I don't have any experience with the new ones. In my opinion 98-04 were their absolute best years (first couple years they had a lighter duty rack and pinion steering on them that had issues when the truck was used offroad much and/or had weight added to the front end, like aftermarket bumpers and winches) but twenty years later they still want not that much less than they sold for new for any in good shape with less than 200K on them. I own an 09, not a lick of problem with it at 170K, but it has the 4 cylinder in it and was the base model, I didn't realize when I bought it (wrecked, so I couldn't test drive it) that the base model had higher gears in them in those years. The gears are way too high, and I haven't changed them yet, spend a lot of time in 4-lo because the gears are too high to putt around in high range. Doesn't have the clearance of either the older or newer models stock, and the 4 cylinder only outperforms the V6 gas mileage wise on the highway empty, put a two snowmobile trailer behind it and three or four hundred pounds in the bed and I drop to 13-14 mpg. My dad owns a 17 4-cylinder and 11 v6, no problems with either and the four cylinder does better on fuel than mine due to the lower gears, but again it drops in the toilet as soon as it has any sort of load or trailer. He also owns a 2000 with the 3.4 v6 (best motor Toyota ever made in my opinion) I sold him with 400K on it, I never had any problems with that truck, a few wear part repairs, u-joints, ball joints, etc. but never touched the motor or tranny. Not sure how many miles he has on it now, but he still hasn't touched the motor or tranny. He bought it to replace his 05 when he had a cylinder go on it at 427K (kid bought that truck and went to rebuild the motor, burnt valve and the one cylinder bad, but his grandpa said the others still looked like new and they only replaced the one piston and just redid the rings on the others, it is back on the road and I expect it to run until that kid totals it). I have a ton of experience with older Toyotas, but not much with those newer than the mid teens, the 3.5l v6 seems to get better mileage than the 4.0 that it replaced, the new high output 4 cylinders haven't been out long enough to know how they will hold up. The newer trucks are wider and won't fit where the older ones will, still smaller than a full size though. Ground clearance has varied over the years but is generally better than any of the other brands with the exception of some Jeep models until you get up into the 3/4 and 1 ton class trucks, and then you are comparing apples to oranges because they are so much wider and longer wheelbase that the ground clearance is negated.
I've put over 300K on half a dozen Toyotas, and only one did I ever rebuild the motor on,(I currently have an 89 that only has 210K on it and that motor has been rebuilt twice and is currently kaput, it is waiting for me to drop a new one it rather than try and rebuild the lemon again, I rebuilt one in a 95 right at 300K, and it wasn't strictly necessary, but it was using oil) and one rebuilt tranny, quite a few clutches though. Most of those were 22RE motors, but the newer Toyota motors both 4, 6 and 8 cylinders seem to hold up just as well. Half the miles on my pickups are off the blacktop, and at least half are pulling either an ATV or snowmobile trailer.
Gas mileage has not been superior to comparable rigs since the 80s to early 90s, but longevity, reliability and off road performance generally has.
