The short answer is 2020 through 2023. Here is the long answer, generation by generation, with the specific things to look at on each one before you hand over any money.
The best year for a used Toyota Tacoma is 2020 to 2023. Those are late third-generation trucks. By 2020 the 3.5-liter V6 and its six-speed automatic had four model years of running changes behind them, Toyota Safety Sense-P had been standard equipment since 2018, and the 2020 refresh finally brought an 8-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Buying newer, the 2024 and up fourth generation is a quieter, stronger truck with a turbocharged engine, an eight-speed automatic and an optional hybrid. Buying older, a 2012 to 2015 Tacoma with the 4.0-liter V6 is still one of the most useful trucks on the used market, provided the paperwork and the undercarriage both check out.
Fuel economy below is rounded EPA combined, and it moves around with cab, bed, drivetrain and transmission more on a truck than on anything else. Look up the exact rating for the specific truck you are considering at fueleconomy.gov before you use it in your math.
| Model Years | Generation | Engine | EPA Combined | What You Get | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 to now | Fourth | 2.4L turbo four, or hybrid | About 21 to 23 mpg | All new chassis and body, eight-speed automatic, large touchscreen, i-FORCE MAX hybrid option | Newest |
| 2020 to 2023 | Third, late | 3.5L V6 or 2.7L four | About 20 mpg with the V6 | 8-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Safety Sense-P standard, refreshed cabin | Best Buy |
| 2018 to 2019 | Third, mid | 3.5L V6 or 2.7L four | About 20 mpg with the V6 | Toyota Safety Sense-P becomes standard equipment across the lineup | Strong |
| 2016 to 2017 | Third, early | 3.5L V6 or 2.7L four | About 20 mpg with the V6 | New generation, new 2GR-FKS V6, six-speed automatic, composite bed with tie down rails | Strong |
| 2012 to 2015 | Second, refreshed | 4.0L V6 or 2.7L four | About 18 mpg with the V6 | Revised front end, better interior materials, updated audio, the classic 4.0-liter V6 | Best Value |
| 2005 to 2011 | Second, early | 4.0L V6 or 2.7L four | About 18 mpg with the V6 | The generation that built the reputation. Plentiful, simple, and cheap to keep running | Budget Pick |
A third-generation Tacoma on the left and a fourth-generation truck on the right, shown as examples of the two generations buyers ask us to compare most often. Which Tacoma years are here changes week to week, so there is no point in us printing a list. Every listing carries its own current photos and its own CARFAX report. Browse our current used truck inventory to see what is on the ground today, or look at the wider used Toyota selection near Hoover if a 4Runner or a Tundra would also do the job.
Buy this one if your budget reaches it and the truck spends most of its life on pavement.
Toyota retired the naturally aspirated V6 for 2024 and replaced it with the i-FORCE 2.4-liter turbocharged four and an eight-speed automatic. On paper that reads like a downgrade. In practice the turbo makes its torque low in the rev range, which is exactly where you want it pulling a boat trailer back up out of Oak Mountain State Park on a Sunday afternoon. The i-FORCE MAX hybrid adds an electric motor between the engine and the transmission and shoves harder still.
The rest of the truck grew up with it. New frame, new suspension, new body, and a cabin that finally has a large touchscreen and a proper digital gauge cluster instead of a screen that looked dated the year it launched. The highway difference is the one you feel first. At 70 mph on I-65 the fourth-generation truck is meaningfully calmer than a 2021.
A 2020 to 2023 Tacoma is the best mix of price, features and known engineering on any used truck lot.
Toyota gave the Tacoma a new 3.5-liter V6 for 2016, the 2GR-FKS, paired with a six-speed automatic. It makes about 278 horsepower and, properly equipped, tows in the 6,000 to 6,500 pound range. That covers a bass boat, a small camper, or a trailer of mulch for a yard in Vestavia Hills without the truck feeling put upon.
Two dates matter when you shop this generation. Toyota Safety Sense-P became standard for 2018, which adds adaptive cruise, lane departure alert and forward collision braking. Then for 2020 the Tacoma got an 8-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard, plus a redesigned instrument panel and a power driver's seat on more trims. That is why we draw the line at 2020. Everything before it is a good truck. Everything from 2020 on is a good truck you will not want to trade in two years later over phone mirroring. If you want to compare crash test results year by year, the IIHS publishes them for every model year.
The V6 has one honest quirk worth knowing about in advance rather than discovering in traffic. The six-speed likes to hold a tall gear and the engine makes its power high up, so the truck can feel busy in the 5pm crawl on Hwy 280 through Inverness. Plenty of owners never notice. Some prefer the six-speed manual, which Toyota offered on TRD Sport and TRD Off-Road and which is a genuinely enjoyable thing in a truck this size.
On trims: SR is the work truck, SR5 is the volume seller and the one you will see most of, TRD Sport gets the hood scoop and a street-tuned suspension, TRD Off-Road adds a locking rear differential and Crawl Control, Limited brings leather and the nicer cabin, and TRD Pro is the low-volume desert runner with the suspension to match.
This is the generation that built the reputation, and it is still the most truck per dollar on the used market.
The 4.0-liter V6, Toyota's 1GR-FE, is most of what people mean when they say a Tacoma runs forever. It is a simple, port-injected, timing-chain V6 bolted to a five-speed automatic, and 250,000 miles on a maintained one is unremarkable rather than impressive. The 2.7-liter four is the quieter recommendation: less power and less towing, and a long list of owners who have opened the hood for nothing but oil.
Toyota refreshed the truck for 2012 with a new front end, better interior materials and updated audio, so a 2012 to 2015 truck feels a generation newer than a 2007 without asking third-generation money. At this age the paperwork matters more than the odometer. A well-kept 2013 with records beats a neglected 2015 every time, which is the same thing we say on our guide to how many miles is too many on a used car.
Undercarriage inspection is a normal part of buying any truck this old, and it is worth doing carefully on a Tacoma because so many of them lived in salt states. Get it on a lift and look at the frame rails, the leaf spring perches and the brake lines. A truck that spent its life between Trussville and Shelby County is a different animal from one that spent ten winters up north, and the CARFAX tells you which one is in front of you.
Every Driver's Way price is the price. There is no negotiation, no four trips to a manager's office, and nobody on our sales floor works on commission, so nothing here is quietly steering you up a tier. If you would rather start from a number than a model year, our vehicles under $20,000 page is the honest place to begin.
The refreshed interior, the 4.0-liter V6 and a five-speed automatic. Get the service records and a lift inspection and you have a truck that will still be working in ten years.
Safety Sense standard, the 8-inch screen with CarPlay and Android Auto, and the 3.5-liter V6 with its early running changes behind it. This is the recommendation for most buyers on the 280 corridor.
Turbocharged torque low in the rev range, an eight-speed automatic and the newest chassis. The i-FORCE MAX hybrid is the one to drive first if you tow more than a few times a year.
Everything above is what you would be checking yourself buying from a stranger in a parking lot. Buying from us, it is already done and written down. If you want the full walkthrough, we published what to look for when buying a used car, and if a truck is not actually the right shape for your week, the same treatment exists for the best year for a used Toyota RAV4.
Every vehicle we list is inspected and reconditioned before it goes on the lot.
Nearly three decades of used cars in the Birmingham metro, at two locations.
Nobody here earns more by putting you in a bigger truck than you came for.
Every listing comes with the report, so the history is on the table before you ask.
Reconditioning and service for both stores happen at our Pelham service center, which is now open Saturdays. An extended service plan is available if you want the coverage to keep going.
Reviews from our Hwy 280 store, pulled live from Google.
We are at 5470 Hwy 280, a few minutes from Inverness and about fifteen from Mountain Brook. If the truck you want is sitting at our Pelham store, tell us and we will bring it over. You can schedule a test drive ahead of time, get a number on your current vehicle with an instant trade quote, or do most of the paperwork in advance with Fast Lane Purchase. You can also browse every vehicle at both stores in one list.
Trucks move faster than anything else we stock. Check what is here right now, or tell us what you are after and we will call you when it lands.
Driver's Way Hwy 280 | 5470 Hwy 280, Birmingham, AL 35242