Any love for the Toyota Tacoma?

My daily driver was just destroyed in a flood. Insurance payout will be about $9k after my deductible. I'm considering leasing a truck so I can tow the race car.

There's a great lease deal on the 2020 Tacoma. I'm looking at the official "Suburban Dad" specification: 4-door, short-bed, AWD, V6 format. Tow rating in this spec is just over 6k lbs. My racecar on a UHaul trailer should come in right at about 5k lbs, which would give me a reasonable buffer.

But towing will be a 4-5 times a year type of deal. Am I going to hate this as a daily driver? If the ride is too rough, my wife will probably hate it.

You are going to love it. Our 2017 lease is ending (its the $22,000 Utility package special) in 6 months, and we will replace it with a 2021 version, but will go 4 door Long Bed 4wd, which is a hard combo to find out west. Will be ordering from PA, and having it shipped. Its cheapest Toyota Lease in USA. 

Good luck. the 3.5L isnt as great as the old 4.0, but for a suburban dad its perfect. 

Tacos are awesome. Other than price, there's a lot to love. Price will haunt you forever. 

Resale on Toy trucks is solid, if that's a consideration.

Any love for the Taco?! Are you kidding?! 

Around here people sell Tacos for extraordinary prices. No price is too high.

I have a 2019. I absolutely love it as a daily driver, but it doesn't tow anywhere near as well as my 2005 Tacoma did. And I was actually towing with it today. The new engine is much nicer to live with on a daily basis (much more car like), but the old (bigger) engine was much better at truck stuff.

The 2019 really struggled with the Volvo on a 900 pound aluminum trailer, and that was way below the truck's rated capacity of 6500 pounds.

Sorry Toyota. Everything else about it is awesome though.

Woody said:

The 2019 really struggled with the Volvo on a 900 pound aluminum trailer, and that was way below the truck's rated capacity of 6500 pounds.

Hmmm. That's surprising. If it can't comfortably tow 5k lbs, then it's not going to work for me.

What's not to like? 70,000 miles on the 2013 and no problems. Price is not an issue if you look at quality and no mechanical issues plus resale value. I towed a pontoon for 6 years and now a 18 foot boat. Living in MN, I would like heated seats on my next Tacoma. Not ready to sell yet. Take the wife on an extended test drive.

I owned an 86 truck and various Toyota's over the years.  Yup they're reliable, but souless.  I think the one thing that catches you off guard about them is the height of the floor.  The cabins are cramped because the floors are high to give good offroad performance.  If you're tall, it's not an awesome experience.  The buy in price is kinda silly as well.  I'd love one, but will buy a full size, just too small inside for a family of 5.

Years ago there used to be a very extreme difference in the quality of a toyota vs. others..  I'm not so sure that's the case anymore..   I don't love the reliabiliy of my 2013 sienna van. The drivetrain is coarse..  It's eaten a wheel bearing and a bunch of A/C components and the seats rattle and squeak inside like crazy..  70k miles.. don't think this one will make it to 200K like the 2004 sienna did..   Don't ask me about my 2007 rav4.. it's an oil burning poop show..  600 miles a quart.

I really dislike the transmission in the new Tacoma's. They just feel mushy. Really mushy. And from what I heard working at a Toyota dealer for 4 years, if you want to tow more than a small camping trailer you're really looking at buying a tundra. The taco will do it, but not comfortably. 

In reply to barefootskater :

I was really afraid for my transmission on that trip (40 miles).

I towed quite a bit with the old truck, usually with the aluminum trailer, but once across three states with a heavy uhaul with a Porsche on it. I never had any towing issues with the 2005.

I've learned to treat modern cars as appliances. There's a good lease deal on Tacomas from now through August 3rd. In the configuration I'd want (4-door, short bed, AWD, V6), plus a few basic options, we're looking at $450/month. Not much more than leasing a Mazda3 with the same parameters.

In reply to LanEvo :

Check the uhaul site to see if it will allow you to use their full car trailer with the Tacoma.  Basically, attempt to place a reservation.  The site will ask you what the truck is and what car you intend to tow. The site will then return a yes or no answer.

I think there is a reflash for the transmission to make them better. Also I think the modern tacos use an Atkinson cycle engine which some complain about. My sister's 15 (old style) is pretty awesome in the 4 door long bed flavor. She put a mall crawler lift kit and terrible aftermarket wheels on it, but otherwise it's an awesome truck. 

To the original poster, check out lease hackr forum. You can find even better lease deals through brokers on there than the advertised deals. 

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

Check the uhaul site to see if it will allow you to use their full car trailer with the Tacoma.  Basically, attempt to place a reservation.  The site will ask you what the truck is and what car you intend to tow. The site will then return a yes or no answer.

Tried that just now. It says the combination WILL work. My racecar is actually 500 lbs lighter than the street version. If the street car is OK, then I'll have an even bigger buffer there.

Again, the Tacoma configuration I'm looking at has a tow rating of 6100 lbs with max tongue weight of 500 lbs. From what I understand, UHaul car trailers are a whopping 2200 lbs. My racecar is 2700 lbs. The combined weight is 1200 lbs under maximum, which (in theory) should be fine.

CyberEric said:

Any love for the Taco?! Are you kidding?! 

Around here people sell Tacos for extraordinary prices. No price is too high.

I just bought 3 tacos on Sunday after church...from Taco Bell. 

LanEvo said:

I've learned to treat modern cars as appliances. There's a good lease deal on Tacomas from now through August 3rd. In the configuration I'd want (4-door, short bed, AWD, V6), plus a few basic options, we're looking at $450/month. Not much more than leasing a Mazda3 with the same parameters.

Not very long ago the "Edmunds Deal" had leases on new Tacoma's in multiple trim levels in the $200's per month with no money down. The residual values are so strong, the lease rates are awesome. 
 

Link

What about a Colorado? Tows 7700 lbs and should be able to had for a good lease deal. You can even get a diesel. Though I'm not sure how good of a deal you're getting on the Tacoma.

If you don't need the macho attitude and don't offroad much, but do want 4 doors and AWD, The Ridgeline is a better vehicle IMO. Only 5k lbs towing capacity though.

I have a 16 Tacoma SR5 extended cab 2WD with tow package and V6/AT. Didn't want or need the full 4-door crew cab but wanted more room than a standard cab and wanted the full 6-ft bed. The electronic controlled transmission takes a little getting used to but really is pretty good. Haven't towed with it yet but have loaded the bed and didn't hardly notice it. From my understanding is Toyota has one suspension for 2WD and 4WD. 4WD may have stiffer shock. 2WD is as tall as a 4WD. The only thing I don't really car for about it. SWMBO is barely 5' even and has issues getting in it but she does have a bad back. Ride is very good for a truck, almost car like. Have driven it long distances and didn't beat me up like my old 95 F150 XLT 2WD I had before.

Daily drive mine. Gets a little over 22 mpg combined empty. The bed has some niceties. Composite with storage cubbies for tie-downs and adjustable tie-down tracks on the bed lip.

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

The Ridgeline was the first place I looked, but I'd max out the tow capacity. 

A less expensive, but more capable/powerful alternative to the Tacoma is the Nissan Frontier... you get the better motor (best torque in class) and more robust/rigid frame with it. I liked my Tacoma... but love my Frontier.

I think the OP has picked the perfect truck for his needs.  The Taco should do just fine.  And kudos to him for not pressing the F450 diesel dually “because I have a trailer” button.

I got that exact spec you are looking at in 2014.  New truck provided by my company.  Got to option it out how i wanted and really like it for the first couple weeks.  No joke...i quit after 4 months because they wouldn't change it.

Rode like E36 M3.  Basically first gen Escape E36 M3.  Slow, too cramped with kids seats, E36 M3ty shallow too small bed.  Bad fuel economy and small tank. Its junk.  As a DD it is god awful.

Terrible vehicle.  I just dont get people who fawn over them.