Remember the year 2015? Back then, Hamilton was the most popular musical, Adele turned 25, and the season 5 finale of Game of Thrones left fans with a massive cliffhanger. Those were all seven years ago, and things have changed. Back in 2015, Toyota created the latest generation of Toyota Tacoma. It was a popular midsize pickup truck that could handle any terrain. Seven years later, Tacoma is almost unchanged. Sure, there are some technological changes, but as you’ll see, the formula has stayed the same. Is that a good thing, and does this truck justify the $45,000 price tag? Let’s find out.
When your truck’s design has stayed the same for so long, it becomes instantly recognizable. It may have an old design, but the Tacoma looks rugged and dependable. This Tacoma is the Trail Edition, so there is $4,000 worth of options to make it look amazing. There’s a lot of bronze on the badging, Toyota heritage grille, 16-inch wheels, along with Lunar Rock paint. The Tacoma Trail Edition has a 1.1-inch front lift and a 0.5-inch rear lift. Combine all of these with black badging for SR5 and Tacoma, and you have a rugged truck. In terms of design, the only thing I didn’t like were the running boards that did nothing but make entering and exiting the truck a pain.
After you hit your knees on the running boards, you get into an interior that is extremely dated. Material quality feels like it's more in tune with a $20,000 truck. There’s a tilt-and-telescope steering wheel with media controls, but I couldn’t find a good adjustment. There is a stalk for the adaptive cruise control and you can adjust the distance on the steering wheel. In front are large analog dials along with a small display that can show off-roading and other information such as speed. You’ll find a single USB, but the Tacoma has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There is built-in navigation, but it isn’t as simple to use. Since this is more analog than digital, climate controls are simple to use with large dials and buttons.
Material quality may be low, but the Tacoma feels extremely durable. This Tacoma also had an optional TRD shift knob with three cupholders and a little area to put your cell phone. Both the front and rear seats are uncomfortable, with the rear seats being able to flip up for extra storage. Compared to a Jeep Gladiator, the Tacoma’s interior feels dated. If you’re looking for tech, you won’t find much. This is a truck that is unashamed of its interior. It’s definitely more for function than form and I understand it.
Under the hood, the Tacoma has a 3.5-liter V6 producing 278 horsepower/207 kW and 265 lb-ft/363 Nm. Along with four-wheel drive, the Tacoma uses an old-school six-speed automatic. When you combine everything the Tacoma gets from 0-60 MPH in 7.9-seconds. One option that I loved on the Tacoma was the TRD Performance Exhaust. Since this is naturally aspirated, it was nice to hear that V6 get closer to the redline. Unsurprisingly, there are no drive modes. Instead, the shifter can go into a manumatic type mode, but it doesn’t work well. The transmission is pretty slow and takes a little bit to kick down when you want to overtake other vehicles. Averages for fuel economy were between 18-19 MPG, which is pretty low.
This is a truck, and an old-school truck, so it isn’t refined on the road. Those massive-looking tires look cool, but they crash into potholes. The entire driving experience is uncomfortable, but this is the Trail Edition which is built more for off-road. It may not have been a pleasant experience on pavement, but I wasn’t expecting it to be comfortable with this setup. The extent of my off-roading was driving down an unpaved road, and it did it with ease. I’m sure if you wanted to take this to an actual off-roading course or just take it off the pavement, it would be a fun little truck.
Toyota has the entry point for the Tacoma SR5 at around $30,000. Adding the V6 with 4WD adds $7,000 and the Trail Edition adds a further $4,000-6,000. With all of these options and features, this Tacoma SR5 with the Trail Edition costs a whopping $45,000. That’s a lot of money for a vehicle that’s seven years old. Would I recommend a Tacoma? Actually, yes. Just not new. This is similar to the Toyota 4Runner. I don’t see the point of paying $45,000 for a new Tacoma when you can buy a second-hand one for half. That said, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If we can predict anything based on how well the redesigned Toyota Tundra came out, a next-generation Tacoma should be even better!
_websize.jpg)
