2001 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner SR5 V6 from North America - Comments

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.

Having worked with Toyotas for over 3 years now, I have noticed that Tacomas only seem to develop problems when drivers put non-factory modifications on the truck that cause strange things to occur. For instance, I will verify that the hard starting problem I have seen on one (yes, only one) truck; however, the aftermarket alarm system was misrouted, and the company that installed it messed up the firewall, causing water to leak onto various wires, incidentally causing the hard start concern. That was a nightmare to diagnose. Legitimately, the fender flare moldings have been a concern that Toyota has corrected. But the quality of fabrics and interior isolation has far improved from the mid-90's, though upholstery from 1980's model sedans cannot be matched. Tacomas have not had brake problems whatsoever; rarely do they require any attention until the car is several years old. Improper brake application can be the only culprit here. Sometimes, owners need to accept responsibility for their driving habits, and not expect the manufacturer to pony up every time a vehicle does not comply with harsh conditions. By the way- if your windows are not rolling up or down (again,

not a problem with Tacomas or any other new Toyota model) check you window lock button.

Lemons do exist.

If you have worked on 1000 of these vehicles,, then I would say you have a point. But you cannot generalise with only a handful of these models.

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.

I love my Tacoma. I am sorry that you don't know how to drive and that you think you can treat your truck like crap and get great results. Thanks! P.S. TACOMA TRUCKS ROCK!

I think it is totally possible that lemon cars exist. A vehicle is only as good as the attitude that assembled it.

This could depend on the day of the week it was made or just one bad worker. It was such a bummer to read about the 2001 falling apart so rapidly. I work for a land surveying company in Colorado that uses mostly Tacomas 97-2003 and a few tundras, all with very few problems for the amount of off roading abuse we give them. I just bought a 98 sr5 2.7 4x4 ext cab manual just like the ones at work with with 49000 miles. I like it, smooth sailing so far, but not as many options to fail. Cruise control + ac still work. Pretty rigid all around for 6-7 years old.

My sister in Georgia owns a 2001 PreRunner extended cab with over 100K miles on it now, and you couldn't blast her out of that truck. I've paid close attention to her driving and maintenance habits for years, and this truck has taken everything she's dished out without having anything, but routine maintenance performed. She's a maniac driver, has run it off the road twice and backed it into a drainage ditch adjacent to a friend's driveway, and it always got a clean bill of health despite her concern that she's torn something up. It keeps coming back for more. She's owned 2 Fords (79 Mustang, 84 Bronco II), 2 Toyotas (01 Tacoma, 89 Corolla) and a couple of Nissans and an Accord, and this truck has surpassed them all in its reliability. I'm sorry to see the guy on here having so much trouble... really does look like a case of 1) built on the wrong day, and 2) his own driving / basic care habits. Let's face it... NO vehicle falls apart to his levels without some sort of abuse. I'd hate to see a Colorado / Ranger's condition after a few years with him.

Purchased 2001 Tacoma V6 Prerunner new in 2001. Still have it, over 197,000 miles. Two problems with the truck only - the water pump went out at about 70,000 miles, had a pinhole leak on it. Out of warranty so my mechanic replaced it. About 40,000 miles later, the pump bearings went out. My mechanic said he had never seen that, possibly the pump was defective, so he replaced it for labor only. No problem since.

Second problem - drivers seat got a hole in it on the backrest near the seat. That just happened a couple of weeks ago.

Fantastic truck, original brakes lasted nearly 100,000 miles. Tires go 80,000+ miles (and I drive hard). Alignment seems to never get off. Handles very well. Quiet even with oversize tires. Ride a little harsh, though.

00:41... glad to see you are not perpetually caught up in the import ad hype. What use to be is not now. In our house we dropped new imports. I once was, and my late model Japanese imports dropped in the quality from the 80's and 90's as well. At one point more and more will move into the mid 2000 and up models, and it will be interesting. Unless they may keep dropping rebuilt motors in the 90's ones they have now.

All my friends who have owned Toyota's have had nothing but trouble. I have owned both a Chevy Colorado and a Ford Ranger, and they are clearly superior to the Tacoma.

My 07 has not been as good as my 88, but it's still a great truck. On the highway it eats 5.3l and 5.4l, even those hemi Dakotas can't touch it.

Yes I've had problems with it; both front wheel bearings went at 130000 kms, but I plow with it.

The diff blew, but I permanently locked it and my 35x14.5 mt's couldn't have been too easy on it.

I drive the hell out of it and expect much more carnage to come, but still get 28mpg, so treat it the way you expect it to treat you.

There may be a drop in Toyota quality lately. I am not sure what the answer is honestly. The person that wrote the article used to own a Chevrolet and is bound to be biased towards Chevrolet. I am not picking on just this one person. If you look at the ratings of any truck, there is always one guy that hates that brand and without exception he drives some other brand of truck usually. I would love to find out which truck I can depend on. Step one is to do a more scientific study that at least attempts to be objective. Another point is that everything is relative. One cannot say that this thing or that thing is garbage without comparing it to the competition.

I have a 2000 Toyota Tacoma SR5 V6 with the TRD package. I have had it for 4 or 5 years and never any major problems. Just little things like broken a shock and regular maintenance. Best truck I've ever had. I've put it through hell and on most vehicles I've seen that have done what the Tacoma can would have a lot of repairs (I've seen it happen.) My truck is easily underestimated and have made many people change their mind about it. The Tacoma is a great truck and have to disagree with the first statement about the truck. TOYOTA ALL THE WAY!!! (also a fan of Chevy too. Gotta have the American touch.)