My experience with a Toyota Tacoma in Cambodia
My experience with a Toyota Tacoma in Cambodia
I thought the Celica was the last review I was going to write, but then my brothers in law came to town to visit so I had a chance to take a couple of "new" trucks out for a drive and use them a bit over a few days. Here's my experience with a 2WD Toyota Tacoma.
The truck: ($10,500) 2002 Toyota Tacoma 2.7 Inline 4, automatic, broadside wreck..who knows how many miles. 70,000...yeah right.
Now I'm no fan of your run of the mill Camry or Highlander, but I do love Toyota Tacomas, so I'll try to remain objective here. I used to own a 99' V6 with 380,000 km, and it never seemed to miss a beat, and that's been the norm rather than the exception. Most people I talk to have similar feelings toward their trucks, so even though most junk in Cambodia is "polished turd" grade, these trucks are likely to still outlast much of what's on the road today.
This particular truck is the 2.7 Inline 4 version, just imported from the U.S. a month or two ago, and was a broadside wreck. Everything was fixed at the dealer, so the $10,500 was an out the door price, painted, fixed, etc. Truthfully, I don't trust dealers here, so I rather would have paid the $8k or $9k for the wreck and then had a shop fix what was necessary, but it's not my truck.
In terms of features, it has almost nothing. Hand crank windows, hand adjusted mirrors, manual door locks, but at least A/C.
Afterwards, new semi knobby tyres were fitted and the truck was raised slightly (don't know the price), I would assume the tyres are around $450.
What's it like to drive? Very long, and despite the raised ground clearance and big tyres, it feels so much lower than a 4WD pickup.
The 2.7 motor is nice and torquey for a 4 cylinder, notice the 5,500 rpm redline. Opening it up on "clear" roads and it had decent power, and even spun the rear tyres when "encouraged". Personally I don't think there's any more need for the power the truck has, and of course going with a V6 is an instant drop in fuel economy, so there's no need. For the record I also got to play with a V6 over the weekend, so yes I have something to compare it to. The V6 was undoubtedly nice, but in my opinion in Cambodia it's just not necessary at all.
Around town driving this truck is annoyingly long for being a small truck. It's a long bed extended cab, so no surprise, but tight corners were a squeeze.
Visibility however was excellent with straight windows all around, and the ride was on the rough side when it was unloaded. With a load of 5 passengers though, it softened up just as anything else.
Practicality? Best you can get for a pickup.
I would have to guess with fuel economy, and my guess would be around 16 mpg US (18.3L/100 or 5.4 km/l) if you're in Phnom Penh most of the time. If you're doing on the road driving between provinces you'll easily top high 20's (8.3 L/100 or 12 km/l), maybe even 30 if you're lucky.
Since it's a Toyota, parts are readily available for it and most anyone should be able to service it.
Seating capacity is great with the long bed, room for 10 or 15, but safely you can take only 4 people in the extended cab.
Conclusion, final thoughts? It's the perfect combination between work vehicle and "car" for non off-road usage.
Lots of people need utility in one form or another in Cambodia, and honestly a pickup makes so much more sense than a "furnished" SUV. However, if you don't want to have a utility flatbed diesel for once in a while "messy" jobs, a "car like" pickup is the perfect choice. Car like fuel economy, car like repair bills, car like ride quality (almost), and a big long box in the back for the odd job or two.
I don't have much more to say than that. It's a factory made Camry pickup, and it's great.
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Great review.
Does your V4 preference in Cambodia extend to Highlanders? My Khmer friends are insisting I need a V6 Highlander but I'm not too sure...
Thinking about a 2003-2005 model.
Apart from V4 / V6 anything else I should be considering?
Does your V4 preference in Cambodia extend to Highlanders? My Khmer friends are insisting I need a V6 Highlander but I'm not too sure...
Thinking about a 2003-2005 model.
Apart from V4 / V6 anything else I should be considering?
The V6 is very thirsty and not even 4x4. Or at least not the two I've driven. Rubbish!
Not a lover of pickups. Too bouncy.
I've got an auto CRV with a weedy 2.0 petrol. It's ok for all journeys but you have to time your overtakes very carefully.
Akira. Do you know anything about LPG? I know on my mileage it'll take three years or so to recoup the outlay and I know you get less MPG but I'll just take it off and stick it on the new car.
Not a lover of pickups. Too bouncy.
I've got an auto CRV with a weedy 2.0 petrol. It's ok for all journeys but you have to time your overtakes very carefully.
Akira. Do you know anything about LPG? I know on my mileage it'll take three years or so to recoup the outlay and I know you get less MPG but I'll just take it off and stick it on the new car.
pew, pew, pew, pew!
Small note, 4 cylinder (4 machine) cars are called Inline 4s, or I-4 because the cylinders (machines) are in a straight line.ផោមក្លិនស្អុយ wrote:Great review.
Does your V4 preference in Cambodia extend to Highlanders? My Khmer friends are insisting I need a V6 Highlander but I'm not too sure...
Thinking about a 2003-2005 model.
Apart from V4 / V6 anything else I should be considering?
I do know the Highlander quite well, but the engines are not the same as the Tacoma, only the Camry. Both 4 and 6 cylinder.
I'm not saying this to be rude, but if you're Khmer and have not driven in a "fast" country like the U.S., I would recommend the I-4 Highlander over the V6. Us foreigners are used to driving powerful cars, but Khmer are new to driving cars in general, so in my opinion there is no need for a 6 cylinder Highlander at all. Also as YaTingPom mentioned, the V6 uses a lot more fuel (20-25% more).
However honestly, I like having a V6 more myself. It's up to you, but I recommend a 4 cylinder. It is an excellent engine, very reliable and good on fuel for an SUV. It is also cheaper to fix the engine if you need to.
The 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder motors are both very reliable, so I can't think of anything else.
My advice, don't do it. You'll lose a lot of cargo space for the tank and as you've said, it will take way too long to recoup the cost. That being said, I did find the CNG Civic quite fun to drive.YaTingPom wrote: Akira. Do you know anything about LPG? I know on my mileage it'll take three years or so to recoup the outlay and I know you get less MPG but I'll just take it off and stick it on the new car.
Note: Highlander V6s can be AWD, but aren't "true" AWD systems. Viscous coupling and pencil thin rear driveshafts with no option to lock. Damn near useless honestly, especially when it comes to mud.
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Indeed. The CRV also have pencil thin rear drive shafts. Useless.
Which may be why mine have been removed or it had an issue in the past.
With regard to luggage space - The CRV has a tailgate mounted spare wheel which leaves space for a doughnut tank (45l, about 240km range) in the wheel well.
Not sure I'll bother. It'll be even slower on LPG!
Which may be why mine have been removed or it had an issue in the past.
With regard to luggage space - The CRV has a tailgate mounted spare wheel which leaves space for a doughnut tank (45l, about 240km range) in the wheel well.
Not sure I'll bother. It'll be even slower on LPG!
pew, pew, pew, pew!
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Cheers,AE86 wrote:Small note, 4 cylinder (4 machine) cars are called Inline 4s, or I-4 because the cylinders (machines) are in a straight line.ផោមក្លិនស្អុយ wrote:Great review.
Does your V4 preference in Cambodia extend to Highlanders? My Khmer friends are insisting I need a V6 Highlander but I'm not too sure...
Thinking about a 2003-2005 model.
Apart from V4 / V6 anything else I should be considering?
I do know the Highlander quite well, but the engines are not the same as the Tacoma, only the Camry. Both 4 and 6 cylinder.
I'm not saying this to be rude, but if you're Khmer and have not driven in a "fast" country like the U.S., I would recommend the I-4 Highlander over the V6. Us foreigners are used to driving powerful cars, but Khmer are new to driving cars in general, so in my opinion there is no need for a 6 cylinder Highlander at all. Also as YaTingPom mentioned, the V6 uses a lot more fuel (20-25% more).
However honestly, I like having a V6 more myself. It's up to you, but I recommend a 4 cylinder. It is an excellent engine, very reliable and good on fuel for an SUV. It is also cheaper to fix the engine if you need to.
The 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder motors are both very reliable, so I can't think of anything else.
My advice, don't do it. You'll lose a lot of cargo space for the tank and as you've said, it will take way too long to recoup the cost. That being said, I did find the CNG Civic quite fun to drive.YaTingPom wrote: Akira. Do you know anything about LPG? I know on my mileage it'll take three years or so to recoup the outlay and I know you get less MPG but I'll just take it off and stick it on the new car.
Note: Highlander V6s can be AWD, but aren't "true" AWD systems. Viscous coupling and pencil thin rear driveshafts with no option to lock. Damn near useless honestly, especially when it comes to mud.
BTW not Khmer and have driven extensively in other countries.
You've kind of confirmed my thoughts though. 6 cylinder a bit unnecessary in what is a fairly flat country. Fuel efficiency, maintenance costs and initial price puts the 4 cylinder ahead for me.
Alright, and by the way I really wasn't trying to be demeaning in any way. I've just seen so many Khmer go for a bigger engine vehicle without realising how much power it actually has, and then get freaked out about it. I feel bad for them because then they have to "suffer" with a vehicle they don't feel safe in.ផោមក្លិនស្អុយ wrote: Cheers,
BTW not Khmer and have driven extensively in other countries.
You've kind of confirmed my thoughts though. 6 cylinder a bit unnecessary in what is a fairly flat country. Fuel efficiency, maintenance costs and initial price puts the 4 cylinder ahead for me.
As for me, if you saw my Frontier review, I actually like the idea of a V6 in Cambodia if maintenance costs are not a big issue. However, as a practical vehicle I can't recommend any V6 over a 4 cylinder, especially when the speed limit is 80, and 100 kph is pushing safety limits here.
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I was using a 4wd version of that era Tacoma for a while this year. Had the LPG tank where spare tyre should be, under the bed. Would do 300 miles from 80l LPG, about 275 on a tank of petrol. It's a weedy V6, and you would rarely take it above 85mph.
It was tougher than the newer 4l V6 Tacomas I used before it; they were plagued by small problems and body damage, but the extra grunt was welcome.
It was tougher than the newer 4l V6 Tacomas I used before it; they were plagued by small problems and body damage, but the extra grunt was welcome.
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