A fun driving stock truck, on or off road
The rubber seal on the plastic wheel well cover doesn't stay on and the black on the bumper and the wheel well covers fade.
For a four cylinder it performs great and the stock heigth, bigger tires, and stereo is great.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 19th May, 2003
Waste of money, go buy a REAL truck
Listed in my previous review.
This is to the gentleman who responded to my previous review:
There are such things as lemons, and I beleive that I got one. The Toyota was completely bone-stock, no modifications. I do not drive aggresively, and as far as the comment about checking my window locks...I'm not an idiot. Everyone I know that own s a '01 Tacoma has had similar problems with their vehicles. If you work for Toyota, I feel that Toyota should take better care of their customers if they are going to sell products such as these. If you don't, then consider the fact that you didn't own my truck and you didn't have to go through the frustration that I did with it. Thank you for your thoughts.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 28th March, 2003
Waste of money, go buy a REAL truck
1. Right after the vehicle was purchased, the plastic fender flares warped and the rubber gaskets fell out, causing them to rattle. Dealer repaired.
2. After having the fender flares repaired, the front sway bar actually FELL OFF while I was driving. Keep in mind that this vehicle seldom sees dirt. Dealer repaired.
3. The rear locking differential jammed up and would not unlock, causing the rear differential to blow up. Fixed by dealer after third time to the shop, and not without an argument.
4. Front rotars warped. I never haul anything. Dealer said that I shouldn't haul so much weight with the truck (ha ha) and that the rotars were replaced. They didn't even touch them. Had the truck in 4 times for this problem, and on the fourth time, dealer found that the rear drums were out of round. Fixed by dealer, but not without a fight.
5. Wouldn't start in cold weather. Adjustments made by dealer. That didn't work. Then, it wouldn't start AND it cut out when I tried to accelerate quickly. ECU had to be replaced. Dealer repaired.
6. Rattles EVERYWHERE in the interior. Seats already faded and torn. The ash tray just fell out while I was going to work one day. Speedometer works, but only sometimes. Windsheild has an air leak. Moon roof and passemger side door leak water. Power door locks have a mind of their own, along with the power windows. They only work sometimes as well.
The only good thing I can say about the Tacoma is that it has great acceleration for the engine, it runs smooth, and shifts well. Handles OK off road, but I wouldn't sugest anything to harsh. No drivetrain problems (yet). I feel that this vehicle is WAY overpriced for what you get. The interior is cheap, it rides/handles pretty bad on-road (mostly because of some serious body roll). I would not recomend the TRD package. The locking diff is garbage. Buy a REAL locker if you really want one. The Bilstein shocks ride just like the Toyota shocks, and the skid plates make it next to impossible to get to the oil filter. Don't listen to what people say about "Toyota quality". There is no longer any such thing. It died back in the mid-90's. The 2001 Tacoma is nothing but problems. Save your money and get a real truck.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 19th March, 2003
You do have a point and I'm not saying that you don't know what you are talking about, but all I'm saying is that it's a pattern that I've noticed. As you know, I had terrible luck with my Toyota, and to make it worse, Toyota wouldn't do anything about this stuff without a big fight even under their own warranty. 90 percent of the Tacoma owners I know and have talked to have had nothing but problems with the late model Tacomas. I know a couple od guys that own off-road shops and work a Toyota trucks quite a bit, and their feedback id always the same. The newer ones are garbage compared to the old ones as far as build quality goes. Toyota wants to make some more money, so they have turned what used to be a bullet and bomb-proof truck into a mass-produced, over priced pile of plastic and cheap metal.
23rd Dec 2004, 15:55
I agree, My 01 Tacoma has as much problems as my 86 Celica. Two weeks after I took the car off the lot, my radiator blew up. On rainy days, water leaks inside the car thru the engine. Sometimes my car doesn't even start in the morning so I tow it back to the dealers and you know what? its not thier problem and its not a lemon.