A 4th generation Tacoma sales consideration - the whole segment is down.

With sales of the segment down and inventory on lots again, everything with Tacoma sales might be just about right even if total unit sales are less than some prior years.

https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/after-years-of-going-big-american-car-buyers-are-downsizing-801a81b8

When I got my first oil change last week the dealer's row of unsold Tacomas looked huge against some recent times and model turnover but in reality was like it has been for most of several years. It is also still not in any way looking like a lemon or loser. No major recalls. First year early batch hiccups not unlike my past buying experiences.

Rounding a bit, I'm at 6 months and 4500 miles with what has been one of many new purchases, 5th pickup, and best ever by important measures for pickup trucks. Of course I can't know if it will be fantastic in 10 years.

 

I like the 4th gen. I'm a Toyota fanboy tho and wish to see the 4th gen do very well to keep up the tradition. Only weakness is long term results. Time will tell.

 

Not quite a recall. But, the transmission TSB is a bit worrying. Another bit research you have to do to make sure any truck you're interested in isn't within the VIN range. And the price is still a bit hard to swallow with the current loan rates.

 

Inventories are up, but Toyota sold 23,000 Tacomas last month. That is, by any measure, a hugely successful month near the top of all time sales figures.

 

None of the new trucks are in that affected vin range unless they’ve been on the lot for like 6 months

 

That seems like another post where one needs an understands with stats, news and the industry. Especially after I was digesting recent end of year stats with recalls and sales.

Toyota has been transparent and proactive. The percentage of vehicles in the TSB is small and not outstanding as quality problems in the industry often get. Interest rates a factor in a vehicle being a good one makes my head shake or spin. All the broad shopping we did had the pricing looking as if many are daft to the whole industry, or thinking two halo models is all Toyota sells.

 

One local dealer had a Prerunner that sold I thought about going to look at it, but didn't feel like looking at a salesman's face, it's the worst part of buying a vehicle. MSRP was 39 and some change, not that it matters today. In 2023 I could have bought a Ranger STX FX4 super cab 4x4 with an MSRP under 39k. Toyota is still charging too much for an XtraCab if you compare it to 2023 pricing of similarly equipped vehicles.

SR5 XC 4x4 are 42-45 MSRP never seen one in the north east, 4x4 SR is hard to find, 4x2s are trickiling in although I think I'd prefer the extra 50hp from the SR5.

I have absolutely no interest in the double cab, and if I did I would also look at Ford and GM.


I don't see how Toyota can cut Tacoma costs when they have how many thousand Tundra engines to replace?

 

I think the fourth GEN Tacoma looks incredible but I do wonder about the reliability. The Toyota chief engineer does put that worry to rest.

https://youtu.be/rpS1HoA1R4g?si=K5CQhqSPElFunqs5

 

Maybe they should shift focus to the Sienna line instead.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing something new from Toyota on the Tacoma they could show some other trims and some 2025 trucks, I'd really like to see some test trucks or anything with some miles and hours on them.

 

In the what became a year between announcements and production ramp up there was a lot of press with written, YouTube and social media content saying or illustrating a whole lot of durability testing. Don't forget the Dynamic Force engine family was 7 years old when these started shipping in numbers, and T24 family or branch in the Tacomas started shipping in 2021. That's fairly conservative in context of the whole industry.

The problem with now infamous Tundra generation and the early on transmission TSB was a manufacturing issue as old as manufacturing. Now it is handled way better than when I had a 1980s car where a large percentage of all the differential were bad. My '99 rare with manual transmission 4Runner had a TSB where a same bearing used by other firms were impacted too. That vehicle only dropped off of Consumer Reports most reliable and best bet for used when the 10 year window came up.

For sure I understand the risk for choosing the new generation but consider it pretty low and especially for holding off to mid-summer when I absolutely knew 10s of thousands were already made.

Additionally, no way did I have any good alternatives. In some cases that was for the long bed option. The competition has crap safety ratings by comparison. Some of the competition has poor reliability and manufacturer reputation. None are quiet or let you operate the basics with gloves on. Once 10s of thousands shipped it was hard to not choose a gen 4 Tacoma.

 

"...I don't see how Toyota can cut Tacoma costs when they have how many thousand Tundra engines to replace?"


Toyota's net profits are expressed in billions of US $. The cost of fixing the Tundra is exclusive of building and pricing the Tacoma. The Tundra costs are deducted from total Toyota revenues across all models, all markets and are accounted for in the quarter in which they are incurred. Revenues for the Tacoma are nearly exclusively derived from US $, while the component costs are derived in yen, pesos, yuan....In the last 52 weeks, the dollar has gained 11% against the yen, 19% against the peso and 7% against a broad basket of other currencies. The cost to produce a new Tacoma in US $ has gone down north of 10% over the last year.

 

All true.

That being said, at least they are not having the recall issues that Jeep is having with their hybrid 4XE!

 

Where are you basing your claim, that the entire small/midsize pickup segment is down? Fake news.

 

This was recorded before the Tacoma even shipped.

 

I made a post here earlier. The Wall Street Journal article, but I have fun following a lot of auto and business news where I saw sales info as the year has rolled on. Same article was not behind paywalls in Apple and either Google or Microsoft news pages too.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...nsideration-the-whole-segment-is-down.849014/

 

Yesterday on the local 6pm news they did a segment on the year in review of the automotive sector. They did flash a chart for a few seconds that showed the Mid-Sized Truck segment was down like 3 or 5 percent compared to 2023.

 

Did they also mention prices were up 20% for the segment, while at the same time eating out prices were up 50%? It is any wonder people are buying Civics and Carollas?

News people are lazy.

 

As a total segment of compact/mid-size pickup and their application, we have to consider all applicable models, which I'd say the Ford Maverick counts. Locally, I'm seeing a huge shift in small business pickups (e.g., parts runners, pool guys, mobile service, etc) move from the base Tacoma SR RWD, over to the Maverick.

YoY the Taco might have gone from 215K to 170K, but the Maverick went from 86K to 153K. Add in the rest, and the compact/mid segment is up.

I get there are those that will argue the Maverick isn't in the same segment, or say it doesn't count cause it's uni-body vs body-on-frame. Then I'd counter argue we need to figure out how to remove all non-TRD Tacoma trims from consideration. Cause all the small business folk buying the Tacoma SR all these years needed a car with a bed, not a mid-size. Heck any SR owners on this forum?

But Google up "Tacoma vs Maverick for work truck" and it's a real topic. The almost universal answer is folk bought a Taco cause there was no other option, but from a small business need, the Maverick is going to probably beat the Taco in 2025-2026 due to price, mpg and lack of need for heavier payload.

 

It is not just modest and small. My neighborhood and work parking lots more show pickups and larger SUVs replaced by as expensive hybrids and EVs. Some long distance commuters I know replaced pickups and Tahoe or Suburbans with expensive but more civil and economical to drive vehicles.

As a reluctant pickup buyer myself it makes sense.