Toyota Tacoma 4×4 Review
Type: Pickup Truck
Toughness: 8.7/10
Availability: 9.3/10
Capability: 9.0/10
Price: 6.5/10
When it comes to small, or mid-sized as they’e called now, pickup trucks, the Toyota Tacoma comes from a long line of proven Toyota 4x4workhorses.
New for 1995, the Toyota Tacoma was an instant hit with the truck buying public. It came in enough configurations to satisfy just about any truck needs andn almost perfect balance of utility, performance, comfort, and features.
Outside of North America, the Toyota Hilux–the Tacoma’s sibling–is most often equipped with a diesel engine, but here in North America they come with either a 4.0 litre V6 or a large bore inline four displacing 2.7 liters.
To date, the Tacoma has proven about as tough and durable as any Toyota pick up. There were some issues with corrosion on earlier Tacoma frames, but Toyota offered to fix or replace any affected trucks, no questions asked, and will buy back any Tacoma affected by rust at 150% of the Blue Book price.
Even given the highly questionable accelerator “issue” said to have affected several Toyota models (to date this has still never been proven), Tacoma sales continued to do very well, and the truck was voted Pickup of the Year for several years in a row–and counting.
What makes the Toyota Tacoma truck particularily popular with four wheelers is the available Bilstein shocks, factory skid plates, electronic locking differential, and genuine off road capability that come with the TRD Off Road package.
Combined with the Toyota Tacoma’s every day livability–comfort, features, resale value, reliability, and versatility–an already great mid sized pickup is even better and about as trail ready as a stock vehicle gets.
