bought a Subaru instead of a Tacoma

well get up and get some more work done lol

 

Having been lazy and had some 2x4s break out a back window... No matter what you drive putting in a cargo barrier, headache rack, tying stuff down is smart. That piece of glass isn't protecting jack shit.

 

I resemble that remark. I was interested in (and test drove) the 3rd Gen, but I was underwhelmed by them, and Toyota wasn't willing to work with me on pricing for either the new truck or the trade on my old one. Wandered down the road and got an XLT F150 for less money than Toyota wanted for the Tacoma, and got more for my trade than Toyota was willing to give. Thanks to that (and the 0% financing deal Ford was running) I ended up with a considerably lower payment than if I'd gone with the Tacoma. And so far I'm totally satisfied with the F150; it's got some features/benefits over the Toyota that I'm really enjoying.

 

Didn't read through the entire thread, but OP, don't blame Toyota for the lack of manual transmissions. Rather, blame all of the lazy individuals that don't want to learn how to drive a manual. The market drives production.

 

Does an SR5 3rd gen Access V6 Manual not exist? I'm a young guy but I feel like back in the day no one gave a damn about no "Off Road" package on a pickup, could've just upgraded to your specs for cheaper and saved yourself the heartache.

 

Although I grew up driving manual transmissions, I prefer automatic now.

 

If we could have exactly what we wanted with exactly the configuration we'd want, here's some on my list (not to replace my taco, but in addition to it):

2016 Mazda Miata w/the MazdaSpeed 265 HP engine. Get a freaking clue Mazda, people want performance options!
2016 VW R Golf with a sunroof. Why no sunroof option on the flagship package for gods sake???
2016 Tacoma with power rear window. Oh wait, that's on the 2017 model.

 

This guy
All one ton trucks used to be available in a manual. Now Ram is the only one to offer a manual in the one ton market. For half tons none of them offer it. Why because people are lazy and do t k ow how to drive. When I was 18 I used to valet cars and we had to start writing M or A because some people who's job it was to park cars could not drive a stick.

 

My next family vehicle purchase will be a '17 Subaru Outback (8.7" of ground clearance!?). There was a time when Honda, then Toyota wanted to be taken seriously in the global market. They grew and grew until QC became an issue. Kia is a more recent example. Subaru hasn't plateaued. There was the head gasket issue in the '90s, but the company is bent on taking a bigger piece of the pie in the USA. This is easy given they offer a sub $30,000 sport-wagon; something it seems no domestics want to offer ("MOAR SUVS AND CROSSOVERS!!!"). Our '04 Passat Wagon has been great but is getting long in the tooth. Current VW is, well current VW, and they too, want to push crossovers.




My dream FAMWAGON is the new 2018 Volvo V90 Cross Country, but I can't swing a $55,000 wagon or the maintenance costs. 8-speed gearbox, 8.2 inches of ground clearance, plus it's hot as hell:

 

My first car was a 1971 Mustang with a stick. Everyone needs to start with a POS like that.

 

Any Subaru?





Your move.

I had a Forester for a while. While it wasn't as good off road as my Tacoma, it was certainly no slouch. That being said, the H2 that I had before the Subaru could easily go places my Tacoma probably can't.

 

The Outback rental I drove around Breckenridge and Keystone in the winter was a blast.

 

I did the opposite: Went to Ford dealership to buy supercab F150. Test drove it, talked numbers, but man the thing was way too big for my comfort. it felt like an old man's truck. During the test-drive I felt like George W. Bush was riding shotgun and we were on our way to a Southern Baptist revival. I glanced down the street and saw my future Taco. End of story.

 

Perfect rental for that environment. My ski car in Oregon during the 80's, was a 1980 Subaru 4WD Wagon.

 

Lol. The extra size was definitely an adjustment, no argument there. But after a couple of weeks I don't even notice it anymore. And the flat floor and full seats out back are really nice, since the dog isn't as young as she used to be and was having a hard time with my Tacoma's setup.

 

I'm still scratching my head. Isn't a Tacoma AC manual with Sport and 4WD closer to what you need than an all-wheel drive subaru? I mean if you need an OR tacoma THAT badly how is a Sube fulfilling your needs???

 

This....what a strange decision to be made for a Subaru. I've owned 7 Subaru's so I won't knock them...but a Sport is a superior off road vehicle in virtually every way to anything Subaru has to offer. This has to be a troll thread.