Although i love my tundra,i am considering trading down to a tacoma. i only tow a 2000 pound boat and do no off roading. its just way more truck than i need. someone has offered me a very good price. anyone have any comments?
Taco is a great little truck, had an 07 before I upgraded to the Tundra. Some down-sides are a lack of power, even for a small truck, it always feels slightly under powered. People bitch about the MPG on the Tundra but honestly, given how much smaller the Tacoma is, the MPG on it is proportionally worse; I got 16-17 in my Tacoma and before my mods could get almost 15 in the Tundra with the same commute. All in all though, if the Tundra is too much truck then the Tacoma is a great alternative.
Talked myself into doing the same thing for nearly the same reason a year ago. Regretted it immediately and ended up buying another Tundra less than a month later.
Talked myself into doing the same thing for nearly the same reason a year ago. Regretted it immediately and ended up buying another Tundra less than a month later.
My buddy in Nebraska just upgraded from a 2011 extended cab Tacoma he's owned since brand new to a 2015 Tundra 5.7 Double Cab. He regularly (at least 2x a week) tows a bassboat anywhere from 1 to 3 hours away travelling over paved and dirt roads. Here are some of his observations:
The Tundra obviously is more powerful, taking off from a dead stop there is an extremely noticeable difference to get up to highway speeds.
Gas mileage is only slightly better in the Tacoma when towing. The Tacoma is getting 12.9-13.5 mpg when towing. The Tundra so far is averaging 11.5 to 12.5, but I'm still getting used to the acceleration. I expect mileage to improve in the Tundra when I ease up on the throttle.
The tundra definitely handle better on the dirt roads, towing or not. Suspension absorbs so much more of the bumps and ruts in the dirt, it's not even close.
Tundra brakes better when towing. I had to pre-plan and brake early at a lot of stops, the Tacoma just took a little extra braking distance to stop when towing. I just drive the Tundra normally and she stops when I want her to even when towing on dirt.
He's not a member of the forum yet, I have told him about us. he spends quite a bit of time on bass fishing forums, and some of the people there drive him nuts, so he may not join up.
I've taken my 2012 Tundra out there several times and last time out, about a year ago, I let him drive my Tundra and tow with it. He finially, and slightly reluctantly traded the Tacoma in on the Tundra. He loved that Tacoma, and I know it was hard for him to do, but he seems very happy with the Tundra.
One of the reasons why I kept my gen one is because it's smaller, and fun to drive. If I go somewhere that I know parking is tight, or I'll need to park in a structure, I drive my gen one. I love both my gen one and gen two for different reasons.
In my area, the Tacoma with similar options (some missing things even) costs MORE than the tundra. They move them like crazy so people love them. I couldn't believe for 33K my buddy's taco didn't even come with a fuel consumption (MPG, DTE, AVG, Outside TEMP even) computer. It's a nice truck but I'm 6'4" and larger than the average human, I feel cramped in the passenger seat when we go anywhere.
I would take the tundra all day everyday, size, power, and not much difference in MPGs. If you already own the Tundra I would keep it, it would suck to sell it then to realize you want it back. One thing I wish Toyota would do with the Tacoma is to offer it with the 4.6 V8, that would be a nice option to have.
Been there...I had an 07 Tundra, then went to a 13 Tacoma, now back to a 15 Tundra. The mileage isn't that much better, wheel bearings are an issue with all tacomas, it was just too small for me (I'm 6'2"), and the bed space seems drastically better in the Tundra. Also the price isn't that much of a difference, I just picked up a new Tundra SR5 CM 4x4 for 34.2K.
The new Tacoma coming in the new model year won't be underpowered and will get better gas mileage. I wouldn't get a 2015 before looking at the 2016
Having said this.....
A a small truck is just enough truck to make a person want a full size truck. Just like a 2wd truck is just enough truck to make you want a 4x4 even more.
However, I wouldn't trade down unless you were doing MORE off roading where the Tacoma excels or you lived and worked in a big city downtown where the smaller body is easier to get around.
I'm still in the market for a truck. I like the Tacoma, but I feel that compact trucks in general are overpriced compared to their full-size counterparts.
I know that bigger isn't always better.....but for the same money, sometimes it is.
I recently went from a '12 Tacoma to my tundra. Couldn't be happier. I would not swap down. Gas mileage is the same. V6 power on Tacoma is anaemic, noisy and unrefined, as is the interior. The transmission shifts like a dump truck. Lack of real space. The tundra is better in every way, smoother, quieter... I don't tow, I don't off road. Bed is used for sporting gear on weekends and during the week it's my highway commuter.
on my last tacoma, i just couldn't get over the lack of power, and the fact that i had the same mpg as a tundra. i didn't want a bigger truck, but got one anyway because of those reasons.
Tell your girl/wife to buy a Tacoma and keep your Badazz Tundra! Lol.
In my world, my wife has a Tacoma, (and will keep forever) killer for her to drive, easy to park, easy on gas, (4 banger) and is just a Heck of a mule of a truck! However, a new 4Runner is inline within the next 2 years for her.
My Rig is not a DD but ready for anything!
YB
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