not over. And for that you get 158hp and 20mpg.
Will it last 20 years? Probably. Would I want to drive it that long? Probably not, and neither would I want to pay that fuel bill.
I am surprised that the tester was equipped with a manual trans. What happens when they get a younger reviewer who doesn’t know how to drive it?
The tailgate badge is $160 and I’m not seeing anything I wouldn’t expect on a standard tailgate?
That younger reviewer will hopefully take the opportunity to have an oldster ride along and provide tips to learn a new skill! 🙂
The normal tailgate has the Tacoma lettering stamped into it and then just presented as a painted panel with depressed areas spelling out the name, the same way the F150 and Ranger do currently. This then has individual letters inserted/attached into those stamped areas. The Tundra a few weeks ago had the same thing but the pictures there may have showed it better.
I just have a picture in my mind of the person who did the vehicle swap driving off with the reviewer running down the street behind them yelling “but I can’t drive this”.
One of the many ways they are laughing to the bank with this truck as there has to be a great margin on that option box, that you can bet most dealers check by default. It does make the stripe package pricing seem reasonable in comparison.
This got me thinking and wondering the age of people vs if they know how to operate a clutch and where the tipping point between most people, of that age, know and most people don’t know.
I hate that, for some reason, all pickups these days are just too big & tall – my late brother had a 2004 F150 that he kept a ladder in the bed just to climb up & down with! When we moved to the PNW I had to get rid of my p/u at the time, one that was exactly the right size for me. It was a 1999 Nissan Frontier 2.4L 5-speed, but we had more cars than people and something had to go. I’m annoyed that the only replacement for it is on the well-used market these days. Chicken tax or not, IMHO the small pickup market is going unserved these days and there might be some money to be made there…
They are so ridiculously high that they offer any kind of tailgate opening like the one on the Ram 1500 , who can swing down or out to the sides or on the GMC Sierra with his MultiPro Tailgate . They could simply just make pick-ups closer to the ground as before the ’90s .
Jim, you started all rational and then fell for its charms. I could tell when you said… “The whole mechanical nature of this part of the truck was revelatory and added a huge amount of character to it; it almost had me considering that maybe driving with my head tilted at 20 degrees isn’t all that bad after all…”
I did, too, and have one on order. Full MSRP, forget any Costco discounts, and it’s going to be a three-month wait. The Tacoma will be my first new car purchase, and I’m middle-aged.
Am I pissed? No, I can’t wait to get it. I don’t think anyone at Toyota planned for this thing to be so appealing. Whenever you do, the offer can come off as forced. Part of the charm is that they tried so little. Take that six-way power driver’s seat. This year was the first time it was offered on the Tacoma, where the average selling price is $40k.
You didn’t talk much about the styling but let’s be honest — the main reason guys like the Taco is its looks. All the other reasons… durability, off-road performance, resale value… are valid, but none are the real reason. It beats the ’92-97 Ford for me. The second-gen Tacoma, with its weak front and soft forms, was a let down after the classic first-gen. So what does Toyota do? A whole new truck? Hahaha. They took a page right out of Lee Iacocca’s “how to succeed at making things sell” book and put on a very long, very tall, very flat hood. Awesome! They reworked the fender flares more square to match. The cab section is almost entirely carryover save for a tiny character line near the mirror. Gone are those horrible droopy flares of the gen-2. The first time I saw one in 2016, I thought, damn, that new Tundra looks goooooooood, and how cool they made it smaller! Then I saw the tailgate, and it said, Tacoma?
The size is perfect, not too big, not too small. The width is narrow, the track wide, and it has a killer stance. The profile looks sporty, like a long-hood, short-deck American classic (I’m getting the Double Cab Short Bed, the Long Bed in profile looks more like a typical truck).
I love the interior. It has a lot of plastic, but it’s all very high quality. The design inside will age well, which hasn’t been the case for the gen-2.
The designers did an incredible job. They even made sure to replace those awful pointy door handles on the gen-2 with beefier ones to go with the new tougher body. The concept of “Tacoma” has always been off-road, not work or mall duty. To make sure the lower line trims with their small tires and wheels didn’t mess up the image of the gravytrain Sport, Off-Road, and Pro models, Toyota made the 4×4 ride height standard on all gen-3s, even on the 4x2s. Great call.
The floor is higher because it gives more ground clearance and off-roading is the priority with the Taco. It also helps avoid a “bubble cab” look like some trucks have. The bed sides are lower than on other trucks, and that’s good for the look too.
So it’s expensive, borderline uncomfortable, hard to get in, has one interior color choice, makes you give up the push-start to get the M/T, which they don’t do on the BRZ. Hmmm, better rent one from Turo before pulling the trigger. That went fine, and I regretted having to return the truck. It reminded me why I like BOF construction so much. There’s no flex in the structure when you pull into a driveway at an angle. The truck is quiet and relaxing to drive. I love the blind-spot monitors and Apple CarPlay. Power is there when needed, but you can’t be afraid to use the revs.
The A/T gear hunting that they complain about endlessly on TacomaWorld.com is not that bad. Post about a problem with your truck, and the place goes nuts worrying about it. The two most debated items are TRD Sport vs. TRD Off-Road and A/T vs. M/T; which should I get? It comes up once a month, and every time people act like it’s a new item. I’m getting the Off-Road. I like the black fender flares better and want that smooth ride from the taller tires.
You hit the nail on the head, Jim, when you said as soon as someone introduces a new mid-sized model, Tacoma sales go up. This is basically the same truck as the gen-2, but the sales have more than doubled, all from a big facelift. I bet free demand is close to 300,000/year these days.
Ironically, the most premium-priced product in the line-up of a company revered for its tech leadership is the ancient Tacoma. That’s why I call it an accidental hit. Buy one now, keep the miles low, and in 15 years, it’ll be the next FZJ80 Land Cruiser worth big bucks.
The dealership loaned me a full equipped Tacoma TRD (snorkel etc) during the white paint recall of my Rav4 . I do 6’5” with a 1 meter inseam. It was just horrible to have so little legroom for such a large footprint on the road .