This "sissy" truck suits me fine

2008 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab Pickup

When I told my kids I was buying a little pickup, my 17 year-old daughter said, “Aww, Dad, get a real truck, not some sissy truck!” Well, I bought a 2008 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab pickup. When I brought it home, both my daughters and my wife took a drive in it with me. Afterward, my oldest daughter said, “It’s alright for a sissy truck.” That’s probably about the highest praise I could have gotten from her.

This is a basic little pickup. It is not meant to haul heavy loads or tow large trailers. I bought it because I wanted a pickup, but also wanted to be able to park it in my small two-car garage. I also needed good fuel economy, since I drive about 60 miles round trip to work. And, since I have children, one of whom is not yet driving, I needed to be able to carry more than one passenger.

For the last seven years, I have driven a Toyota Camry, and have found it to be very reliable and well-made, so I was confident that their trucks would be of the same high quality. So far, I haven’t been disappointed. I looked at the Ford Ranger and the Chevy Colorado, but wasn’t really impressed by either of them. They just didn’t appear to be built with the same quality as the Toyota.

Standard Features:
I’ll refrain from listing every little detail on the equipment list and just list the relevant items.

Mechanical: This truck comes with a 2.7-liter DOHC EFI 4-cylinder engine that puts out 159 hp @ 5200 rpm, and 180 lb-ft @ 3800 rpm. It also has a 4-speed automatic transmission, power assisted rack and pinion steering, front disc brakes, and 15 inch steel wheels. It has a max towing capacity of 3500 lbs. The EPA fuel economy estimates are 19-mpg city, 25-mpg highway.

Safety: It comes with four-wheel ABS, driver and passenger airbags, passenger airbag cutoff switch, tire pressure monitoring system, rear 3-point seatbelts, attachment anchors for rear child safety seat, and side door impact beams.

Exterior: In addition to the usual bumpers, etc., it has dual rear access doors, deck rail system with adjustable tie-down cleats, fixed cargo bed tie-downs, and a composite inner bed with steel outer panels. There are two storage compartments in the wall of the bed, as well as two attachment areas for a cargo separator. It also comes with a full-sized spare tire. The overall length of the truck is 208.1 inches, overall height is 65.7 inches, and overall width is 72.2 inches. The bed length, height, and width measurements are 73.5, 18.0, and 56.7 inches respectively. The wheelbase is 127.2 inches, with a turning circle diameter of 42.3 feet. Minimum ground clearance is 8.1 inches. This model only comes in three colors: white, silver, and black.

Interior: The front seats are cloth bucket seats. The back seats are split padded bench seats. It has air conditioning, AM-FM/CD player, tilt/ telescoping steering wheel, two-speed windshield wipers, digital clock, an auxiliary power point, and carpet floor mats. Convenience items include overhead sunglasses and garage door opener storage bins, lots of cup holders, rear under seat storage, and center storage console. Headroom is 39.9 inches, leg room is 41.7 inches in front and 28.2 inches in rear.

If you’ve read the above closely, you’ll notice there was no mention of automatic door locks or windows. That is because it doesn’t have them. My children had never seen a vehicle that had window cranks before. My youngest daughter thought they were “ghetto.” Personally, I like simplicity.

Experience:

Driving: When I first drove this truck, I immediately noticed that engine pick-up is pretty weak, although I expected it would be. When getting on the freeway, it strains a little, and occasionally you can hear a slight engine knock. Once up to highway speed, it cruises along nicely, but it isn’t going to win any drag races. It is a trade-off I had to make for the sake of fuel efficiency.

The suspension feels nice and sturdy without feeling bouncy. Stiffer than a car, but not as stiff as a full-sized truck. The turning radius seems decent for this type of vehicle. I have no problems pulling into or out of a small parking space. When I had a Ford full-sized pickup, I used to back into parking spaces to make it easier to pull out. That isn’t necessary with this little truck. Handling in both city traffic and at highway speeds is nice and smooth, except when the wind is blowing. I don’t know if it is the light weight or the profile of the truck, but in a moderate crosswind, it seems to be overly affected, getting blown around quite a bit. Otherwise, it handles very nicely.

Braking takes slightly longer in this truck than in my Camry, in spite of the “Electronic Brake-Force Distribution (EBD) system,” which, as I understand it, is a computerized braking control that distributes the braking equally between the two front wheels, and separately between the two back wheels. I can’t really tell any difference in the way it brakes.

Towing/hauling: As I stated earlier, this truck is basically a courier truck, and not meant to tow or haul heavy loads. I bought it to carry the occasional sheet of plywood, bicycle, barbecue grill, etc., which I was not able to haul in my Camry. I have not tried towing or hauling a heavy load, and probably never will. It just isn’t meant for that.

Interior comfort: I have found the cloth bucket seats to support my back and lower body very comfortably. They have manual seat height and back position control knobs that are easy to turn. The center console makes a nice padded armrest, as well. My legs have plenty of room, and the passenger side has ample space to wiggle your toes, as well. The telescoping tilt steering wheel works fine for me, but I think a larger person would have a hard time getting under it, even with it at it’s highest position.

The rear access doors can be a bit of a hassle when opening them in a confined space, and since the driver’s and front passenger’s shoulder belts are attached to them, to let a rear passenger out requires that the driver and front passenger disconnect their seat belts.

I wish the air vents were more widely controllable. The driver side vent is adjustable from straight out to 45 degrees left, but can’t go right at all. The passenger vent is just the opposite. The control switch for the vents is backward, as far as I’m concerned, also. With the switch at the furthest down setting, the air is directed out the dash vents. With the setting in the furthest up setting, the air comes out of the floor vents. The middle setting does what you would expect. The air conditioner works well, although I haven’t had a chance to test it on a really hot day, yet.

The gauges are well lit and easy to read, although they are hooded just a little too much, I think. The control knobs for air conditioning, heat, defrost, etc., are mounted within easy reach, and the AM-FM/CD player controls are large and easy to find, as well. CD player sound is pretty decent, in my opinion, with six small speakers providing sound for both the front and back passengers.

My Tacoma does not have intermittent windshield wipers, just two speeds. The wiper controls are easy to find and use, with the exception of the washer. The control lever shows that if you pull the lever toward you, the washer will spray and the wipers will swipe the windshield. This is not the case. You must first spray the windshield by pulling the lever toward you, then wipe the windshield by pushing the lever up and holding it until the window is clear. I think it’s kind of clunky, but it really isn’t a problem.

The rear “tumble down” bench seats are relatively comfortable compared to the competition’s fold-down jump seats. They offer straight-ahead seating, decent legroom, a three-point safety belt, and an adjustable headrest. My kids said the ride back there isn’t bad. There are even cup holders on the back of the center console for the rear passengers. The seats raise and underneath are a couple of decently sized storage areas. One of them holds the jack, but still leaves a bit of room for other things.

One “feature” I don’t like, and haven’t decided what to do about it yet, is that there is a large, yellow placard glued to the back wall of the cab between the rear seats showing the correct way to attach a child seat. This sign is about six by eight inches, so it is very noticeable. I am probably going to remove it, but haven’t done so yet. I would think Toyota could have come up with a better solution for providing this information.

Conclusion: I am quite happy with my decision to buy this truck. It is comfortable enough to drive daily, rides smoothly, and gets great gas mileage for a small pickup. As a utility vehicle, it suits my needs very well. I have no plans to tow or haul heavy stuff, so the small engine size is not a problem for me. For those that do need to move heavy objects, I would recommend upgrading to the V6 engine. For me, the gas savings make the tradeoff worth it.

If you are like me and just need a good, well-made vehicle with a decent sized bed to carry large, not-too-heavy items, I would highly recommend this little “sissy” truck.

This review also appears on Helium.com.