What do you guys think of the Toyota Tacoma?

[Wood_workur]

My dad is looking at a new car, errr truck, and hes thinking about the Chevy Trailblazer. I was thinking more towards the Chevy Silverado with an extended cab. I asked about this on another forum, and the general response was: Chevy is great until you hit 70,000 on the odometer then you run into a ton of repairs, even if you maintain the car well, that cost a lot. Not good considering that all 3 of our cars are past 70,000 (and one is only 3 years old!) so I asked what would be a good truck that I could put full sheets of plywood in and would last a long time. General responce was the Toyota Tacoma. Doesn't have an 8' bed, but I was told that all you need to do is keep the tailgate down and use bungie cords, so thats not much of a problem.

One guy said his dad has one with 320,000 miles on it, and the only work he ever has had to do on it was change oil, air filter, and tires. Nothing else. It sounds like this truck is really well built. What do you guys think of i?

P.S. are the rest of the toyota cars this good comared to others?

[jgrobler]

I don't know about the Tacoma, or the Silverado, but I have a 98 Suburban with 125k miles, and a '90 Toyotal Celica with 175k miles. I can completely agree with maintenance cost on my suburban, as soon as I hit 71k I had to replace the alternator, shortly thereafter the fuel pump, waterpump, transmission, steering, suspension, and several other smaller things, including a second fuel pump at 110k. But I don't have a payment on it, and the maintenance is still cheaper than a new car, so for now I'm keeping it.

My Celica runs great, low maintenance, and I still get 32 to 34 miles per gallon, and I'm sure it will still be running as well at 250k miles. Although I will shortly be replacing spark plugs and cables, as part of preventative maintenance. It does need a new coat of paint though. Where did the summer go.....

Johan

[Russianwolf]

If that's a concern, look at the Dodge trucks. unlimited milage drivetrain warranty. That covers all the big stuff.

The other thing is size. A Tocoma is a compact truck, the Silverado is a full size. You can easily sit three people across a full sized, while the compacts are more cramped. I had a 2002 Ram Quadcab(I miss it, had to sell when we dropped to one car and my wife wouldn't drive it) and had no complaints sitting 5 and 6 people in it. I will actually be looking for another as soon as I can justify the car payment.

Yeah, Toyotas are reliable, but the domestics have done a good job of catching up and the fullsized trucks are the one area that the Imports haven't been able to claim any significant lead. Toyota's first attempt, the T100, was a joke at best. Honda's attempt is a sales nightmare from what I'm hearing (and only comes with a v-6). The New Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan both get comparable milage to the domestics. So the only advantage they can try to claim is the reliability of their smaller vehicles might apply to the big trucks too. So far the jury is out.

Also I'm not sure a sheet of ply will fit in a tocoma bed side to side, At best it would need to sit on the wheel wells I think. And from what I've heard the interior of the bed is plastic now, no metal , in an effort to reduce costs.

If you want more info on truck reliability go to www.pavementsucks.com you may not work the truck as hard as these guys (or I) tend to, but if they find problems they aren't afraid to point them out.

[jackellis]

I just bought a 2008 Tacoma (aka Taco) 4x4 5 speed 2.7 4 cylinder Access cab model. While it probably isn't as roomy as a full size rig, the price was right and we think our cost of ownership will be pretty comparable to a sedan. We're getting 26 MPG and other than oil changes and checking some drivetrain bolts, there's almost no required maintenance until either 60 or 100k miles. We keep cars until the wheels fall off and we've had great luck with import-badged cars.

I'm not concerned about the fact that a sheet of plywood has to sit on the wheel wells and I actually think the composite bed is an advantage - nothing to rust! Composites are plenty tough and apparently these beds have held up to moderate abuse.

I also checked with cousins who have bought a small fleet of trucks for their business and they liked the Tundra and the Frontier. We eliminated the Frontier because it did not offer a 4 cylinder engine. The 2.7 liter in the Tacoma is fine - we drove it up a pretty steep road that started at 6000' earlier today and it did just fine with two of us in the cab.

Of course, we have less than 1000 miles on ours but it's right for the way we intend to use it and we're very happy with it so far.

[Wood_workur]

I have no problem with it being a compact truck. We have 2 minivans if we need the interior space. Plywood can sit on the wheel wells, its not getting hauled around every weekend.

The mileage also sounds great, and its higher than what they list on the site.

[herb fellows]

toyota

No experience with the first part of your question, never owned a Tacoma. However, have owned nothing but Toyota since 1974, about 8 new ones in all.
The only reason I ever bought a new one was because you get tired of looking at the old one.
Reliability is excellent. In 34 years, only had 2 things go wrong:

A wire for the ignition came loose in my 1991 Camry and a muffler clamp went and dropped the muffler on a 1997 Camry. Never replaced anything else except I think batteries on 2 of them, and that was after 6 years on each. Oil, air, water, gas and drive. Nice and simple, like I like it!

[cgallery]

I actually think the composite bed is an advantage - nothing to rust! Composites are plenty tough and apparently these beds have held up to moderate abuse.

There has to be steel underneath it, no? What if you want to sit a Unisaw in the back of the truck?

[crokett]

My brother has a 99 Tacoma. All he does to it is change the oil and other fluids, tires etc. Recently he looked into replacing it with a new Tundra but opted not to. Apparently there are some issues with the newer models. I don't have details, but he is the type that researches everything so I have no reason to doubt him. Actually when I thinking of buying a big ticket item I just ask what he thinks and wait. A few days later he will come back with model, price, where to buy, how to get best deal, etc.

[Wood_workur]

Anyone have experience with the ford explorer? My dad is also looking at those.

[jackellis]

There has to be steel underneath it, no? What if you want to sit a Unisaw in the back of the truck?

Six bolts hold the bed to the truck frame. The bed rated for 1350 pounds. One owner talked about putting a ton of gravel in the bed with no problems. I see no reason a unisaw would not be secure.

I can't reproduce the article but apparently the new "plastic" small airplanes being made by Cirrus and Columbia (now Cessna) are also pretty tough. The "plastic" Tacoma bed seems pretty sturdy unless you drop a boulder into it, in which case even a steel bed would be damaged.

[pacwind3]

I've had a 1995 Tacoma (which was the first year they were made) since 2000. I had a problem right after I bought it with the starter motor. That's been it. I am sitting at about 144,000 miles and nothing but tires and oil changes.
I would by one again in a minute. Mine is the extra cab, but I would need one now with the 4 doors. Crew cab or whatever that model is. We also have a Toyota Avalon, 148,000, again: tires and oil changes. My eye is on a Toyota FJ Cruiser

[Bigbit]

I cannot speak for Toyota trucks, but my 5-year old Avalon has performed flawlessly for me. I am sold on the Toyota brand, after being a "domestic" guy for most of my life.

[shoottx]

Six bolts hold the bed to the truck frame. The bed rated for 1350 pounds. One owner talked about putting a ton of gravel in the bed with no problems. I see no reason a unisaw would not be secure.

I can't reproduce the article but apparently the new "plastic" small airplanes being made by Cirrus and Columbia (now Cessna) are also pretty tough. The "plastic" Tacoma bed seems pretty sturdy unless you drop a boulder into it, in which case even a steel bed would be damaged.

The new Boeing Dream liner is plastic and I think the lear X is plastic

[Popeye]

My Silverado has 193,000 on it and I expect to have it for at least another 50k. I like Toyota's reliability but.... With today's economy being the way it is I think right now is the time more than ever to buy AMERICAN. Pat

[knotley]

I have a Taco 2wd access cab. Plywood hauling is not a problem. But you may consider a rubber bed mat to prevent things rolling around. I think if most people are just driving themselves around, the Taco is a good choice. It really is now a mid sized truck, not the small taco of pre 2005 years. 2.7 engine is a commercial engine - used worldwide in other Toyota's. It has a timing chain.

I think the 2009 have many more safety features. Something to consider.

The taco is the only Toyota that I am aware of that is made by UAW workers at Nummi plant.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=105515
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI
http://www.nummi.com/