Love mine. Take the shell off when I need to put more than one bike in. Hitch carrier when I want to camp with a bike. It has done everything i've wanted from it and never asks questions. Love the 6-Spd and the 4.0.
I'm pretty happy with mine. I'm not a huge fan of the 3.5 V6. I have the 6MT. I was thinking seriously about going back to a 4runner, but I decided to get a shell for the bed instead. I just ordered it this morning: ARE Overland. Should be here in a month or so.
Ok, here you is... 2014 bare bones 4 cylinder 4x4 access cab Taco with 5 spd manual xmsn purchased new November 2013 when my '92 JDM Hilux Surf with 2LTE turbo diesel developed an injector pump fuel leak (no desire at that time of year to dismantle a friggin' diesel in my carport). All you guys wishing for a diesel, wait 'til something breaks on one of those. The 4 cyl. Tacos were so rare I had to wait for delivery from Kamloops since my local dealer only had V6s with autos. Spankin' new $30K diesel injector pump parked in the driveway... wow, over 4 years have passed.... time flies. Made in Texas! TracRac added following summer to haul my boat. TracRac getting wobbly after transporting the canoe on some rough forestry roads, need to add corner braces. Also splurged for alloy wheels for summer tires, winters are mounted on stock steel rims. Picking up lumber with the pickup. 4x4 essential in the winters of the great white north, in pursuit of Bambi's Dad (who continues to elude me). Spartan interior on this base model, so I added several unconventional options. The old diesel Surf, with steering wheel on the 'wrong' right side. It's been languishing unused for a few years now. Needs a lot of work & $$$s Quite content with the Taco, 4 cylinder starting to look a lot better these days with rising fuel costs.
Another photo of the Taco with a motorcycle theme. Perfect for hauling the Honda. I was in a conundrum of deciding between the CRF & it's Yamaha competitor. The Yammy blue would have clashed with the Barcelona Red of the Taco, ergo Honda was the obvious choice...
It has a pretty dramatic step in the power delivery, right at 3K rpm. Maybe the manual tranny makes it more noticeable? It would be fun in a sporty car, but in the truck in can be a pain in the ass, and it makes trying to start out moderately quick from a stop either an engine bogging or clutch burning affair... I had a '13 4Runner with the 4.0 and 5spd auto, and I think that was a better powertrain for a truck. That said, if you want to drive it like a race car, and rev it to the moon all the time, the 3.5 does make plenty of power, and the 6MT is a nice shifting tranny.
I've read that on other forums. The Taco's sure do hold their re-sale value though. Probably as good as any other vehicle.
Provided my own shuttle. Truck is dropped off, hoping they can find the clunk that only happens pulling in to my driveway The '18 TRD Pro is nice. Rigid Industries LEDs in the bumper, a nice big skid plate and a small flat spot in the grill, collision prevention I assume? Fawk I need a new phone. Hard to believe it takes any photos at all anymore.
Before my '16 TRDOR access cab, and the Mazda before that, I had an '02 Tacoma access cab 4WD with the 2.7L. That was a great vehicle. Still regret selling. I actually get ~3mpg better with my current Tacoma with the V6. With the '02 I was usually around 21.5mpg and now I am close to 24mpg. This for "city" driving. My '99 access cab TRDOR had the 3.4L V6 and that returned about 1mpg less than the 2.7L.
My '09 with the 2.7L got 21mpg average, mixed 80mph freeway and city. The best I clocked was 26mpg hauling 2 bikes from Santa Fe to Ouray With the supercharged V6 in the 2015 and a few hundred pounds of armor and gear, I'm lucky to get 16 ..but it's worth it
That’s another thing, with the 3.5 and 6mt, I get about 17-18mpg on a normal tank. Best I have gotten on a cross country trip was about 22. The manual has lower rear end gearing though.
3.5 and an Auto we get 17-18 all the time. I can get it to read 22-24 in town driving very gently, but the overall and tank averages are always mid 17's.
My brother is in the Eugene area. I think we are close in elevations, about 900’ here. I didn’t get much better in Colorado though...
No pic but I have a 2008 regular cab 4x4 with the 4cylinder and 5 speed manual. I call it my old man truck because it has a bench seat, manual transmission and roll up windows. A truck like mine is really hard to find because most people buy access cabs loaded with options. I wanted a truck with a capital T...not a luxury vehicle. I paid 9k for it last year with 68,000 miles. In New England that is a stupendously good deal due to the aforementioned high resale on Tacoma's. I figure even if I have to replace the frame eventually it was a good buy. Gas mileage sucks with the 4cyl but the longevity of the engine is legendary. I have a 5 mile commute to work so rust is the only reason I can think of that will prevent me from keeping it for a decade or so. Threw a set of Kelly all terrains on it this winter and did the 4x4 service. Other than brakes and oil changes I think it's good for the next 30k miles.
Here is my most recent Fuelly data on my 2016 TRD Sport double cab, short bed, AT 4x4. I am currently running at 22.5 MPG and I expect that to go up a little as we transition to summer gas in the Seattle area. 22.5 MPG last 10 Fuel-ups Avg MPG 72 Fuel-ups 25.6 Best MPG 17,398.0Miles Tracked $0.109Cost/Mile
I'm in Limon Colorado on my way to Lakin Kansas to see the grandkids from Soap Lake, WA. in a brand new 2018 Tacoma TRD Off road. I gotta say, The 85 mph speed limits on I-90 through Montana had the engine screaming at 5000 rpm on some of the long grades in cruise control are cringe worthy. Gulp!
Not bad. Using Google sheets to track fuel economy since day 1 on the 4 cyl with 5 spd manual. Winter 4x4 to ski hill & fall hunting trips I'm in low 18 mpg territory. Summer hiway 2 wheelin' up to 25 mpg. Overall avg since Nov 2013, 21.2 mpg. 25.3 best 18 mpg worst 21.2 avg Just passed the 33,000 km mark.
Wow, that's really good. Seems like most of the 2016+ 3.5 MT 4x4's I have heard of are averaging 16-18mpg's. I averaged about 17mpg in my 2006 4.0 4wd and only 16 in my 2012. I got better in my 2 GM 1500 4wd's with 5.3l V8's that were lifted on 35's.