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Kia Is Coming For The Tacoma With Powertrains Toyota Doesn't Offer | Carscoops
(www.carscoops.com)
The powertrain I want is a manual transmission.
this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2026
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Cars - For Car Enthusiasts
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All I want is a 4-cylinder with around 150 HP and a stick shift. Why doesn’t anyone make small pickups anymore?! Some of us want a bed to put stuff in but don’t care about towing 15,000 pounds.
Because of economies of scale and supply and demand.
Most people don’t want manuals and small trucks originated from Japan before they eventually faded away due to the emissions regulations.
Toyota builds pretty inefficient v6 and v8 engines last time I looked into it, but they’re very reliable.
Kia does not have that reliability record. I’m not sure that the Toyota buyer is going to consider KIA, even with hybrid drivetrains.
Tacoma has a turbo 4 now and it’s not much more efficient and less reliable.
It was such a shock to finally drive the 4Runner and Tacoma after wanting one for years. These things are insanely underpowered and still get terrible mileage. The 4Runner was the only vehicle I've ever had to actually keep floored just to maintain speed up hills.
However slow you think a modern 4Runner or Tacoma is, let me assure you that the "3.slow" (3VZE) in my '94 is worse.
I'll stick with my 20 year old chevy 5.3 which will still be on the road when this kia is at the scrapyard
Toyota hasn't made good trucks in years either
Will it still be in the road when gas is $20 per gallon?
Nope lawn ornament
I also have a 20 year old Silverado with a 5.3 and use it on the weekends, so probably yes since I'm not driving it that much. My daily is a Camry that gets great mileage.
Hilux?
That truck looks amazing and I want nothing to do with whatever engine they're putting in it. Someone needs to drop a Toyota engine in there and it could legitimately be awesome
Different strokes for different folks. Among the worst looking vehicles I’ve ever seen.
Very fair, it is definitely polarizing, but it is up my alley. Cheers
I kinda like it. Looks like an old school transformer or Gundam as a truck
I stopped taking this seriously when I read "midsize"...
I mean that thing is ludicrously big. Would not fit here in the Netherlands.
Midsize next to a container ship maybe.
I kinda like the look of it, not gonna lie. I don't know about reliability, but if they keep offering the 10/100 warranty and the price is low, it might not be a bad entry option. Kias and Hyundais are pretty simple, so maybe it will be easy to mod?
When I worked as a tech for a Hyundai dealer, the engines (other than the 2.4L) weren't really that bad reliability-wise. The most common issue I saw (again, other than the recalled 2.4L) when the cars got older was to me the interior felt cheaper/more worn out than other cars might have given the same wear and tear. But even the '09 Equus was still pretty nice once it was 10 years old.
I do remember I didn't really like whatever V6 they put in the Azera. At cold starts the timing chain would slap around even on brand new ones. Just bad design IMO, because the timing chain tensioners didn't have enough spring force to prevent the noise at start up once oil pressure bled out of the tensioner. It didnt really do anything for premature wear, just made noise at cold starts because the oil pressure builds pretty fast. During my time at Hyundai, I only ever had to replace one V6, and it was in a Santa Fe. Owner had replaced it already once with a used engine from LKQ, and that one finally blew up and they wanted me to put in another LKQ used engine. Weird customer, but its their car.
