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Tacoma to Bronco any regrets?

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JZBronco70

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I'm honestly dumbfounded at how poor the Tacoma's interior ergonomics are. The 4Runner by contrast, is leaps and bound above the Tacoma.

Maybe I got a freak Taco, but I was really surprised it did not have any squeaks or rattle in the interior. I've pretty much expected it to some level in a ladder frame based truck, so I was surprised with that particular case.
Like the new info system is leaps ahead of the 4Runner and thatā€™s the only reason why I would choose the Tacoma for local drives cause of the apple car play (our Runner is a 2018) otherwise we choose the runner for long legs
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RubyRuin

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Forgot to mention -- the 3.5L in the 2016+ Tacomas were a terrible fit for that platform. The power is all above 4000 RPM; so no sudden overtakes or passes, you've got to plan that in advance. Toyota should have just kept the older generation's 4.0L.
 
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JZBronco70

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Forgot to mention -- the 3.5L in the 2016+ Tacomas were a terrible fit for that platform. The power is all above 4000 RPM; so no sudden overtakes or passes, you've got to plan that in advance. Toyota should have just kept the older generation's 4.0L.
It seems to be better geared with the 6 speed manual. But yeah I miss my 4.0L 6 speed a lot (had a better sound to). Itā€™s always the case with Toyota being reactive and not revolutionary I feel like
 

RubyRuin

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It seems to be better geared with the 6 speed manual. But yeah I miss my 4.0L 6 speed a lot (had a better sound to). Itā€™s always the case with Toyota being reactive and not revolutionary I feel like
I appreciate Toyota for being conservative in the sense they don't sacrifice their reliability to be on the absolute bleeding edge, but it hurts them at times such as this case.

The sixth gear in these are just highway cruising gears, you can't get any meaningful acceleration out of it; I have to drop down to fourth to get any decent passing power. I can't imagine how people are putting 35's on these without having to re-gear to at least 4.88. The manual Tacos have 4.30 and I still felt it to be a bit sluggish even on 32" all-season tires.
 
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JZBronco70

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I appreciate Toyota for being conservative in the sense they don't sacrifice their reliability to be on the absolute bleeding edge, but it hurts them at times such as this case.

The sixth gear in these are just highway cruising gears, you can't get any meaningful acceleration out of it; I have to drop down to fourth to get any decent passing power. I can't imagine how people are putting 35's on these without having to re-gear to at least 4.88. The manual Tacos have 4.30 and I still felt it to be a bit sluggish even on 32" all-season tires.
O yeah passing on the highway was 5th if I didnā€™t need to hurry, or 4th when I wanted to boogy.
And thatā€™s unloaded minus myself and maybe a couple other items in it.
Towing a small trailer and it def knew it was back there
 

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I have a bunch of seat time in 2020 Tacoma 6 speed manual. Car seats fit better in the bronco and the front seat go back farther with the kid seats in. Big thing is if you can live with 1/4 the storage going from a bed to enclosed Bronco. Towing and cargo capacity are way down compared to mid size trucks and close to sedan levels.

The 10 speed with 2.7 is an awesome combo, much better than toyota 3.5 or 4.0 motor options. I would say if you trading vehicles every 2-3 years I wouldn't worry to much about not making the adjustment, new 4runner will come out just in time to jump ship.

My bronco in no way can replace my F150 or my Ram 1500.
 

SethPoeski

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A friend of mine has a 2021 Taco TRD Pro. He's really considering trading it in for a Bronco, if he can find one on the lot available (he doesn't want to wait - don't blame him). Here's some pros and cons from my perspective, and his opinions:

Taco:
- Infotaiment, as others have said, is dog awful. It just plain sucks. There's no excuse for a 2021 to have that sad of an infotainment system. The Sync 4 in the Bronco (particularly the Lux, which is what we had for comparison) is lightyears ahead in every way.
- Seats are comfortable, but lumbar was a complaint for him as well. He's about 6'1", and a huskier dude. He says for road trips he shifts around a lot.
- Having a bed for utility is unparalleled and something that could be a make or break, depending on your daily needs.
- Offroad capabilities are great. His is stock, so clearance and approach/depart angles are always a concern in trickier terrain, but this truck has handled everything he's thrown at it.
- Water fording on a stock TRD seems to be really good. That thing can wade through 2.5 feet of water with zero issue.

Bronco:
- Infotainment is better than any other 4x4 out there, in my opinion. Nothing comes close.
- Seats (MGV for our dealer mannequin) are extremely comfortable, and totally fine for long road trips. My friend commented on how much better they are than his taco.
- Roominess in the Bronco was far superior to the Taco.
- The Bronco is physically larger and more imposing. My friend said the SUV felt more like a truck than his Taco lol.
- He said the Bronco felt a tad better on the road than his Taco. Just smoother and more refined.
- Power was significantly better (the mannequin I drove was a 2.7). There's never a want or need for power in any situation we had it in.

Hope that helps! I know it's not from a Taco owner's perspective, but I've driven and rid in 2 modern Tacos pretty extensively, and the owner of this Taco has ridden in a Bronco enough that he's 85% of the way to making the switch.
 
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JZBronco70

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Choice gas build, the Tremor is a tremendous value in XLT/Gas versions.
True!
Spec build XLT 7.3 with elect sliding rear glass, 360 cam towing, Tremor. Msrp was $60k.
 

Jhuff

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I traded in a 2010 Access Cab 2.7L 5 Speed for a Badlands 2.3L 4dr Mansquatch and manual seats. I'm 6ā€™2ā€œ.

First off, the Bronco's 10_way manual seats have so much adjustment I am amazed. I think I can go for much longer in this seat than the old Taco. My clutch foot still gets hung up under the dash though when in boots.

The little 2.3L Eco blows the 2.7 out of the water as well.

After leveling the cargo area, I should have decent cargo space. I will definitely be using a trailer for anything filthy or that can scratch the interior plastic though.

Fit and finish... My B&O doesn't have a single rattle. After squeezing a sound system in the Tacoma, I was constantly chasing weird vibrations.

I realize some of this won't apply to your Tacoma, but other viewers might come here for comparison.
 

BigMex

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Similar scenario (and I made almost $1000 buying out my Taco lease and selling it to CarMax in January).
Iā€™ve been a Toyota man for 21 years since I bought a Lexus Rx300 in ā€˜01. Camry, 4Runner, RAV4, etc., and 10 years with an FJ Cruiserā¤ā€¦
10,000 miles with my 4d 7spd Lux Badlands and Iā€™ve never been happier. ā€¦and Iā€™m lolā€™ing that the Tacoma discomfort thing is a real thingā€¦

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Cbiggs

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I went from a Taco double cab to a 4 Door Basesquatch with no regrets. I got an awesome trading on the Taco.
I bought my 17 TRD sport with 11k on it for 30ish and traded it in for the Bronco with 75k and got 35 šŸ’°. I miss the taco to some degree but the BL is comfortable and literally my favorite vehicle ever šŸ¤£.
 

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Yeah the stick is fun, but the Mrs doesnā€™t do well with it so kind of trying to do the adult thing and go back to an automatic.
So with the NH rodeo we never went over 30mph cause it was all mud and rocks, but honestly beat the crap out of those things for 10 ours and I wasnā€™t even sore and nothing broke.
They did have a couple thousand miles on ours so itā€™s been through a lot in that time frame
Our guide who was a Land Rover fan was pretty honest and said how much he liked what they did.
I mean I love the bronco but itā€™s really a ā€œwantā€.
I feel like Iā€™m gonna just get up to the point of test driving my order and making the coin toss then
We also had a 4-Runner with the Dana industries frame issue. Spent $$$ trying to keep the frame from decaying but lost the battle. Toyota wouldn't back it and had to sell it for parts.
Ford has been good to us with owning a several and Ford always backing up any issues.

I just booked the NH Roadeo in June, Any thoughts on how it was managed and what you gained from it?
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