2006 Toyota Tacoma

I have always liked Toyotas for their quality reputation, good ergonomics, and value beyond fancy features and gimmicks. I have owned 4 Toyotas in the past, an '85 Celica, then an '85 Supra, a '91 4runner, and an '00 Tundra. I also was issued an '88 4runner as a company vehicle at one job. My net experience has been positive. A few problems, but no breakdowns and I always felt comfortable in one in areas I didn't want to break down in.

I use my trucks for work towing a light trailer and also to make trips on a regular basis that are 6-7 hours of mostly expressway driving. So, my current '03 Dodge Ram regular cab, while it can handle the work part of things, isn't an ideal vehicle for the trips. Why not? 14.8 mpg highway, a somewhat stiff highway ride, a little more road noise than I would prefer, and no place to put baggage or my two dogs other than beside me crammed into the cab.

I have test-driven two Tacomas. One, a double cab short bed SR5 V6 automatic, and the other a long bed double cab model with the sport package. Both were Prerunners (faux 4wd look on a 2wd truck. I got two distinctly different impressions, which made me realize that expectations play a large role in one's impression of a vehicle.

The first test drive, of the short bed model, was that it was much quieter, smoother, and refined than my Ram, and also very fast for a truck. Sure, it had too much body lean from the soft suspension, but I could fix that with upgrades like anti-roll bar, shocks, etc. My second drive, with the long bed left me somewhat disappointed and surprised at how different my impression was.

That made me realize that many reviewers of Tacomas (and other trucks) are sometimes coming from the old compact class trucks (S-10, Ranger, Dakota) and compared to those the Tacoma is indeed a big step up in most areas. So in comparison, it's the best thing since sliced bread. However, trucks are getting better and better and the bar has been raised. So my advice would be to shop around and test drive everything you might be interested in. Be wary of glowing magazine reviews, since their ad revenues may be affected by how they rate a truck. They also tend to rate trucks too heavily on either on-road or off-road handling prowess. For most of us, there are other factors to weigh.

Now, to the Tacoma.

EXTERIOR: The new design is good looking, but only if properly equipped. Like so many vehicles out there, they tend to under-tire the larger vehicles of today. The result is less grip on the road and a less agressive look. The Tacoma is nice looking with aftermarket wider wheels and tires, but somewhat "stilty" and plain even with the offroad or sport pkg alloy wheels. For this reason, I would skip the pricey sport and offroad packages and get the SR5 model. Then, take the savings and upgrade your wheels, tires, shocks, and springs at a good shop. You'll get more for your money.

One area in which Toyota has fallen in recent years is paint quality. My '91 4runner with 90,000 miles had paint that looked brand new. My '00 Tundra had paint which chipped easily. After 4.5 years it was speckled with paint chips that would not have occured on any of my other trucks. It looked fine from a distance, but up close it was noticeable. The new Tacoma seems to be duller than the previous edition. I see them around and they look nothing like the photos I see online of them. There seems to be a duller finish. A big part of "durability" to me is how good it will look in 5 years. Up close the truck has a little more plastic look than from a distance. Any vehicle with big flares that are plastic and not moulded into the steel is going to have that look. Some of the trim items aren't as nice up close as from a distance. But for this class of vehicle, no problems.

I prefer the look of the double cab. The proportions are slightly better to my eye, but the access cab looks nice too. The regular cab is, well, small, and only available with a 4 cylinder engine so I haven't even looked in them. If you want good value in a regular cab truck, I'd look at a low end fullsize for the extra cab space. You'll make the gas costs back by keeping it longer as it will not become obsolete the minute you need to carry more than one passenger or any gear inside.

Oh yeah, the sport package hood scoop. It's non-functional, I found it to obscure vision some, and I'm just past that age where I'd be interested in that look.

INTERIOR: This is the area in which the Tacoma differentiates itself from the competition. It is a nice looking interior. Though again, expectations have to be factored in. For a COMPACT TRUCK it is a nice interior. But compare it to a comparably priced car or even a high-end F150 and you can see the cost cutting. I like the two-tone dash look, but Toyota's new love of silver painted plastic does nothing for me. But, it beats the competition. The vehicle felt right when I got in it, the switches and dials were all where I expected from previous Toyota use and it was an easy test drive. Go drive a German car for the first time and see the difference here. The seats were comfortable for the short time I was in them. Some don't like the legs-out-front seating position of Toyotas, but I actually prefer it to the more upright position of the Domestics. It's more car-like. I don't carry passengers much, but rear seat room seemed adequate for around-town use at least. The sport/offroad packages will give you upgraded seat material and bolstering, so this would be the only reason I'd choose one of those packages vs the basic SR5.

Overall, the interior is a nice place to spend time. More compact and narrow than full sizers, but comfortable and I actually prefer a more snug fit. It's also nice to be able to reach accross the truck to the other side to grab something.

PERFORMANCE: The new 4.0L V6 is a big improvement over the V6 in previous Tacomas. It gives near-V8 power with decent fuel economy and is relatively smooth. It is more grainy when under a load than a V8, but it's not harsh. The truck is a quick one, due to being lighter than many as well as powerful. It has a smooth shifting 5 speed auto. This is a big area where the Ram falls down. Too much transmission lash and noise when trying to get the power out of the Hemi. In the Tacoma I zipped up to illegal speeds on one test drive before I even knew it. Yet on my second test drive I noticed the engine noise was not as quiet as I remembered it. Again, my expectations were a factor. Quieter than a Ram, but no Tundra in terms of engine smoothness. I expect a Tacoma to tow light loads well, due to its lighter curb weight and better hp/weight ratio than some full size trucks. But for heavy duty load, go with a full size truck, as much for stability as for acceleration.

Handling and Ride and smooth and relatively quiet, but if you drive at high speeds like I do you'd want to upgrade it with anti-sway bars and perhaps shocks or even springs to limit body lean. It feels secure but not sporty. The sport pkg was a disappointment, with not much different handling from the SR5 yet more jittery and maybe more noise. Part of the problem is the Prerunner thing. Toyota 2wd trucks have never looked that hot, the proportions I guess. So you always want the 4wd. Well, raising the center of gravity means you will not handle as well. They do not make a doublecab that isn't either a prerunner or 4wd. Well, they do, the Xrunner, but again, the gaudy plastic cladding, hood scoop, and lack of automatic transmission cut it from my shopping list early. Apparently nobody cares about handling for its own sake, they want the flashy look too.

One disturbing thing about the Tacoma driving experience is the wind noise that seems to pop up from the door area at higher speeds. It's pretty quiet generally, but I heard a loud whistling from the door as I hit the expressway. Since I do a lot of expressway driving, this was a big disappointment. I would re-test to be sure, but I have read other reports of this online. If you just drive around town, it may not be a problem.

Braking is good for a truck, even with rear drum brakes. I am disgusted by the near-inability to get a Tacoma with stability control (and side airbags) in my region. They tout its availability, but you can't really find one. Ironically, the smaller and cheaper RAV4 will have it standard in '06.

The truck feels easy to drive, though the long-bed model is more cumbersome and turns wider. I would buy a full-size truck if I wanted a 140" plus wheelbase! The narrower feel vs. fullsize is a plus on the road in terms of driving ease. My Ram handles much sharper, with no "slop" even stock, but it feels ponderous and less secure ultimately because you just feel so heavy. The Nissan Frontier is said to handle better than the Tacoma, so if you can live with the inferior styling (crew cab) and interior, go test drive one. It'll also be cheaper.

SAFETY: On paper the Tacoma has it all. Good crash test scores, decent handling and braking, abs, and side airbag and stability control available. The trouble is, the last two items are hard to find. And if you do, they will likely be on pricey loaded trucks. There is always a trade-off in vehicles. Big heavy trucks may fare better in a collison. But they are also more likely to get in an accident since they're less nimble. The Tacoma is somewhat of a compromise, with a curb weight like that of a large car, but not as big as a truck. The compact/midsize truck class as a whole has a poor deathrate vs. full size trucks or cars. That may, however, be due to the fact that a lot of young men drive them. I would upgrade its handling for safety reasons more than driving fun.

VALUE: The Tacoma is not cheap. It currently costs, real world, about the same as their full-size Tundra. I think the Tundra is a superior vehicle for most users, at least in access-cab form. The double cab Tundra may be too cumbersome and heavy. The Tacoma will hold its value well, but again the Tundra has been a champ at that so far. My Tundra did extremely well on resale. It was a cheap vehicle to own. The Tacoma is currently discounted somewhat, but nowhere near what the domestics and Tundra are. So when demand catches up, expect resale values to take a hit as Tacomas start selling for invoice price. It's the price you'll pay to be an early adapter, I guess. Toyotas cost a little more up front, but you will recoup much of that in resale value and reliablity.

RELIABILITY and WARRANTY: With Toyota's reputation, you can't go wrong, but even Toyota is not perfect. They may have slipped a little in recent years, while domestics have narrowed the gap. The 36K warranty is standard, but you also get a 60K mile powertrain warranty to cover those really big costs. This is a big plus vs. domestics, since you can count on driving it another year or two w/o any big risk. Domestics seem to have a lot of transmission problems, so I sell them faster usually. I used my trucks hard in the past, 90% towing miles

BUYING/OWNERSHIP EXPERIENCE: Now for the ugly. Toyota makes reliable vehicles. Perhaps that has created a sense of entitlement and arrogance in their dealers. I have had generally negative experience on lots with their dealers and parts and service departments. I did have one excellent experience with a Toyota dealer who sold on the internet. My advice is buy a Toyota on the internet!

My first Tacoma test drive was followed by about 30 messages on our machine over 3 months from the salesman, even though I told him clearly I was not ready to buy and had to factor in many other issues. It bordered on harrassment. He also did the "come meet my manager or I get in trouble" thing. Cheesy. Off-putting. I was so annoyed I went to another dealer for my next test drive recently. Another poor experience. I walk around outside, check out the trucks, then walk into the showroom to find a salesman. The receptionist ignores me as she repeatedly answers the phone. I guess it's not her job to actually "receive" customers. Finally a guy asks me if I'm looking for someone, and I say "someone to show me a Tacoma". He takes me out to them, all the while grilling me for facts to see if he can score a quick sale. When I say I'm not ready to buy for another month, he looks crestfallen. They seem to only care about the quick sale. Another black mark. Finally I ask for a test drive and he takes my license and goes to get the keys. Did I mention it's a very cold windy day? After 15 minutes I go looking for him, if just to get my license back. I ask around inside, nobody's seen him. I wander back out and find him in the lot. No apology. I joke that I lost him, and he says "oh yeah, I stopped to talk to somebody in the service dept". Way to go for that sale, guy! The guy was just pathetic. Not comfortable with people, poor verbal skills, and all he could talk about were things to find out how much money I had. I then had to finally point out that I drove up in the new E90 BMW in the lot to get him to stop trying to qualify me. It was just too much. He neglected to tell me anything about the truck, it was all about making a sale. Another turn-off. It's fine to qualify a customer, but you have to realize that part of your job is to show vehicles and that it takes time too.

Service has been mediocre to poor in my experience with Toyota. They again seem a little arrogant, but then many car dealerships do. I cringe when I have to visit a Toyota dealer. Luckily, they don't break that often, but if you are like me and hate sleazy salesmen or indifferent service, you might want to head out to rural areas. In my experience, dealers in rural areas have a higher chance of being laid back and straight forward. That means, usually, a domestic truck dealer.

CONCLUSION:

I ended up buying a Tacoma. It is the best overall midsize truck on the market.