 My wife and I were in the market for a new truck to replace an aging and old 3/4 ton Dodge we no longer needed. We test drove a 3rd gen Tacoma at the local dealership, which after a 20 mile trip decided the truck would be a pretty good replacement for us empty nesters. Good mpg, reliability etc.. Totally drank the Kool Aid. We ordered our TRD-OR 4 dr lb and waited 4 months for it to arrive. We took our first trip- a camping trip that took us over the divide to south western Montana. Not a ton of gear- lightly loaded I would say. We were SHOCKED that to climb the grade the tranny dropped to 4the and 3rd gear, and it redlined the entire uphill climb! Our 100 mile trip to the campsite returned a whopping 16mpg. Stock truck, mostly highway and then 10 offroad. My offroad mpg was better then the highway.  That should have been a sign. Then the tranny starting shifting erratically, up-down, up-down.. It would never hold a gear. Took it to the dealer to perform the TSB update on the tranny- service department at first said "No TSB exists". I had to do an internet search and show it to them. TSB flash fixed it for about 500 miles, then it reverted back to erratic shifting. Also- dealer said mpg's "Will get better after 2,000 miles or so".. Third problem- the hood support braces are glued to the hood. 75% of the glue points failed, and my truck had a wavy hood at highway speed. If the sun glint was just right, it was like having a disco ball in the cab. Very annoying. Fourth problem- after 6 months and 14,000 miles the truck differential started howling and moaning. At this point the avg MPG was 16 (yes- 16), even after a long highway trip from Montana to Ohio. The dealer refused to address the hood- they said "Normal Characteristic of the truck", my tranny still shifted erratically and the car was unsuited for long distance travel. We had it. We drove over to the Chevy dealer, test drove a 1500 Silverado with a 6.2L V8 and 8spd tranny and got a decent trade on the Tacoma. No shifting issues, no wavy hood, no groaning differential and I'm getting 19mpg on average. Toyota really duffed this Tacoma. Not worth the hype, the price or the hassle.