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Ruissimo’s Ownership Blog – The 2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter
- Thread starter Ruissimo
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- Mike
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Thank you for sharing your travels! I love traveling to US national sites & plan to steal your patch idea. KC is one of my favorite places despite not being a particularly well known tourist destination. Now I know I have to get across MO next time to visit the Arch too even if it’s more tourist trap than natural wonder.
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Totally digging your TH build and travel thread. Just got a ‘25 with 6’ bed, automatic, 2 days ago. This gal & wife love the national parks too. Patches in the footwell are a great idea! We are approaching our 60s and love bumpy dirt roads while towing a Bean Trailer. If we see Bigfoot we will post the required grainy pictures as evidence.
I’m at 18k and zero significant issues
OP
OP
- Thread starter
- #66
Two Years and 36,000 Miles Later
Short version: two years in, this truck has been perfect. Not "perfect for a truck," not "perfect considering." Perfect.
Here's the long version:
The Engine & Ride, For Real This Time
The hybrid behaves the same way at 36,000 miles that it did at 1,000. It can be rough when the engine is cold, and that has never gotten better or worse. It just is. Once it's warm, it's been solid every single time.
Power was never a question and still isn't. Next to my father's 2023 Tacoma, this thing does not want for anything.
Smart cruise and lane keep assist are a bit of a letdown. I said in the original post that it should be identical to the Genesis system and that I'd report back. Reporting back: it's not as good. It wanders between the lines instead of holding a lane. It speeds up going over humps and pulls back on dips.
Road noise came in better than I predicted. It's fine on the highway. I'll caveat that hard, though: I'm still on OEM tires. I'm going larger and meatier in a few months, and I fully expect to lose this one. Ask me again next year.
Fuel economy is sitting at 19.0 mpg lifetime, and I'd say closer to 20.0 in the last year or so. I know some of you will wince at that. Two things in my defense. First, I live in a hilly part of New York, and hills are where hybrid math goes to die. Second, I am not gentle with a gas pedal. If you drive flat roads with a light foot, your number will be better than mine. If you drive like me, 19 is your number too, and I've made peace with it.
Reliability
Nothing. Two years, 36,000 miles, not a single issue.
There was one recall involving the gauge cluster. Mine was fine and it never affected me. That's the entire list.
I'll admit I spent the extended warranty money partly out of hybrid battery anxiety, and so far that anxiety has been completely unfounded. No complaints about being wrong.
The Dash Cam Saga
The BlackVue eventually came out and a 3-channel Viofo A329 went in. Quality for the price is very good, and going to three channels was the right move. There have been a couple of gremlins, nothing that made me regret the swap.
The wifi, though. The wifi is miserable. It fights with the Toyota connectivity, and pulling footage off the thing is a chore every single time. If anyone has found a setup that makes video extraction painless in a modern Toyota, my inbox is open. This is my one real open problem, even if a first-world one.
Off the Pavement
Took it out a couple of times, including October Mountain in Massachusetts. It handled everything beautifully, completely stock. No lift, no regear, no recovery drama.
The only prep worth mentioning: I pull the steps off the rock sliders before I go. Five minutes to remove, five to put back on. That's a fair trade for keeping the sliders doing what sliders are for.
The National Parks
Acadia next week, which will be number 11. The goal I set when I turned 50 is actually happening.
Overland Expo East at the end of October, and on the way back I'm finally getting the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. Last attempt, a snowstorm closed the whole thing on me. Not this time.
Camping, Finally
I bought a cheap truck bed tent. New Hampshire in a few weeks is the shakedown run.
If it goes well, I'll know I want to invest in something better. If it goes badly, I'll have learned that lesson for very little money. Either outcome is useful.
Mods Since the Last Update
Short list this year, mostly because the truck has needed so little:
Tires are the next real change, and they're coming in a few months. I'm thinking 35s on stock wheels. I love the look, though I know I'm trading meat for looks. I spend the vast majority of my time on the road, so it's a trade-off I'm going to live with for a couple of years.
What's Next
I'm keeping this truck a long time.
I am eyeing a Lexus sedan in a year or so. If that happens, the Tacoma drops to part-time daily driver duty, and I suspect that's exactly when the mod list gets interesting again. Right now every decision has to survive the school pickup line. Take that constraint away and the overlanding build I've been circling for two years starts to look a lot more reasonable.
More to come. This time within two years, I promise.
Short version: two years in, this truck has been perfect. Not "perfect for a truck," not "perfect considering." Perfect.
Here's the long version:
The Engine & Ride, For Real This Time
The hybrid behaves the same way at 36,000 miles that it did at 1,000. It can be rough when the engine is cold, and that has never gotten better or worse. It just is. Once it's warm, it's been solid every single time.
Power was never a question and still isn't. Next to my father's 2023 Tacoma, this thing does not want for anything.
Smart cruise and lane keep assist are a bit of a letdown. I said in the original post that it should be identical to the Genesis system and that I'd report back. Reporting back: it's not as good. It wanders between the lines instead of holding a lane. It speeds up going over humps and pulls back on dips.
Road noise came in better than I predicted. It's fine on the highway. I'll caveat that hard, though: I'm still on OEM tires. I'm going larger and meatier in a few months, and I fully expect to lose this one. Ask me again next year.
Fuel economy is sitting at 19.0 mpg lifetime, and I'd say closer to 20.0 in the last year or so. I know some of you will wince at that. Two things in my defense. First, I live in a hilly part of New York, and hills are where hybrid math goes to die. Second, I am not gentle with a gas pedal. If you drive flat roads with a light foot, your number will be better than mine. If you drive like me, 19 is your number too, and I've made peace with it.
Reliability
Nothing. Two years, 36,000 miles, not a single issue.
There was one recall involving the gauge cluster. Mine was fine and it never affected me. That's the entire list.
I'll admit I spent the extended warranty money partly out of hybrid battery anxiety, and so far that anxiety has been completely unfounded. No complaints about being wrong.
The Dash Cam Saga
The BlackVue eventually came out and a 3-channel Viofo A329 went in. Quality for the price is very good, and going to three channels was the right move. There have been a couple of gremlins, nothing that made me regret the swap.
The wifi, though. The wifi is miserable. It fights with the Toyota connectivity, and pulling footage off the thing is a chore every single time. If anyone has found a setup that makes video extraction painless in a modern Toyota, my inbox is open. This is my one real open problem, even if a first-world one.
Off the Pavement
Took it out a couple of times, including October Mountain in Massachusetts. It handled everything beautifully, completely stock. No lift, no regear, no recovery drama.
The only prep worth mentioning: I pull the steps off the rock sliders before I go. Five minutes to remove, five to put back on. That's a fair trade for keeping the sliders doing what sliders are for.
The National Parks
Acadia next week, which will be number 11. The goal I set when I turned 50 is actually happening.
Overland Expo East at the end of October, and on the way back I'm finally getting the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. Last attempt, a snowstorm closed the whole thing on me. Not this time.
Camping, Finally
I bought a cheap truck bed tent. New Hampshire in a few weeks is the shakedown run.
If it goes well, I'll know I want to invest in something better. If it goes badly, I'll have learned that lesson for very little money. Either outcome is useful.
Mods Since the Last Update
Short list this year, mostly because the truck has needed so little:
- Installed Rock Slider Steps. Easy on, easy off, and off is where they live when I'm on a trail
- Installed Nav Screen Storage Bin. Small thing, use it constantly
- Installed 2 Additional Cupholders. Because there is no such thing as enough cupholders when you are hauling children to a ball field
- Replaced BlackVue DR900X-2CH with Viofo A329 3-Channel. See above re: wifi
- Installed LED red/white dome lights and door puddle lights
- Bought a mini-me for my truck
Tires are the next real change, and they're coming in a few months. I'm thinking 35s on stock wheels. I love the look, though I know I'm trading meat for looks. I spend the vast majority of my time on the road, so it's a trade-off I'm going to live with for a couple of years.
What's Next
I'm keeping this truck a long time.
I am eyeing a Lexus sedan in a year or so. If that happens, the Tacoma drops to part-time daily driver duty, and I suspect that's exactly when the mod list gets interesting again. Right now every decision has to survive the school pickup line. Take that constraint away and the overlanding build I've been circling for two years starts to look a lot more reasonable.
More to come. This time within two years, I promise.
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