Shopping for a new tacoma

Maybe

 

I can tell u it is better to buy a pro opposed to upgrading an off road and spending as much or close to same money because book value on pro will be based off the msrp of vehicle. If you after market it the value down the road is much less at time of trade for the money invested

 

x3, buy a raptor.

I'm a Toyota die hard fan, all three of my whips are Toyota, but IMO when it comes to offering hopped up special packages, the bang for buck fades away quickly and their modern spins on this fall short of things of legend such as the Supra. Your paying a huge premium for easily done aftermarket mods. IMO Ford did it right when it comes to offering something hopped up from the factory and proof of this is the sales record they have in that niche market- basically they are the market. If I had to buy a new Taco right now, I'd avoid the Pro, at that price I'd get whatever package is simply a 4x4 with rear locker, mod from there. But this is coming from someone coming from very frugal origins, and some factor of my lack of wanting these super marked up rigs is if I did buy one, I'd baby it. I love that I bought my 1st gen already used and I treat it like a truck. I bought a "gucci" brand AR15 and was babying it, realized thats not what I wanted, I wanted a 'battle' rifle that I can drop, scratch up, run thousands of rounds through, rattle can it every now and then and not give a sh*t (short of not abusing good up-keep of course). I want my trucks to be the same- use them to their potential, not as glorified mall crawling social economic statements. For this reason if I did get a raptor, highly likely it would be a used one, not new.

 

Most used Raptors (2014) are priced at close to $50k and have over 40k hard driven miles on them. A new super crew raptor starts at around $56k before you add a single option to it. It's also a full size truck. And gets about 15 mpg....

I love that truck as much as anyone but I don't see why it's even compared to the Tacoma. It's a different animal.

 

And 3rd gen doesn't?

 

I don't own one yet but I feel like most 3rd gen owners are averaging closer to 17-20 mpg based on my research on this forum. Some say higher, some say lower. But we know those ecoboost engines rarely get the type of mileage they advertise. I doubt anyone is buying a raptor for fuel efficiency though!

 

With 3000 miles on the clock, I've averaged a bit over 15mpg on my TRDOR. Most of those miles are my 10 mile hilly secondary road commute with a lot of stops and starts. If I had a highway commute with minimal stops I'd expect a fair bit better.

FYI, have a look here: http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/tacoma

 

Retaining their value, lots to be said there, but yeah would be hard to wheel hard on a truck that costs me that much, so same issue with a TRD Pro as well.

I wouldn't argue against it being apples to oranges, but there is some shade of grey here, as both are the very few that have such hopped up aftermarket coilovers stock, and target the same demographics IMO. I suppose the Raptors hold their value because they have the market cornered- I would like to see more competition, would be nice to see an OEM backed wide bodied Tundra challenge the title.

 

Retaining value argument is a bit weak IMO. Buying a new vehicle is never going to make you money; it's a poor investment from that perspective. The only time the value retention issue really matters is if you plan to trade or sell the vehicle within a few years or sooner after purchase. Relatively speaking there's really not a whole lot of delta in money to be "lost" from a Ford, GM to a Toyota. A truck is still a truck. If you compare a Corvette, a new BMW or Audi to a truck, now you've got a bit more significant value retention issues. As soon as you drive one of those off the lot they TANK in value.

 

What matters to me when seeing value retention is simply to do with reliability, but I know there are a lot of other factors. I have an 01 truck and an 03 car, I don't give a fug about resale value because I don't need high trade in value, I drive till the wheels fall off, I just look at resale value as one of many variables that may indicate the build quality of a vehicle. But then again there are some lemons out there that hold value because of branding and such... anyhow didn't mean it in the sense that I care how much my vehicle is valued after ownership. If Raptors were crazy cheap only after a few years such as Range Rovers, I'd assume (in lue of putting in the research) that they have some systemic issues.

 

Nothing wrong with waiting for the 2018s, might be a few updates and changes. I'd be tempted to wait to see what comes out.

 

Toyota saw ford made a raptor.

So they stuck a hood skewp, a huge badge on the door, some shocks and wheels, and called it a "pro".

It's not worth it. That "Baja" edition Tacoma that came out a few years ago isn't worth any more than a comparable one.

Wooohooo

 

Don't want to derail this thread further, but can't help it, what did you hate so much about your '14?

 

I have seen people take this position alot on TW but my experience was different. I got over 70% of my purchase cost back after 12 years on my 2004. Not sure other trucks hold their value that well long term. Maybe they do or maybe my experience was not average.

 

MPG's were less then my '03
No tech what so ever, totally outdated.
By no tech I mean, nothing but Bluetooth.
My bed was a shade darker then the front half of the truck.
The interior was flat out boring after about a month.
The main thing is it just wasn't fun to drive. I still look forward to driving my '03 and love getting in my '16.

Before all the hate piles on, I guess I lost the bet with myself that it would grow on me. Unlike like some guys here, when I don't like something I don't just start complaining, I did what I needed to do and got rid of it. I took a little hit but that hurt is long forgotten.

 

No hate from me, just genuinely curious. I agree there is no point of making a payment on something you don't like, especially a major purchase such as a vehicle.

 

Sorry, the "hate" remark wasn't directed to at all.

 

Only collector vehicles are of true investment grade. However, I really think the Pro series Tacos will offer the best ROI. The inferno 15 Pro is evidence of that. I didn't buy my Pro to mall crawl, but mainly because I wanted a capable truck that I knew I could optimize my relative value later.

 

My friend is asking me the same thing right now and I'm like you could get an offroad for like $32k and build a way better truck for cheaper.

 

For the Taco Pro money, take a long hard look at the Trail Edition 4Runners with and w/o KDSS, unless an open bed is a must. Otherwise, get a Raptor.