Best Year for a Used Toyota Tacoma

For most buyers it is 2020 through 2023. Those are the last four years of the third generation, after Toyota's 2020 update added a bigger touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to a truck that already had its driver assistance package as standard equipment. You get a well understood truck with modern phone integration at a price that has settled. If your budget is tighter, 2018 and 2019 are the value entry point, because Toyota Safety Sense became standard equipment for 2018. If you want the newest thing, the fourth generation starts at 2024 with a turbocharged engine, an eight-speed automatic and an available hybrid.

Almost everything under the skin. The 2023 truck is the last year of the third generation, which ran from 2016 and used a 3.5-liter V6 or a 2.7-liter four-cylinder with a six-speed automatic. The 2024 truck is an all-new fourth generation on a different platform, with a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder, an eight-speed automatic, and an i-FORCE MAX hybrid version on some trims. They are two different trucks wearing the same name, so shop them as two separate decisions rather than as one model year apart.

A properly equipped V6 third-generation Tacoma is generally rated in the 6,400 to 6,800 pound range, and the fourth-generation trucks land in similar territory. The four-cylinder trucks are rated considerably lower. The number moves with cab style, bed length, drivetrain and whether the truck left the factory with the tow package, so never buy on a brochure figure. Read the sticker on the driver's door jamb and the owner's manual for the specific truck in front of you, and tell us what you plan to pull so we can check it with you.

Toyota's factory warranties transfer with the vehicle at no cost, which is not true of every brand. The basic coverage runs three years or 36,000 miles and the powertrain coverage runs five years or 60,000 miles, both from the original in-service date rather than from the day you buy it. On a hybrid i-FORCE MAX truck the hybrid components are tracked separately and run considerably longer. Ask for the in-service date so you can work out exactly what is left rather than guessing from the model year.

On the third-generation trucks, the V6 is the one to drive first. The 2.7-liter four-cylinder is a durable engine, but it gives up a lot of power to the 3.5-liter V6 without returning much fuel economy for the trade, and it tows meaningfully less. If you are hauling anything, towing anything, or running US-1 at highway speed with a load in the bed, buy the V6 and do not look back. The fourth-generation trucks changed the question entirely, since the turbocharged four-cylinder there makes more power than the old V6 did.

Start with how the truck was used rather than the odometer. Look at the bed floor and the tailgate for the kind of wear that says it worked for a living, then look underneath at the frame, hitch and skid plates for the same story. Confirm the service history is documented rather than assumed, particularly oil changes and differential service. On four-wheel-drive trucks, engage the transfer case through every setting and make sure it goes in and comes out cleanly. Test every camera and screen function. Then have an independent pre-purchase inspection done, which is the single best money a used buyer spends.