PHOENIX PHIL
AH ambassador
Yup. The problem I see with the new Toyota lineup is you're forced into a turbo 4 cylinder, or the same plus hybrid. The longevity and reliability cannot be the same as the classic V6 gas naturally aspirated.
The world knows this now too.
My parents needed a reliable car, they went two weeks ago to buy a new Tacoma. Instead, they bought a 2023 tacoma with the v6 for $270 under original MSRP with 6000 miles on the odometer. Put another way, they bought a used car with less warranty for more money than a brand new one....just to get the V6 that is reliable rather than the new problematic trans and the new turbo-4cyl.
Just about two years ago to the day I got rid of my Civic 4 banger just because it had been used hard and had about 120K miles on it. It ran just fine and never had an issue, I was just sick of the little car. At the time the crazy Covid driven used car prices were in play and in the end that car cost me about $6500 to drive for 6 years and all those miles.
I bought my wife a Lexus RX350 with that same reliable 6 cylinder motor, a 2022 version, purposely avoiding the 2023s which would have that turbo 4 cylinder. We absolutely love that Lexus. And I paid sticker price, not an elevated above MSRP price, it was a great deal given the trade value of the Civic.
But....as I mentioned above I drove a Tacoma with the turbo 4 cylinder this week and it gets up and goes. Furthermore from what I've read, there has not been the reliability issues with this motor unlike the turbo 6 that is in the Tundras now (albeit I've also read this is a manufacturing issue that is now resolved).
My point? Do we actually have information that says this 4 cylinder turbo is unreliable? I totally agree with the concern....more compression, more moving parts = reliability concerns. But if I have a motor that still will go maybe 200K miles versus the gazillion miles that the old 6 cylinder would go, do I care? And again is there actual data showing less reliability, I ask as I've not seen it.