2013 Tacoma - TRD Sport or TRD OR?

First of all, I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place. So, if it needs to be moved, feel free to do so mods.

Hey all! I'm looking to purchase a 2013 Taco within the next few months, and I wanted to get some opinions on which way I should go with it. I figure the best way to get some good feedback is to give you a guys a bit of information about myself and what I'm looking for. So, here we go:

I'm 25 years old, married, and currently driving an '05 Subaru WRX. A friend of mine and his wife recently got pregnant (read: surprise!), and it's had a bit of an impact on me. I want to be prepared if/when that happens, so I figure I should get something a bit more family friendly than my current full-sized go kart (plus, I've always been a truck guy). The truck I owned before my WRX was an '01 Tundra, Supercharged, on 35" tires.

Here's what I'm looking for:
- I live in CO, so 4x4 is a must.
- I'm wanting family friendly (as mentioned before), so double cab is a must.
- My wife drives an '07 4Runner Limited, and I LOVE her JBL sound system, but I'm trying to decide if the Nav and JBL is worth the extra $2k in options. I don't believe the OR comes with the JBL either, so it would be a special order that I'm afraid would damage the bargaining abilities at the stealership.
- I'd like to get back into off-roading, so naturally the OR edition appeals to me. The off-roading I will be doing will be in the mountains on some moderate trails, mostly hills and some rocks. I won't be doing anything too crazy as this will be my DD and I can't afford to break something. The truck will remain stock for quite some time likely (though I might level the front out with Bilsteins).
- I prefer the look of the TRD Sport, as I'm a fan of the color matching trim and like the scoop (fake as it may be) as well.

So my questions are primarily these:
- Is getting the OR edition with the elocker, atrac, etc... worth it when I will maybe go off-roading once a month?
- Is the JBL sound system worth it? Heck, can I even get that in the OR edition?

I can get the OR edition for about $30,500 + TTL, and the Sport edition with JBL for about $30,900 + TTL, and I'm trying to decide which is the better value for what I'm looking for. I'll be able to put about $25k down at the dealership by the time I go to purchase the truck, for what it's worth.

Thanks in advance for reading my novel and your response. Feel free to ask questions that might help with an answer!

 

First off welcome to TW and you def came to the right place to find things out about the Tacoma.

I have a 2006 TRD Sport and I've loved it ever since I got it brand new! I have done some moderate off-roading and made it everywhere that the OR's did at our Tacoma meets so even though I dont have lockers...the truck went into some nasty places and it did just fine. I dont know if they upgraded the stock JBL system but mine sucks big time and it wasnt worth the extra money to be honest with you. You'd be better off getting something aftermarket for $2K and you would get a lot better sound system. I also like the color-matching on the Sports...just looks cleaner. In your case with it being your DD and no extreme off-roading I think a Sport would do you just fine.
Oh and don't tell them how much your going to put down...they are sneaky and will try to get every extra dime out of you.

 

trd sport and do yellow wire mod.

 

Thanks for your feedback! Would it not help to walk into the dealership with $25k in hand to show them I'm serious? I've never bought a truck new before, and the only reason I'm doing it now is because I want something super low mileage. You just can't find a Tacoma with less than 50k-60k miles here, and even if you do it's only a few grand less than buying brand new.

 

Do you mind expanding on this a little bit? I appreciate the help!

 

Have you tried going to your bank first? You can probably get better financing so your not paying as much interest. A lot better in the long run.

 

I planned on checking both routes. I know there are certain incentives from time to time that you can only get if you finance through the dealership. Plus, my parents just bought a Highlander at 0% for 60 months from the dealership, and I've seen offers for as low as 1.9% and 2.9%, so I figured I'd see what they have to offer first. I'm really hoping to have the whole thing paid off by the end of the year anyways.

 

you can do a search on here about it, and theres a good video of the mod aswell. they claim the rear diff on the sport to be sturdier, but for moderate offroad shouldnt have problems with either.

 

TRD Sport. I think the look of it is better and I take mine offroad all the time in dirt & snow with no problems.

 

Yeah 0% would be great!! I believe they go by credit and since its your first new vehicle purchase you might not be able to get that APR but I'm not positive on how all that works. But hopefully you can find a good deal. GL!!

 

Concidering where you live the rear locker on the Offroad model would be a better choice.

 

Why dat

 

Can you Just get the sr5 instead of the off road or sport? Then spend the $ you save for arb lockers

 

Workman thinks that both the Sport on Offroad Tacoma's make fine 4x4's. The ABS and weightless rear end make these trucks kind of shitty in the snow, like today when Workman woke up to -9F and extremely icy conditions. In 4x4, the truck does pretty good, but 2wd is really weak on the ice. Workman has driven a lot of full sized domestic pickups via work or has owned them, and the Tacoma's ABS and plastic bed make it the hardest truck to drive in extreme cold/ice conditions, in 2wd.

The offroad model with the locker option sold Workman on his Tacoma. The locker has gotten him out of very shitty situations about 4 times in the last 4 years, and therefore paid for itself, in Workman's opinion. Plus the locker is fun to play around with.

An SR5 model+ARB locker in the rear would be a pretty damn good choice as well.....

 

Isn't the sport no more for 2013?

 

dont know of any 4x4 thats any good in 2wd on ice.

 

still available

 

I just got my 2013 DCSB TRD Sport 4WD.

I love the better on-road ride that the Sport Tuned Bilsteins give over the TRD OR's setup.

JBL also sounds great, as others have said.

 

I don't recommend buying a new truck and destroying it off-road. I would recommend a used cheaper truck for that purpose.

But if you are wanting to get into off-roading as you say you do, then the OFFROAD is the one to choose, not much debate here. You can always add lockers but you can't add A-TRACK.

 

don't forget the skewp