Is there a better small truck value than Tacoma?

pricing new vs used and these seem to maintain value tremendously well.

canyon/colorado?

what are you trying to do? buy new and hope it maintains value later? or find a used truck bargain?

I had one and it was very reliable. However, being a small truck can sometimes be counter productive. You have a truck to carry stuff, and being a small one means you can't carry much. Also, due to the inherent shape, all pickups get pretty poor mileage, and the small ones don't do much better than the full size ones. In fact, my current F150 gets about 2 mpg better than the V6 Tacoma. Get the 4-cyl and it's a little better, but then can't really tow anything - and you're right back to "why did I get this in the first place" question. It's all about what you need it to do.

I've honestly never even looked closely at a used tacoma, I just know around me they want like 12,000 for a ten year old one with 10 miles. It has always baffled me

If you want a CHEAP pickup that will actually tow/haul without getting a full-size. Get a Dakota or if you can find one, a Raider.

It all depends why you're looking at a small truck, the fact that is there aren't many upsides to owning one vs. a full-size and that's why no US mfrs make them anymore.

The generation that was just before they called them a tacoma is a decent deal. Good ones with the 4 cylinder go for around 4k in the midwest, with little rust.

What are you trying to do with it? As others have said, if you're going to load it up or tow with it, something with a little more oomph would be good. If you're set on small, think 4.3 v6 S10.

I had a 2012 doubke cab V6 6speed manual 4*4 for a while. I got 15mpg, reverse was geared completely wrong for towing, the gas door didn't work right and Toyota had no fix for it, it had good cab length and width but the floor to roof height was not very tall so it felt cramped and visibility was compromised by how low relative to my eyes the top of the windows were (I'm 6'0 with 32" inseam). My next truck will be a full size. My neighbors F150 cost ~$3k more gets 20mpg average, can tow 9k lbs and is not much bigger overall then the Tacoma was. Interior volume is loads better and you simply get more truck for your money.

Unless you need the ~6" smaller in width/length or must have a manual I would just buy a nice used full size.

I bought mine for 32 and traded for 27.5 with 30k miles so it did well on resale though.

I had older Toyota trucks. They were underpowered, got surprisingly bad gas mileage (The worst of both worlds), and were kinda tinny. They were also bulletpoof and handled much better than their domestic equivalents of the time. I really miss my 1990 V6 SR5 standard cab 4x4. From a test drive and feedback from friends, it seems that the current V6 model is a sweetheart, but as others have mentioned, there are compromises.

If you use a truck as a DD, ownership pleasure can really be affected by where you live. In a fairly dense urban area I've had it with large vehicles, and a full-sized pickup feels a lot bigger than the Toyota. Those extra few inches make a surprisingly big difference, and day-in, day-out, big = PITA, which is why I traded in my Dakota quad-cab on an Element, and borrow a proper pickup when I need it.

kb58 wrote: I had one and it was very reliable. However, being a small truck can sometimes be counter productive. You *have* a truck to carry stuff, and being a small one means you can't carry much. Also, due to the inherent shape, all pickups get pretty poor mileage, and the small ones don't do much better than the full size ones. In fact, my current F150 gets about 2 mpg better than the V6 Tacoma. Get the 4-cyl and it's a little better, but then can't really tow anything - and you're right back to "why did I get this in the first place" question. It's all about what you need it to do.

All of this. I looked long and hard at used Tacomas, and ended up with a 12v Cummins for 1/4 of the price of a comparable Tacoma. Fit and finish certainly wasn't up to Toyota spec, but it beat the Tacoma at every conceivable truck task, including fuel economy.

I've been kicking around the idea of a pickup for a while now. I've looked at full and compact pickups and CAN NOT get past the idea of a small truck getting just as crappy mileage as a full size. To me, better MPG would be my biggest, possibly only, reason to consider a compact pickup. Most likely we'll eventually just buy an older full size for truck stuff. Yeah, the MPG thing though. Can't get past it.

I stumbled into a Toyota lot by accident and got massive sticker shock at what they were asking for a Tacoma.

My initial response to the thread title was: "uhh.. all of them?!"

The toyota resale thing makes sense for a NEW tacoma buyer, but to me it makes them almost totally irrelevant in the used market as a 'value' proposition because you can get trucks that do the same thing or more for literally 1/4 the price.

This is just a kick around..

I buy vehicles with intention of keeping for 10 years. Looking at these today, Truecar says I can get a 2015 4-dr, SR5 pre-runner 2wd, with the 4cyl, for $22k NEW. Used Taco with under 100k miles is damn near as expensive as a new one. Incredible value, it seems.

I also know Toyota will have a totally new Taco for 2016. Which means the 15's may be further discounted sometime this year.. so potentially even better value.

My truck needs are theoretical..

I currently DD a 2005 civic. I'm entertaining the idea of a truck for my DD. A new job cut my normal commute down to 11 miles each way, so not as concerned as I was in the past with fuel economy. I still would like a vehicle that gets good mileage, but you can't have everything. Having a light duty truck would support of my home remodel habit. If I towed anything, it'd be a u-haul or harbor freight (i.e. small, light) trailer... and realistically towing will occur probably never. More likely a ladder rack if anything.

My garage won't swallow a full size 4-door truck, even with the short bed. I need to check specs on the Taco for the same reason, but the thought was 1) value 2) utility 3) size.

In addition to getting the crew cab, being able to safely do Home Depot runs will require no less than 4x4 and an 8ft box...And you should probably go for the dually if there is any chance at all of towing a Harbor Freight utility trailer in your future. Diesel or big-block gas is your choice though. The mid size Tacoma is almost as big as a full size truck, and a full size truck is almost as big as a HD truck, so why not just skip straight to the one you'll end up wishing for the extra capacity on <1% of the time anyways.

Your intended use sounds kind of similar to my uncle's, and he loves his 2WD 4cyl Tacomas. While his are usually the short cab with long bed variety, 4x8 materials can still be hauled without issue even in the short bed too.

I've had my 2005 Double Cab since December of 2004 and it has been fantastic. I've had a few minor issues, but nothing major. I work it to death. It has about 110,000 miles on it now.

In reply to Driven5: that was good

You think so? Then you will not fin in over in this thread where a E36 M3fest was started over the same joke: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/tow-8000-lbs-and-get-30mpg-when-unloaded/97047/page1/

So, if a new truck loses $4k of value while you own it, and a $4k truck loses $4k of value while you own it, then i guess the question is whether you are willing to tie up $20k for a couple of years for the privilege of having a nicer truck? I can see how you might if it's your DD. Like i said, i think Tacomas make sense for NEW buyers, so if you are one i don't have much bad to say about it other than it being at the end of its design cycle and sort of outdated in many ways. Still a good truck.

nocones wrote: I had a 2012 doubke cab V6 6speed manual 4*4 for a while. I got 15mpg, reverse was geared completely wrong for towing, the gas door didn't work right and Toyota had no fix for it, it had good cab length and width but the floor to roof height was not very tall so it felt cramped and visibility was compromised by how low relative to my eyes the top of the windows were (I'm 6'0 with 32" inseam). My next truck will be a full size. My neighbors F150 cost ~$3k more gets 20mpg average, can tow 9k lbs and is not much bigger overall then the Tacoma was. Interior volume is loads better and you simply get more truck for your money. Unless you need the ~6" smaller in width/length or must have a manual I would just buy a nice used full size. I bought mine for 32 and traded for 27.5 with 30k miles so it did well on resale though.

This. I've never quite understood the point of small pickups. You get neither the gas mileage of a similar aged car, nor the towing/hauling capacity of their full sized brethren. Unless you were trying to build something where weight/size mattered, to me they've always just seemed "almost" if that makes any sense. Full disclosure: one of my first transports was a Mazda B2200. Great truck and I drove it til the bed rusted out. However, if I were shopping purpose specific vehicles, I'd get a used f-150 or Silverado/1500.