I Test Drive Neighbor’s New 2024 Tacoma

Earlier today, My neighbor let me test drive his brand new 2024 Tacoma Hybrid 4WD. Not sure what model it was- but it did have the TRD decals on the rear sides of the truck bed.

We stayed on pavement- couple local roads, on which speed limits were 45 MPH, and a local highway with a speed limit of 55, but I went up to 60 MPH.

Nothing brutal or demanding while I drove it- he rode with me. I didn’t drop the hammer on the gas pedal, lol. Just tried some moderate to brisk acceleration when I had the chance. It felt plenty peppy enough for me. I am never a lead foot anyway.

I thought the Tacoma drove nicely. It had GENERAL All Season tires on. They were not AT tires.

I perceived that the engine seemed quieter than my 4.0L V-6 in my ‘22 T4R.

For the way I drove it, (easy) I thought the transmission shifted smoothly and seamlessly. We took some hills on the highway here in our Texas hill country, and I didn’t sense any searching or indecisiveness out of the way the transmission behaved.

On my very brief test drive, only two things immediately stood out to me that I didn’t like- Even though I just said it drove nicely, I wasn’t at all cracked up over the “feel” of the steering compared to that of my T4R. My 2022 T4R steers SO much nicer, in my opinion. (I suppose if I owned the Tacoma, I would eventually grow accustomed to the steering, and it would then become second nature.)

The other thing was the lack of rear seat leg room, and the over-all DIS-comfort that I sensed in the few seconds that I sat in the back seat. The Back seat of our fifth gen T4Rs has the new Tacoma beat by a long shot in my opinion.

One thing appearance / cosmetic-wise that I noticed during a walk-around of the truck was the TRD decals on the rear sides of the truck bed were grossly very noticeably installed crooked! Not level at all. WTF! If it was mine, I’d take those crooked decals off, or make the dealer do it and replace them properly straight with new decals. (And I bet the dealer would find a way to F that up. LOL!)

I didn’t say anything negative to my neighbor about anything. I just complimented him on his purchase and thanked him for the test drive.

I was glad to get my first drive ever of the new gen Tacoma. I would have to say that I am FAR from being tempted to trade my 2022 T4R in on a new Tacoma though.

 

I noticed the same crooked decals on a near $60K Tacoma on the floor at my local dealer. I'm afraid that this sort of poor attention to detail just goes with what Toyota has become these days.

 

I to was not impressed with the rear seat leg room.

 

My neighbor sent me a pic of our two vehicles together in his driveway the other day. His Tacoma appears to have a nice lift in front right out of the box from the factory compared to how my SR5 Premium 4WD looked from the factory. I had to get my T4R fitted with Bilstein 5100 series adjustable shocks up front to raise it up a bit, to get rid of some of the nose down forward rake.

 

I love the factory snow plow Toyota is throwing in now.

 

Par for the course in this class, I think the Gladiator is the only one with decently sized rear seats.

IMO if one needs rear seat room and a pickup bed, full size is the answer.

 

This is weird. As I was reading this, I had some deja vu.

I'm not sure what's going on here @Rick G. but you say in your last sentence that this is your first ever test drive of the new gen Tacoma?

But you posted a very similar review a couple of months ago:

https://www.4runners.com/threads/i-test-drove-a-2024-tacoma.40153/

 

The first test drive was so unmemorable that they forgot.

 

Gladiator is a foot longer than the Ranger. It is a freak of a midsize pickup. Not sure how long the Tacoma is