2024 Toyota Tacoma: A Truck We Love

20th June 2024 Sam Gomez

We here at Bear World love trucks, and one that we think you will love (should you get your hands on one) is the 2024 Toyota Tacoma.

Why? Trucks allow you to sit tall and feel like a man, plain and simple. There is plenty of room inside for you to unfasten your belt (just so you can be comfortable, of course) and enjoy the ride. No need to feel all-pinched while you enjoy your Pride. And joy.

The Tacoma is completely redesigned for 2024, and a new inline-4 turbo is available (a V6 is no longer available in the lineup, but a hybrid powertrain is). The updates, both exterior and interior, are impressive, making this powerhouse look more modern and tougher – not that it needed any help in those areas.

By some accounts, the Tacoma is considered a Compact Pickup Truck, and I have no idea how this beast squeezes into that category. U.S. News & World Report ranks the 2024 Tacoma at No. 3 (tied with Honda Ridgeline, another fabulous beast), but given that No. 1 is a tie, going to the Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz, great ‘trucks’ but vehicles that are definitely smaller … this year’s Tacoma is definitely a Blue-Ribbon finalist in the big-boy category, hands down.

As with any truck these days, you can have it configured however you like – so choose wisely. This big boy likes to drink, meaning you can get maybe 21 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. But wow, can you have a very comfortable party inside.

Car and Driver says that this year’s Tacoma is “contemporary, with an attractive aesthetic supplemented by crisp digital displays.” Yeah, I was going to say that. Something like that, maybe in more Bear terms like ‘yowzer, it’s cool inside.’

For Bears who want a truck – and do not plan on using it completely for work – a not-so-big-that-you-will-dent-up-the-walls kind of truck like this makes sense. And this one definitely fits that bill. Kinda. It’s still big. Really big. So be careful. We have all approached things we thought we could handle and then, well, soreness ensued.

And if you need an even bigger truck, check out the Tacoma’s bigger brother, the Toyota Tundra (here’s my review of the 2023 Tundra).

Keep in mind, a truck is not for everyone, especially if you live in the city. Parking spaces are tight, garages that are cheap are mostly non-existent. And, well, much like having that Great Dane or Doberman that you’ve always wanted, sometimes when you have a small space, it just is not practical.