You won't be dissapointed

INTRODUCITON: A relative of mine recently bought a new 2002 Toyota Tacoma X-tra cab 4-cyl. It is gold, with the SR5 package, which adds a lot of chrome, to make it a nice looking little truck.

ENGINE:
Ah, the heart of the truck. It sounds like a small truck engine, but if you can afford it, I would recommend getting the V6. The acceleration is decent, but it lacks the basic power, or that nice purr, of a V6. You HAVE to turn off the overdrive to go up a hill, otherwise the engine bogs down and it is absolutely impossible to accelerate while going up a hill. You don't lose any speed, but you definitely aren't going to gain any. It's some strange thing that is supposed to be suited well for normal driving, but when it interrupts your basic driving, it's more of an annoyance than a help.

TRANSMISSION:
Shifting is pretty smooth, no noticable jerks or bumps, I would rate it as a very good truck transmission.

RIDE:
The ride is the only downfall of this truck, or most trucks for that matter. I am used to riding in a Camry, so going from the riding on air feeling of a Camry to the vibration plagued ride of a truck is not easy for me. But, I can say that is does not jar you around, and the seats seem to absorb a lot of vibrations that could be uncomfortable. Not having anything but a Ford Ranger to compare it to for ride, the ride is superb, but I really can't provide an accurate comparison of how it would rank against others in its class.

COMFORT:
I would have to say that this is a supremely comfortable truck.
Front Seats:
The seats are thickly padded, but it is not an annoying sink-into padding, but neither is it an unpleasantly hard padding. It's just right. The seats are made out of a funny feeling cloth that is really fun to run your hand over, and feels kind of nice against your skin. I'm not sure exactly what it is. The armrest is nice to have, especially since there is no way you are putting a third person there due to the layout of the controls on the floor.
Rear Seats:
Those funny little flip-down seats actually are pretty comfortable. The pad for the back is in just the right place, and the seat part itself is quite nice too. The problem: there is absolutely no legroom for a grown adult there. You have to angle your legs across if you want to have any room, or have the person in front of you scoot their seat up until they touch the dash. At least the rear seats are easy to get out of.

INTERIOR:
The design of this truck's interior is just perfect. I like everything, from the layout of the dash, to the way the console opens. Everything in the interior is illuminated in an orange type glow, rather than the green I am used to seeing. It looks really nice, but the clock is impossible to read when the sun shines on it. The red numbers just dissappear. The dash of the truck is made from a harder plastic than found in most Toyotas, but it still does not have the "cheap" feel of some of the chevy and ford plastics they use. The gauges are large and easy to read, and the steering wheel looks like the steering wheel from a Camry on moderate steroids. The little windows for the rear seats are those little pop-out one, which do wonders for the air circulation of the cab, but without much, if any, wind noise.

SOUND:
This vehicle has the exact same Toyota sound deck (AM/FM/CASS/CD) unit they use in several vehicles, the only difference is that this one glows orange instead of green. Sound is decent for factory standard, and I have yet to have any complaints about it. Naturally, it's not an audiophile pleaser, but this is an inexpensive, midsize truck.

STYLING:
I love the way this truck looks. From the friendly headlights to the grill that looks like it's almost smiling at you, to the subtle fender flares, to the tailights, everything about this truck looks good. This, I think, it probably the clearest advantage it has over the Dodge Dakota, Ford Ranger, or S-10. Besides being an all-around better truck, it just makes you feel good to look at it.

OVERALL:
There is something about this truck that no matter what you are doing, whether driving it, sitting in it, riding in it, or looking at it, that just makes you feel really good. Its something about affordable quality that leaves this feeling, either than or Toyota is scenting the interior with narcotics. At any rate, this truck is the best combination of comfort, quality, good looks, and fun that I have ever seen in a smaller truck. I would definitely recommend it.