Thinking about getting a Tacoma...

[ktg8trgrl]

That looks pretty roomy. I will into those. I see it has A/C does it have heat too? How long does set up take?

its a 16 ft box.. with the ends down its around the 24' ft range.. i can't remember if mine had heat or not although that is probably an option.. and it would take me about 15-20 mins by myself.. the ends probably take about 5-8 mins each.. that is the longest part of the set up.. I loved mine.. but my kids were 4 & 6 when i got it.. when they got to be 10 & 12 I upsized.. plus my brother and his two kids go with sometimes now too.. so i needed room to sleep 8..

 

[FSUmanager]

I have a 2009 Tacoma.

Would suggest. Great truck. Change the oil and she will go forever. My 1st one was a 1988 and I had 320k on it. The frame gave out before that motor did.

Dont get the TRD package. Waste of money.. Get the SR5 package and if you want better wheels etc get them after market.

Gas mileage for me is on average around 18 or so. The new Full size PU's are getting better then that now but they also are 15-20k more to buy.

The bold is incorrect. Every Tacoma with the SR-5 package or Extended cab are just about as much as a full size truck is. Maybe a 5k difference. The 2 SR5 packaged trucks they have at the one dealer are the exact same price as what I paid for my brand new full size Dodge Mega cab.

 

[FSUmanager]

That should haul a Pop Up I would think.

It will tow a pop up. The thing with towing is how easily it will tow. How much sway will be caused by the trailer and so on. When I had my ranger I towed a 10ft long U-Haul to FL and it swayed like a mother all the way down. The trailer was loaded correctly and I even had performance parts on my truck so I had more torque to make towing even easier. No matter what you put behind a mid sized truck you will have to deal with the sway and that can be a bitch sometimes. Especially if you are on the interstate and being passed by semis.


If you are wanting to tow anything over 8ft long you are better off to buy a full size truck for a couple of reasons. More torque which means less strain on the drivetrain. No sway for the most part. You will get some every once in awhile, but no often. Better gas mileage than what you will get with the midsize due to the strain on the motor. And some midsize trucks do not offer a "haul" setting which keeps the Overdrive OFF until you hit 55 mph. THis saves a lot of strain on the transmission because of changing gears less. Especially when going up hills.

Just my two cents though.

 

[ktg8trgrl]

It will tow a pop up. The thing with towing is how easily it will tow. How much sway will be caused by the trailer and so on. When I had my ranger I towed a 10ft long U-Haul to FL and it swayed like a mother all the way down. The trailer was loaded correctly and I even had performance parts on my truck so I had more torque to make towing even easier. No matter what you put behind a mid sized truck you will have to deal with the sway and that can be a bitch sometimes. Especially if you are on the interstate and being passed by semis.


If you are wanting to tow anything over 8ft long you are better off to buy a full size truck for a couple of reasons. More torque which means less strain on the drivetrain. No sway for the most part. You will get some every once in awhile, but no often. Better gas mileage than what you will get with the midsize due to the strain on the motor. And some midsize trucks do not offer a "haul" setting which keeps the Overdrive OFF until you hit 55 mph. THis saves a lot of strain on the transmission because of changing gears less. Especially when going up hills.

Just my two cents though.

Unless it's a open utility type trailer you need sway bars.. wouldn't tow anything with out them.. sway comes from the air drag.. sway bars are a must.. watched a guy pulling an airstream roll it sideways down a hill in Al because he went without the sway bars.. UHauls are the worst.. that's why they tell you nit to drive more then 45mph while hauling them..no sway bars

 

[ktg8trgrl]

my 27ft has load leveling sway hitch.. its all in onebuilt in.. I can pull it doing 75 mph no problems.. this is very similiar to my set up..

 

[KillaWatt]

I work for General Motors, so I'm bias, I wouldn't buy a truck built by a car company.

Dude..Toyota has been making trucks and off road vehicles for a long time.
Does Land Cruiser ring a bell?
Toyota is far better at making trucks then any American brand.

 

[KillaWatt]

Anyone drive one? Should I get the sports pkg or the off-road?

I've been driving Toyota's for the past 15 years and so has my wife.
You cant beat em. My wifes 4runner has over 200 thousand miles with nothing more then scheduled maintenance.
Reliability is far better then ford or chevy.

Dont bother with the TRD Package. All you really get is a better set of shocks.
If you plan on going offroad most definitely get the 4x4.

 

[KillaWatt]

I like the options you can get with them or maybe the set up not sure how to word it. But I would not need 4x4 or a double cab. This would afford me a larger bed area. And as I said the one I drove rode damn near like a car.

You can get the long bed in a double or extended cab.

 

[KillaWatt]

I wonder what the tow capacity is on this or the highlander. Wonder if either could tow a Pop Up camper.

Yep..use to tow the largest pop-up available with my Tacoma. You'll want to put on a never sway though.

 

[MrMoJoRisin63]

Yep..use to tow the largest pop-up available with my Tacoma. You'll want to put on a never sway though.

Is the 4 Runner a better option for towing. I can afford a new Tacoma or pre owned 4 Runner if I go this route.

 

[ktg8trgrl]

Is the 4 Runner a better option for towing. I can afford a new Tacoma or pre owned 4 Runner if I go this route.

Unless things have changed recently they used to have the same chassis..

 

[MrMoJoRisin63]

Unless things have changed recently they used to have the same chassis..

Same chasis, hmm I have to look into the HP Torque and Tow Capacity. I read where I should have an additional cooler for the tranny.

 

[KillaWatt]

Is the 4 Runner a better option for towing. I can afford a new Tacoma or pre owned 4 Runner if I go this route.

It has the same chassis and drive train. The 4runner will tow a little better because it's heavier.

 

[ktg8trgrl]

Same chasis, hmm I have to look into the HP Torque and Tow Capacity. I read where I should have an additional cooler for the tranny.

unless you are planning on towing heavy loads up and down hills a lot you don't really need the tranny cooler.. i have it on my truck because I do tow stuff quite a bit..

 

[BF4L]

The bold is incorrect. Every Tacoma with the SR-5 package or Extended cab are just about as much as a full size truck is. Maybe a 5k difference. The 2 SR5 packaged trucks they have at the one dealer are the exact same price as what I paid for my brand new full size Dodge Mega cab.

Just did the build on both

30825 Toyota SR5 double cab
41275 F150 XLT double cab

Difference is 10,450

Edit adding the Dodge

36,845

 

[KillaWatt]

Just did the build on both

30825 Toyota SR5 double cab
41275 F150 XLT double cab

Difference is 10,450

Edit adding the Dodge

36,845

2013 Ford F-150 SuperCrew 4X4 | New Ford Trucks - Yahoo! Autos

Buddy just bought a double cab Tacoma 4x4 sr5 for 33 thousand last week.

The prices are about the same. The reliability? Not so much....

I've driven ford and GMC. Neither compare in quality and reliability to a Toyota.
I'll never drive anything else again.

 

[BF4L]

2013 Ford F-150 SuperCrew 4X4 | New Ford Trucks - Yahoo! Autos

Buddy just bought a double cab Tacoma 4x4 sr5 for 33 thousand last week.

The prices are about the same. The reliability? Not so much....

I've driven ford and GMC. Neither compare in quality and reliability to a Toyota.
I'll never drive anything else again.

Had a F250 that had a million problems all under warranty until 100k. I brought it in for front end work at like 99k and they had to basically rebuild the entire front end. When I went to pick it up I was in the waiting room and a salesman actually came up to me and suggested I get a new one because the warranty was gonna run out. I laughed at him. Traded it 3 days later

Also had a Chevy 2500 that I plowed snow with for years. Good truck and lasted to about 150k and everything was breaking on it.

Now I also have a buddy who has a duramax in a GMC and it has 280k on it. Runs and tows like a champ still. Body is rotting away and frame does not look so great. Course that will run ya around 50k+

My current Tacoma has 67k on it and I plan on driving it for another 5 years at least. I do 25k+ a year.

 

[KillaWatt]

Had a F250 that had a million problems all under warranty until 100k. I brought it in for front end work at like 99k and they had to basically rebuild the entire front end. When I went to pick it up I was in the waiting room and a salesman actually came up to me and suggested I get a new one because the warranty was gonna run out. I laughed at him. Traded it 3 days later

Also had a Chevy 2500 that I plowed snow with for years. Good truck and lasted to about 150k and everything was breaking on it.

Now I also have a buddy who has a duramax in a GMC and it has 280k on it. Runs and tows like a champ still. Body is rotting away and frame does not look so great. Course that will run ya around 50k+

My current Tacoma has 67k on it and I plan on driving it for another 5 years at least. I do 25k+ a year.

Shiiiit !! It's just getting broke in.
The only other vehicle I've seen match Toyota in longevity was the wifes 300D Mercedes.
She put over a half a million miles on it before the engine died. By that time the rest of the car was getting pretty tired.
Put a used engine in it and sold it to a used car lot. Where a brother took it for a test ride and never came back.

 

[MellowYellow]

I had a 2005 TRD until a from 2004-2008. It was a damn fine truck.

 

[Tomhusker]

I think the "meat" part refers to your vagina for considering a Tacoma. Actually, that would be a "cloaca."

This. Might as well get a matching tramp stamp to go with it........