2009 Toyota Tacoma 4X2 User Reviews

Pros

Good fuel economy, reliability

Cons

Under powered, stiff ride

Purchased As Used

I have a 1995 Toyota Tacoma regular cab and it is still going strong. I have not have many proplems with it at all. The only thing that I don't like about it is that it is under powered and has a stiff ride.

Pros

Great fuel economy, comfortable, quick

Cons

small back seat

Purchased As New

I bought this truck off the showroom floor in 2005 with 137 miles on it. I love the vehicle overall but the back seat is neither comfortable or roomy for extended periods of time or if you have long legs. Not really any other complaints. It's been a great truck so far!

Pros

Good Fuel Economy, Great Looks, Great Options

Cons

None that I found

Purchased As Not Purchased

Compared to its competition, it has great fuel economy (17/21). While it is a drop in fuel economy from my current truck (a 4 cyl), the extra power and towing capacity (6500 according to Toyota's brochure) are worth it. The colors available look great on the truck, especially red and blue. Storage is available below the rear seats, but it doesn't end there. The seats fold down to allow for more storage. I found the stock mirrors to be excellent. They allow for a very large field of view for the driver. Also, the Tacoma's 5-star safety score makes it much more appealing than its competitors. Did you know the Tacoma was the only mid-size truck to get a "good" score on side-impact collisions?

What some people have complained about the truck didn't bother me too much. I did notice the V6 engine is a little too loud at high RPM's, but what's so wrong with that? The only quiet trucks are those in junk yards. There have also been complaints about the seats being too low. They were noticeably lower than my current truck, but I also drive a Mazda Miata, which also provides low seating for the driver.

Overall, I felt very comfortable driving this truck. If someone is in the market for a mid-size truck, at least give this truck a look and test drive before you buy....read morehide

Pros

solid truck, roomy interior, ride

Cons

gas milage, lack of options

Purchased As New

I bought this truck based on reviews and interior room for a mid size truck (more than ext, silverado). Getting 20mpg with v6 same as 04 chevy with v8 and 160,000 miles on it. Overall Tomoca is a solid good truck.
Biggest pev lack of options even on top of the line truck.
no power seats, auto headlights, rear window deforst in place of manual sliding (can't get power sliding window either), no factory leather heated seats, auto temp air.
It is not that I want a luxed out truck, but some of these options should be standard in a top of the line trim let alone not available at all.
Nissan offers the LE Frontier with this optional equipment but have stopped building the truck with this trim level and the dealers can't or wont say when they are going to start up again....read morehide

Pros

Outstanding reliability

Cons

None

Purchased As New

Bought mine new in 1997. It now has 300,286 miles on the odometer. In all that time and miles, the only mechanical trouble was replacing a bad catalytic converter, and that was around 200,000 miles.

Pros

Great on the interstate. 23 MPG city

Cons

Downshifting to first

Purchased As New

Not just a truck, but a great transportation value for the money. Large anti sway bar in front makes for a stable ride on the Interstate. Quiter than some cars.

Pros

Full Size Bed, Above Avg Fuel Economy, Toyota Reliability

Cons

Ride is rough, Standard tire and suspension offering is below expectations.

Purchased As New

This is a "upgraded" basic truck, not designed for heavy towing.
Purchased the vehicle for: safety, utility, fuel economy, and lower cost of ownership issues. I purchased the basic convenience package - single CD - 6 spkers, electronic windows etc. I plan to upgrade with a 3rd party integrated NAV system.

While this is Japanese Company - all of the people I dealt with were
Americans and very much appreciated the business. Dealers are negotiable - do your research, but respect their right to run a business. Unless Toyota plans to open factory direct stores - we still need local operators to purchase vehicles and service expertise....read morehide

Pros

Is a smooth ride, dont really feel any bumps n the road.

Cons

the truck could have been a little bigger but other than that is a great truck

Great car, runs great, good mileage. the interior of the car is great in the front and back. great car overall

Pros

Very good fuel efficiency, roomy & quiet interior, good sound system, nice features with SR5 package

Cons

Bouncy ride, noisy rear springs

My Prerunner is an '07 model, but for all practical purposes it's identical to the '09 model. Here are some impressions after 2 years and 45,000 miles:

The 2.7 is a great little motor, particularly with the 5-speed stick. Coming from an '01 Nissan Frontier that had a 3.3 V6 auto, I can honestly say that there was no sacrifice in performance in going to the smaller motor, but a BIG improvement in fuel economy. The Nissan averaged 17-19 mpg, but with the Tacoma I typically get 21 mpg around town and 23 on the highway, and I don't baby it to get those numbers. Best I've ever seen was 26 mpg on the highway, but I kept the max speed at 65 and accelerated lightly to achieve that. So if you only plan on light-duty hauling, the 2.7 is the way to go.

This is a relatively quiet truck, at least in the SR5 trim level. However, I should point out the noisy (squeaky) rear suspension. It's a known issue and there are ways to correct it if you really can't live with it.

The tailgate is very light and seems fragile, but it's easily removed if you need to load a particularly heavy item - guess that's the trade-off for some weight savings.

The OEM Dunlop AT tires ride & wear well, but they perform very poorly in the rain - BEWARE! I recently mounted a set of Firestone Destination LE tires and their handling and grip is much, much better.

Finally, a few comments on the ride and handling - overall, it's pretty bouncy but then it IS a truck. The front end wants to wander a bit at highway speeds, and adding some positive caster would probably help in that regard. The rear of the truck will step out on rough surfaces, but that's to be expected from a leaf-spring design. On the other hand, it handles remarkably well for a truck and has a pretty tight turning radius if you ever need to get into or out of a tight spot.

Bottom line: I would definitely buy this truck again. It's the best light-duty pickup out there right now....read morehide

Pros

Silky smooth V6, Comfortable seats (sport)

Cons

No factory moonroof or leather, but then it's a truck not a luxury car.

The perfect "Urban Cowboy" truck. Some complain about "rough ride" duh! It's a truck! Compared to Nissan Frontier, Ford Ranger, Dodge Dakota, and Chevy Colorado, it beats all of them hands down in ride, performance, and best of all resale value. That's a standard feature that is not available in the other makes....read morehide