Is the 2018 Tacoma TRD still King? - Review
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- The Toyota pickup truck is more durable than a mountain. It's a global legend and for good reason. This 2018 has all the things you would need for a weekend or lifetime of off-roading. But it, like the generations before it, has its shortcomings. After 1,000 miles, how do we think it stacks up to the Ranger and the Colorado?
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2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road
MSRP: $36,115
ENGINE: 3.5L V6 278HP/265TQ
TRANS: 6-speed AT
4WD
LSD rear
Off-road Suspension with Bilstein Shocks
MPG: 18/22 city/hwy
Options:
TRD Premium Offroad Package: $2,625.00
Tech package: $770
TRD skid plate: $499
D rings: $55
Carpet Mats and sill protector: $208
1. As a Tacoma owner living an hour north of Seattle it's very weird seeing TST review my truck in my neck of the woods. Wish I'd known you were up here though, it could've been interesting for you to drive an identical TRD Off Road besides having no options and a manual(and also being grey) side by side to the auto.
2. That review was pretty spot on TBH. I'm in the pretty rare demographic that fits this truck perfectly. Since I bought mine in December of 2017 I've put 45,000 miles on it with several thousand of those off pavement, most of the off-pavement miles were racked up on forest roads and mild trails but it's been through plenty of challenging stuff too. It's out on the trails every weekend in the late spring, summer and fall and transporting me to the snowiest ski area in North America(Mt. Baker) every weekend in the winter while still making a reasonably pleasant and comfortable daily driver. After all that it still drives exactly like it did the day I bought it and has never needed anything besides basic maintenance, which is the best review I could possibly give it. As Zack mentioned there are some drawbacks. I actually like the seating position, besides the stupid wheel that needs to be an inch or two closer to me. The creature comforts and ride are also not amazing, but at the end of the day what I wanted was a basic truck with good off road capability out of the box and a manual transmission and that is exactly what the Tacoma is.
I would totally love this as a daily, if I had more space in my garage, maybe one day.
I like that you apologize for only driving on the road. But. If you think about it 99.95% of the miles these trucks are going to do will be on road.
Very true. ZK
Hey Zack, I have a 2016 TRD Off-Road with some small modifications (wheels, tires, ~1" lift, and rock sliders). The thing that kind of sets it apart, 6-spd manual transmission. If you ever want to come up to the northern side of LA, maybe we could go up to Rowher Flats or that OHV area in Azusa Canyon (SGV Off Road Park or something?) if you'd like a chance to drive one of these with a manual transmission off road.
I would totally love this as a daily, if I had more space in my garage, maybe one day.
This is the first video that I didn't miss Matt. Zach, you've become on of my go to reviewers now and I really like your shit. Seeing as I only follow Chris Harris, Doug Demoro, Matt, and now you, I think that's.pretty high praise.
Bob Maplethorpe you like to see him shit??
I would totally love this as a daily, if I had more space in my garage, maybe one day.
Great vid zack! Love taco’s, own one and it’s been the best truck ive ever owned. Hands down
Awesome videos Zack, loving your sense of humour... Your 'One Takes' are getting better and better all the time. Keep up the great work dude!
Your GoPro sticky-to-tape mount is brilliant!
You completely forgot the Frontier, which is quite fitting
The only problem with the tacoma is the room in the back seats. I have a 2016 double cab and it's small in there. I'm 6 foot and my buddys are around there too, so when we hang out and take my truck, everyone is cramped. Otherwise I love the truck.
You look good in this truck, it fits you so much better than cars you drive
I liked your review. Good advice, go test drive and compare. Chevy, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Toyota .. all great trucks! The most perfect truck is the one you buy. Enjoy.
I love how comprehensive and engaging your reviews are, Zack! Keep ‘em comin!
Nice video Zack. The Tacoma is a force to be reckoned with... Its a great truck and has a huge following. Glad you got to cover it!
I also did a video on it on my channel too.
Tacoma doesn't have a Silverado and F-150 problem like Colorado and Ranger do.
That was a pretty funny image of that lifted Super Duty, Zack. Keep sharing little tidbit photos like that. They make the discussion of the car much more charming and entertaining and a little more human.
considering the number of stupid mall crawler Wranglers and F-series in Seattle now, this thing is more than reasonable
I have this 3rd Gen. I'll say the engine and trans combo is pretty weak. Lots of power at the top of the rev range, not much going on down low. Put in a turbo 4 and it would be so much nicer.
Thats opposite of the old 4.0L, I wonder if the 3.5L is camry based. Would have enjoyed the better gas mileage though.
Jeff K it is the Camry motor. People are just driving around with the ECT button on. Mileage isnt even great, if you absolutely tiptoe around it will get 18-19 in the city, max is like 21 on the highway. This is on a 4x4 SR5. Its just ok, nothing to get excited about. Not sure I would have bought it again, then again what else is there? Colorado and Ranger going to screw people on resale and are sort of shitty. Was thinking this may be the last everyday vehicle I buy, but dont like it enough for that. Just hoping the hype holds out till its time to trade it in and I guess go full size??
We as buyers are welcoming the competition in this midsize truck segment...That will force Toyota will better up the already awesome Taco to a whole new level !!! My thanks in advance !!! :)))
The Taco has been winning comparison tests against the Colorado for years now.
Tacoma doesn't have a Silverado problem like Colorado does.
They are finally putting in the power seats, LED headlights, and AA + CP radio in the 2020s!
This truck is starting to seem pretty dated at this point. And honestly is seems like there’s a huge amount of negatives with this truck. The seating position controls are fine unless you wanna use it. The infotainment system is a mess. Hvac is ridiculous. The transmission shifts like it’s 2007. I really liked your point about do people actually need a truck because it rains 6 days a year and it makes you nervous. It’s hard to see any area where this beats a Colorado.
Those gear ratios are reeeeaaal unfriendly to people wanting to run larger tires. A lot of things about this truck are. It's really unfortunate that Toyota went the soft-roader route.
@Brumpbo Tungus man... My Wrangler only has 4.10s and I have a manual and I still only get 15 around town if I behave. 18 sounds nice... Maybe those ratios aren't so horrendous lol
The 6MT has better ratios from the factory. I think AT is 3.89 in the rear and MT is 4.30. Regearing to 4.88 or 5.29 is the way to go in the AT for sure, especially if running larger tires, but have heard it helps even with stock tires. Like he said in the video, the OD gears are too tall in the AT and even though they'd get good MPG if they could stay in them, most of the time the truck has to shift out and down to 5 or even 4. So if you get 5.29 it is much easier for the truck to remain in 6th on the freeway and you can actually end up with better MPG, even on stock tires!
So Zak you are the very first part of the Virginia Man up!
Good discussion. Many people just don’t need a 4x4 or AWD. They often have the wrong tires on their vehicle for what they’re doing 99% of the time. Commuting. We are a society of excess these days. The government even dictates this to us. All them new safety features? Lobbied to be requirements. Now you have a 4500lb truck that’s supposed to be nearly the smallest offered. In reference, 2000 Tacoma biggest version was 3430. 2000 Tundra max out at around 4650. a 2000 Ford Ranger 2dr XLT extended cab was 3600lbs. 2000 4runner at 4,000. Oh yeah, prices have doubled since 2000 as well. The price of our everyday pickup has doubled (1$ cast 2$ now) while inflation since 2000 has been $1.48. So the cost of the vehicle has somehow doubled inflation.
My first automobile at the age of 18 was a 1973 Toyota Hilux, could not kill that thing
in the segment there is also the frontier and new gladiator, along with taco, colorado, canyon, and ranger. i was hunting around for new car and truck channels to follow and saw car and driver rate the honda ridgeline as the best midsize in the first video i watched and immediately knew to bypass that channel entirely. nothing against that vehicle. i think i know why some people buy them, but get serious about rating it top in the segment. it's a honda pilot with a short shallow bed.
Great review Zack keep up the good work!
We can all admit, EVERY “off-Road” truck on the market right now, is living in the shadow of the F150 Raptor.
Nothing Can Touch The Damn Thing.
land cruiser gtfo 90k better value
Shaia pouf Silence Peasant.
@@R_Tower your the poor bitch they have higher resale value than the raptor, therefore cost more. you dont even have a raptor poor trailertrash where do you live?
But most people don't need a Raptor. It's amazing, yes, but it's huge, expensive, and goes through gas like Andre the Giant went through beer. ZK
@@TheSmokingTire thank you land cruiser is worth the money cuz #thesmokingtire never said you dont need a LC. best off road rig.
I want to like this truck but so many Japanese vehicles are not designed for tall people like myself when it comes to seats, wheel, dash etc. like you talk about. Great detail in your reviews! Hoping we get more small truck options from other foreign auto manufacture's just for competition and having options.
But which one has the most back seat room for nocturnal activities?😉
That's what the bed is for. ZK
I have a 2017 trd-off road. I live 30 miles away from the hammer trails in the high deserts. All we do is off-road. I’ve owned a ton of Toyota trucks. The 17 Tacoma is the most capable of them all out of the box. I’m not a fan of the power train, the seating, and like you said the steering wheel position. Crawl control is dumb and i plan on installing 4:88 gears.
Skip the middle step and just go right to 5.29.
I have always looked at these just like a bigger version of a hilux, I never would have compared it to anything else except a titan maybe? I dunno I have only seen about 3 tacomas in my life here in Australia. People like them but I believe they are pretty expensive here.
Why not just get an suv??
1 all your stuff stays dry
2 you can get some extended length suvs if you need more cargi space
3 some suvs can also tow
4 its seats 5 standard
5 they can also go offroad
6 they handle better
That's maybe the 5th Volvo C30 I've ever seen outside of stock pictures on the internet
Me seen like over 1000....IN EUROPE...
Come to Romania, Alan. Every chick here gets them, they practically sell themselves. A Volvo AND a hatchback? Too easy...
I've seen a couple of them lowered and done up with a little aero, driven by guys, but I don't think the chassis was really built to be sporty.
@@vtr0104 Sorry, but I don't think anybody wants to go to Romania..Sorry to say...
One of the only ones I've ever actually seen was one that I test drove. A C30 Polestar in bright electric blue. And it was not good. If you flipped it on its roof, you would probably find more steering feel and tire feedback than you do with it shiny side up. The shifter is like rowing a wooden spoon through cake batter, and the clutch feels like stepping in soft cat shit at 3am
@@detective3728 Damn shame... we've really been having some nice weather too.
Tacoma is NOT a "rock crawler" per say its designed for fast paced OFFROADING! & Toyota is still the best at that!
Tacos damn sounds good. I think I'll turn off the video and go get some.
One very important factor is rear facing and front facing kid seats. How’s the room with them installed
Rear facing is going to be difficult, but not impossible. The passenger side is going to need to be scooted forward quite a bit to fit most RF carseats. Hopefully you only have one as I doubt you could have a rear facing on the driver's side and the driver in a comfortable/safe position. I have 2 kids both in booster seats and that fits fine though once they get to those.
You didn't give the Frontier an honorable mention?😃
The frontier needs an honorable discharge.
Dude you gotta get that guy who made the hellcat miata on your show......
didnt know chevy had a zr1 colorado. ranger xlr?
I am confused, what is with the tape on or in the glass? is it to help with heat transfer from the sun.
Toyota's are so over rated. Not saying they are bad but geez people that love Tacoma's are like cult. And saying they are the most reliable? Everyone I know that has a Tacoma or 4runner has had issues. From diff problems to lower control arms. My 2015 f150 has yet to have an issue with some serious off-road abuse.
a 2015? In my opinion nothing that new should have an issue. If it does, its trash imo.
Let me know how that f150 is working out for you in 100k miles.
Zack awesome review, but do the initial talking while driving buddy, 🙌
Makes it harder to talk about the seat position, and to look at the camera. ZK
2018 Hilux looks better but the 3.5 v6 petrol would be smooth. The 2.8 TD is a good motor but no power house
The truck that would meet 99% of real owners needs is the Honda Ridgeline; best driving, great storage, AWD, longer bed at 64” (compared to short beds), composite bed with a trunk, and all the bells and whistles you can want. That being said, I can’t bring myself to buy one of those ugly MFers.
Moat comparisons since the Colorado was reintroduced has had it on top over the Tacoma.
My work truck is a 2016 frontier. I know it's not fully similar as they have crap reliability but I think it's a similar size as Tacoma and Colorado. Do you not consider it comparable?
joe schmoe it’s in the same class but that truck is 15 years old at this point. Even in 2010 it looked dated.
Zack, isn't there a GoPro mount on the windshield already ;)
Yes but I don't carry the 90-degree angle pieces, because we use our ball head mounts. That changed after this trip. ZK
Bro I feel you on that bulging disc
Get your hands out of my shirt. ZK
Previous Ranger didn’t die til 2012
They actually still sell the hilux new in other countries
He doesn’t mention the frontier at all ?
The only midsized truck offered for a long time?!?! Cmon man pretty sure the Nissan Frontier and the Dodge Dakota were around also. Not to mention what others have commented; Ranger, Mazda B series, S10, Jimmy. Just seems like you’re saying the Toyota was the only one.
a truck is a work horse , just get the reliable one
hugo schombourger this is the right answer. Still the highest resale value on a pickup, due partly to being the most reliable
So get the ancient Frontier it's more reliable :P
@@Shakshuka69 so true.....and there a lot cheaper than a taco.
@@Cheezdealer the highest resale is also related to orginal purchase price. If the Colorado is $5,000-7,000 less than Taco it'll drop more thin value when they are rusted out.
We still get the Hilux in Europe. I think the Tacoma looks better though...
2016 and up is the new model not 2015.
Lots of memories in Tacomas, Toyota's in general, one has been in my life since I can remember.
That's because Tundra has not been in your life.
I love tacos!
The Tundra salesman does not.
Gladiator > Tacoma. The 3.5 V6 in the taco hasn't earned a great reputation yet and the auto trans and rear axles have definitely been known to fail.
And on anything built by FCA, everything is known to fail. You can't compare the most reliable brand to the the least reliable one. You just can't. No bias can save you here.
@@CleanSC brand reliability is nonsense. Especially when you're going off of the merits of a holding company. Look at the drivetrain instead. The Jeep 3.6 is like the Toyota 4.0. Its 10 years old and bulletproof. The Dana axles are the strongest in the segment by far.
@@Shakshuka69 There's more than a drivetrain in a vehicle. What good a decent drivetrain if the electronics that run it fail early and often? If everything else around that drivetrain is unreliable, what's it matter? Brand reliability is surely not nonsense. I have decades of experience as an automotive tech and there's clear differences between the way certain brands do things, and how they fare in the long term. It's repeatable, and been the same way for decades. Some of us are living this everyday and we have the experience to back it up.
I think the 3.5L V6 gets a bad reputation because the real problems are in the transmission and gearing. Get a MT and you are good to go - better shifting and gear ratios out the door.
Also, I don't think there's an LSD in that truck. If it's a TRD Offroad, it's got a normal rear diff with an E locker. Great review though. Nice and honest about the shortcomings of this generation of Taco.
how tall are you?
this doesnt even come with rear disc brakes...nice truck other than that
Was genuinely confused as to what you were onto. I’ve never rolled my eyes so hard in my life when I finally got what the taco this was about
Hilux is still made in the rest of the world....
Also lmao that you completely forgot the frontier (crap as it may be). Sometimes I wonder if modern motoring journos do any research at all
Didn't the '19 go from bilstein to Fox?
norgtube in the trd pro. Not sure about the regular trd
Just in the TRD Pro I believe. I think the TRD OR is not Foxes.
I think you're confusing the Tacoma for the Ranger. The Ranger was the segment leader up until about a few years prior to it's demise in 2011. Only after then did the Tacoma take over as the sales leader.
Ranger?can't even hang ,talk to me in. 10 years. These trucks are bullet proof!
The only thing that kept Rangers going were fleet sales.
The Tacoma surpassed the Ranger way back around 2004 or 2005, long before it left the market.
Dry ass title of course every car has competition
Dude, no underestimate and forgot about the Honda ridgeline
Honda Ridgeline not need apply.
Yeah dude that’s a minivan in disguise and FWD based. Booooooo
Atleast with the tailgate down you should get better gas mileage,lol!!
Nissan has one?
You forgot the other truck in the category, the one with a full box frame and doesn't rot out. Doesn't have a plastic bed ,equipped beefy tie down points. Sold in the US and world wide but less popular with the Home Depot warriors who at best get a bag of dirt and want an orange truck to go with their sports jacket. The second generation in production for almost 15 years. Nimissis of the Toyota fan boys.
Was this video a commerical?
The frontier was dated back in 2010 but 9 years later it’s archaic and irrelevant, and doesn’t compete on any level with the Colorado taco or ranger. Idk why you think this would be and ad. He’s pretty critical on the truck.
@@wittwer427 except it has nearly the same power and torque as the taco and is a hell of a lot more comfortable to drive. Unless you're looking for driving aides like lane assist or crawl control the Frontier is more than capable as an actual truck.
@@wittwer427 some of us use a truck as an honest truck others look at it parked in the drive way ,tell the neighbors what it can do. Before the trip to to lawn and garden dept where they brag to the help about the tech and the deal they got with a 84 month note. Does the taco still have drum brakes like the Corolla?
I'll give you resell cause they've never been wet and dealer oil changes that have the nice seating area. The closest thing to a Sunday driver.
@@dpt4402 Wow you are so defensive. Are you compensating for something yourself?
@@RecBuddha how do you figure defensive when it is obvious sarcastic. My first comment I did not identify a competitive brand.As far as compensation for my shortcomings yes it's a bitch with age and the effects of turning wrenches for decades that has brought me prosperity that I find relief with humor from a commerical presented as a video full of propaganda.
If Chevy made a Colorado “ZR1” the world would have been on its ass with the awesomeness
Frontier over this all day
Really no competition
I think that the point was that now there IS competition.
Colorado’s are so unreliable lol
The Colorado is always the choice in comparison tests. Taco doesn't have a Silverado problem.
Norm T at my previous job the 2005 models broke down within 30 k miles. Chevy is also known to have faulty transmissions.
The 2008 rangers no complaints, by fast as reliable as the tacos.
Coloarado can be easily replaced by Silverado.
@@XCVi_MAC we still have a few Blazer/S-10's and orginal Colorado's at the parking lot at work. The guys like the simplicity of those old trucks.
f11 IS a joke.
The GM products shouldn't even be on your radar. They are known for horrific build quality, timing chain issues and eventual catastrophic engine failures. No one with any education on this subject would buy the GM versions. The Ranger should be better but no where near as reliable as the Toyota V6. Turbo 4's are just not meant to last -- and they don't. Those Toyota V6's are reliable as the sun. Simple, less parts, they go forever. Nothing GM does that, and let's hope the Ranger is not anything like the old one.
The timing chain/guide was from an oiling problem. There was an update TSB and the engine fine and good for +300,000 miles.
Remember too the Colorado has a Silverado problem in sales than does the Tacoma have a Tundra problem.
@@normt5463 Meanwhile, all those trucks were either junked or repaired on the owner's dime to the tune of thousands of dollars for a truck not worth that much. What good is that TSB to the owners?
Would you buy from that company? Or the one that doesn't make these mistakes?
@@CleanSC plenty of 5,000 lbs Enclaves, Traverses, and Acadias that are still on the road with +200,000 miles in the decade they have been out. Many of them tow 5,000 lbs too!
@@normt5463 And congrats to those owners that made it that far. God bless them for their patience. I'd love to see what those cars look like with those miles and what amount of money they spent to get there. In my experience, they don't just fly to 200k without a lot of good money over bad.
@@CleanSC your misconceptions are outdated. Most vehicles today will last with proper maintence. And most anything that is designed to tow 4,000-5,000 lbs is over built with heavy duty trans cooler and cooling systems, with vented brakes on all four corners and heavy duty wheel bearings to match.