2003 Toyota Tacoma SR5 from North America - Comments

The dashboard rattles in several places.

The seatbelt connection or the arm that holds the female end of the connection clicks with every bump or curve in the road. We have had both parts (the seatbelt and the separate connection part) replaced and this has not remedied the problem.

Uncomfortable on long trips.

Poor gas mileage. 20 mpg at best.

Nice power in the V6 model.

The Tacoma has such poorly designed suspension that rattles everywhere are unavoidable. They literally just shake themselves (AND their occupants) to pieces. Sorry you did not get wise and buy an American built truck sooner. They are far more comfortable, more reliable and a far better value in the long run. People are finally waking up to the realization that all the ad hype is just that: HYPE.

I completely disagree. I think that both posters must work for one of the big 3. I managed to find a used 2003 Tacoma, which was not easy as nobody trades them in as they last much longer. I talked trucks with a friend from Northern Ontario who works for GM and said the only reason there are not more Toyota trucks on the road is because Toyota doesn't go into small towns. I have decided to never buy a north american car/truck as they are awful on gas mileage, power, looks, and repairs. Sure my foreign repairs cost a lot more, but there are far fewer of them.

Exactly right. I've owned 3 Toyota's; a '93 Tercel that I sold, which was the dumbest mistake that I've ever made, a '95 truck, indestructible, and the '98 Tacoma that I now own. I beat the crap out of the first two, and drive the Tacoma (a 5 speed manual) like I am in a drag race every day, and my repairs for all three, in the last 13 YEARS have been exactly ZERO DOLLARS. Hell, I'm not sure that I EVER changed oil in the Tercel; I was 19, and I drove that car as hard as it is possible to do so and still come home alive, and it never broke. I think it liked it. The '95 truck was airborne in a quarry as much as it was on the ground, and it kept asking for more. I'm a little bit easier on the Tacoma, because I am a little bit older now, but I still run it hard when I am in the mood, (every day), and it is perfect.

SO I just bought a used 2003 Tacoma Vt SR5 and it's awesome. Yeah, I have the dash rattle, but it went away with a small rubber bumper between the window and the dash. The mileage is 20 in town and up to 24 on the highway (which holds steady in 4wd in the snow like last weekend skiing in Colorado).

My last vehicle was a 2001 S10 ZR2 and it was a piece of garbage. There were rattles all over it with 1500 miles on it, the interior was cheap plastic with rough edges from the molding and the head gasket blew at 10k. I put 20,000 miles on it and got rid of it... and lost my butt becasue they don't hold their value nearly as well as a Tacoma.

I spent nearly the price of a new s10 on my Tacoma and am very confident that it'll be worth it for years to come. Hopefully my old 2001 Chevy is being recycled somewhere and being melted down to make some American made Toyotas!