Toyota is one of the most popular car manufacturers in the world, and the Toyota Tacoma is one of their most popular vehicles. It’s a high-quality truck that can do the job, but the Tacoma has certainly come a long way. Keep reading for the interesting history of the Toyota Tacoma, as well as some predictions we can make about its future.

First Generation (1995–2004)

In 1995, Toyota first introduced the Tacoma to the United States. Before the Tacoma, the standard pickup Toyota was selling was the Hilux, also plainly marketed in the US as the Toyota Pickup. The Hilux was a great pickup truck, but Toyota wanted to do something different with the Tacoma. With the Tacoma, Toyota placed a greater emphasis on the following:

• Ride quality
• Safety
• Comfort
• Overall handling

The Hilux was still a good drive, but the Tacoma took that to the next level in exchange for a reduced payload capacity. Some workers may have preferred the Hilux because of this factor, but the average buyer in the US and Canadian markets was more interested in trucks as personal vehicles. As a result, commercial and agricultural industries stuck with the Hilux or looked into other heavier-duty pickup models.

While the Tacoma came out in 1995, development began in 1989, the same time that the fifth generation of the Hilux came out. While Toyota had put a lot of time into developing the Tacoma, it was not perfect. Soon after its release, it underwent some upgrades. Toyota transitioned from recessed sealed beam headlamps to a flush design. Later, Toyota began modifying the front grilles and the tailgate while also switching to ignitions without distributors and longer rear leaf springs.

Interestingly, the Tacoma has been around for so long that the original models did not include a passenger-side airbag. It wasn’t until 1997 that Toyota depowered the driver-side airbag and added the passenger airbag.

Toyota also offered a few different varieties of Tacoma, such as the 4WD and 2WD versions, as well as PreRunner and S-Runner models. There were some aesthetic differences with the trim of these versions and differences in the transmission and engine.

The first-generation of Tacoma was great for drivers across the market, particularly because of its durability. However, as the vehicle aged, its major flaw came to light—poor rustproofing. These vehicles suffered from major frame corrosion, and around 2008, Toyota began recalling these older Tacomas to replace the frames.

Second Generation (2004–2015)

Not long into the first-generation run of the Tacoma, Toyota began work on the second generation. It wasn’t until 2004 that Toyota unveiled the next generation—a more powerful and beefier Tacoma. Even though other manufacturers were transitioning to the biggest pickup trucks possible, this new generation of Tacoma was more mid-sized.

Part of what made the Toyota Tacoma such a good option for drivers is that many different models were available. Each driver has different needs on the road, and Toyota made sure to account for this, offering 18 different combinations of cabs, transmissions, and engines.

With the first generation of Toyota, manufacturers created the aftermarket Toyota Racing Development (TRD) supercharger kit. This kit added a seventh fuel injector, boosted horsepower, and included a replacement electronic control unit (ECU). Later, they introduced the TRD Off-Road package. These packages received an upgrade for the second generation of Tacoma, marketing toward people who want better on-road performance and those who like off-roading.

While it was at the end of the second generation’s run in 2015, Toyota also released a TRD Pro package for 2015 models. This upgrade added a greater front lift with new shocks, making it easier to install bigger all-terrain tires. The TRD Pro also included aesthetic upgrades, such as a cat-back exhaust system, matte-black grille, and TRD-badged interior parts.

Sadly, even with all the new upgrades, this generation of Toyota Tacoma still had significant rust issues. Toyota would issue recalls to try and fix this rusting with newer steel frames.

Third Generation (2015–Now)

The second generation of Tacoma was popular, but after 11 years, Toyota unveiled the new third generation. With this generation, Toyota took a little from the 4Runner and the Tundra, including a larger grille, a new tailgate, and an infused spoiler on the new Tacoma.

The exterior of the Tacoma changed a lot, but so did the interior. Like many other vehicles of this time, the Tacoma interior was much more spacious, had better-insulated doors and weather stripping, and boasted a large touchscreen display. Toyota also replaced many of the hard plastic interior elements with soft-touch materials.

Part of what makes this vehicle so unique from its previous iterations is the huge increase in power. With a new 3.5-liter V6 engine in some models, fuel efficiency was up, so the vehicle could go much farther on less gas. In addition to mechanical improvements, there were some great safety feature improvements, such as the adaptive cruise control that Toyota added in 2018. T

his new generation has much to love, but we’ve yet to see all that Toyota will do.

The Future?

So, what does the future of the Toyota Tacoma look like? The most recent generation, which has been around for eight years now, has had fewer mechanical issues than its older counterparts. Toyota seems to have fixed the rusting issue, but what will change in the future? The Toyota Tacoma is still a great-selling truck in the market today, so it’s not likely that Toyota will release a new generation without some major improvements.

Some expectations people have about the next generation of Tacoma include the following:

• More sophisticated suspension system
• Powertrain upgrade
• Snazzier interior
• Hybrid or electric models
• Roomier backseat

Fans also guess that Toyota will build the new Tacoma on the Toyota New Global Architecture body-on-frame (TNGA-F), like they do with the Tundra. People also think the Tacoma will adopt the 10-speed automatic transmission and a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. There are many guesses about the Tacoma’s future, but it’s impossible to know until Toyota brings it to the market.

The Toyota Tacoma has a rich history, and it looks as if it will have a rich future too! It’s one of the best vehicles that Toyota has, partially due to its long lifespan. People are still driving older Tacomas, and companies like Yota Shop have extensive Toyota Tacoma parts catalogs to help them do so. Whatever year your Tacoma is from, we have the parts you need to get it back up and running in no time. Be sure to come to us with all your Toyota vehicle needs!