We have a 2013 Tacoma with 4 doors, standard bed, 6 cylinder. We get about 20 mpg unloaded and 18 fully loaded. It has over 250k. Relatively few problems, none major. The usual stuff, ac blower and ac resistor pack. The transmission has been a little funky over its entire life. The dealership said there was nothing wrong with it. The polymer bed helps with the wet gear.
our previous shop vehicle was a ford. Virtually everything was repaired except the engine and transmission. I was going to pry off all the ford identifiers and replace them with AZ for autozone.
The Tacoma is the shops primary vehicle and we frequently have 13 or more tanks, gear, and weights.
I am waiting for the diesel version. If that never comes we will get another gas.
Truck for diving help
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broncobowsher
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The engine tuning is set for a slightly better fuel economy at the cost of drivability. You have to bury the throttle to keep up with traffic but that kills the economy and you are now the fast idiot on the road. There is no moderation. Slug or fast. Sand driving the computer will decide you have been on the throttle too much and cut power to nothing. The floppy rubber motor mounts where on a rough road you can feel the drivetrain bouncing away on the chassis. The brakes are digital. No light braking allowed. Either nothing or you are doing a hard stop.
We have some new ones at work, fairly well optioned as well. Everyone was excited when they got here. Oh, the Tacoma is such a great truck. Then you drive them. Now they are the punishment truck. People will go for the 10 year old Frontier first. Nobody can figure out what is so special about the Tacoma. They don't drive that good. At best we hope the resale is good when they go away.
Yes, the Tacoma has a ton of aftermarket support. If you start with a top level TRD you will be leaving the showroom for over $50k. Then you start adding up the aftermarket stuff you can pile onto it. It wouldn't take much to trick one out and have $75k parked in your driveway. But you never mentioned your budget either.
How unimproved of a road are you talking about? It could range from a nice dirt road that doesn't see the county grader to hard core off-road stuff. I've seen it all.
So, I've had a lot of trucks over the years, and am partial to both Toyota and Ford as brands. My favorite trucks were my 1984 Toyota Hilux 4cyl, my 1994 Ford F-150 V6, and my 2009 Toyota Tundra V8. The Tundra is my current truck, and my favorite of all of them.
Because I also use it for road trips to the snow, I went for the double cab, automatic, 4wd, 6.5foot bed setup. Works great for snow trips with 4 people, dive trips with 4 people. Bought the truck in 2017 with 120k miles, for $18500 (!), similar Tacomas were running around $5k more, and either one probably cost about $40k new. Sometimes I wish I shelled out for the Tacoma, other times I figure the main advantage there is better fuel economy, and it would take a really long time for that to add up to that $5k. I love this truck, and intend to drive it until either it dies, or fully-electric trucks finally come out and I splurge for one. My ex-father-in-law's 2001 Tundra went 375k miles before it finally blew a head gasket in 2015 or so. He put a new engine in it, and is still happily driving it today, I have no idea how many miles he's up to, my best guess would be mid-high 400k range.
The point is, 2000's era Toyotas go and go and go and go, and don't really depreciate very much after the first 5 years or so. So do the Fords, by the way. Can't speak much for other brands, as these 2 brands are the only high-mileage experience I personally have. That all being said, I fully agree with @Barnaby'sDad 's point: these things are really subjective, and you're probably not gonna get very useful responses. If you've ever seen a thread where people discuss their favorite brand of soda, or beer, or cell phones, or rebreathers, or whatever, it's the same thing here... people like what they like.
If it has not occurred to you, I would highly recommend looking into looking into a used one. Some people don't like used vehicles, I get that, but it's just not worth paying over double for the newness factor (to ME). Also, don't trip out about how many attachment points are in the bed, and definitely don't worry about what the bed liner is made out of. You can see a few pics of my truck in my thread on the DIY forum, where I added a whole crapload of attachment points to my truck for cheap. Also visible is the spray-in liner, which is awesome. The very first thing I did when I bought this baby is throw the old POS plastic liner out, and had a liner sprayed into it for about $600. I went with Line-X, but Rhino is essentially the same thing, and there are a few other brands.
Best of luck
Because I also use it for road trips to the snow, I went for the double cab, automatic, 4wd, 6.5foot bed setup. Works great for snow trips with 4 people, dive trips with 4 people. Bought the truck in 2017 with 120k miles, for $18500 (!), similar Tacomas were running around $5k more, and either one probably cost about $40k new. Sometimes I wish I shelled out for the Tacoma, other times I figure the main advantage there is better fuel economy, and it would take a really long time for that to add up to that $5k. I love this truck, and intend to drive it until either it dies, or fully-electric trucks finally come out and I splurge for one. My ex-father-in-law's 2001 Tundra went 375k miles before it finally blew a head gasket in 2015 or so. He put a new engine in it, and is still happily driving it today, I have no idea how many miles he's up to, my best guess would be mid-high 400k range.
The point is, 2000's era Toyotas go and go and go and go, and don't really depreciate very much after the first 5 years or so. So do the Fords, by the way. Can't speak much for other brands, as these 2 brands are the only high-mileage experience I personally have. That all being said, I fully agree with @Barnaby'sDad 's point: these things are really subjective, and you're probably not gonna get very useful responses. If you've ever seen a thread where people discuss their favorite brand of soda, or beer, or cell phones, or rebreathers, or whatever, it's the same thing here... people like what they like.
If it has not occurred to you, I would highly recommend looking into looking into a used one. Some people don't like used vehicles, I get that, but it's just not worth paying over double for the newness factor (to ME). Also, don't trip out about how many attachment points are in the bed, and definitely don't worry about what the bed liner is made out of. You can see a few pics of my truck in my thread on the DIY forum, where I added a whole crapload of attachment points to my truck for cheap. Also visible is the spray-in liner, which is awesome. The very first thing I did when I bought this baby is throw the old POS plastic liner out, and had a liner sprayed into it for about $600. I went with Line-X, but Rhino is essentially the same thing, and there are a few other brands.
Best of luck
I have owned two Ram 1500 pick up trucks (each purchased new) and currently own a 8 year old Tundra (purchased by me new).
I have no reservations in saying the Toyota product is way above the Dodge, and will likely never own another Dodge. I also will likely buy another Tundra.
I have no reservations in saying the Toyota product is way above the Dodge, and will likely never own another Dodge. I also will likely buy another Tundra.
TuckerIdaho
Contributor
....thats what my 2500HD with the vortec gets
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