Yeah, my friend is leasing a 2017 SR5 4x4 at over $500 a month. I tend to think the dealer took him for a ride.

 

Ordered carpet mats (came with winter rubber mats), keychains, bed mat, tonneau cover, and running boards.

 

I'm willing to bet the Tacoma is the only vehicle in Toyota's lineup that still has drum brakes - so they're specially made for the Tacoma only which seems really strange and I would think cost more than using off the shelf 4Runner rear disc brake assy.

 

Nice Truck i like the cement grey. My neighbor has one and he put the 4Runner wheels on his and it looks good.

 

You just lost the bet......rear drums also come on the American-spec Yaris.

Don't worry....we all, including myself, make statements that sometimes have to be corrected.

 

Could argue that Yaris drums have nothing in common with the Tacoma and wouldn't be applied there. Moreso since they're from the Mazda parts bin.

 

Well, most drum brakes are basically the same design....rotating drum, shoes, wheel-cylinders, activator-springs, linings, and (on the more recent ones) self-adjusters. They might be different sizes for different vehicles......the ones on the Yaris are 9-inch drums; I didn't check on the size for the Tacoma.

 

You could say that about nearly component for any vehicle being "basically the same design." Tacoma is a large pickup truck compared to the Yaris. If I remember correctly it should be a 12" drum in the rear, and obviously design around the Tacoma's 6 lug.

Hilux also uses a similar rear drum, and since that's used in more cost conscious parts of the world, that's likely why we see Tacoma, which is not directly the same as Hilux but does share some commonality, use rear drums.


It obviously doesn't hold people back from buying and enjoying the Tacoma in droves today!

 

What's intresting is that some vehicles with 4-wheel-discs use a separate smaller, inner-drum for the rear emergency brake, as manufacturers (if they are willing to accept the added cost/complexity of production), have found that this works as good or better then using the rear discs for the E-Brake.

I agree that the Tacoma is a huge success, discs or drums. I was not opposed to having the rear drums....a lot of owners have put a lot of miles on these trucks, with few if any problems.

 

You made the right choice! I saw a new TRD Tacoma yesterday and I never realized how small the short bed was. It’s a shame they limit the the trims on the long bed.

It’s a good vehicle to have long term. The long bed will make the truck very useful too! Have you noticed any big differences in ride quality from your old Tacoma?

 

I’ve never leased a vehicle, so how does it work for mods and other items you add? Do you take them off when you turn in the vehicle and no issue as long as you didn’t damage/drill?

 

Thanks! I'm feeling very good about my choice. I really like the long bed.

As compared to my old one, it's been several years but I definitely have some impressions about the two, but ride quality isn't too different. I'm happy that it doesn't feel much less maneuverable compared to my old one. I was worried about that with the long cab and long bed, but parking it has been no chore at all. But overall I'd say it's pretty close.

I think the real answer here is "it depends". Anything I add can indeed be taken off and sold at the end of the lease. Or I can just leave them on. What happened with my previous Tacoma, to which I also added a tonneau cover, side steps, and a few other accessories, is that I traded it in as a used vehicle, rather than turning it in as a lease return, which makes the add-ons a non-issue. There's some good info about this in the leasing sticky, but long story short is that you can use the leased vehicle as a trade (or even sell it private party) very easily if the value of the vehicle is higher than the lease residual/buyout. Tacomas are almost always a sure bet to fall into this category because the resale value is so ridiculously high. That will be a bit more of a challenge at lease end on these deals now because the residual is so much higher, but it's still looking good. At this point I fully intend to buy this truck out of the lease and keep it long term.

 

Thank you all for the congratulations and compliments. Very gracious and appreciated.

Not many places to drive these days, so I didn't do too much with it over the weekend, though I did get it out for a couple of short trips around town. I have some initial impressions.

My dad has a '16. I've test driven some '17s and '18s. In all of them I have noticed some initial sluggishness in acceleration, which I've written off as a combination of a lack of low end torque in the 3.5 vs the old 4.0, and a lazy transmission. I am not really noticing it in my new one. I read that for 2020 Toyota updated the transmission programming, so that may be coming in to play here, or my excitement for the new truck is giving me a blind eye to this. I'll spend some more time with it. I'm happy and pleasantly surprised with the engine/transmission behavior so far. Truck feels good and strong. On a side note, I now own three versions of this engine. The 2GR-FKS in the Tacoma and the GS350, and the 2GR-FXS version of it in my Highlander (tuned for full-time Atkinson Cycle). It's amazing how different the same engine can feel in each application.

Interior is pretty much just as I had expected. This is my first experience with Apple CarPlay. I'll need to spend some more time with it but for now my impression is "meh". I don't totally get the craze but maybe I will over time. I've used Google Maps, Pandora, and text messaging on it so far. The Toyota nav system is very different from what's in my Highlander or GS, so I need to spend some time figuring out the menus and settings.

Controls are logical and well placed, instrumentation is fantastic, and I love the power sliding rear window. But as noted in numerous reviews, interior materials are pretty cheap in places. Lots of plastic mold lines and such. They'd bother me in a car but I can live with them in a truck.

New power seat is good, though I think the seats in my 2011 were more comfortable, but I may not be remembering accurately. The new ones are good though the seat bottom cushions feel short, perhaps exacerbated by the fact that I have long legs. Not bad, but could be better. I wish it had the seat cushion extender like in my GS and Highlander. The leather feels very thick and durable, which I think is fantastic in a truck. I could easily take this on a road trip and be comfortable.

Overall, it just feels good to be back in a truck. I love how it feels, how it drives, how it looks. All of it. I'm looking forward to camping trips with the kids, to tossing the bikes in the back and heading to a park, etc.

 

Oh definitely, they're not an issue - just curious as to why they stick with them.

Also, for me anyway - drums are a PIA to work on versus disc brakes.

OP - glad to hear the sluggishness and/or transmission issues seem to be gone in the 2020...I did read they tweaked the transmission programming

 

Trucks are one area where harder materials are better IMO. I grew up installing kitchens and we would throw tools, materials, etc all over in the cab. All this soft-touch nonsense that the reviewers rave about in new trucks would have been ruined.