2005 Toyota Tacoma—Everything in one smart package

After 13 years it was time to trade in my 92’Chevy S10 for a new vehicle. Because I took good care of it, the S10 was a great little truck. However, I wanted an upgrade to some modern conveniences and a more sophisticated drive train. For a long time I was looking at sports cars (mid-life thing?) but came back to reality when the Japanese tsunami of new trucks caught my eye.

Honda, Nissan and Toyota have just put new mid-sized trucks on the market. This is definitely the time to be looking at vehicles that can do it all: drive like a car, play in the dirt, and haul the family or a pile of bricks with equal efficiency.

After months of spending all my spare time doing research my wife finally agreed that it was time to start test-driving. Due to our Honda addiction—three new Accords and a Prelude in the last 25 years—we reported first to the Honda dealer to check out Honda’s first truck, the Ridgeline. Two things quickly dashed my hopes of having another Honda in our driveway. First, the styling is disappointingly Honda (read: plain/ugly). I wish their design team had the same level of inspiration as the engineering team. The second problem drove us right off the lot—the $6,000 markup on all Ridgelines.

Next we pulled into the Nissan lot and took a good look at and a full test drive in the new Frontier. I’d read quite a bit about the new the Frontier and it’s strong V6. Also I discovered it comes with a leather package so I wanted to check it out. We were suitably impressed with the new mid-sized Nissan truck. However, a couple of things prevented me from falling in love. Nissan can’t seem to get enough of that loud, obnoxious chrome grill. They put it on the Titan, Xterra, Pathfinder and the Frontier. Somebody must like it—not me. The other problem was the salesman. Nice enough guy, but he wouldn’t shut up about how the new Frontier is better than the new Tacoma. This kind of pitch always seems like overcompensation to me.

I was still thinking of the Nissan as a real possibility when we got to the Toyota lot. As soon as we got close to the Tacoma we forgot about the rest. We were attracted to the styling (inside and out), the quality feel and a reasonable price from a more down-to-earth dealer. When all the driving and negotiating was done I ended up with a Tacoma that has virtually everything you can get but the first aid kit. For about 32K I got a 2005 V6 with 5-speed automatic, double cab, 4X4 and a short bed. We sprung for the Sport/TRD package ($3870), premium JBL stereo & subwoofer, hard tonneau cover, leather seats, running boards and extra window tint. On the Tacoma forum sites they would call it a “Taco Supreme.” You can get this excellent 4X4 truck with V6 at a base price of about 25K. For me, this truck is a long-term investment. It will be in my garage until 2020 to 2025 so I can justify the extra goodies. Hope we still have gas that long…

WALKAROUND

“The size is perfect”, this is the most consistent comment I get from my friends. Obviously, the size of your truck is dependent on your needs. However, at just over 2 tons and 208 inches in length, the double cab Tacoma is clearly a midsize truck. The Sport package gives me everything I need to tow 6500 lbs (performance suspension, class-4 hitch, oil & tranny coolers, heavy duty battery and alternator). It’s big and brawny enough for most work and recreation needs yet it can haul the family and maneuver pretty well in the mall parking lot.

The color choices are pretty limited. I ended up with your standard silver, like half the cars on the road these days. Silver is a practical choice because it’s attractive and looks clean longer. This double cab body style looks great with the short bed (the long bed wouldn’t fit in my garage). The body has lots of muscular lines and bulges. Not at all like the slab-sided new Ford F150. The Tacoma looks cool from every angle until you get to the front. It’s not bad but large headlights and bold grill seem a tad overdone to me. Then of course you add the non-functional hood scoop from the Sport package and you have a rather busy mug. There’s already an aftermarket billet grill set up that looks like it would improve things dramatically.

The rear gate and taillights have a clean, “grown up truck” appearance. Bumpers and mirrors are body color matching with the Sport package. The best angle is the side profile. The hood scoop even seems to work from this angle. Also with the Sport package you also get fairly good looking 5 spoke, 17-inch wheels. If you want to jazz up the Tacoma a wheel and tire upgrade would be the most likely place to start.

When making the purchase I rolled in the cost of an A.R.E. tonneau cover (LSII model) for the bed from a local truck accessory shop (about $850). The paint matching is good and it fits the truck in style and function. However, the truck looks good with no cover on the bed. The bed is made of carbon fiber (no steel); it’s lightweight and seems plenty tough. There’s also a 400Watt AC plug in the bed but I’m not sure how practical it is. The only thing I’ve tried to power with it so far is my daughter’s blow dryer (somewhat embarrassing admission). I was using the blow dryer to remove the dealer’s sticker from the tailgate. It tripped the breaker and required me to use an extension cord to the house.

INTERIOR

The Tacoma is very comfortable inside. The double cab seems more like a medium-sized luxury SUV than a truck (4Runner with a bed?). Leather seats are not an option with the Tacoma; however, our salesman contacted the guys from a local auto upholstery shop. For $1100 they removed the sport covers and installed good quality gray leather they received from the factory. I’m not sure why this option isn’t advertised by Toyota but I’m happy and my truck has a relatively unique addition. The seats are pretty comfortable and are adjusted manually. Power seats would be nice but are wasted if you, like me, are the only driver of your rig.

The climb into the truck is a bit tall for my (5’ 3”) wife. The black factory running boards solve that problem and look good. They also make washing and waxing the roof lots easier. However, they’re pretty expensive ($399) and are the first thing to look dirty. I had considered getting the factory tube steps by DeeZee, but the salesman convinced me otherwise. He showed me some tube steps installed on a mechanic’s Tundra. For some reason they tend to get yellow water spots that are quite difficult to get rid of.

Once inside the visibility is good. However, the hood scoop does block some of the view ahead but it took me all of two minutes to get used to it.

The upgraded JBL premium stereo (with six-disk CD player & subwoofer—$500) sounds great to me. But admittedly, this isn’t my area of expertise. The steering wheel controls for the stereo and cruise control work well. However, the appearance of the stereo is nothing special. Like the rest of the dash area, it’s truck-like and simple (utilitarian). One annoyance, the stereo LED screen is hard to see. It’s virtually impossible to read on a sunny day when wearing sunglasses. I read about this problem before my purchase but thought it was no big deal. Guess I didn’t realize how much I look at the readout on my stereo. Now I find myself trying to memorize all my settings. It’s kind of a drag.

PERFORMANCE

To me the Tacoma just felt right when I jumped in. It feels like both a truck and a car, in all the right places. After driving both the 6-speed manual and the 5-speed automatic my vote was, yes. Both are excellent choices, although for some reason the manual comes with the old-fashioned pull handbrake. More curious transmission facts: the automatic is rated with better gas mileage and quicker 0-60 times by various sources. This is a first, to my knowledge, so I gave up the fun of the manual for the luxury of the automatic. After three months I’ve acclimated to the lazy “shiftless” lifestyle.

The car-like feeling is welcome during daily driving. I’ve been commuting in my new truck five days a week. Going to work is now fun (and I work in a prison!) just because I get to cruise in the Taco. My fantasies of sports cars are gone (or at least repressed). The Tacoma is certainly no sports car but it doesn’t feel like as much of a compromise as you might think. The sport suspension feels very stable and tracks well on the road. The steering is boosted just right, not too light. Acceleration is brisk and immediate. There’s a tricky on-ramp on my daily commute; power is no longer an issue. As a matter of fact I’ve had to get used to not flooring it when merging (I’ve got 245 horsepower now) like I had to in the old S10. The five-speed automatic performs about as well as you could ever hope. In casual driving, I’m not even aware of when it shifts. The only time I miss the manual tranny is when getting on it in a turn—when you really want to “row your own.”

Gas mileage has been consistent with the EPA ratings. After ten tanks I’m getting 18.5 MPG on regular 87 octane (combined highway/in-town). This seems in line with the EPA’s estimate of 17-21 for this truck with the automatic transmission. One curious fact, I got the same mileage with premium gas. I put in three tanks of premium 91 octane in succession—no difference in mileage or (perceived) performance. Some web sites say to use premium. The dealer said don’t worry about it, their complimentary tank of gas was 87 octane.

SUMMARY

My Tacoma makes me smile every day. Not a squeak, not a rattle, not a thump. This truck has even won over my wife. Because it feels more like a sedan she enjoys cruising in it (she always avoided going near my old Chevy S10 like it was my mother). The Tacoma shares the garage with her 2001 Honda Accord. We agree that we have two of the best, most practical vehicles ever built.