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Why did you choose the Tacoma?

Tacomadad18

Tacomadad18

8️⃣ Paragon
Tacoma3G Supporter
Tacoma3G O.G.
Hello all! I want to get feedback from you guys to see why you chose the Tacoma for your platform to base your build off of.

I’m looking to hear from you guys to see why you did. Keep it civil, I come from the Jeep world so I know there’s a lot of 3rd leg swingers out there with measuring tapes.


* I honestly chose to buy my Tacoma, partially because a good buddy of mine has one and has always talked about it’s reliability. Also, when I watched Jerry Rig Everything’s new vehicle purchase on YouTube ? loved everything about the looks of the truck.

I’ve had built Wranglers, tons of Cherokee’s (some daily’s most were crawlers on a trailer) and while they all do well, there was never enough room to carry building materials. My occupation is a production manager so I am always carrying material. It is very hard to do so in an suv (I’ve tried, it’s rough). So, while talking to my buddy he mentioned his neighbor had one he just sold and lost only $700 of his original purchase price 2 years later. I was shocked. One thing led to another, I stopped one weekend to look at the dealership, made a few calls, the next weekend I drove home in my new one.

I have loved it ever since. I’ve taken it offroad for a few times completely stock, it did fine for what it was at that time. It does great on the hwy, mpg is excellent for what it is as well. Completely happy.

So tell me your stories and what made you buy a Tacoma.

I was happy to take mine off the showroom floor!

D68E92D5-5640-4C2F-AD0C-A702F75FD746.webp
 
hallux said:
Reliability.
Resale Value.
Amount I got for my trade in.

Truthfully I wanted a Platinum Tundra, in fact I may still get that in a few years however I do like the Tacoma right now. I wish mods were a little cheaper but hey, can't have it all my way!
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Ain’t that the truth lol. I did forget to mention the trade in amount I got, is was unbelievable. $1000 under what I owed and they put it on the lot for what I owed on it. Was super surprised about that. Reliability was a huge factor in my decision. I had a 2012 silverado with no rust but man I checked it weekly to make sure none was coming through the bed sides lol. Not to mention the transmission sounded like a paper clip in a tin can, was afraid it would leave me stranded with a huge bill.
 
Jfrisch01 said:
Ain’t that the truth lol. I did forget to mention the trade in amount I got, is was unbelievable. $1000 under what I owed and they put it on the lot for what I owed on it. Was super surprised about that. Reliability was a huge factor in my decision. I had a 2012 silverado with no rust but man I checked it weekly to make sure none was coming through the bed sides lol. Not to mention the transmission sounded like a paper clip in a tin can, was afraid it would leave me stranded with a huge bill.
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Had a 2006 Silverado, regular cab w/ the v8. Rust coming through the wheel wells and rear bumper. Aside from that and the fact I was sick of chasing electrical gremlins... I got $6,800 for a trade in so it was either I sign on the dotted line or never get that offer again.
 
hallux said:
Had a 2006 Silverado, regular cab w/ the v8. Rust coming through the wheel wells and rear bumper. Aside from that and the fact I was sick of chasing electrical gremlins... I got $6,800 for a trade in so it was either I sign on the dotted line or never get that offer again.
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Well it was a good choice on both our part lol ? I know I’m happy with the switch
 
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Im a Toyota industrial equipment field service tech, so I know how toyota designs their products. That and the reliability they’re known for was enough for me. Last vehicle I owned was a mazdaspeed3, which I switched to e85 and did just about all mods that could be done. Eventually got tired of cringing over every bump, getting tickets & not having any real use for it. I ride dirt bikes, surf, snowboard and am always outdoors. The practicality of my Tacoma puts a smile on my face every drive, 4k miles so far ???
-Triggs
 
taco_triggs said:
Im a Toyota industrial equipment field service tech, so I know how toyota designs their products. That and the reliability they’re known for was enough for me. Last vehicle I owned was a mazdaspeed3, which I switched to e85 and did just about all mods that could be done. Eventually got tired of cringing over every bump, getting tickets & not having any real use for it. I ride dirt bikes, surf, snowboard and am always outdoors. The practicality of my Tacoma puts a smile on my face every drive, 4k miles so far ???
-Triggs
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Excellent reason to have a Tacoma!
 
We had been driving mostly VW's for years prior to the Tacoma. We'd done numerous long road trips on all of them and had a great time but always were incapable of accessing some areas we really wanted to see. We were always limited by clearance, , tire size and lack of 4wd. When the whole Dieselgate scandal broke we were put in the unplanned situation of having to buy another vehicle. The whole scandal left us in a pretty good spot financially and in our research of different cars and trucks we both realized we had been wanting a Tacoma for a long time. We always talked about buying something we could travel in further and better than we ever had. We took a chance and went with something different than our norm and I think it's worked out pretty well.
 
Resqu2 said:
Saw it sitting on a showroom floor, shiny and beautiful and that was all it took. I came from a full size Silverado and did look at the new Colorado but we both ended up liking the Taco a lot better.
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Same here man, I got a job where I wasn't constantly hauling something so no need for the big truck. Looked a jeeps, been there done that, and the Taco was so good looking.

Them showroom floors will get ya.
 
Mr. Nobody said:
We had been driving mostly VW's for years prior to the Tacoma. We'd done numerous long road trips on all of them and had a great time but always were incapable of accessing some areas we really wanted to see. We were always limited by clearance, , tire size and lack of 4wd. When the whole Dieselgate scandal broke we were put in the unplanned situation of having to buy another vehicle. The whole scandal left us in a pretty good spot financially and in our research of different cars and trucks we both realized we had been wanting a Tacoma for a long time. We always talked about buying something we could travel in further and better than we ever had. We took a chance and went with something different than our norm and I think it's worked out pretty well.
Click to expand...


Well that is good that you came out good from that whole mess, and judging by all your content I think you did make a very good choice!
 
Jfrisch01 said:
Well that is good that you came out good from that whole mess, and judging by all your content I think you did make a very good choice!
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We definitely came out on top. It was an ordeal to go through but it turned into a good thing.

And thank you for the compliment. ?
 
I need a truck to haul my bikes around. Until recently, I had a 2012 civic si as my daily driver and a 2002 mazda b3000 as my bike hauler. I had that truck for about 10 years and it was pretty shot so I knew it was time for a new vehicle. As much as I love cars, I knew the most practical choice was to sell the truck and car and just buy a new truck. Part of me really wanted a silverado but only a 1/4 ton truck will fit in my garage and since I prefer to keep it in the garage, I ruled out 1/2 ton trucks. I've known for a while I wanted a tacoma because #1 it's a toyota tacoma so there's no question it's reliable. #2 It looks way better than any other 1/4 ton truck out there. The new s10 zr2 looks pretty nice but it's overpriced and really it comes down to the fact that the tacoma is and has been the best 1/4 ton truck on the market.
 
Reliability was one of the top reasons. I have driven sedans or sports cars for almost 20 years and as a home owner a truck was needed. I have been itching for one for a few years and when my wife's suv got paid off I started looking. Originally I had my heart set on a '15 or so Tundra, because I knew I couldn't afford or want to pay for a new one. After looking at a few up close though I realized just how big they are and much of a pita it would be parking that at work. Starting looking at used Tacomas but after some discussion we realized a new one was not much more and it allowed me to get exactly what I wanted. Plus they gave me almost double what I was expecting for my Infiniti with 217k miles on it.
 
my last few car considerations were mustang or truck. bought the mustang and it started leaking an excessive amount of water in the cabin. said hell no! only truck to consider in 2015 was the tacoma. didn't want a monster full sized. went ahead and traded the mustang in, miss everything about the 'stang other than the 3in of standing water in the passenger floorboard. truck has done me good and much more appropriate for my new mid-west residence.
 
In 2015 I sold my Ram 2500 CTD since it lost it's purpose and got into a Mini Cooper for a year. Fun as hell but impractical for a guy that likes to fly fish and get into the mountains of Colorado, plus it sucked in snow. Traded it off for a brand new Outback. Nice, but I missed having a truck bed. Looked around at Chevy, GMC, Dodge, couldn't get interested in the size/mileage/cost. Saw this new used 2016 Tacoma on the lot with 30k on it and fell for it. Not too big, decent mileage, got my truck bed back. Not to mention it's just cool as hell to look at! Have had it 2 years now and it's at about 80k miles. That's a lot of fishing trips!
 
Here is my little-long story taken from my build thread:


July 2017: I had been daily driving my 1986 Chevy M1008 CUCV (K30) for two years now. It has never let me down and literally receives compliments daily. This truck is my baby, and always will be, but I felt like although it has 37" tires, it is mostly a mall crawler. My wife has a 2013 Jeep JK that we bought in 2013 and it has seen many trails across the country. My CUCV definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with it. So I decided I wanted a Jeep for myself.

That weekend we went around to some dealerships to see Jeeps. I knew what I wanted; I had already owned one for about four years. And because I knew what I wanted, it was kind of hard to find one in that configuration on any lots. I would've had to order it. So we leave the final dealership for the day and immediately drive by an adjacent Toyota dealership. That's when the quicksand paint caught our eye. Our Jeep color is called "dune", which is similar to quicksand, so naturally we were intrigued. Well... kind of -- I never dreamed of owning anything other than an old Chevy pickup, with the exception being Jeep JK's. Especially not a Toyota (nothing against them I just thought I was die-hard Chevy). Anyway, we went in literally just to compare the price to the Jeep. I figured it would be a lot cheaper since Jeeps are annoyingly expensive. We all know what kind of price I saw on the sticker. Surprisingly not cheaper at all. But I decided to tell my wife I have a guilty pleasure about the way the 3rd gen looks and she was really digging it herself.

Fast forward about six hours of working with the salesman. I'm now driving home in a brand new Taco, a truck I know nothing about. Except that it had a rear locker. Mmmmm, that rear locker is so nice. I'm driving home thinking to myself, "what the fuck did I just do?". I had a perfectly good truck that is paid off and definitely didn't need a brand new truck. But this is the first brand new truck I ever bought for myself and dang it felt good (wife's Jeep not counted).

I made a promise to myself after I got the truck. As with her Jeep, I want to put as many miles I can on it, eventually driving it into the ground. I'm not the type of person that likes getting new vehicles after a few years, and neither is the wife, so the Jeep and Taco are here to stay. In addition to that, I promised myself that despite it being a brand new $38k truck, I will not be afraid to wheel it. I've always had a passion for off-roading, and that wasn't going to change now. And guess what? I absolutely do wheel it, perhaps a little too hard. Not even a year old and I have some decent trail scars.
 
Tyler said:
Here is my little-long story taken from my build thread:


July 2017: I had been daily driving my 1986 Chevy M1008 CUCV (K30) for two years now. It has never let me down and literally receives compliments daily. This truck is my baby, and always will be, but I felt like although it has 37" tires, it is mostly a mall crawler. My wife has a 2013 Jeep JK that we bought in 2013 and it has seen many trails across the country. My CUCV definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with it. So I decided I wanted a Jeep for myself.

That weekend we went around to some dealerships to see Jeeps. I knew what I wanted; I had already owned one for about four years. And because I knew what I wanted, it was kind of hard to find one in that configuration on any lots. I would've had to order it. So we leave the final dealership for the day and immediately drive by an adjacent Toyota dealership. That's when the quicksand paint caught our eye. Our Jeep color is called "dune", which is similar to quicksand, so naturally we were intrigued. Well... kind of -- I never dreamed of owning anything other than an old Chevy pickup, with the exception being Jeep JK's. Especially not a Toyota (nothing against them I just thought I was die-hard Chevy). Anyway, we went in literally just to compare the price to the Jeep. I figured it would be a lot cheaper since Jeeps are annoyingly expensive. We all know what kind of price I saw on the sticker. Surprisingly not cheaper at all. But I decided to tell my wife I have a guilty pleasure about the way the 3rd gen looks and she was really digging it herself.

Fast forward about six hours of working with the salesman. I'm now driving home in a brand new Taco, a truck I know nothing about. Except that it had a rear locker. Mmmmm, that rear locker is so nice. I'm driving home thinking to myself, "what the fuck did I just do?". I had a perfectly good truck that is paid off and definitely didn't need a brand new truck. But this is the first brand new truck I ever bought for myself and dang it felt good (wife's Jeep not counted).

I made a promise to myself after I got the truck. As with her Jeep, I want to put as many miles I can on it, eventually driving it into the ground. I'm not the type of person that likes getting new vehicles after a few years, and neither is the wife, so the Jeep and Taco are here to stay. In addition to that, I promised myself that despite it being a brand new $38k truck, I will not be afraid to wheel it. I've always had a passion for off-roading, and that wasn't going to change now. And guess what? I absolutely do wheel it, perhaps a little too hard. Not even a year old and I have some decent trail scars.
Click to expand...
Just ? hands down a awesome story to a new beginning man!!!
Mine is nothing compare to urs ? I just always owned Honda’s and Subaru wrx got tired of cars and opted for a truck didn’t really know anything about tacomas but that they looked nice ? this was the day I got mine
 
Tyler said:
Here is my little-long story taken from my build thread:


July 2017: I had been daily driving my 1986 Chevy M1008 CUCV (K30) for two years now. It has never let me down and literally receives compliments daily. This truck is my baby, and always will be, but I felt like although it has 37" tires, it is mostly a mall crawler. My wife has a 2013 Jeep JK that we bought in 2013 and it has seen many trails across the country. My CUCV definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with it. So I decided I wanted a Jeep for myself.

That weekend we went around to some dealerships to see Jeeps. I knew what I wanted; I had already owned one for about four years. And because I knew what I wanted, it was kind of hard to find one in that configuration on any lots. I would've had to order it. So we leave the final dealership for the day and immediately drive by an adjacent Toyota dealership. That's when the quicksand paint caught our eye. Our Jeep color is called "dune", which is similar to quicksand, so naturally we were intrigued. Well... kind of -- I never dreamed of owning anything other than an old Chevy pickup, with the exception being Jeep JK's. Especially not a Toyota (nothing against them I just thought I was die-hard Chevy). Anyway, we went in literally just to compare the price to the Jeep. I figured it would be a lot cheaper since Jeeps are annoyingly expensive. We all know what kind of price I saw on the sticker. Surprisingly not cheaper at all. But I decided to tell my wife I have a guilty pleasure about the way the 3rd gen looks and she was really digging it herself.

Fast forward about six hours of working with the salesman. I'm now driving home in a brand new Taco, a truck I know nothing about. Except that it had a rear locker. Mmmmm, that rear locker is so nice. I'm driving home thinking to myself, "what the fuck did I just do?". I had a perfectly good truck that is paid off and definitely didn't need a brand new truck. But this is the first brand new truck I ever bought for myself and dang it felt good (wife's Jeep not counted).

I made a promise to myself after I got the truck. As with her Jeep, I want to put as many miles I can on it, eventually driving it into the ground. I'm not the type of person that likes getting new vehicles after a few years, and neither is the wife, so the Jeep and Taco are here to stay. In addition to that, I promised myself that despite it being a brand new $38k truck, I will not be afraid to wheel it. I've always had a passion for off-roading, and that wasn't going to change now. And guess what? I absolutely do wheel it, perhaps a little too hard. Not even a year old and I have some decent trail scars.
Click to expand...


Awesome story man. I’m “kinda” the same with the exception is I’ll buy high mileage vehicles (since they are cheaper lol) and run them for as long as I can. I’ve had them up to the 400k mile range and didn’t think twice. I’d like to think I will drive this one until the wheels fall off and I don’t mean by off-roading it lol.
 
Hello Taco Owners: I purchased my new 2019 Taco TRD Sport to replace my original 2004 Taco SR5. My 2004 has been the best vehicle that I've ever owned in terms of "trouble free" and dependability. It just made sense for me to get another Taco. This 3rd Gen definitely feels and drives much better. The wider wheel base feels more like a truck to me.

I'm very happy and excited to get back into another Taco.
 
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