Why Does the Tacoma Dominate the Off-Road Pickup Segment?

[Strokerduster]

Ever notice how many very low mileage tacomas are on dealer used car lots? I'm sure it's because it's the best truck out there.....

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[AzScorpion]

Dave I hope you lowered the tailgate to sit on while chewing the cud.

No I was in a rental car at the time. I wish I had her lower the tailgate because I would've noticed right then there was no damper on the Ranger. ? I could've got off to a head start with my business venture.?

 

[Trigganometry]

this reminds me of a buddy who had blue Chevy blood running through his veins.
wouldn't surprise me if he had bow ties even on his underwear.

anyways, he always raved about the resale of Chevy products.
i simply told him, they hold their value because idiots like you will overpay for a piece of shit.
he always tried to argue that one, mostly unsuccessfully, and that blue blood would boil so fast.

i took pride is setting him off so easily.

????

 

[Cape Cruiser]

I think the offroad dominance is slowly going away. All of the trucks in this segment are very similar, IFS, track, wheel base , weight , and locking differentials so they should perform the same. Toyota does have much better aftermarket support and that can give them an edge for now. The game changer is the low end torque of the Ranger, torque not horsepower gets weight moving and the taco doesn't even start to make any power until 3500 rpm due to the terrible Atkinson design 3.5 liter engine. You need torque offroading and eventually the buying public will find this out. Many third gen taco owners are regearing to 4.56 or higher gears to regain some low end. I'm sure Toyota will figure this out and respond with something good in the near future. Many blame Tacos trans for the issue but the trans is very smooth, the lack of low rpm torque is causing the trans to constantly hunt gears. My 17 Taco sport got traded on 11/21/20 and is still sitting on the lot today which is unheard of around here . They were asking 39,998 which is 2000 more than I paid for it and it has 35,000 miles. They put new tires on it which it didn't need and they didn't even detail it as it was so clean. Now its down to 33,990 which is what they gave me for it, so they are selling for a loss. I'm no fanboy by any means as Ill buy what's best for me at the time . I think the Tacos great reputation is slowly going away. The rear end vibration and leaking and lack of low end torque and frame rust is catching up with them.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

I think the offroad dominance is slowly going away. All of the trucks in this segment are very similar, IFS, track, wheel base , weight , and locking differentials so they should perform the same. Toyota does have much better aftermarket support and that can give them an edge for now. The game changer is the low end torque of the Ranger, torque not horsepower gets weight moving and the taco doesn't even start to make any power until 3500 rpm due to the terrible Atkinson design 3.5 liter engine. You need torque offroading and eventually the buying public will find this out. Many third gen taco owners are regearing to 4.56 or higher gears to regain some low end. I'm sure Toyota will figure this out and respond with something good in the near future. Many blame Tacos trans for the issue but the trans is very smooth, the lack of low rpm torque is causing the trans to constantly hunt gears. My 17 Taco sport got traded on 11/21/20 and is still sitting on the lot today which is unheard of around here . They were asking 39,998 which is 2000 more than I paid for it and it has 35,000 miles. They put new tires on it which it didn't need and they didn't even detail it as it was so clean. Now its down to 33,990 which is what they gave me for it, so they are selling for a loss. I'm no fanboy by any means as Ill buy what's best for me at the time . I think the Tacos great reputation is slowly going away. The rear end vibration and leaking and lack of low end torque and frame rust is catching up with them.

Your Tacoma envy is showing...

 

[dtech]

If I had bought a 2nd gen Tacoma I'd probably still be driving it. The 3rd gen drivetrain is one of the worst I've ever driven and yes the seating position is God awful too! I could never drive any long distance with that truck. When we went to CO summer of '19 I rented a car because I hated driving it for any length of time. One good thing though while we were in CO I met a lady at the gas station with a brand new Saber Ranger. Talked her ear off for about an hour and 3 weeks later I bought mine.

I had a different experience - ran into a guy who had made a Lexus GX into an off road vehicle (link below) - lift, big tires, skid, plates and so on, but it was old and I discussed my Ranger and let him drive it, he said it was between a ranger and taco, and he bought the taco. Can't remember the off road trail he'd take annual jaunts on, it was in North NM and supposedly bad *ss .
As I mentioned in the mtn towns of CO , Tacomas still dominate - this amongst the locals who do a lot of off roading, not the throngs of visitors.

https://jalopnik.com/why-lexus-gxs-are-becoming-big-in-the-off-road-communit-1836636375

 

[RoadtripsOfUnusualSize]

I started to say that they were the first small 4x4 pickup, but then I remembered that there was an oddball (and ill-fated) Chevy Luv 4x4 that hit the market first. But, Toyota was there making and improving small 4x4 pickups for the American market from the very beginning. They really earned their following. I'm an unapologetic Ford guy, so they never really appealed to me, but you've got to give Toyota credit for how they've promoted and improved these vehicles over the years.

 

[VoodooRanger]

I really wanted a TRD Off-Road Tacoma with a manual transmission. Things didn’t pan out and ended up with my Ranger. Saying that, I do not have any regrets. My Ranger has done everything I have asked of it. Sure there are a few things the Tacos have that I wish the Ranger would’ve come along with. Split folding rear seat/complete fold down swayback, 20+ gallon fuel capacity, manual transmission, etc.

Would I trade my Ranger for the current Taco for those features? No. In my opinion the current Ranger is a better truck than the current Tacoma. I feel that Toyota is resting on their laurels since the Tacos sell so well. Hell, look how long it took for them to add the power seat.

 

[dtech]

I wanted to mention what for me is even more perplexing but is indicative of Toyota's reputation as I think it fares more unfavorably than Ranger vs Tacoma is Yota Tundra vs an F-150 - yesterday a 2021 top trim tundra pulled next to me in a parking lot - those things can go for >$60k and most all reviewers rank then at the bottom of full sized trucks, even behind the Titan.

 

[AzScorpion]

I started to say that they were the first small 4x4 pickup, but then I remembered that there was an oddball (and ill-fated) Chevy Luv 4x4 that hit the market first. But, Toyota was there making and improving small 4x4 pickups for the American market from the very beginning. They really earned their following. I'm an unapologetic Ford guy, so they never really appealed to me,

but you've got to give Toyota credit for how they've promoted and improved these vehicles over the years.

You might want to reconsider that last statement.

https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2019/02/toyota-tacoma-engine-transmission-issues/

Long known for its reliability, the Toyota Tacoma has been off its game since its redesign for the 2016 model year. The problem seems to be largely due to the new 6-speed automatic transmission and 3.5L V6 2GR-(FKS) introduced for the pickup. Numerous owners have complained and Toyota has issued two technical service bulletins and two recalls to address the various problems.

A big recall of 228,000 2016-2017 Toyota Tacoma pickups for a leaky differential causing a host of problems has also played a factor in reliability rankings.

Finally, Toyota issued a recall of 32,000 2016-2017 Toyota Tacoma V6 pickups to address an issue with the crankshaft position sensor may malfunction due to too much anti-corrosion coating on the crankshaft timing rotor.

While all vehicles tend to have some issues Toyota especially the Tacoma is NOT the truck it use to be. With all the new mid size trucks coming into the market they better step up their game. Of course the Toyota fan boys will never admit an of this and continue to buy them because "they have great resale value".

 

[VAMike]

continue to buy them because "they have great resale value".

As they say, "past performance is no guarantee of future results". I still expect a crash in used tacoma pricing at some point, just don't know when. It only takes a little change in buyer demand to change the supply/demand economics, and there are a lot of tacomas out there that people want to sell. It'll be worst for the people who are in too deep because they're "sure" they can get their money out since a used tacoma will never decrease in value--which has never been true of anything.

 

[Trigganometry]

Every time I see ‘TRD’ my brain says ‘turd’

Can’t help it! Just the way I’m wired!!! ?

 

[ProtonDecay]

I am already getting a bit of flack from my Taco and Jeep friends - I just wish them all the best. They each have brand recognition that Ford wishes to have, and brand loyalty covers a host of flaws. Who knows how much longer mid-size trucks with non-EV power plants will even be available? The ground is shifting as we speak.

But I need a truck now, and while everything is a compromise, for me the decision was simple:

1) You can flat tow a Ranger behind a motorhome with 5,000lb weight limit.
2) 7,500 lbs towing capacity, ~1800 lbs payload
3) Turbo that maintains RWTQ at higher elevations

I view my truck resale value like my house resale value - it will be worth whatever it is worth whenever I am ready to sell it, but that doesn't really matter right now.

Everybody loves a winner - and the Taco is a winner, for sure!

 

[Av8or]

I just wasn't about to buy a brand new 2019 vehicle with drum brakes. Wasn't going to happen. It's weird how Toyota keeps defending their drum brakes too... It's like someone in the 80's bought a ten million sets of them and thought "Let's get in on this bulk deal, there will NEVER be a time that these go obsolete".

They just keep doubling down on their crappy 40 year old brakes and I don't understand why. I probably would have bought a taco too since I wanted a manual, but with so much of their antiquated technology I just couldn't do it.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

... "they have great resale value".

Great resale value is important in a vehicle you can't wait to get rid of...

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