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Photo_Nerd

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Calvin
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2024 Tacoma TRD Offroad
So my old Ford Ranger, which I proudly drove for 13 years, suddenly took a nose dive just over a couple weeks ago. I had always wanted a Tacoma, but didn’t think I’d be getting one so soon. But within a couple of days of my old truck dying, I got her sold and became the proud owner of a brand new TRD Offroad.

I’d like to start off by saying that I am absolutely in love with this new truck! Coming from basic bumpy rides (lifted Jeep CJ7 to an old Ford Ranger), this Tacoma feels like a spacecraft to me.

Obviously, we all know Tacomas have a legendary reputation. And I bought the vehicle with that in mind. I already knew I wanted one. So of course, I didn’t bother to research it enough to even learn that it’s a new generation of Tacoma. I decided to google stuff about it in my spare time. Suddenly, it felt like I was smashed in the face with horror stories about the 4th gen Tacoma. Between Youtube and Googled articles, it seemed like everyone had something negative to say about it, and the comments seemed to support all the negativity. It painted this brutal picture of Toyota being some sell-out, poor quality company.

Anyways, I found myself having second thoughts about my shiny new truck. I was getting a serious case of buyers remorse over a vehicle that hasn’t given me any issues or even gotten a chance to prove her worth to me yet. But the one thing I was sensing was, of course, the sensationalist aspect of all of these sources of negativity. I consider myself a pretty level-headed guy. So when I saw the video of that shock top hat failure, and rewound to where he was hitting holes at 60 mph with it, I put my logic to work. People these days have impossible expectations. If you build a million-mile truck, people will say it’s sluggish and outdated. If you build a race truck, people will say it won’t last long enough or the gas mileage sucks. You put a 2.4L turbo into it for better gas mileage, and people are worried about it exploding. You put a few nice offroad specs into it, and suddenly a wave of inexperienced offroaders will come out with videos of carnage as they’re expecting a stock truck to be capable of racing the Baja 1000. The advice that rings in my head is my dad telling high school me to “not use your daily driver like a toy.”

The Tacoma’s reputation was built by normal people using the trucks in normal ways. No part on a vehicle is indestructable. Offroading will ALWAYS run the risk of damage, no matter how tricked out your rig is.

With all of this in mind, I stumbled upon this forum. And I’m seeing some genuine level-headedness around here. So I decided to join so I can be around like-minded people, and not drowning in clickbait BS. I suspect this truck will last me many glorious years of reliable use if I look after it.
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Tungstenisw

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Dave
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+1.
Lots of sensational articles to get more clicks...
I also wonder if some of these videos/stories/reviews are actually done by Tacoma competitors? There seem to be a lot where a negative post is created, but there is zero follow-up from the original poster.

It makes me think they created an account while sitting at their Ford Dealership sales desk after a team meeting that encouraged this bad-behavior.
 

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scottiev

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Scott
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2024 Tacoma TRD Off-Road
So my old Ford Ranger, which I proudly drove for 13 years, suddenly took a nose dive just over a couple weeks ago. I had always wanted a Tacoma, but didn’t think I’d be getting one so soon. But within a couple of days of my old truck dying, I got her sold and became the proud owner of a brand new TRD Offroad.

I’d like to start off by saying that I am absolutely in love with this new truck! Coming from basic bumpy rides (lifted Jeep CJ7 to an old Ford Ranger), this Tacoma feels like a spacecraft to me.

Obviously, we all know Tacomas have a legendary reputation. And I bought the vehicle with that in mind. I already knew I wanted one. So of course, I didn’t bother to research it enough to even learn that it’s a new generation of Tacoma. I decided to google stuff about it in my spare time. Suddenly, it felt like I was smashed in the face with horror stories about the 4th gen Tacoma. Between Youtube and Googled articles, it seemed like everyone had something negative to say about it, and the comments seemed to support all the negativity. It painted this brutal picture of Toyota being some sell-out, poor quality company.

Anyways, I found myself having second thoughts about my shiny new truck. I was getting a serious case of buyers remorse over a vehicle that hasn’t given me any issues or even gotten a chance to prove her worth to me yet. But the one thing I was sensing was, of course, the sensationalist aspect of all of these sources of negativity. I consider myself a pretty level-headed guy. So when I saw the video of that shock top hat failure, and rewound to where he was hitting holes at 60 mph with it, I put my logic to work. People these days have impossible expectations. If you build a million-mile truck, people will say it’s sluggish and outdated. If you build a race truck, people will say it won’t last long enough or the gas mileage sucks. You put a 2.4L turbo into it for better gas mileage, and people are worried about it exploding. You put a few nice offroad specs into it, and suddenly a wave of inexperienced offroaders will come out with videos of carnage as they’re expecting a stock truck to be capable of racing the Baja 1000. The advice that rings in my head is my dad telling high school me to “not use your daily driver like a toy.”

The Tacoma’s reputation was built by normal people using the trucks in normal ways. No part on a vehicle is indestructable. Offroading will ALWAYS run the risk of damage, no matter how tricked out your rig is.

With all of this in mind, I stumbled upon this forum. And I’m seeing some genuine level-headedness around here. So I decided to join so I can be around like-minded people, and not drowning in clickbait BS. I suspect this truck will last me many glorious years of reliable use if I look after it.

My 24 TRD Offroad has been flawless. Better fit and finish than the 2017 BMW I owned.
 
OP
OP
Photo_Nerd

Photo_Nerd

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Calvin
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2024 Tacoma TRD Offroad
+1.
Lots of sensational articles to get more clicks...
I also wonder if some of these videos/stories/reviews are actually done by Tacoma competitors? There seem to be a lot where a negative post is created, but there is zero follow-up from the original poster.

It makes me think they created an account while sitting at their Ford Dealership sales desk after a team meeting that encouraged this bad-behavior.
I often wonder the same thing. Business competitors definitely do stuff like that. I see it on Yelp all the time. I look at some of those reviews in much the same way as those “abuse” tests people do on knives, hacking at steel pipes and prying things open with the tips. People love to see that stuff. And it definitely contributes to strong, yet baseless opinions.
 
OP
OP
Photo_Nerd

Photo_Nerd

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2024 Tacoma TRD Offroad
My 24 TRD Offroad has been flawless. Better fit and finish than the 2017 BMW I owned.
Seriously! I didn’t even bother to mention the fit and finish. Closing those doors is 😙🤌
 

Dataman

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Randall
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I got my new Taco in early June and have had absolutely NO issues with it whatsoever! There's always going to be negative people moaning and groaning about something especially if they have a bias against something. My new taco is one fine machine and I'm absolutely love it. I still have my 1st gen Taco also. Drove it for 20 years and it is still going strong. Going to give it to my son-in-law. I had some sort of Toyota truck before that 1st gen Taco. All my toyota's have been very good to me.
 

VermontTaco

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2024 TH Ice Cap (July build date)
Appreciate this post, OP.

An article or blog about the new 24 Taco 'working as intended' won't get clicks. Negativity and failure is newsworthy. Every new generation, Toyota or otherwise, has teething issues.

I'm still a few weeks away from taking delivery, and yes there is a very small chance that something will break or not function as intended. Rather than be nervous about it, I like to think of myself as part of the testing process. An early adopter.
 

minjaeisgone

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MJ
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love my new trailhunter. also, alot of those negativity comes from speculation. "its a turbo'd 4banger so it will have issues". these cars(tacoma specific) have not been out long enough to have a significant amount of issues yet.
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