Taco: 3rd Gen

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura) 06/10/2019 at 11:37 • Filed to: None

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What is your experience with the 3rd Gen Taco? A colleague of mine has a one and he and his partner do a lot of exploring with it in the desert. He’s very happy with the, though he had a TRD rim fail due to porosity in the casting, and he just had his “U-joints” replaced. Toyota was cool about it, as the warranty ran out at 60,000 miles and he has 65,000 miles. My colleague says he is reading that the 3rd gen Taco is less reliable than the earlier gens. What would you share that I can relay to my colleague?

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/08/2019 at 10:49

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A friend of mine bought one of the very early production ones. He didn’t make it out of the dealership parking lot before the CEL went on. If I remember correctly, one of the cams or maybe cam bearings were trashed. causing a bunch of metal to cycle all around the engine, requiring replacement. I understand they had a fair bit of trouble with early production of the new 3.5L V6 in these. The scuttlebutt was (again, if I recall correctly) the head castings we’re showing up with sand still in them. Toyota actually built him a whole new truck and sold the repaired one as used.

Since then he has had no trouble. He has taken multiple road trips, and has taken up off roadin g in it. He loves his Taco.

E92M3 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/08/2019 at 11:11

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I have little personal experience with them (I sat in one, and drove it less than 5 miles) , and r esearched them when I was contemplating getting the Ridgeline. Reading reviews and forums they do seem to be less reliable than the older ones. But I don’t think it’s severe eno ugh to consider going back to prior gen though. It’s also not any less reliable than the other midsize pickups it comp etes with. In my opinion, there’s not really any better option unless he wants to get something that isn’t a truck (besides the Ridgeline but I know it isn’t for everyone ). I wouldn’t get a Colorado, Ranger or Frontier. At least the Taco will hold it’s value better than anything else. The 2 problems he’s had are minor. If he’s worried, I guess he could get a new one to be in warranty again, but that’s going to cost thousands of dollars to get that pea ce of mind. Way more than any issues he’s likely to encounter.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > E92M3 06/08/2019 at 11:53

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Thanks. My BIL had a Ridgeline and that thing drove like a dreamboat. Phenomenal. Though I thought the design was kind of quirky. One of the most comfortable, best driving vehicles I’ve ever driven.

E92M3 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/08/2019 at 13:07

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That’s wha t sold me on it. It’s the only truck I could drive everyday.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > E92M3 06/08/2019 at 15:06

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The driver seat was phenomenal.

412GTI > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/10/2019 at 11:47

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My close friend in college had a brand new 2016. I drove it a few times and can say it’s a decent truck. I don’t particularly care for the powertrain, but it should hold up well. Ride is trucky , space is tight, but should do fine for a lot of people.

I don’t know if I would spend my money on one (more of a fullsize type), but totally get why so many people do. 

Nibby > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/10/2019 at 11:52

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are you trying to catfish us?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nibby 06/10/2019 at 12:18

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I don’t know what that means, but if it’s anything like trolling, then no.

Mid Engine > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/10/2019 at 12:23

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My 2018 has been perfect so far, no issues whatsoever. Drives great (for a truck), it’s far from fancy but it does truck stuff really well. I opted for the quad cab but in hindsight, should have traded extra seating for a longer bed.

vicali > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/10/2019 at 14:36

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Ours has been fantastic. We’ve had zero issues since picking it up in Oct 2017. It gets better mileage than the 2005, has heated seats and other current tech goodies , and after this weekends camping trip it tows more comfortably and gets better mileage with the trailer than the 4.0L ever did.

We had a 2005 for 8 years previously before the headgasket went and cooked the block; It had a frame replacement and had treated us very well before it died.

That rim thing was weird , I remember you posting about it.. U-joint replace is not a huge deal, but tell him to check his nuts after ;

A lot of people gripe on the new engine and the transmission, lot of horror stories on low atf and leaking third tail lights as well. TacomaWorld is full of them.

But there are also 5 00x as many trouble free happy Tacoma owners out there for every one poster on the interwebs .

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > vicali 06/10/2019 at 15:01

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That picture: is it yours? Do we know the actual leadup to it, that it wasn’t a tow chain hooked up to a very poorly chosen spot?

Thanks for the info.

vicali > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/10/2019 at 15:13

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https://jalopnik.com/that-doesnt-look-right-1825155281

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > vicali 06/10/2019 at 15:39

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I suspected there would be a story like that behind the photo, but I didn’t wanna jump to conclusions.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/11/2019 at 13:57

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Enjoying my ‘18 TRD Off Road manual.

If you want a truck, it’s a good “little” truck.

If you want a car with a bed, get a Ridgeline. =)