ready for the appiphany i had about trucks the newer they get, the less durable they are. bottom line is in america toyota will never build rigs as durable as the ones they built back in the late 70's-mid 80's and im pretty sure anybody would agree to that. My tacoma gets put through unbeleivable amounts of abuse and hell on a daily basis, and its driven 2 or 3 times more then an average vehicle. It breaks crucial components usually once a week or so. Ive learned to live with it, i never had to worry about breaking on my mazda pickup which went through far more hell, but the tacoma is newer and newer trucks just arent made with durability in mind.

 

i totally disagree. the new tacoma, fj cruiser, and 4runner are all based off of the overseas toyota prado, toyota didn't just throw this thing together. it is toyota quality through and through, even cr rated ithigher with fewer problems than the previous generation tacomas, i don 't hear any gripping about those. toyota doesn't cater to us, they sell cars and they are still the darn best cars in the world. i myself own and love a 2007 dbl cab trd 6spd. rides like an gx-470. and coednaked your 93 with 3.0 v6 can't hold a candle in reliability, power, and even mileage to my 4.0 v6. overall great truck, but has growing pains and trying to deal with complacent american workers building it. so considering what Toyota had to work with great truck.

 

RIGHT ON!
Thats what I'm talkin about!

 

No trouble in the short time I've had my '07 Tacoma. My last truck was the best vehicle I've owned, maybe the best I'll ever own, '95 T100 extracab. It had over 200k when I sold it, never had a major problem and never left me stranded. I really needed 4 doors or I would have kept it. I hope my Tacoma does as well.

 

i posted that right before I headed out the door, didn't check everyone's sig
i agree and disagree with your...I like driving my '81 better than the '05 but I know that my chances of survival in an accident in my '05 are a lot better than my '81.
I sold my 86 4Runner before I went to alaska for 3.5 years, bought a new '91 Ranger 4x4 to take up there, it was a POS (bed welds were cracking and Ford refused to fix it), took the loss & sold it after 8 months and bought my '84 Toy X-cab...

you answered your own question--dimensions, even with a composite bed (only the bed floor and inside are composite) and aluminum block there is going to be an overall increase in steel.

Comparison of a 1st Gen to latest version of Toyota truck...i bought my '81 because my '05 was just too wide for some trails I run:

I am using my first gen as comparison since so many people used 1st gen axles when they convert their pre '05 trucks...

 

My truck wasn't based on the prado built in Japan for other overseas market. My truck was BUILT in Japan right alongside other Japanese built trucks for other oversea's markets.

As for "Consumer reports," which are loosely based on feedback from owners who have had their rigs from 1 to 3 years or so - Toyota didn't gain their reputation for reliability based on vehicles that can go 1-3 years without problems. They gained their reputation for quality, durability and reliability producing vehicles that went 10+/- years without any major problems, and with great resale to boot.

As for the ride quality in my truck compared to yours. Well the last I checked my truck rides like a 4x4. In fact my truck rides a little firmer than it should because it has a heavy duty spring pack, and I also have aftermarket Bilstein shocks. But trust me when I say this - my truck when loaded up with a few hundred pounds in the bed, rides like a champ, and something else for you to think about - my truck can haul up to it's rated payload (1400 pounds) with confidence and it handles payload exceptionally well. The suspension does all the work and the ride is solid and smooth. But it's definately not a Lexus GX470 because it's a truck and a 4x4 first.

As for your statement: coednaked your 93 with 3.0 v6 can't hold a candle in reliability, power, and even mileage to my 4.0 v6.

Well lets talk about reliability. My truck has just over 311,000 km's on it right now, which is in your language just over 194,000 miles. My truck has been maintained well and it has paid me back and then some. No headgasket problems or anything else to really report. Just regular maintenance. I'm trying to figure out how your truck has more reliability than mine, unless you, have 195,000 miles on yours?

Power - well I would hope that your engine which was designed in the late 90's and early '00's would have more power than my mid 80's designed V6. Your truck has 1 liter more displacement than my engine, as well as it has a few more technologies that my engine doesn't have (Dual Overhead cams & VAriable valve timing).

As for mileage, well you should get slightly better gas mileage than me seeing as how you have more transmission gears, you have more fuel economy oriented gears (3.73 or 3.90 compared to my 4.56's which rev the engine a bit more), and you have an engine with newer technology than mine. But having said that I still get 17-20+ MPG on average which is in a lot of cases roughly what a lot of these trucks get.

I never said the Tacoma wasn't a good truck. I have made my statements in a few different ways but many of you guys have overreacted and not taken my statements logically but more emotionally like I am insulting you. The Tacoma is like I said before a more well rounded truck than what I or other compact truck owners have. It's a better people mover, and it's got more juice for towing. But this came at the expense of a little toughness (in my opinion). When I had the option of buying my truck a few years ago I also had the option of buying a new Tacoma. I thought long and hard but ended up with my truck because it was a little cheaper at the time and I wasn't making as much money as I do now. When I have a family in a few years I may have to look at a new 4 door Tacoma or Tundra for obvious reasons (safety, better people movers) but it'll be tough to let go of my 93 that's for sure.

 

my dad can beat up your dad

 

Honestly I don't know how one can judge the long term reliability of the new Tacoma based on the ASsumptions made in this thread. Sounds like the expectation is that the truck be reliable for 10+ years with no major problems. 1st it hasn’t been 10 years since this gen released. 2nd has there been a large number of people complain about engine tranny, diff, or other MAJOR component failures on their new Tacoma? Not that I've heard of but if so then I stand corrected. It seems like many people are making assumptions on the reliability of this truck base on the now plastic door handles and new cable tailgate supports. In my own opinion it's a little early to be judging that this truck is not reliable. I've seen a lot of complaints on here about 3vz head gaskets blowing yet the owners still consider it a reliable truck. With that being said how can you say the truck is poor quality or not reliable base on a plastic door handle of “non” boxed frame? Maybe the design does not meet your expectation or does not meet the demands you may place on it. If that is so then make that statement and not that the vehicle is poor quality.

I would just like to share one point - The fact is that the number of problems that a Toyota Truck owner experiences today is MUCH lower than it was 10-15 years ago (based on first 3 years 36 miles ownership).

The reason that people perceive quality is going down in today’s vehicle (for all manufacturer) is that the customers are raising the bar. The Toyota customer today has an expectation similar to a Lexus customer 10 years ago (this is my opinion so if yours is difference please share). If you were to put an 85 designed 4runner on sale today, off road enthusiasts would be all over it, but the majority of people would probably not like it.

I just think people should give a little more credit to this gen. It sounds like the people that actually own one on this thread really like their trucks.

 

I remember the first time i took it down a really tuff trail where the wheels where in the air. i could hear the metal of the frame flexing along with my interior. heres the video. skip to about 2:00 minutes and u can hear it. my old runner never used to do that.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ofpn7xCUFpo

 

I'm a total newb to this forum and not really that into the technical aspects of 4X4... I'm here to try to change that. I have been driving 4X4's almost exclusively for close to 10 years for reliable transportation as daily driver (wk = 30K miles per year plus) and surf-fishing... Padre Island has 63 mile stretch open access 4X4 only and I know it like the back of my hand... that said, it doesn't take a neurosurgeon to stay out of the surf, dunes and mudflats...

I've only had my 2005 4.0L TRD SR5 Tacoma for 30 days... over 2K miles and 2 trips to Padre Island with a total of approx 230-250 miles in the sand (maybe 75-100 miles in 4h)... have extracted one lost frame-deep Camry (?) and one Monterro perched on a 30-40' log

This vehicle is already shaping up to be hands-down my favorite beach truck and daily driver yet...

previous vehicles:

98 Frontier SE

97 Nissan Pathfinder XE

2004 GMC Z-71 SLT

so far, the Tacoma rules... would prefer manual front transfer and am working on the suspension squeek

local Toyota dealer insisted I run the truck thru next week for a look at possible TBS repairs/corrections even though I am 10K miles over warranty and several months over 36month in-service... you don't even wanna hear the nightmare customer service stories I have accumulated over the last 3 years dealing with gm...

maybe the new trucks aren't the same quality... I can't say... but I am familiar enough with the alternatives to have landed here...

jc

 

Umm... you guys know that all Land Cruisers, FJ cruisers, and 4runners are STILL made in Japan.
The tacoma and tundra are made in USA/mexico.
Both my jap 4runners are fantastic... only thing i've seen a problem with on the 05+ tacos is the 6 speed tranny... my bud's 06' is pretty solid tho...

 

yo dude that magazine is a load to me because my mom has an 02 xploder and that thing is a glorified go cart for adults. Shes gone through 2 trans and this one is slippin now and the computer is fried so that the lights stay on instead of going off auto, the door locks and windows go up and down at will, and the interior light doesnt go off for like ten min. oh and the the digi milade indicator doesnt ever come on anymore. i would still go for yota over ford any day. but my old yota is still my fav

 

I have a 6spd in my 07 and haven't had any problems with it. I do have to say that although the i love the truck and sometimes get too worked up when someone criticizes the truck (sorry coednaked didn't mean to start a fued) i do still have that nagging in the back of my head saying hey this truck was built in the USA/Mexico, i would definitely prefer it to be built in Japan, i guess after driving an old fj60 for years this truck just seems so nice to me and still decently capable off road, but i think that toyota has too much invested in the tacoma as a main staple of car sales to mess it up as bad as what is being portrayed.

 

Be like me. Drive it like you would any other Toyota, and in time we may see that all this fretting was for nothing. But then again.......

 

I'm sorry but your wrong. the Land Cruisers/4Runners/FJ Cruiers/Tacomas/Tundras are all made in USA in the HINO factories. just go to wiki and have a look around the HINO company info, near the bottom it tells you. All the Toyota's PRIOR to 1995 were made in Japan. after that Toyota moved them to the usa. in Canada of course YOU as a fellow canadian CAN still order Japanese made Toyota's cause we can import diesels 15 years or older.

 

That is not correct. 4Runners are made in Japan. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4runner

Land Cruisers are still made in Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_cruiser

FJ Cruiser is made in Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_FJ_Cruiser

The Toyota Tacoma is assembled in Japan, Mexico, and the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Tacoma

 

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

ALL Land Cruisers/4Runners/FJ Cruisers are built in Japan. All Tacoma, Tundras, and Sequoias are built in the US (at least all the ones sold in the US market).

 

im glad to hear that 4runners are still made in japan. i still like the new 4runners, but have never really cared for the tundra's. i went for a ride in my friends tacoma, and i must say its nice. im sure its not all metal and its made cheaper. i am really hoping for these new cars to surpass the older ones and go for even more miles before they have to make another one.
but wouldnt it be in their best interest to make a truck that goes barely to 200,000 miles to get you to buy another one? sure one could argue that freeway miles to not mean much, but i really hope that these trucks last.
i want to see toyota remake cars with the same body style, some new inside goodies, and a stronger engine. i would pee my pants if that happened.
untill then, ill throw new engines in my truck untill the wheels fall off.

 

So let me get this straight...you guys still think that the 4x4's made by Toyota and sold in usa are still made in Japan????

The ONLY Toyota's that are still made in Japan are the ones that are sold everywhere BUT usa/canada. and this is probably because Toyota has plants that build them locally in the usa/canada. Yes they still make FJC's/4Runners/Land Cruisers/Hiluxs in Japan because the ones made there do not meet american diesel standards. If they where made in Japan and sold in usa you would be paying twice as much for your vehicle as you are now. that's why Toyota stopped doing that, the tariffs the damn usa government put on Toyota's was outragous, it stopped 2-door 4Runners from being shipped to the usa. You look somewhere on your 95+ 4x4 and tell me if you can see any japanese writing on any and every single part...nooo , wonder why? I've made my point.

 

your way off all as previously stated the 4runners,landcruisers, and fj cruiser are made in JAPAN 100%. i was at the the dealer this morning and was looking around while my truck got an oil change and i looked at the sticker of parts and assembly on any of those vehicles they are made i Japan you can't argue facts! Sorry but we actually see the stickers for these new vehicles you don't.