May want to trade my 2WD for 4WD

Taco people,

I currently live in AZ and have an '07 Prerunner Dble Cab long bed with about 35k miles on it. It's in really good condition, I have owned it since new.

So I am thinking of moving to Colorado (Maybe the Denver suburbs or Boulder). Having read the threads about weighting down a 2WD for winter driving I am thinking that a 4WD may be in my best interests (any Coloradans, feel free to chime in). Not only do I want a car that will be decent in the snow but I wouldn't mind exploring some trails

So here's the problem. I love my truck, and I want to keep it for a long time cos I've had it since new, I look after it and I know it hasn't been abused (much ). So I was thinking of advertising locally for a similar age 4WD to do a swap/trade. Would a 2WD may be in better demand in AZ than CO?

Or the alternative is to (once again) do battle with the salesmen at the local dealership and see what it'll cost me to get into a new 4WD. Anyone with any knowledge of new vs used prices at the moment for Tacos? I know you can get a Dodge for 50% off - I guess it's not the same for a decent truck?

How much more is a 4WD Taco than a 2WD Taco (I'm guessing if I find a similar vehicle to mine I'll have to pay a bit extra for the 4WD)? Does the long bed add any value?

If you have any opinions on any or all of these, please let me know. If nothing else, please enjoy the attached pic of my Taco at the top of the Ophir Pass above Telluride, CO. Thanks!

 

You're definitely going to want a 4WD if you move to CO. I use it a lot on mine, and it definitely helps in the winter when the snow is deep. My experience around here, having just bought an '09, is that Tacomas are still selling pretty well. I tried to get an '08 back in late July/early August, but there weren't any manuals left in the state that had the options I wanted, so I wound up with an '09. I had no problem getting it at invoice, which saved about $4k off of the sticker price, and I didn't have to do much haggling at all. I imagine that you'd get a better deal if you traded yours in for a 4WD down in AZ, just don't tell the dealer that you're moving and won't be using them for service It's at least worth looking into, the worst that could happen is that you leave since they won't give you a deal that you're happy with, but with the way truck sales are generally going nationwide, I bet they'd be accomodating.

 

Ya, what he said. Trade the 2wheel drive where 2wheel drives live. No one is going to want it up in the snowy place.

 

trading it in will get you hosed, but save on taxes. 4wd for snow is a must imo. i doubt too many people are reading the newspaper looking to swap a 4wd for a 2wd though. i have a feeling 09s are going to be discounted pretty big in the next couple months though.

 

My philosophy is, if you have the means go for it because paying on something you don't want sucks.

 

I just moved to Minnesota from Texas back in March. Last week, I traded my '06 PreRunner for an '09 4 wheel drive for the same reason you're thinking...

 

Hold on now...

I lived in Colorado (Boulder, Nederland, Greeley, Denver, and Glenwood Springs) for 5 years. 99% of the time I spent there, I drove a 2WD 94 Subruban.

All that time I was there, I learned one thing about driving in the winter - good tires and great driving skills will allow you to drive almost anything in the snow and on the ice. I never got stuck on I-70 going from Glenwood to Denver and back all winter long.

Don't jump into a 4WD because you think it will save your neck on ice and snow. It will help, but it is really best for off-roading. If I moved back to Colorado right now, I wouldn't trade my PreRunner for anything.

That isn't to say that I wouldn't invest in a trail rig for off-roading (97 Tacoma 4WD manual).

 

4WD distributes power more evenly.

Good tires give you better traction.

 

If you like your truck that much, and dont want the hassle of trading to a 4wd (if you do it, AZ, you'll get hosed in CO), As 007 said, just get a set of winter tires on rims. Your talking $600.

With the LSD rear and snow treads, these trucks perform well even in 2wd. While you can't bust thru 2ft, you'll get around safer on typical winter roads than 4wd and stock tires (and in your case at much less cost).

 

Why not keep your truck and get a good set of snow tires.

 

Snow tires won't get a 2WD truck out of a ditch... they may improve your chances of not getting stuck in one in the first place, but you never know with the other boneheads on the road. There are plenty of other benefits to having 4WD when you live in the mountains too.

 

You could always buy all the parts and convert your 2WD into a 4WD...

I think it's about the same price difference as buying a 4WD - if you do the labor yourself.

 

What are you doing in a ditch in the first place...

...don't get me wrong - 4WD is much better, but it isn't going to save you from snow and ice problems. Traction is much more important than spinning wheels. I would definitely have a 4WD for the trails, but I never needed one on the road.

One thing I learned from having a Subaru - if you lose control in a 2WD a good driver can recover fairly easily; but if you lose control in a 4WD then you will now need to wait until you regain traction before your input means anything.

 

I am curious if anyone has actually done that on a 05+ Tacoma with success and without costing a small fortune.

 

I'm curious to see this, too.

 

I really have no clue... I thought I read somewhere on this forum that it would cost about $4K (about the cost of 4WD vs 2WD on a new). Of course I can't find that link nor do I remember what year model they were referring to...

 

Then why drive at all? You know, the "boneheads" might be out there lurking.

I just don't subscribe to the "get it because you MIGHT need it" philosophy so I'm not going to agree with anyone that gets into "what if" scenarios because, for example, what if Sasquatch jumps in front of your truck and you don't have a steel plate bumper? What if the Lybians come after you in their VW bus with a rocket launcher and your Tacoma isn't armor plated?

The what ifs are endless and there's no reason he can't get by on snow and ice without 4WD. My buddy moved to Denver years ago (actually lived in Littleton) and had no problem getting around in his FWD Civic for the first couple years.

 

I found studded snow tires absolutely necessary on my old Corolla. There were just certain situations that a 2WD car couldn't handle in the snow, for example getting up the 12% grade on my old driveway after a snowstorm.

I never had a problem getting up the same driveway in my old 4Runner using 4WD with BFG AT's and Revo's, but there's no way I could do it without 4WD. I've just never seen the need to put studded snow tires on my 4WD vehicles, and I've never had a problem getting around here in the winter. The driveway isn't the only place where I've needed 4WD in winter, but it's just the best example that I can think of at the moment (unplowed trailhead parking lots would be another). With a 2WD truck, you'd absolutely need studded snow tires, pay to have them mounted/balanced every spring/fall, and have to replace them every 3 years, and I could still picture it getting stuck in certain situations. It wouldn't make up for the $4k difference between a 4WD and 2WD truck, but it's worth factoring into the cost of owning a 2WD truck.

Now, last night we had our first snowfall that actually stuck to the roads around here. On my commute this morning, I got stuck in traffic because of two separate rollovers. Guess what kind of vehicles they were? An AWD Subaru Legacy Sedan, and an AWD Audi A4... Go figure. 4WD or AWD are certainly no excuse to drive like an idiot, but there are times when it comes in handy in winter, and that's the point I'm trying to make.

 

im getting snow tires AND I have 4wd overkill? no way. i had snow tires on my old camaro and made it through the snow fine.

 

2wd or 4x4 makes no difference without good driving skills. However 2wd in heavy snow needs a good set of snow tires...period. It's all about traction. 4x4 needs only good tires, same goes for fwd except in extreme cases! I've always keep a mounted set of snows in the garage...takes up room but no cost beyond original purchase to maintain.

To date I've driven 2wd and fwd drive vehicles, except my wife's Jeep, and haven't had too many problems getting around on snow and ice. In snow, Fwd has even less problems than 2wd but again good tires or snows are required. My wife has an 05 Jeep TJ which I've driven during snow storms and nothing beats 4x4...kinda why I opted for the 4x4 on mine.

All of the advice above is solid, fwd and 2wd + snows or 4x4 + good tires. The only "what if" that applies here is "if" you don't drive to the conditions you'll get the "what".

RoyB, since I have a good set of snows (left over from my Dakota) I'm switching to them when winter comes. Most of the time 2wd is perfectly fine and traction is all I'll need. Except when we get a bad storm, I can switch to 4x4 and not worry.