Please help with buying a new truck

Hello world
I need some help with buying a new truck. I live in Ontario Canada and experience different kinds of weather and terrains daily. Extremely hot/cold, snow, rocks, mud, city potholes ect.
My current vehicle is a 2008 Ford ranger fx4 4.0l V6 5 speed manual and it's been great. I now need to buy a four door truck and the Tacoma is the biggest my driveway will allow in the city. I have property up north that I'm building on and need a decent 4x4. With this I have a few concerns.
Auto vs manual. Is the automatic a good off road system and fun to drive? Or is the sport manual a good off road truck? You can't buy a double cab short box 4x4 off road manual transmission here. If you want a manual you need to buy the sport but the sport manual doesn't come with locking diffs, skid plates, Bilstein shocks. I'm afraid that I will miss the manual to much. Any input would be great.
Thanks

 

Both are good options. Do you offroad much? If so, get the offroad model. If not, and you really like manual trans, get the sport. The manuals in the 3rd gens are pretty ligit. All personal preference.

 

I can't weigh in too much with the gen 3, but, I can say coming from a manual Ranger myself ('02 4x4 with the 4.0), I don't miss the manual as much as I thought I would. I have always had manual Yota's in the past, then my Ranger, and I returned to Toyota with my Taco. I live in such a different climate and our needs are probably very different. The only thing I can help you with is, IMO, I would choose the Off Road over the Sport any day. Purely for the features. The skids plates they come with wont hold up to more than knocking down low bushes, and the Bilstiens are ok. But that's just me. I have PLENTY of fun with the Auto. I think the features the OR has over the Sport is well worth the sacrifice of three pedals... but, if three pedals means that much to you, you can always better equip the Sport later on with a locker, shocks, etc. Good luck!

 

Auto works fine off road. Sometimes even better.

You might consider buying a '13-'15 model if you want a bit more low end torque and a little less jumpy trans on the road, and a tad smaller dimensionally. Maybe save a buck too.

Either will satisfy you since you enjoyed your Ranger.

 

Thanks for the responses. Might need to get the automatic. I'm just trying to convince myself to buy one. I leave for work early in the mornings and locking the rear diff and holding a gear with a blanket of snow on a nice corner is just so much fun. I would just hate for the transmission to shift gears on me. Being an adult sucks.

 

One thing for certain is you will notice a huge difference in off-road handling between the ranger FX4 and a Tacoma Off Road. Literally night and day. I made the same change. Like you, my choice was limited in Canada in the available models so I went with the Off-road Auto. Wasn’t really another option unless I went with the Sport. Feel I made the right choice for me.

 

if you enjoy the MT in your Ranger then I'd say stick with the MT. either that or browse through many months and pages of posts complaining about the AT, not hard to find. for any driver who enjoys/values MT driving i could never recommend an AT since the MT Tacoma is so great. but i would also never own an AT personally, so there's that..

 

You cannot get a manual transmission OR model in Canada with the double cab, so that’s a limiting factor for some who want the locker and the extra seats.

 

ouch

 

Do you have the option to buy the MT double cab you want across the border (USA) and driving it back up to your home? I'm sure there are things like import tax to factor in but I'm too far south (Texas) to know how that would work for you. I'm just curious.

 

Ouch is right. The only way to do it, and I might be wrong, is to buy the unaffordable and unavailable sold out in Canada TRD pro off road.

 

There is but our dollar is shit and taxes are crazzy.

 

if you have the time...

it took me 5 months to get mine, and i had to work with and between 2 different dealerships and sales teams to get it. i kept my old used beater for those extra months while waiting. because i had to have the MT Pro. pita but has been worth it for me.

 

My manual sport works fine off road. Just sayin'....

 

You get to buy the access cab off-road with a manual.

 

Was hoping to here someone say that. I could buy the skid plates. My property is pretty rocky. But than I would loose the locking diff.

 

Buy a 2015 or older. These new ones don't do well in the cold.

 

First, they do just fine in the cold. For the past five years I have had a 4Runner with locking rear diffs. Guess how many times I used it? None. I go off road more than most too. If you are not going rock crawling or mudding, you cab get by just fine. And if someone says "It's better to have it and not need it" one more time I'm just going to roll up in a fetal position and cry...
I might need to go supersonic one day but I don't have a F18 fighter jet right? Geez.

 

F-18s are dated. How about a nice F-22 with thrust hectoring.