Thoughts on the 2024 Tacoma after 17,000km

[Nettle]

I would encourage you to seek 5K (miles, you'll have to do the math to KM) oil changes. Not for any other reason but that oil is cheap, and engines are not. Personally I believe that 10K changes are a bit extreme for these engines these days, beyond the fact that the oil will wear out by that point. I don't want to open a can of worms here, but please do your own research. I believe the car care nut dude also pushes 5K changes, although I've been following that for years anyhow. There's also another YouTuber "motor oil geek" might be worth checking out if you wanna learn about oil. Anyhow, no desire to open up a hornets nest with those comments.

I'm planning on performing oil changes every 6200miles. I think Toyota is a bit crazy recommending oil changes every 16,000km/10,000 miles. I have a Honda with 170,000 miles for which I've only been changing oil every 8,000 miles (when the oil left is less than 10% according to the car) or so and the engine runs flawlessly. I figured that for my Tacoma short intervals are probably better compared to the Honda seeing how this engine is turbocharged and more powerful.

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[glency]

Today I learned what “pedantic” means.

 

[Taco Golfer]

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’ve been a lurker for a while and finally decided to create an account. I know that at least one person has posted about their experience with a new 2024 Tacoma before, but I would like to give my thoughts as I have a bit of a different perspective.

Let’s deal with the elephant in the room. I have never before owned a truck. I bought the 2024 Tacoma because I realized that I would need a truck and it mostly fit my needs. What are my needs? Well, first of all, I wanted a manual transmission. This point was no-negotiable which meant that my truck options were fairly limited. As far as I knew the only other current generation truck model with a manual transmission in North America was made by Jeep and I would not be buying a Jeep Gladiator because of reliability concerns and how unappealing they look (perhaps some people like them but I don’t).

Back in 2023 I test drove a 2023 Tacoma with a manual transmission. My first impression was that everything on this truck was outdated. I’ll list my thoughts not to seem pedantic, but simply to give my rationale… The styling looked like it was from 2014. The interior was something I’d expect to find in a 2006 sedan. The transmission was clunky (I know it was a truck but I expected more from a modern car). The bed was also not very deep. The cabin noise was more than it should have been. Despite these things I was actually serious about buying it, but there were two things that were deal breakers for me. The first deal breaker was the pedal position. More often than not when I used the clutch my toes would hit the underside of the dashboard. I knew that this one thing would drive me crazy in the long-term since I have driven small cars with this same characteristic and it is very irritating when it happens constantly. The other deal breaker was the seats. It came with leather seats and despite how some people love leather seats for me it is a problem since I live in a somewhat extreme environment; cold winters and warm summers. I didn’t want to feel like I was sitting on an ice cube or frying pan.

I know that a lot of people love their 3rd gen Tacos and I can appreciate the sentiment as someone who owns a smaller car that is a bit older and doesn’t have all the modern gizmos. The problem I had was that I couldn’t justify paying top dollar for what to me was a 10 year old car (outdated in almost every way). I understand that there is a reliability component to going with a new design but a lot of car manufacturers these days can put out pretty reliable new models every 4 years. To have Toyota go 5+ years without renewing the Taco and not concurrently drop the price for an old design was a bit silly. I knew the 4th gen was around the corner and I decided to wait.

Now that I have probably irritated a fair number of 3rd gen Taco lovers I’ll go ahead and give my thoughts on my 4th Gen TRD Sport. Overall I really like my truck. The pedal position on the 4th gen is significantly improved compared to the 3rd gen and not once have my toes hit the dashboard. It has keyless entry and start unlike the 3rd gen TRD Sport that I test drove. The bed is deeper which has payed dividends for transporting all sorts of things. The cabin is quieter. The control lay out is updated and I would say better overall. I love the grab handle next to the shifter. The seats are cloth and very comfortable; I’ve driven 10+ hours in one day and didn’t have any back pain. The headlights provide good illumination and don’t seem to blind other drivers. I didn’t think I would care about new features like the lane assist, but on a long trip it is actually really useful. I’m not sure if I’m the only one that feels this way but it seems to me that the new generation has less understeer than the previous; to me this is a significant improvement. The 4-wheel drive works very well in deep snow even with the stock tires. I haven’t yet tried to tow anything.

A few things that I don’t like about my truck are the fact the fuel door doesn’t lock. The push button start is inconsistent and sometimes it doesn’t start on the first try even with the clutch fully depressed. The back seat leg space is pathetic. I don’t understand why Toyota didn’t want to add an extra 2 inches to the truck to make the rear seats useable. The Bluetooth system is basically unusable for my phone (I tried another phone as well); it disconnected so often that I now just connect my phone via a cable every time I need.

One thing that I view as both good and bad is the transmission. It feels exactly the same compared to the 3rd gen; perhaps I’m wrong about this considering my limited experience with the 3rd gen. I appreciate the fact that (if it is the same as the previous generation) it is a tried and tested component but I don’t understand why Toyota wouldn’t update it to shift quicker. I get it, it’s a truck, but why not make it better? It is by far the clunkiest transmission I’ve ever used but I still manage to have some fun with it. This being said it is far better than a certain other car I’ve driven in the past (previous generation Subaru WRX) which felt like you were shifting through a bag of gravel.

Earlier this year people were making a big deal online (probably mostly click bate youtubers) about issues with the 2024 Tacoma automatic transmission. I own a manual and perhaps I’ve avoided this problem because of it, but I haven’t really had any issues with the truck apart from the small irritations I mentioned above. I have nearly 17,000km on my truck and it runs great. I did the first oil change at about 4,000km despite Toyota recommending one after 16,000km. The next oil change was at 13,000km and I plan on doing one every 10,000km moving forward. Up until the first oil change I didn’t rev the truck past 4,000rpm. I had it undercoated for the winter so hopefully it doesn’t rust.

Overall I’m happy with the truck. If the rear leg space was improved I would absolutely love this thing as I could use it for moving people around. The hate that the 2024s received before they were on sale and in the beginning of this year was a bit excessive in my opinion. I think the truck is a major step up from the 2023. People still complain about the prices but once you factor in inflation I think the price is reasonable (I got mine for MSRP).

I hope you guys appreciate my write up. I don’t mean to hate on the 3rd gen but I’m glad I didn’t buy it. I’m looking forward to modifying my truck over the next few years.

Nice review. 2024 Sport is my 3rd Taco, dating back to 1998 and 2008. I just hit 5K miles and the difference is night and day. Toyota had finally caught up. The 2024 is improved in virtually every category. I’m still undecided about the 4cylinder turbo but my first impression is Wow!

 

[Sagebrush]

I’m still undecided about the 4cylinder turbo

Some people equate the number of cylinders to power or longevity or some such thing. It's almost an emotion.

This new engine turns a lot slower than the old V6, which means longevity.

 

[Spike]

This is my first Toyota (and my first post here). I agree with pretty much all of the above. One thing I needed was a 6-foot (1829mm ;-) bed. It's a truck after all. The Rangers and Colorados seem to be available as 5-footers. One quibble I do have is that my automatic transmission downshifts when going downhill in an attempt to control the speed. As a many-year bicyclist appreciate the energy boost when going downhill. If anyone has a way to address that situation I'd appreciate knowing it.

Oh yes. I guess another issue I have with the truck is that I can't keep my wife out of the driver's seat.

 

[Sagebrush]

I do have is that my automatic transmission downshifts when going downhill in an attempt to control the speed.

Take it out of cruise control.

 

[Spike]

Take it out of cruise control.

It still works when not in cruise, just not as obnoxiously. It's pretty hilly where I live. And I'm perfectly okay with putting on the brakes if needed.

 

[Miqie]

Thanks for taking the time to provide a review of the truck from your perspective. I certainly enjoyed reading it, and agree with all of your points. Few things, maybe worth consideration of discussions with your dealer:

1) Ignitions switch, mine performs flawlessly every time. it's always working, I couldn't see a reason why yours wouldn't either.
2) Bluetooth -- So my previous truck also had wireless CarPlay, as this Tacoma does, and on occasion it too would drop the connection -- not too often, so not really annoying. I've had it drop on this new taco a few times as well, but keep in mind that wireless car play (assuming your using apple with that comment) will connect via wi-fi. Wifi (legacy) operates on the 2.4ghz spectrum, and more modern wi-fi operates on the 5.0 ghz spectrum, with that said, 2.4 is always going to be susceptible to other technologies that uses that band, such as old type wireless phones, microwaves, etc. Sure if you google, you'll find there's other stuff. I was a wifi engineer in a former life, but have zero interest in that nonsense these days. But my point is that if your using wireless car play, it's likely more that your receiving interference while driving. Anyhow a thought to consider.

Otherwise I love my taco. Been running great despite the fact that the VIN is one of the ones effected by the tranny issues, although mine's been working great -- no shifting issues.

On last edit, I do wanna comment on all of the negative YouTube posters. Their nonsense makes me nuts! All of them are preaching that the sky is falling, when in fact it's not. But we all know that negative stories draws the viewers in. All but me!

Very interesting about the Bluetooth interference. Mine (Android phone) works well, but every so often, I'll get 'dead air' for a couple of seconds on my music. I thought maybe I was moving from one cell connection to the next, but I guess it could be the Bluetooth interference.

 

[Sner]

Excellent video FINALLY some logic to the hate. Analogy of product at Dollar General is spot on. Cognitive Dissonance is totally it. Nailed it !

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