The first-gen Toyota Tacoma - made from 1995-2004 - is still in high demand today for its ruggedness and legendary reliability. It is also among the greatest evolutions in safety ever seen among a single body style of any vehicle. Much like the T-100, it started out unsafe before being fixed with running changes, so if you're looking at a first-gen Tacoma today, pick your model year carefully.
1997 Tacoma after NHTSA full-frontal impact test. The structure wasn't the problem; the driver's airbag was.
When the Tacoma went on sale in 1995, the only crash test that was done on pickups was the NHTSA full frontal test - the IIHS offset wouldn't be applied to pickup trucks for a few more years. And the first version of the Tacoma, tested as a 1995 model, performed poorly, and not on the side you'd expect - the driver, with an airbag, had a 42% risk of severe injury (a low-end 2 star rating) while the passenger, with only seat belts, did much better at 27% (a midlevel 3 star rating). A 1997 Tacoma worsened that to 65% for the driver and 25% for the passenger - the second-worst performance ever for a seating position with an airbag. The front passenger, without an airbag, still had decent protection for the time. The Tacoma's structure performed well in the test, with both doors still easily operable, but the steering wheel airbag was far too stiff.
Let's compare the 1997 Tacoma with the other vehicles in its class in the NHTSA full-frontal test:
Ford Ranger: 15% / 13% (4 D / 4 P stars)
Dodge Dakota: 18% / 22% (4 D / 3 P stars)
Chevy S-10: 26% / 36% (3 D / 2 P stars)
Nissan truck: 37% / 20% (2 D / 3 P stars)
Toyota Tacoma: 65% / 25% (1 D / 3 P stars)
As you can see, small truck safety was not in a good place in 1997, with a majority of trucks getting 2 stars or less on one side. 1998 was a watershed year for small truck safety. The S-10, Nissan (now Frontier), and Tacoma all got dual airbags standard; also, the IIHS would test 1998-model small trucks in their offset test, and they would be tested in the NHTSA side impact soon after.
Here's the results for 1999-model small trucks. Since these trucks have no back seat or a very small back seat, side-impact ratings are only given for the front seat. Also TTI (thoracic trauma index) is not an injury percentage. A TTI of 57 roughly = 5% risk of thoracic injury, 72 = 10% risk, 91 = 20% risk, 99 = 25% risk.
Ford Ranger: 14% / 11% (4 D / 4 P) frontal - TTI 50 (5 star side) - IIHS Acceptable
Nissan Frontier: 25% / 17% (3 D / 4 P) frontal - TTI 64 (4 star side) - IIHS Marginal
Toyota Tacoma: 15% / 13% (4 D / 4 P) frontal - TTI 106 (1 star side) - IIHS Acceptable \
Dodge Dakota: 15% / 15% (4 D / 4 P) frontal - TTI 56 (5 star side) - IIHS Poor
Chevy S-10: 43% / 23% (2 D / 3 P) frontal - TTI 84 (3 star side) - IIHS Marginal
By this time, the Tacoma was a very close second to the Ford Ranger for front crash safety, earning a strong 4-star rating in the full frontal and a strong Acceptable rating in the offset. The Frontier offered a significantly lower level of protection in both full-frontal and offset crashes, and the Dakota and S-10 were at the bottom, with the Dakota offering good full-frontal scores but dismal offset scores, and the S-10 offering average for the time offset scores but bad full-frontal scores. But look at the side-impact ratings. Again the Ranger came out on top, and the Tacoma scored terribly - far worse than the other four trucks tested in its class. Between the excellent front crash protection and the atrocious side-impact protection, the Tacoma found itself midpack on safety at the end of the 1990s.
For 2001, Toyota made more changes to the Tacoma. Although there was a slight backsliding in full-frontal impact safety - to 24% driver risk and 18% passenger risk, or a high-end 3 star for the driver and a lower-end 4 star for the passenger - side-impact protection was dramatically improved. The TTI for the driver fell to 85 - 3 stars - still the worst in class but virtually tied with the Chevy S-10 and only one star worse than the overall class leader, the Ford Ranger. Frontal crash protection was still a strong second to the Ranger.
Here's the results for 2002 model small trucks, extended cab:
Ford Ranger: 18% / 13% (4 D / 4 P) frontal - TTI 68 (4 star side) - IIHS Acceptable
Toyota Tacoma: 24% / 18% (3 D / 4 P) frontal - TTI 85 (3 star side) - IIHS Acceptable \
Nissan Frontier: 12% / 10% (4 D / 5 P) frontal - TTI 64 (4 star side) - IIHS Marginal
Dodge Dakota: 32% / 9% (3 D / 5 P) frontal - TTI 56 (5 star side) - IIHS Poor
Chevy S-10: 43% / 23% (2 D / 3 P) frontal - TTI 84 (3 star side) - IIHS Marginal
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