How Reliable Are New Tacomas vs. Previous Generations?

I hit 3 deer at 427k in my 1st gen. Toasted engine at 327k on my second gen. No problems yet at 5k on my 3rd gen. It will be hard to beat my 1st gen numbers. Though at 200k the frame was replaced. My former baseball coach was the owner and he replaced everything, and I mean everything, and it cost me zero. My second gen was pretty legend too. 4 trips to colorado/utah from NY in last 2 years. Ended up trading it in for $6500 with a bad head gasket and 2 coffees and an orange slurpy in the radiator. Hopefully my 3rd gen gives just as many great memories and always gets me home.

 

Thats a symptom of a future problem. Mechanically they are likely fine, a larger and larger dependence on circuitry and chips doesnt bode well for longevity. In my opinion. I'm no expert on autos and dont profess to be, in welding machines the newer inverter machines are getting to be unrepairable after about the 15 year mark. You can keep anything running, but at what cost? In welding machines, a plasma that cost $2,000 new, once out of the 5 year warranty the main control board can be within $100 of what a whole new machine cost.

I'm not a luddite, the new technology has some amazing benefits, but as it ages out it has some very real down sides.

 

This ^^ ... and they won't add a tiny bulb to add back lighting for the 4WD selector, the power window switches, the power o/s mirror switches or the glove compartment: all items that are illuminated on my 1998 Volvo. But: flip down the sun visors and you'll find an automatic lamp when you slide the cover over... (which are also wired to extinguish when you flip the visor back up without closing the cover.) Go figure. ...and no bed lamp which have been on pick-up trucks since the 70's.

 

Some people will bitch about anything. Five years and 80k miles with nothing but routine maintenance. Solid truck. Yeah, the 3rd gen's V6 isn't the 4.0 in stock tune and the trans is infuriating, blame the gubmint. Toyota is doing what they have to do to pass inspection. My 2nd gen had 200k on the clock when I traded it, I expect the same or better out of this one.

...and this truck gets driven just as hard as any other vehicle I've owned.

 

My 16 F150 was lit up like the cockpit of an air liner at night, I dont think there was a switch that wasnt back lit. I liked that part, I wasnt as fond of the intermittent windshield wipers coming on and not being able to turn them off, or the bluetooth phone connection suddenly deciding to call someone in my contact list continuously until I could cut my phone off, kill the truck then restart phone and truck.

 

There is really nothing wrong with electrics when they work well. But circuit values change and chips can become a real head ache when they quit making them (and they do obsolete chips and boards) they can be rebuilt but it becomes cost prohibitive. Tacomas have great aftermarket support, but there were parts on my first gen that Toyota no longer produced and after market didnt make, cheap plastic parts in the interior. They dont cause major breakdowns, but reliability is more than just the engine running in my opinion. I dont see a Gen 3 wearing out quickly due to being driven, I see it going to shit 15 years down the road as electrics age.

OP asked for an opinion, that's what I gave him.

 

Me and my dad have owned all three generations of Tacoma and they all have been reliable. Each generation has their quirks and pros/cons. One thing that none have been really great at have been paint quality in my opinion and that is something that seems to be even more pronounced on my 3rd gen.

 

Too funny: My son has a 2016 F150 and my post is partly based on a comparison to that truck. Everything is illuminated in that truck, overhead, mid and lower panel, and it's great. Lighting those few items on the Tacoma would just make life easier for the driver at night. When/if things like the power mirror switches and the 4wd selector are illuminated, you don't really have to look directly at them. Your brain knows which one it is and where it is and your hand and fingers go right to that lighted spot in the dark. When they are dark you have to search around for them every single time: especially the mirror switches the dash brightness adjuster.

 

Airbus A380 pilots in shambles with the amount of backlighting on the control surfaces

 

I agree. They should be "level selectable". (everything, critical, essential, informational), and a "one-touch illuminate everything" click on the yoke/stick and some you cannot turn off/are always on.

 

We've already got a 3rd gen v6 6spd manual with over 300k I would say 2nd and 3rd gen will be equal in longevity in a few more years!

 

For sure. I feel like car engine management systems and mechanicals peaked around 2010. Fuel injection got stupid reliable, ignition was all solid state - and we hadn’t gotten into the increasingly complicated tricks they’re pulling for more mpgs that we have now.


Yep all the blend doors and valves have cables that go to the dash No vacuum doors, no electronic door actuators, just cables. Some mech engineer had a field day.

 

Let’s do an experiment- go camping and park a 3rd Gen, 1st Gen, and a original SR5 from the 80’s in areas with woodrats and leave the trucks alone for a few days. Which one would you be able to drive out with on 1st try?

I did this experiment and guess which model comes out over the other two, plus lasted for well over 500k+ miles when passed around among a group of coworker friends?

 

I've owned multiple toyota trucks of all generations including 1st 2nd and 3rd gen tacomas

1st gen paint is the best, 2nd and 3rd gen is water based and pure shit, super soft no matter what color obviously white being the worst. Also the plastics aren't as strong as the 1st gen in the 2nd or 3rd. In my 2nd gen plastic is still ok, 3rd gen it scratched super easy and I did notice some rattles

I had my 3rd gen since brand new for 60k miles without any issues

The motors of 1st and 2nd gen are proven. The 3rd gen v6 is still too new to be in the legendary reputation category yet

 

I'm here still daily driving & working my 04 with almost 500k miles. I could afford a new truck but this one is treating me so good I can't justify the expense of buying new one.

 

It's a Toyota. However nothing is perfect. Just enjoy the fucking truck you have.

 

Yup. I remember my Dad always saying back in the ‘80s how cars are getting so complicated with all the electronic crap, they’re only going to get less and less reliable as time goes on, and how we won’t be able to even fix anything anymore. I love my old man, God rest his soul, but just about every vehicle made nowadays will go way longer than any of the cars made back in the day before all the “tech”. Yes, old cars are easier to work on, but are they actually more reliable? Except for Toyotas, which have always been known specifically for their reliability, I don’t think old cars are more reliable at all.

Electronic fuel injection for instance has the possibility of failure, but who the hell wants to go back to carburetors on a new truck just because they can be easier to fix and aren’t controlled electronically? Sure, it’s more complicated to work on a modern engine with variable valve timing, but who doesn’t think the increase in power and fuel economy that VVT gives isn’t worth it in spades?.. Especially when Toyota has perfected these electronic innovations to the point that we virtually never hear about them causing reliability issues. The issues we hear most about on 3rd gens don’t seem to be electronic very often, it’s mostly leaking timing covers, leaking diffs, leaking coolant crossover pipes, etc…

 

haha, I remember this too. My father was one, and then bought a 1992 (I think??) Toyota Camry, it was the top model with the V6, 4 wheel dics, mag wheels, black on black leather. He absolutely loved that car, drove it for well over 120k miles, then my brother drove it through college and beat the fork out of it. Aside from being hit a couple times, other than body work, it never needed anything but brakes and tires. He always talked about how he was wrong and not one of those fancy new fandangled doodads ever failed.
All the ol farts thought power windows were going to break,,,,, I am 47 years old and have seen exactly one power window break, and that was because a drunk slammed the F out of my buddy's rental car door and the window fell in to the door haha.

 

This being my first tacoma, its been flawless in nearly the 3 years i've had it. The truck has taken the place of my old 2001 tundra v8. No complaints here on anything.