Should you buy the latest Toyota Tacoma 2016-2021?

so the question of the day is should you buy 2016 to 2021 toyota tacoma this truck is very popular among enthusiasts it actually has a very large enthusiast base behind it my name is amd i am a toyota master diagnostic technician with over a decade of experience and i've worked on these trucks from the first day that they came off the truck from the factory brand new till today and throughout its life of this generation i've seen some common problems and trends that i'd like to share with you in this video whether you own one or you're planning to buy one i think these are some things that you need to know about before or during your ownership but before we get started if you're new to the channel welcome consider subscribing to the channel check out some of my other videos if you're a returning subscriber thank you so much for watching another one of my videos and without further ado let's go check this thing out a small overview before we get started the tacoma has always been a dear truck to everybody everybody loves this truck it's just the right size is very reliable and this continues on in this generation however there are a few uh bumps uh across the road here when this thing came out 2016 was probably the roughest year and this truck did not have a very smooth launch if you would there was a slew of problems from production and things were a little bumpy compared to the previous generation which was rock solid however these bumps were fixed things were gotten much better and as we progressed things got a lot better and now it is just as reliable as the previous generation one thing about these trucks that was a big deal when it came out was the gopro mount because everybody loves gopro and they need one in their tacoma however that gopro mod by the way it's gone in 2019 model but uh that was one of the very big highlights of this truck otherwise it's really similar to the previous generation these trucks generally are very good trucks very reliable very low key you just own them maintain them and they last forever however be very careful with this one because if you buy one used from a neglected owner these can be problematic and if you buy one from my owner that's not picky about their little issues that are annoying you could end up buying one that has all the issues we talked about in this video most of them are not serious enough to cause breakdowns or issues but they could be very annoying so having said that let's start with the first category so let's start with the engine category the tacoma came with two possible engines the 3.5 liter v6 which is this one and the 4-cylinder 2.7 liter engine let's start talking about the 3.5 liter common problems so this engine is very similar to the one in the camry highlander sienna and the other v6 models with the d4s direct injection and port injection at the same time so rumors about this engine having carbon buildup are not true because it has both systems at the same time so you're not going to have carbon buildup with these engines however they did have a few common trends to them let's start with some common oil leaks on these the first very common and very large oil leak which mainly seems to affect 2016 and 17 is a front timing cover very big job very easy to check however if you own one of these you might want to get it checked before your warranty runs out this is covered under power terrain warranty again very big job very easy to check but they're very common on these models and we've seen a lot of them leak from that area another common oil leak that is not as common as the front timing cover is some oil leaks on the side of the engine from the vacuum pump other than these two oil leaks we have some coolant leaks on this engine unfortunately with this engine toyota switched a lot of the coolant hoses or coolant elbows and various bypass hoses into plastic from aluminum that's just the way it is with new manufacturing trying to reduce costs however that did not result in a very happy mixture plus it gets brittle it cracks it breaks and that's just the way it is one thing that was notorious on these trucks again 2016 and 17. i haven't really seen and either 18 and up have this issue but there is a coolant bypass pipe in the back of the engine it is plastic and it is notorious to crack and leak at a very young age and i hope they updated the part because the replacement for this guy is very expensive very intensive and actually initially we started pulling the bodies off to change them because it's much easier than that just like you see in this picture it's a massive job and you'll typically see a trail of coolant on top of the transmission on the side of the of the passenger side of the transmission you'll see just a strange trail of coolant and coolant will drop down this was somewhat common so if you're buying 16 17 even more than that make sure you look on the passenger side of the transmission and look up and you should not see no coolant leaking from that area now many people complain about this engine there is very loud and sometimes it's loud sometimes it's not folks every time this engine runs on direct injection only mode it'll be very loud the injectors are loud the fuel pump is very loud and that's just the way it's designed it is not really a problem however there is a known problem with the fuel pump especially in the early ones where it makes a chirping noise that is so loud you'll know there's a problem not the normal load now the fuel pump just needs to be replaced with an updated unit and life is good after that but this really affected only 16 against some 17s but mostly these two years after that things seem to have been fine with the updated part and everything is good now there was a common theme with these with software updates there was a lot of software updates to improve a lot of issues now one of them for the engine is a stumble on acceleration a lot of people have complained about this and it's actually a known issue and there is a software update to solve this any issue you have with drivability always ask for software updates because there was a lot of software updates on this engine to fix various little things and the latest issue that finally got resolved was a chronic drive belt noise it just starts chirping and making noise and squealing and squeaking and all kinds of problems and people are complaining you replace the belt same thing over and over and over while toyota finally figured out the problem and they updated the belt so if you have this problem or you hear it in one that you're buying negotiate the price but make sure you don't buy an aftermarket belt you buy an updated belt and i will leave the part number for that updated belt here this is the most updated part number as of the filming of this video you should always buy the most updated part number for any part you replace on your toyota let's talk about the four-cylinder engine and honestly i don't know much about the four-cylinder engine because it is that good it's very underpowered compared to v6 of course but it is so reliable and i believe this might be the very last engine toyota makes that is a cast iron block it's a very tough little bird they really don't have many problems there are small things that have been carried over and they're kind of common on these engines but they're none of them are big deals you'll have your valve cover leaks we're talking this engine needs to have 100 000 miles or more for you to see these valve covers very easy lots of space to work on this engine very diy another common issue with them is the water pump leaking again very easy plenty of space to replace it nothing i'm concerned about very low time on this one labor-wise to replace it not a big deal other than that the 2.7 liter engine is really bulletproof and they really very low maintenance they don't really have many many more issues let's talk about some transmission issues with these trucks now these trucks could have an automatic or a manual transmission and we're going to cover both we're also going to talk in this segment about the drivetrain like the four-wheel drive system differentials transfer case and everything else starting with the transmission let's start with the automatic transmission the automatic transmission is relatively bulletproof on these trucks actually however there are a few things that you need to know about again specifically to the 1617 however there's one issue that extends all the way to 19. there is a common concern with surging this transmission will start surging up and down just to let you know that there is a software update that resolves that it's not a problem with the transmission itself another issue is the general way the transmission shifts and this one actually only applies to the early one 16. it's just a general feel of how the transmission shifts it doesn't shift smooth it doesn't shift on time and it feels like it's all over the place a little bit there was a software update to fix that it's relatively simple even if you're on a warranty it's not a big cost to fix that there's one issue with the automatic transmission that is trending at the moment that could be a serious one so far there has been no official report that the truck has this problem and it's actually believed to be incorrect transmission fluid or contamination when the fluid is replaced the trending issue currently is torque converter shutter we've seen a few it's not common enough where i'll tell you it's a very common problem however we are seeing them more and more and i want you to know about this issue make sure you're using the right fluid if you replace it and make sure you're maintaining this transmission at the right interval if you have this issue it's gonna happen only when you accelerate with light acceleration around 40 50 miles an hour you feel the whole truck start shaking as soon as you accelerate a little bit more the shake will go away and life is good this seems to affect so far 16 to 17 models i have not seen a 19 and up but as i told you this problem is trending and we will find out more as time goes by the way if you own one of these trucks they might tell you it's a lifetime fluid but what's a lifetime i highly recommend you replace the transmission fluid on these trucks every 60 thousand miles or six years whichever comes first using only toyota ws fluid don't use aftermarket but i'll leave that one up to you let's talk about the manual transmission in these trucks the manual transmission in this truck is actually an awesome option they're very reliable however they only have one annoying issue and it's not really an issue it's more of an annoyance the clutch pedal squeaks now this is actually a carryover problem from the previous generation where they just squeak you press the clutch squeak you let it go squeak toyota has made a slew of updates and the latest one is basically replace everything to do with the clutch except the clutch itself and the fork so you're gonna place your master slave and the and the hose just to resolve this issue and honestly this is more of an annoyance there are many diy fixes for it you put grease on the fork you put grease here and there and that's going to be one that's kind of chronic and it's annoying but it's i just want you to know this is not an actual issue or there's something broken this is just two metal surfaces making contact and they make that noise let's talk about the four-wheel drive system in this truck now this truck of course is a serious off-roader it is very capable in four-wheel drive in low range it has a proper transfer case and it is a proper off-roader however there are a few issues and again going back to that 16 and 17 year most of them are actually affected that model let's start with the first one that is actually started from the beginning of of this truck's life and kind of still going vibrations all kinds of vibrations when you coast at low speed this truck is notorious for their vibration concerns there is a procedure by toyota to install some dampener in the steering to take care of some of that some of that vibration also to check the driveline alignment this procedure is a little bit involved and you have to make adjustments to the driveline if needed but if you have vibrations be patient this truck is known for some vibration so if you want that ultra smooth ride perhaps this is not the truck for you just remember this is a body-on-frame truck it's not exactly a highlander continuing on the theme of vibration and noise there's a problem these trucks from noise from the front differential it only happens when you're on two-wheel drive when you put it in four-wheel drive the nose goes away there's actually an updated front differential to take care of this issue again it affected the early two years 16 and 17 and i haven't really seen it in other years other than these two one thing about the four-wheel drive system that you need to be aware of on these trucks if you live in an area where you will rarely use your four-wheel drive or let's say you used it in the winter and now in the summer you don't use it make sure every month you engage four wheel drive you engage low range you let everything move because if you leave these things without engaging them for a long time they're actually gonna seize and then they're not gonna work the next time you need them so you need to constantly every month or so engage them disengage them make everything move because actually even in your owner's manual as a recommendation because when these things seize there's an actuator in the front there's an ax in the front differential there's an actuator in the transfer case that are notorious to sees and the one transfer case is kind of a painter place because the whole transfer case have to come apart yes there are ways around it to replace it without but they're not recommended because you could easily damage the new expensive part folks this truck when it comes to drive train and four-wheel drive and all that they're noisy they cause vibrations they're not the smoothest in the world however other other these annoyances they're relatively bulletproof they're really good systems and with proper maintenance they should last a very long time but just know if you're that picky driver that doesn't like noise and occasional vibration here and there this is gonna annoy you there are a few fixes here and there as we discussed in this video but overall it is not a 100 smooth drivetrain just thought i'd let you know that moving on to the body category and there's one common problem with these which is typically not noticed or thought about so some paint bubbling or actually rust starting to form prematurely on the door cells there's a very important thing that you need to be aware of is that there is a specific repair procedure for these to prevent them from happening again if you ever notice rust bubbling or paint bubbling peeling around the door cells there's a specific procedure so if you take it to your body shop and they're covering it under warranty make sure the body shop is aware of that specific procedure to fix this problem another common one and this one also affected the early years like 16 17 some 18s the third brake light leaking water and you're just gonna notice in heavy rain or through a car wash you're gonna notice water coming down on the back window just a trail of water coming down the third brake light was updated the seal around it just leaked they're kind of hard to replace because the headliner has to come down a little bit but this is a very common problem and actually i would test your car if you have one of those because this is a simple enough problem you just replace a little light with an updated one but if you leave it or the if the person you're buying the car from the previous owner never bothered to care this could actually turn into a big issue with water intrusion inside the truck so you're going to want to check that just hose the third brake light down if you see water coming in get the updated one make sure you get an updated third brake light though because unfortunately laying around will be the original one that has the same problem so make sure you get the updated part last but not least on body is the front bumper has a little trim piece that is notorious to come apart and just leave a giant ugly gap folks this one is more of an annoyance than anything else and it's not shoddy build quality or whatever it's just the cover on these if you tap it or if if you get in a minor accident these things break and they need the whole thing replaced so if you have that bring it to your dealership's attention and they'll cover it under warranty moving on to the chassis category so there's a constant whistling noise that you'll hear driving this truck especially in windy days and windy conditions it's actually from the lower control arms there's not a problem with the lower control arms there's just the holes in the control arm from the factory they seem to sometimes cause a whistle that is really annoying there is an official fix for this there's basically a plug kit that just goes in there and plugs these holes so it wouldn't make noise that'll let you know another one that is more of an annoyance than an actual problem let's talk about brakes so the brakes in this truck they have front disc brakes and the ancient rear drums they work great there's no really big issues with them however i want to bring your attention to the front brakes the front brakes are good but if you live in the rust belt they're going to give you issues they're notorious to seize up and for the calipers to seize up so if you live in the rust belt you're going to want to service those brakes maybe every year every two just take the pins clean them that will actually prevent these brakes from having issues in the future otherwise they don't really last very long because again this is a heavy truck and they get most of the use in the front because of the rear drums however one tip for you if you own one always adjust the rear brakes now i know the rear brakes will self-adjust and automatically adjust but they never seem to work very well so if every 10 000 20 000 miles you pop the drums off clean everything and adjust them you actually prolong the life of the front brakes and you won't have issues speaking of the rear brakes on 2016 models there was a notorious issue where you press the brake and there's all kinds of noise in the back now this issue was really a manufacturing issue and i doubt there's trucks out there in the road that had this issue that haven't gotten it taken care of because it was something massive you just press the brakes and the things start rattling and make all kinds of weird noise we're talking about new trucks so the axle the hub on the axle was actually not the correct size for the drum so the drum would just move around make all kinds of noise however if you're buying a truck from an owner that never really bothered to listen to it or didn't bother them at all you might want to get this one taken care of because this one can get a little expensive if you're out of warranty let's talk about the electrical category now this truck generally doesn't really have many electrical problems however again we go back to the 16 and 17 models and you'll see when we get to the best years to buy what my recommendation will be you're already guessing what that would be the blind spot monitor had some issues where the sensors would have issues all kinds of electrical gremlins with a blind spot monitor one warning about that is when you go to buy one make sure it is turned on because all these problems could be there and it's hidden by simply turning off the blind spot so if you're going to buy one make sure you turn it on make sure it works right during all your whole test drive of the truck that would work properly things can get a little expensive of these systems that had the kind of born with these problems that were never addressed but otherwise most people got them fixed and after that really when you get updated parts and everything's good you shouldn't have issues another electrical problem with these trucks which is more of a mess up from toyota sorry i love toyota but when they mess up they mess up and it is what it is the air conditioning works terribly in these trucks over 100 degrees fahrenheit the reason for that is toyota decided not to install a secondary fan to help that condenser cool down they only have the big mechanical fan that's about it and in 100 degree weather stop and go traffic that's not sufficient so the ac just flat stops working because of over temperature and too much pressure because the thing is not getting cooled properly so toyota has developed a kit where you can buy it install the fan and you won't have this problem this really will only affect folks that live in really hot climate so if you notice that your tacoma air conditioning is not really that great get the kit install the fan and this was actually covered by warranty so this will affect all of them and if you notice that your ac doesn't work i want you to go in there and get it installed because i think they should have done this from the factory but they didn't for whatever reason but at least they developed a kit where it's simple and easy and of course what's a modern toyota video without talking about electrical problems without talking about the horrendous radios folks toyota makes a great car great trucks great everything except radios they're just horrible constant updates problems with bluetooth problems with this problems with that it's just the way it is just know when you have problems with the radio there are updates available they come out every so so and then to address problems but you always want to get it to the latest version so the problems will be resolved and last but not least in the electrical category and this is more of a so just so you know more less of an issue actually so these trucks in the later years 19 and up they have safety systems pre-collision adaptive cruise control and all this when equipped just be aware when you lift these trucks many people will modify these trucks for even more off-roading capability when you lift these trucks these safety systems will no longer work right and from the dealership standpoint there is no way to calibrate these systems to work with your lift so if you're going extreme lifting just know that these systems might just flat not work and there's no fix for them anymore just thought i'd let you know that before you go lifting your truck let's have the frame conversation as i'd like to call it the frame in this truck pilot's good and toyota did say it was completely redesigned from the previous generation which had thrust problems and all that however from what we're looking at they're exactly the same frame just just have a little brace yeah big inside the frame and everything else is looks uh exactly the same and so is the rust problems so folks if you live in the in the rust belt this frame will rust very quickly and that's just the way they are unfortunately that's the only achilles heel in these trucks and not only the tacoma the tundra as well if you live in the rust belt you're gonna want to rust proof the frame not the body of the truck the frame it is very important you should consider that as part of purchasing the truck that's just the norm road salt is the normal thing for rust belt trucks i live in chicago where it is the rust belt and that's the norm with rust however 2016 and 17 they actually did have a campaign to spray the inside of the frame if it was not sprayed from the factory and the coolest thing about this frame is after 18 and up they were already sprayed inside the frame so there was still the campaign on them but we just put some plugs to limit the amount of salt that goes inside the frame but they were cover coated with a wax on the inside that doesn't evaporate doesn't come down doesn't doesn't go anywhere it just stays there and really protects the frame because these frames always rot from the inside out not from the outside in so by this update i think these frames will be a lot better however i would still coat them on the outside because they are not coated they're just painted and that's it so that's the one thing you need to need to know about with these trucks the frames will rust if you don't take care of them if you don't wash them regularly and most importantly coat them and more importantly than that re-coat them don't just coat them once and forget it every few years you're going to need to reapply that coating to make sure you have continuous protection so what's the best year tacoma to buy this one is very simple and i'm guessing if you watch this video this long you already know the answer to that one all of them except 16s and some 17s now somebody will jump on the comments right now who owns 16 and 17 will say i don't know what i'm talking about you have a 16-17 it has been bulletproof you have zero issues and i am so happy that that is the case but you own one truck i see hundreds if not thousands of these trucks and the 1617s have been the most problematic if you're buying one folks 18 and up especially 19 plus they really are good all these issues that we talked about in this video or at least most of them have been resolved and you will not have issues having said that if you're buying one of these trucks remember this is a body on frame truck it is not smooth it is not silky smooth where you're gonna be just be driving not feeling anything they're rough they're bouncy they're they vibrate here and there that's just the way they are because in the end this brand new truck that looks all filled with technology and all that is still an ancient truck really not a lot has changed structurally from the previous generation and that's what makes these trucks desirable and good because they didn't ditch the frame and go with the with just a unibody or went with some modern frame that has all these features and now it just doesn't feel like a truck this is a real truck that drives like a truck feels like a truck and it will never drive smooth like a highlander so perhaps you should consider that when looking to buy one of these trucks folks these are overall very good trucks of course not my word look at the sales figures they're very desirable there's a trd pro which is an icon in these trucks and it's a very nice truck however they have their quirks they have their issues just like anything else nothing is perfect it's a machine made by imperfect humans and that's okay however with this video when you go shop for one you know that you'd want to avoid perhaps the 16th and 17th go with the later ones but if you're buying a 16 and 17 really pay attention to these issues because they are that common on these years i hope this video was helpful i hope it was informative i hope you learned something new i hope if you own one of these trucks that it is the last truck you buy and the next one will be also a tacoma i hope you don't have these issues but if you do it's it's the way it is with these trucks they're all these issues have have resolutions and you can take care of them and life is good if you like this video consider giving it a thumbs up if you're not a subscriber consider subscribing to the channel check out some of my other videos and until the next video guys may the lord bless you and keep you and you have a wonderful day

Channel: The Car Care Nut

Views: 277,442

Rating: 4.9413838 out of 5

Keywords: should you buy the latest toyota tacoma, 2016 tacoma, 2017 tacoma, 2018 tacoma, 2019 tacoma, 2020 tacoma, 2021 tacoma, 2022 tacoma, toyota reliability, toyota tacoma, tacoma vs tundra, toyota trucks, toyota off road, tacoma vs 4runner, tacoma oil leak, toyota water leak, toyota tacoma review, toyota buying guide, toyota tacoma trd pro, tacoma mods, toyota mechanic, toyota maintenance, the car care nut, should you buy a toyota, toyota tacoma problems

Id: b6tRAQ_r0Ms

Length: 27min 42sec (1662 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 10 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/LongTim2099]

Great series. TL;DW - his recommendation is to buy 2018 or newer since 2016 and 2017 had some weird issues he’s had to fix for folks.