Tundra to Tacoma switch?

Nice of you to say, but not quite how I feel. I've got wheels, color matched grille, suspension, abs armor, skids, sliders, bed liner, the pro shifter, floor mats, and stuff for an easy oil change. Not counting the bed rack or tent.

 

So literally all things that are superior to a pro with the exception of the grille. Yea you definitely didn't come out on top with that comparison

 

It was worth it to me to put the Pro suspension on (which is a pretty decent bolt-on OEM mid-travel kit for $3k) so I could fit some tires with some sidewall and save the ~$10k Pro markup at the time I bought my SR5. And I avoided that hood scoop

 

No leather interior and I love Toyota's leather. It's super durable, and feels nice. I'm a vain bitch and I like the hood scoop. Anyway, the ease of parking, already built suspension (including a lift and UCAs), and aesthetics make me want the Taco Pro. MPGs I'm not expecting much improvement, so if I get any better then it's just gravy. So far I've reached out to dealerships in Utah, Wyoming, and Texas; with the Texas place being the most helpful. If the deal is right I'll road trip to get the truck, and have a looooong drive to break it in. If I can have my way, I'll down my elk on the 1st-3rd of October, and take a chunk out of the remaining vacation time to go pick up my Taco, wherever it may be located.

 

Leather is only worth it to me if it’s heated and cooled. But my peasant cloth is never too hot or too cold.

If I can get some circling work projects to land, I’m headed out to CO to grab an OTC tag. It’ll be a last minute thing for me if it happens this year.

 

I had leather in my WRX, and I loved it. Only had heated seats, and I almost never used those. I'd love cooled seats, but for whatever reason reliable manufacturers don't seem to want to add them. I'm not above cloth, but the softex is so durable and easy to clean that it's worth it for me. I even tried to get Katzkins for my SR5 because it's one mod that adds value, but our forum vender never bothered to reply to me. That was a long time ago when they were on sale, so I moved on.

As for the hunting, good luck! I hope it works out for you. The only reason I'm going this year is because a buddy asked me to be the last member of his party to increase their odds of drawing. It was a never gonna happen area, so I said "sure." Didn't want to hunt and had no intention, so of course we drew out. I'd rather buy beef than do the work it takes to get an elk down, hauled out, processed, etc. but my buddy has been trying for this area for over 20 years, it's his son's first elk hunt, his father in law's first elk hunt, and his Dad's last. Not like I can bail on that.

 

That will be a special time for sure. Four of my buddies drew tags in WY this year. They’re out there right now. I didn’t draw, so if it happens, it’ll be OTC for me.

Tennessee is overrun with deer, and the doe bag limit is 3 a day all season long. Crazy. I harvested enough deer last year to not have to buy beef since. That’s my plan moving forward, but I want to add elk as well. My oldest is getting involved this year, too.

 

Nice! that sounds like a solid plan. Deer around here are cagey and smart. I don't like hunting stuff smarter than me. Elk is the closest to beef for flavor IMO, and you get a bunch of meat off a good harvest, but man are they heavy to haul out. All my hunting buddies live hundreds of miles away, and I'm too fat and out of shape to haul one out alone. I'd rather stock up on sage goats and the occasional deer. I can pack either of those whole on my shoulder. Elk, not so much.

 

Not a great time to buy a new Tacoma / 4Runner with the new redesign coming up shortly. If you can, I'd wait.

If you cant wait, having had two Tacomas and a 2020 Pro 4Runner, then I would 100% get a 4R over a Tacoma unless you TOTALLY need a bed. 4R rides better, is far more comfortable inside, has a lot of interior cargo room, and folks seem to like the 4L / 5 speed better than the Tacoma's 3.5L / 6 speed.

 

I’m tall and I even have no need for the drivers grab handle. So, I would never get smaller than my beloved Tundra.

 

The fabled 6th gen 4Runner? There's a 4Runner forum that's had a 6th gen section up since 2019...

Just saying, if you put off purchasing a 4R to wait for the 6th gen, you might be walking for a while.

 

It has been a while. They did the Tundra / Sequoia same time.

I would like to think the Tacoma and 4Runner will be in the next year or two. Still a ways away and just speculation.

 

Taco is coming in 24, 4R should come right behind, just like the tundra and sequoia I think.

 

Right, because the new Tundra was such a huge improvement... polarizing looks, turbo troubles, trim pieces falling off, poor fitment, multiple recalls, but totally worth the 8 or 9 HP bump...

I'd rather get one that is established, and let the kinks get worked out of the new stuff without being a beta tester for whatever the latest regulations have restricted us into.

 

Besides some turbo issues that seem to now be fixed, yes, the new Tundra is a major improvement over the previous generation in basically all major metrics (long term reliability is still TBD). No truck is perfect, but its also foolish to romanticize the previous gen Tundra and look past its deficiencies. Its far more than just the HP bump that makes a better truck, dont let your bias and emotions interfere with your better logic.

Tacoma / 4R are MUCH more important to Toyota than the Tundra ever was or will be. They will see much more attention and resources allocated to their success. Given the quality offerings from other manufacturers raising the bar for Toyota, I have no doubt they will be major improvements over the previous models.

That being said, I LOVED our 2020 Pro 4R, but got rid of it because of how poor the 4L / 5 Speed was to drive. If they would offer it with the 4.6 V8 / 6 Speed from the GX, I would have kept it forever.

 

The 4Runner crowd got all excited thinking the 6th gen 4R would follow rollout of the gen 3 Tacoma - except the 4Runner refresh never happened. Granted, I believe that was prior to the TNGA-F platform sharing initiative going live, and the 4R was maybe "odd man out" due to timing/planning around that change. But I'm not sure on that. There were also rumors the 4R would go away with gen 5 being the last hurrah, but I think sales of Wrangler and Bronco, plus strong sales of 4R have made that business decision more difficult.

 

I think the main problem is the transmissuon tuning. The 4.0 itself is fine (although maybe slightly underpowered for the vehicle), but the transmission is lazy and sometimes frustrating in regular "D" mode. It's more bearable when you shift it over into "sport" mode.

I still love it though.

 

Improvement yes, major improvement? I think your bias is showing.

All I did is list off the complaints that have come up. Never said I agree with them. Zero bias, and no romantic view of the 2.5 gen. Knew it was ancient when I got it, and knew it would be replaced with something with better numbers and more angled to compete with the modern 1/2 tons.

 

I'm curious how the two refreshes will relate to each other. The Tacoma is now made in Mexico (and still the US? or just Mexico?), and the 4Runner is still made at the Lexus plant in Japan. They do not share nearly as much overlap as the Tundra and Sequoia, the latter of which is merely an SUV version of the Tundra. The Tacoma and 4Runner do not have this relationship. They are completely different platforms, but I wonder if Toyota will merge the two and start making both in North America.

There is nothing romantic about driving a truck for half a million miles or more on routine maintenance. Most of us don't get that kind of mileage out of our Tundras, but the value retention is still there because of that potential. And the 3rd gen gains are lackluster in my opinion. Fuelly and forum reports are showing an average of ~3mpg difference. Payload numbers are still at the middle to the back of the segment. No heavy duty payload or max trailering package despite Toyota's refusal to enter the HD world even though they have a drivetrain that beats the pants off every gas-engine HD truck.

And long term reliability is the factor that dwarfs all others. This is why the 2nd gen Tundra retains its value so well despite 2007 payload and fuel economy numbers. At the end of the day, it's still all about how many miles you can get out of a vehicle, not its performance numbers on paper, how neat the interior looks, how big its screen is, or much more complicated it has become in order to satisfy ever-tightening restrictions.

I still miss my 4runner sometimes. I hated its shift programming though. It would try to get all the way to 5th (overdrive) at 30-35mph. It would just feel bogged down. I ended up driving mine in S pretty much full time until hitting the highway. I would keep it in S4 around town. Much better.

 

it's just like your house build in the USA by mexican...lol

 

I used to have a Tacoma, great truck. Can't understand the rear drum brakes still, that just bugs me.

I have always parked at the back of parking lots, so parking is not an issue. However, now parking at the back of parking lots increases your chances of catalytic converter theft and just theft in general, dirty thieves.........you can't win anymore. Hopefully, my Vallhala's appear soon....

 

I just cane from 2020 tacoma off road to the tundra and tacoma was just to small amd seating position not good long trips but over all a great truck

 

Just following up on this one. Did you decide to make the move to the Tacoma? I did almost 2 months ago, and I'm loving it. No regrets yet. Have to see how it tows the RZR, but I think it will do well enough to keep me happy.

 

Hey Godzilla, I’m still in my Tundra. Financially it’s not a good time to make the switch now. Maybe next year.

 

Wait.. You're making a financially responsible decision involving vehicles?! Are you sure you're an enthusiast?

 

LMAO! It will cut into my firearm funding.