As parents to a fresh driver, finding the perfect car for him became one of my goals of 2018.
I was determined. I was committed. And, by the end of the year we’d tested out tons of vehicles.
Tons.
And, while price was one of the driving factors behind what we ultimately selected, safety, size, and coolness factor also played a role.
That’s not to say I was out to get my 17 year old an overpriced, souped up muscle car-being cool is not as important as my insurance premium.
But, I did make an effort to consider things like size, model, and color when we shopped, which meant I wasn’t really scrolling through listings of Pepto-pink smart cars to buy him just because they were good on gas and in my price range.
We wanted a balance: not too big, not too small, good on gas, not astronomical in the insurance department, well priced, fun to drive, and safety all needed to be a part of the equation.
I plan to share all of the cars we looked at with you, but first up is the one I personally had the most fun driving: the 2019 Toyota Tacoma.
A huge departure from the minivan-ish, crossover mom car I spend most of my days bopping around town in, the Toyota Tacoma is the smarter, hipper version of the truck I actually learned to drive in as a 17 year old girl myself.
Also a pickup, the Toyota stick shift my dad gave me driving lessons in was the Tacoma before there even was a Tacoma. Being the early 90s edition, it had none of the cool bells and whistles you’ll find in a today’s Tacoma, but it was more fun than the sedans most of my girlfriends had access to. Plus, being able to drive a stick shift and take it out to the desert to do donuts was an added perk, THAT I NEVER, EVER TOOK ADVANTAGE OF!
In today’s version you’ll find everything from off-road crawl control designed to help make navigating tough terrain easier for you and your vehicle, to a touchscreen Entune Audio system that lets you wirelessly connect your devices and access your phone, apps, traffic and more on the in dash screen.
It’s the perfect mix of rugged functionality and well thought out luxury to make your day to day commute as fun as your weekend adventures because, depending on the trim model you elect, the Toyota Tacoma is as comfortable zipping around tough terrain as it is depositing the kids at school and whatever afternoon activities they’re engaged in.
If you’re in the market for a pickup truck, here are a few things to know about the Toyota Tacoma.
The 2019 Toyota Tacoma: 5 Things You Need to Know
It’s edgy and funky and fresh and cool.
Inside out this truck has tons of features that make it look as good as it feels to drive. With a few bright colors and a sturdy, masculine design, you actually feel like you might be able to pull off some of those cool moves you see Toyota drivers doing in the commercials. And, there is absolutely no chance anyone will mistake this ride for a minivan.
It was made for off-roading.
If you consider a day bumping around the unbeaten paths in your pickup your happy place, then a Toyota Tacoma is probably what you want to be doing that in. It was built to handle rough terrain with ease thanks to upgraded options designed to help you own the rugged pathways like they’re a basic neighborhood street. Read up on what the various models offer, you’re sure to be impressed by the capabilities of the TRD pro.
The sound system is killer.
I can’t tell you how many times I told my kids I was riding round town with my boomin’ system while I was testing the Tacoma out. Naturally they rolled their eyes and begged me to stop several times, but I was not to be deterred and the Tacoma came through by making all of my 90s jams sound fly when I bumped them.
It has the most standard driver assists in its class.
Outperforming its competitors easily, the Toyota Tacoma offers countless driver assists you won’t find standard on most pickups. Most exciting are safety features like forward-collision warning and automated emergency braking, lane-departure warning, and adaptive cruise control.
Toyota offers an amazing complimentary scheduled maintenance plan.
Another place the Tacoma beats its competitors is in the scheduled maintenance plan. Maintenance is covered for 2 years or 25,000 miles and it’s complimentary with Toyota’s.