Which model year?

I guess I'll post it in the current gen for some attention, I love my tundra and think I'll stop modding it when my mid travel build is complete and have it as a tow pig which leads to why I'm asking which gen taco is better as an off road toy? I would love to have it LT but its expensive and might make it MT too, is the rear locker on off road models worth it or should I get a basic 4wd model and add an aftermarket locker? I drove a 2018 limited double cab taco and it gear hunted a lot and made me want to hop right back in the tundra…..so voice your opinions please on which model year is good as a toy and why, thanks! Preferably used I won't buy new

 

1st gen trd off-road

 

Any generation Tacoma makes a solid foundation. 3rd gen looks rad. If you already have a tow vehicle, even better. You know right off the bat you’re looking for a toy. I would suggest ‘16 ‘17, you will find more used in those years obviously, and they come with less nanny systems. If you live in the desert, I don’t see why building a prerunner is out of the question. 2wd with aftermarket locker and long travel. Or base model 4x4 as you said, aftermarket air locker. I would personally recommend manual. And since you won’t be towing, 4cyl.

 

If it’s going to be a trail rig I would get. 2nd gen and save a little money and put it towards front and rear ARB air lockers. But if you want a nice daily rig that you can take off road from time to time I live my 3rd gen. That being said about the 3rd gen I am the kind of person that has to have everything so I went with the OR and have zero regrets besides needing to re gear currently.

 

Get a 6 cyl. Nobody has ever called a Tacoma over powered.

P.S. What year? 2013 - 2015 Last of the 2nd gens

 

You should drive the Off Road 4x4 automatic with ECT enabled.

 

Yea those are cheap now, thanks

Good input thanks mayng

 

You drove an Offroad and a Limited? What else did you drive?

 

That was it, I had a 2011 taco and felt like that had better shifting than the 3rd gens, it didn’t gear hunt. I love going high speed off-road with my tundra but I want a used taco which can go anywhere, the old tundy is too big and wide

 

My previous truck was a 2013 Tacoma v6 auto, but it got hit. I looked for several months for a low mileage 2015. As you know, Tacoma's have high resale value so a 2015 with less than 10 or 20k miles was still going for 30k. Most were 33-35k.

I decided I wanted a moonroof more than a 2nd gen.

You get used to the tranny. And frankly you can control it several ways. S4 lockout of 6th is one. ECT is great for city driving. And of course there are the tunes and boosters everyone seems to like.

In my case I just drove the truck the first 4-5 months with ECT on or off. In other words, the first month ECT was on every time I drove it. The next month I left it off. The next month I turned it on each time I drove it. I'm not quite sure how that affected the learning process because the gas mpg was pretty similar each month. But I don't much care for driving around in the city at 1000 rpm all the time so I turn ECT on to give me better throttle response.

On the freeway ECT is pretty useless above 50mph. If I am using cruise and it's shifting back and forth from 5th to 6th and back, I just use S4 and upshift to 5th locking out 6th.

Anyway, definitely don't buy something you don't like. It seems not all Tacomas are created equal. It's looking more and more like I got a good one but I won't really know until I've had it over a year and put more miles on it.

 

I'd go for a 3rd gen 4cyl access cab. That'd be a great "toy" build because its a proven motor, with lower miles, very limited rust, and the best looking generation. Plus, you can always turbo it.