Terrible road trip experience

[emetz582]

At first I thought this was a joke...YIKES....its not!

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[Hammered]

@Snakebitten I think people's minds would be blown after taking one of our PBs on a road trip. AC on, heated and massaging seats active. The hardest thing is trying to not get too comfortable and doze off ?

If we end up w/ L4 ADAS capability from something like a comma 5, I'll be happily laid back napping while the truck does the work. Might even slow down and realize some of that 24MPG highway capability.

 

[4sallypat]

Sorry to hear your experience!
Im doing almost the same 2200 mile trip from southern AZ to AR to go fly fishing. I suspect there will be snags along the way, but I will use your experience to console myself as I enjoy the high tech ride.

Fly fish AR ?
Never thought about fishing AR.

I have fly fished the big western rivers in: MT, ID, WA, OR, UT - using spey rods.

Steelhead is my preferred species but will settle for huge brown trout....

 

[DoogleMac]

Fly fish AR ?
Never thought about fishing AR.

I have fly fished the big western rivers in: MT, ID, WA, OR, UT - using spey rods.

Steelhead is my preferred species but will settle for huge brown trout....

Hi Pat,
I’ve been fishing in AR for a couple years. We will be staying in Mountain Home to fish the White and Buffalo river. Trou!

 

[DeluxeStang]

Not surprised, I can't think of any modern truck that's worse than a Tacoma. I'm spoiled with a maverick hybrid getting 50 mpg with something that's far more refined and reliable than what the Tacoma offers.

Words genuinely can't express how much I hate Tacoma's, they're garbage trucks who's only redeeming trait is their perception of reliability, which isn't even based in reality. Most outlets rate the ranger and maverick as being far more reliable than the Tacoma. They remind me of wranglers, genuinely terrible vehicles with a cult that tries to say they're the best thing ever.

 

[dwst480]

Just about home from a 2300 mile road trip that has been absolute misery (the driving has been awful).

We took a trip from Northern AZ to the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas to watch the eclipse.

But because we were caravanning with a couple who drive gas, my partner decided we should too, "to avoid inconveniencing them."

The ride in the Tacoma was uncomfortable, loud, and stressful; we arrived exhausted.

We spent more than $600 on gas. We'd spent more on gas on the first fillup--just an hour from home--than I had spent to get to OK on the last eastbound trip I took in the Mustang.

Every gas station was crowded and we had to wait in line at almost every stop. Most had at least one or two pumps out of order. We rarely spent less than 30 minutes at a stop. We made a stop every 150-200 miles. Had to fill up every morning or late at night before going to bed instead of just plugging in overnight.

Every charging station we passed was nearly empty.

We hit huge traffic slowdowns on the interstate, so I got to watch my fuel gauge climb down while going absolutely nowhere.

My only conclusion is that gasoline vehicles are just terrible for road tripping. They're loud, inconvenient, EXPENSIVE, and overall only good for...I don't know what they're better at than BEVs

Anyone want a Tacoma? It's going up for sale by this weekend. Going to reactivate that Rivian or Lightning order.

Nice photo! My parents and I also ended up on the Arkansas side of the Ozarks for the eclipse, road-tripping from Iowa. I'll admit I chickened out on taking my MME because I was concerned about being stuck charging somewhere outside the path of totality when it occurred. We took my parents' Toyota Camry Hybrid instead. Not a bad experience, but the MME would have given us more interior space. The trip ended up being smooth without any hiccups related to weather or traffic, so in hindsight the MME would have been fine. Maybe we'll take it out for the next one in 20 years! ?

 

[Rocket Man]

My 500 HP Challenger gets 27 mpg on the hwy. Thats almost 500 miles on a tank. Cruises like a Cadillac used to. Comfy and fast. It's funny how one can rationalize anything to make a point. Also the Taco sounds like a bad choice for a road trip vehicle. Or almost any trip for that matter. Lots of ICE vehicles make for great road trips.

 

[ChehRob]

Opinions on the Tacoma are odd. It was one of the most popular vehicles ever made, and generally very high customer satisfaction. Consumer Reports has never liked it but has long noted how well it is liked. Brother-in-law got a very nice 10+ year old one, beautiful, nice, but he and sister have decided they really don't like it. It will probably sell for more than they paid for it.

 

[Hammered]

Opinions on the Tacoma are odd. It was one of the most popular vehicles ever made, and generally very high customer satisfaction. Consumer Reports has never liked it but has long noted how well it is liked. Brother-in-law got a very nice 10+ year old one, beautiful, nice, but he and sister have decided they really don't like it. It will probably sell for more than they paid for it.

I think it's based on buyer expectations. It used to be a nice basic $20k little truck. It's never been good for road tripping though.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I respectfully disagree (to a great extent). With a screaming baby and a dog in the back, on almost all occasions, a hybrid that shuts off in traffic has been objectively better for our long trips than the MME that a) charges way slower than say, Tesla. And b) relies on a rather unreliable network.

I said I disagree to a great extent with your meta point, but not completely because your situation, was vastly different than most situations one would encounter on a trip.

Sure, if I were going to see a once in a century event visible only from certain areas, I would probably plan a bit differently, and maybe even go with an EV just assessing the area where I’m going to.

I can’t challenge the expensive part. Non hybrid big cars are guzzlers. But this whole noisy rough exhaustion stuff sounds a bit exaggerated to me. Perhaps get a better gas / hybrid car! Tacoma is built for off road adventures isn’t it?

All of my long road trips in the Mustang have been more pleasant than the same trips in any of the ICE vehicles we've owned in the past.

Except the Sienna we had for a few years back when we had a baby 20 years ago. But our stops in the Sienna were always longer than our stops in the Mustang.

We've never enjoyed driving more than 2-3 hours without a stop. We've done it a couple of times, but those sprints are never an enjoyable road trip for us.

Of our many, many DCFCs over the more than 35,000 miles we've enjoyed the Mustang, very few have been problematic. We've experienced problems with charging at about the same rate as we've experienced problems with gas stations while road tripping with the Tacoma.

We had been driving hybrids since the first Prius came out, and had a hybrid registered in our name from 2002 until about 18 months ago. They were fine for a (too-long) transition period. But never having to go to a gas station again is high on my list of things that I look forward to in my future automotive experience.

I'm thrilled that we're having a '23 Lighting delivered tomorrow. Got a decent pile of discounts and a decent (for today's market) trade-in value on the Tacoma. I will miss the Tacoma for certain kinds of drives, but honestly the kind of offroad adventuring it's best at isn't our priority any more. We are shifting over to exploring a broader part of the country and that, for us, requires a comfortable, enjoyable road trip vehicle.

 

[stealthytolkien]

All of my long road trips in the Mustang have been more pleasant than the same trips in any of the ICE vehicles we've owned in the past.

Except the Sienna we had for a few years back when we had a baby 20 years ago. But our stops in the Sienna were always longer than our stops in the Mustang.

We've never enjoyed driving more than 2-3 hours without a stop. We've done it a couple of times, but those sprints are never an enjoyable road trip for us.

Of our many, many DCFCs over the more than 35,000 miles we've enjoyed the Mustang, very few have been problematic. We've experienced problems with charging at about the same rate as we've experienced problems with gas stations while road tripping with the Tacoma.

We had been driving hybrids since the first Prius came out, and had a hybrid registered in our name from 2002 until about 18 months ago. They were fine for a (too-long) transition period. But never having to go to a gas station again is high on my list of things that I look forward to in my future automotive experience.

I'm thrilled that we're having a '23 Lighting delivered tomorrow. Got a decent pile of discounts and a decent (for today's market) trade-in value on the Tacoma. I will miss the Tacoma for certain kinds of drives, but honestly the kind of offroad adventuring it's best at isn't our priority any more. We are shifting over to exploring a broader part of the country and that, for us, requires a comfortable, enjoyable road trip vehicle.

I recently drove a 150 Lightening Lariat 320 mile one - absolutely amazing truck. Not much useful for us but it was something else. And I have never owned a truck before and barely ever driven one.

You’re saying exactly what I said above. Tacoma is great of course but it’s not the most comfortable highway cruiser

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I recently drove a 150 Lightening Lariat 320 mile one - absolutely amazing truck. Not much useful for us but it was something else. And I have never owned a truck before and barely ever driven one.

I grew up driving trucks (first drive was at 6-years-old in a 2-ton flatbed Chevy--I had to stand up while my father operated the pedals). And every time we've let go of a truck, we've gone back to owning one relatively quickly. Too much ranching in my blood to not find a "need" for a truck.

You’re saying exactly what I said above. Tacoma is great of course but it’s not the most comfortable highway cruiser

Up until we got the Mustang, I never had an issue with the Tacoma and long road trips. But with the Mustang, I've been introduced to a much more comfortable level of road tripping. A BEV Sienna would be the ideal road trip vehicle for us (but it wouldn't fulfill the truck duties we have), but until Toyota pulls their head out of their hybrid hole, we'll "make do" with a Mustang and a Lightning.

 

[wmaney]

At first I thought this was a joke...YIKES....its not!

I did too - I immediately looked for the posting date to see if it was April first!

 

[RKinWA]

Just about home from a 2300 mile road trip that has been absolute misery (the driving has been awful).

We took a trip from Northern AZ to the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas to watch the eclipse.

But because we were caravanning with a couple who drive gas, my partner decided we should too, "to avoid inconveniencing them."

The ride in the Tacoma was uncomfortable, loud, and stressful; we arrived exhausted.

We spent more than $600 on gas. We'd spent more on gas on the first fillup--just an hour from home--than I had spent to get to OK on the last eastbound trip I took in the Mustang.

Every gas station was crowded and we had to wait in line at almost every stop. Most had at least one or two pumps out of order. We rarely spent less than 30 minutes at a stop. We made a stop every 150-200 miles. Had to fill up every morning or late at night before going to bed instead of just plugging in overnight.

Every charging station we passed was nearly empty.

We hit huge traffic slowdowns on the interstate, so I got to watch my fuel gauge climb down while going absolutely nowhere.

My only conclusion is that gasoline vehicles are just terrible for road tripping. They're loud, inconvenient, EXPENSIVE, and overall only good for...I don't know what they're better at than BEVs

Anyone want a Tacoma? It's going up for sale by this weekend. Going to reactivate that Rivian or Lightning order.

First, great pic! Never seen a total eclipse in person.

Second, very interesting post. I have not gotten to the point of doing a long road trip in my MME yet, nothing more than 500 miles, and for those short road trips the MME is perfect. I know charging is much better now and with the Tesla supercharger network too, coverage shouldn't be an issue, but that doesn't make charging faster. My issue is time. I am planning a road trip in October to Sedona AZ, Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. The trip itself is about 22 hrs drive down to Sedona, but then I would have to add between 7-8 hrs of charge time each way (based on 2.7 mi/kWh), plus the additional destinations, and providing I don't actually have to wait for a charge. So I could potentially be looking at 16-20 hrs of charge time for the trip. I just don't want to lose the time I could be having fun on the trip to charging. I am in the process of buying a new Rav4 XSE as my backup vehicle, and will probably use it as my road tripping vehicle as well. Given the 38 mpg, I will only have to hit the gas station 3 times each way. Sure it will cost more than charging (not by much though), but given I bought a GT in March, and traded it for a new GTPE in June, and installed the outlet and charging at home, cost savings was obviously not my prime focus on moving into the EV world ?

The MME will remain my daily driver / fun ride though as I am still in love with it.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Problem solved.

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