Toyota Tacoma Turbo v Hybrid with the engineer who built it!

[@ronnymb67]

I was in the repair industry for 25+ years. I ran four independent shops where we worked on pretty much everything short of exotics as well as in VW, Audi, Land Rover, and Mercedes service. Toyotas quality over the last decade or so is certainly not what it was decades ago. But the general public seems to treat Toyota and Honda as the mainstream versions of Mercedes, BMW, Audi, etc. They always seem to get a pass with their quality issues because of their history. Now they seem to be behaving like those luxury brands with not really caring about long-term reliability. As long as they make it through the lease/warranty period with as few claims as possible, they're good with it. Rusted frames, oil consumption, oil dilution, etc. Here's hoping that Toyota at least handles their version of the Hyundai/Kia Theta II engine debacle better than Hyundai Kia has and is.

[@1225KPH]

Hey George! How about interviewing the engineer responsible for the Toyota V6 Turbo that's been recalled? You know, the engine with built-in metal debris? Toyota reliability 2024!

[@guentherwilke2055]

That guy is not talking to anyone right now.

[@billbob9021]

@1225KPH No can do!! They are currently trying to talk him off a (very high) ledge. 🫢

[@hank9176]

Absolutely can’t believe how much I enjoy driving new my sr5 crew cab truck . 1..Questions how many miles and how many engines did you test drive before going into development mode? 2. How many miles do you estimate these power trains will last before having major operational problems? 3. How long under regular driving are guessing these brakes will last? What’s the most miles you’ve documented on this new 2.4 liter engine?

[@wilson3246]

If you get the chance, please please please ask Sheldon: 1. Why is the Tacoma so over the top aggressive/over-designed with all the weird angles/body lines/bulging bed walls and front quarter panels. 2. Why Toyota refuses to put in a decent set of speakers in their cars and trucks (JBL speakers are mediocre at best for an upgraded "premium" sound system) 3. Why are the key fob ranges so short? A Chevy, Ford, or Stellantis vehicle will receive a signal from the key fob from a football field's length away and unlock/lock/remote start no problem. Why do Toyota keys fall out of range past 5 feet? 4. Why is the remote start process for Toyota vehicles so unnecessarily complicated for what should be dead simple, and why does it take so long for the cars to actually start up once you've triple clicked + hold the lock button? It does a little light show, then starts up 10 seconds after you've done the remote start key sequence on the fob. Other brands will start up the cars almost immediately after you've clicked the remote start button. I realize questions 2-4 aren't specific to Tacoma but it'd still be great if you could ask Sheldon about these. They're all big gripes for me especially since I work in car rentals and drive a bunch of vehicles from Toyotas to the Big 3 to Nissans and Mazdas. Toyotas really do feel like some of the lowest tier vehicles when it comes to those points I brought up when compared to other rental cars. Reliability and resale value will only go so far but it's completely irrelevant when it comes to rentals and reliability itself is questionable with a first model year of a redesign so we can't use that as an argument for these 2024 Tacos. The 4th gen is a massive change from the 3rd gen, most of which is better, yet it still feels like it's lacking behind the Colorado and Ranger. I know it sounds like I'm being very negative towards Toyota, and I am, but it's not in a malicious way. I'm actually a huge Toyota fan and currently own and love my 2022 Tacoma TRD Off Road despite the atrocious engine/transmission tuning. I've never been one to blindly agree with my favorite brands and am actually more harsh/critical of companies/products I like so these are questions I genuinely want to know the answer to and would love to hear Sheldon's thoughts on those. Anyways, great interview MotoMan! Edit: A few more that I remembered: 5. Why did Toyota remove some features on the TRD Sport/Off Road that were standard standard in the 3rd gen like: driver power seats, the rear sliding glass, storage cubby in the bed? 6. No other Tacoma in history has ever had rear defrosters. The 4th gen is the first to offer it and key word is "offer" because it is *STILL* not standard. Most vehicles on the road today has rear defroster included. Why does Toyota absolutely refuse to include such a common and basic feature in the Tacoma? 7. The TRD Off Road is an off road trim. Why do they have such thin, flimsy "skid plates"? With how weak they are, I'm hesitant to even call them skids. They are splash guard at best. The fuel tank "skid" is even worse. It's plastic. No chance of that holding up against a rock at all. Why won't Toyota include beefier, true skid plates under the engine, transfer case/ transmission, and fuel tank on the non-Pro and TH trims? Edit 2: 8. Why has Toyota refused to add center armrest for the rear seats and rear vents? They're still not available even in the 4th gens.

[@M1911jln]

I test drove a TRD Offroad trim. I found the iForce engine to have plenty of power and the transmission was well tuned. But it wasn't for me. I found the interior to be rather noisy and the suspension was rather harsh. The seating position was good but the seat itself was rather flat and not very supportive for me. I'm a long time SUV owner, so I'm probably not the target audience. I ended up getting another new-to-me, used 200 Series (a used LX 570). There weren't any Limited trim models available for a test drive. If I'd driven a Limited trim, that might have been more up my alley. I would have considered a Tundra, but Tundra reliability has unfortunately not been great and the bearing issue on the V35A has scared me away from all the models with that engine.

[@TonyW-f5z]

Should ask him about the two piece aluminum bottom end of the 3.4 and 2.4, with the front flush mounted crank bearing. If the 2.4s start spinning crank bearings, it might be a problem.

[@robertstevens871]

Update the V6 get rid of the wound up rubber band and bring the price down and you will see your loyal customers coming back

[@gaaarrryyy5]

Good interview! Seemed to stretch the margins for press questions - I appreciate that. I'd really like to know how much better if at all the hybrid would be for towing. Also, glad they made the limited actually luxurious instead of an afterthought like the prior generation

[@chrisb9478]

I don’t think the Hybrid is worth the extra $ for me. Barely better mpg & the under seat rear storage is gone. I wish they’d offer the 2.4T with a Mpg boosted Hybrid setup. At least 30mpg Hwy should be easy target.

[@dcl97]

And a Nickel metal hydride battery that is only rated for 80k-100k miles. Tundra battery replacements are $6k so the Tacoma will likely be similar. Virtually no fuel savings plus a guaranteed huge repair bill every 5 or so years.

[@JEB757]

As far as the Limited trim, if you’re really wanting a “gentleman’s” version and it’s supposed to be premium….how about dumping the vinyl “softext” seats and go with leather?

[@hongsitu3429]

Ask him why they made things that will break in a "friendly" way like what they told the TFL folks when their Tacoma broke.

[@matthewharkness3766]

Feedback: App keeps notifying me the rear windows are down every time I park. I don’t have rear windows, I have a 24 PreRunner. Other than my first world problem, the truck is an absolute blast!

[@weasel3720]

yo @motomantv, anyway you can get another segment with mike sweers to discuss the issues emerging around tundra engines?

[@Mr7O5]

In Ontario Canada a TRD Off Road manual is 51k and at 8% I just can’t justify it.

[@we1626]

Will we see the same engine issues with this I4 as the V6 turbos

[@billbob9021]

You see into the future…? 🤓

[@Freynightwalker]

Great discussion, gentlemen, so does the hybrid require premium fuel? If not, why does the Land Cruiser with the 'same' engine?

[@c7406-q8c]

Every engineer has a plan until engine gets knocked down.

[@paulnirschl6500]

My only 2 gripes on the 24 TRD Sport 4x4 is the very cheap mud flaps that don’t protect anything and the hood flexes/ bounces when hitting bumps or tar lines in the road at highway speeds. The hood issue needs to be addressed the most as it’s very annoying to see that, plus as we all know aluminum will eventually break or crack with constant flexing. Any input on a fix for my hood would be great as the dealership doesn’t seem interested in helping.

[@1225KPH]

Why is no KZbin auto reviewer talking about the 3.4 l Toyota V6 Turbo in the tundra and LX models? The VA35 ngines have been recalled because they were built with built-in metal debris. I guess everybody is afraid of not getting interviews with Toyota engineers and Toyotas to test in the future.

[@CACressida]

These videos were recorded a month ago before the recall. Besides, the V35 is Mike Sweers' problem. Sheldon is team Tacoma. He oversees Tacoma and its 4 banger.

[@TheJoncic]

Some are but most KZbinrs are bought and paid for by Toyota. If they want all expense paid invites to press events they can't give unfavorable coverage.

[@TRD-rt7mx]

Any feedback from the Toyota engineer on the lack of bump stops on the front struts blowing through the cast aluminum top hat on the 2024 Tacoma. The Landcruiser gets the bump stops yet some genius engineers decided the Tacoma doesn't need them. If you're going to build them into the shock body at least engineer them out of machined aluminum instead of cheap cast crap that can't stand the forces. OR at least use the same design as the Landcruiser... Were these trucks even torture tested?

[@kyolml]

Can you ask them how to justify $15k price jump from last TRD Pro? Yes it’s probably a little more special this time with hybrid and sway bar disconnects, but even trd off road is$50k as last trd pro. Are they saying trd off-road now is the old trd pro?

[@MeJonTheDon]

I bet they could just have two trims: a fully loaded offraod capable beast, and a basic work truck, and cust costs substantially while providing more for both groups of customers. Quit trying to justify a set of tires and suspension as requiring thousands of dollars more when it is really replacing (it's not like I am buying and then duplicating cost with a second set of aftermarket components). They really lose me there.

[@MeJonTheDon]

Great $40k truck fully loaded! Otherwise, nah. It's like 2/3 of a vehicle, and they want to charge well over $60k, and then ask me to pay subscription services. Crooks and clowns

[@jefftravis384]

I just want to know why the tacoma isn't built in Japan? If it shares so much of the tacoma why can't it be built there? Honestly wish the tundra was built on Japan too.

[@treasurethetime2463]

Speaking of a limited, he's 100 percent correct. For years you couldn't get leather or a power freaking seat, even in the limited. Interiors were uninspired.

[@CACressida]

FRONT LOCKER, FRONT LOCKER, FRONT LOCKER! Also TRD offroad 6MT Xtra Cab with a FRONT LOCKER! Theres no excuse for not having a TRD OR Xtracab. Its the same damn ruining gear, chassis and front cab. Theres definitely no excuse for not offering a FRONT LOCKER with the Sway bar disconnect on a frigging TRD OFFROAD package as standard. Rear locker should be optional on all other grades. You know what? Its a 4x4! All 4x4 trucks should have lockers as standard equipment for all brands.

[@M1911jln]

The percentage of pickup truck owners (including Tacoma owners) who actually need a front locker is well below 1%. More pickup owners would use them incorrectly and break driveline parts if they had front lockers than there are pickup drivers who actually need one.

[@CACressida]

@M1911jln the percentage of people who own pickups need pickups is 1%. Doesn't stop people from buying pickups. The Tacoma has a rear locker and Toyota requires you to be in 4low to activate the lockers. How many stories do you hear of people blowing up their tacomas rear diffs because they used their locker wrong? The transfercase binds when in 4x4 and a majority of people don't know how to use 4x4. How many catastrophes do you hear about people blowing up transfercases? Get out of here with that weak logic.

[@LordBass]

Dude, lockers.

[@dcl97]

He literally said the excuse. The take rate on the Xtracab is tiny and predominantly fleet buyers. An OR Xtracab would never sell in enough volume to justify its development costs. Dealers don't want Xtracabs, and they don't want manuals. They don't sell.

[@CACressida]

@dcl97 he said xtracab buyers is 20%. 20% of Tacoma sales is roughly 40,000-50,000 a year. Toyota sells 3,000 Supras a year and they still spent dev money on the manual years after it's release. They spent money on glorifying the limited trim truck that nobody wants, they can spend a little less on making the xtracab desirable. Besides, there's no development costs. Thr xtracab shares the same exact frame as a double cab short bed. It's all carry over parts.

[@loseerich493]

All the stuff they claim to have fixed with this edition were either ignored for fix actions or caused back when they come out with the 'new from the ground up' Tacoma in 2015, when the new '15 Tacoma, when Mike Swears was on charge of it. Now Mike is the Tundra guy & look at that product 's issues at the moment. Toyota & these guys get pass after pass after pass off the back of Toyota's long past products that were filling niches & were simple/reliable. I have a Toyota car in my stable now, I've owned a Toyota truck from new till 100k mi, my dad owned 2 Toyota trucks when I was growing up. I have no beef with Toyota but I can keep it real. Their stuff is not what it once was. They make good stuff, but they are far from infallible. Way too many people speak of Toyota (& Honda) stuff like it's all champagne & roses, drinking Toyota (& Honda) kool-aide by the 5 gal bucket.

[@g7003041]

Clearly you didn’t listen to your customers. Most don’t want i4 with turbo at the very beginning but you just put words in their mouth. At the same time you screw them with these insane price. Don’t just take my words, see for yourself how much they sold compared to the previous gen. 😢

[@kdxman711]

Can you ask why toyota is building so many truck that no one wants.

[@fscottgray9784]

At has $4 per gallon you only have to drive the hybrid 225,000 to break even!

[@SilverScarletSpider]

Gas is always better than Hybrid

[@M1911jln]

I disagree. In this case, the use of the electric motor to fill in low-end torque before the turbo spools up seems to me to be a perfect solution -- better driveability along with an incremental improvement in fuel economy.

[@ConfirmedPatriot]

Toyota went woke. They think they can just build it and we will come. Build what we want and we will come. Not a 4 cylinder turbo. I hope Nissan and Ford with there V6 and V6 turbo ala Ranger Raptor, capitalize on this…..Hey good time for Dodge bring back the Dakota midsize pickup with the inline 6 😊

[@owizzlebeezy123]

Sheldon Brown is great, but needs to lose some weight, or he won't be around too long. This is not shaming, if anything trying to help a dude out.

[@Kookaburra4509]

Like melted ice cream 🍦

[@billw8476]

sheldon should be fired, along with the new CEO at Toyota........tacoma and the tundra are overpriced downgraded CRAP. somebody had to say it.....i just did.

[@Woodduck-k4o]

This new 2024 Tacoma pro is bigger and taller and better and gets better gas mileage and has the strongest more powerful engine than the piece of shits Chevy Colorado and the GMC canyon and the Ford ranger junky crap raptor

[@realJohnLab]

Big Sheldon should be back at the non existent R&D office… figuring out why these are the most unreliable trucks Toyota has ever built.

[@deantrainr]

Oh yes Sheldon my man, I drank over a gallon of Toyota Tacoma’s fruit punch Kool-aid to try and love and digest this new and improved platform like “The Flyin Freckle”🥱 but my pallet couldn’t or wouldn’t process all the 4th gen hype! Sorry brother but I tried!?😳