NoNo
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Picked mine up 7/13, drove it back home 400 miles on 7/14. This is just a preview, I plan to write a lot about this vehicle in the next few weeks. I started out writing a review but haven't been able to get it organized enough to post yet. I'll just start with what the truck is and some initial first impressions.
Specifications:
2024 Toyota Tacoma Off Road, 8spd Auto, Bronze Oxide w/ Black/white interior. Only extras are 14" display and heated seats.
Very early first impressions, good and bad:
Drivetrain is awesome. It's not about the power, I've driven a lot more powerful vehicles. The engine is plenty powerful enough for anything I'd use it for, but more importantly it's so incredibly smooth and responsive for a truck, one of the best engine/transmission combos I've ever driven in a truck...and that's starting the drive with 9 miles on the truck, obviously not broken in. Shifts are really smooth, no lugging, never seems to shift too early or too slow in any of the three modes, eco/normal/sport. Turbo is seemless, no lag, just feels great to drive. I tried all three drive modes on the way home, I was careful during the break in period so I didn't push the truck too hard. I alternated very short stretches on the interstate with longer stretches on mostly rural state roads. I averaged 26.3 mpg for the whole 400 miles. Don't believe the crap about the truck needing a break in period to get good fuel economy. If you are getting bad fuel economy it's your driving style, terrain, mods, etc. I had no trouble getting 30mpg on flat roads driving 55-65mph, no drafting and not being particularly careful, just staying out of turbo boost. Each mode did get better fuel economy for me, from Sport to Normal to Eco. I also did notice significant differences in the way the truck behaved in each mode. Turbo boost changed significantly, how quickly it engaged, how much boost was provided, how long it stayed boosted, etc. Sport mode is awesome just made me want to keep the truck in that and push the truck hard. I was totally content to do most of my driving in Eco mode though, the truck still drives great in that mode.
Suspension i still have to test more. My initial impression was that the back end is a world of difference from any truck I've driven with leaf springs. It's just way better behaved and I think any of you who have really driven trucks on rough roads know what I'm talking about. None of the bouncing and side to side or up and down, or general feeling like the back end is going to let lose over very rough terrain and unloaded. The front end I'm not so sure I feel much difference compared to any other truck, but I didn't do much off road so it's too early to tell.
Tailgate misalignment some have issued, non-existent. I checked for fluid leaks before the long drive and after, nothing yet. Tire pressure was 32psi.
Bronze oxide color and black&white interior, personal preference of course but both better than I expected. I had seen the black&white interior on another color truck, but I went with bronze oxide without seeing that color in person.
Paint quality, I could not find any issues. No chips after the 400 mile drive, but every stone I heard being kicked up made me cringe!
Complaints so far...Infotainment system kind of sucks. Not at all intuitive, took me quite a bit to figure out all that I could, but disappointed with the limited configurability for a 2024. Some problems that I'm not sure can be fixed. Main issue that was incredibly frustrating was that if I listen to anything using Android Auto, and I change the volume using the steering wheel controls or the knob on the display, the source changes from android auto to either the radio or SIrius XM. I tried forever to fix that and have found no solution. I'm going to report this Toyota and see what they tell me, it kind of seems like a bug.
No power seats. I knew I wasn't getting that, but to not get that in this trim, at this price point, seems kind of lame.
Although I like the 12" instrument cluster, it could be a lot more configurable. I'd like to be able to have actual numbers for a bunch of the guages, instead of just the bar graphs. I'd like to be able to customize more of what does or doesn't appear with the different styles. It's still one of the nicest instrument clusters I've seen, but it just seems like it wasn't well thought out, they just randomly put stuff in different places and don't give you enough options to change things.
That's it for now. Just wanted to get started and say don't hesitate on the turbo and don't get talked out of this truck by the complainers and the few reports of very significant problems.
Oh, and finance guys always suck!!!! I had a pretty good experience with my sales person, but I forgot how bad the finance guys typically are. I thought I was going to get in and out quick, especially since I was paying cash, but then I had to sit down with the finance guy anyway. He starts out with how Toyota is the most reliable vehicle and how I'll never have any problems, and then proceeds to try to sell me the extended ToyotaCare package for 1300, and the 10yr extended warranty for $4400. I paid cash for my truck and I told the guy I'd have enough cash stockpiled to buy a new truck by the time the base warranty ran out, so I wasn't going to pay anything else. Then he went on about how all the new trucks are so complicated, so much isn't covered by the warranty, there are so many things that can go wrong, and every repair is going to cost a small fortune. I was nice but I wanted to say, but what about Toyota's awesome reputation for quality and reliability that you just told me about. After a couple rounds of him going on about it, the ToyotaCare was still at 1300, but he dropped the extended warranty to $2000 and acted like he was giving it to me for free. I still said no and made it very clear I was not interested in any extras at any price. His demeanor changed immediately and he rushed to finish everything up, but it kind of turned the whole buying experience for me. He acted like cutting the warranty from $4400 to $2000 made it impossible to turn down, but I just looked at it as he tried to screw me right from the start, and the fact that he dropped the price afterwards didn't really change anything. Anyway, I got out of there sticking to paying for no extras of any kind and was glad to get out of there.
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