What else did you test drive and not buy?

Ha...no doubt!! We live in an off road/forest service road mecca. I was sick and tired of not being able to explore it in the full size truck. The taco is awesome for this area (mainly just rock and dirt; nothing mega technical or rock crawling).

 

jeep wrangler, ford f150, ram cummins, 4runner, totaled my last taco ended up with a tundra now.. but still frequent tacomaworld, the worst deals I encountered were at Toyota stealerships!

 

I view it like remarrying someone you divorced previously. But in this case I knew this one had to be my next vehicle.

 

Ford Explorer, Toyota 4Runner, Chevy Camaro SS, BMW X3 ... I had a 1998 Ford Ranger for 20 years at the time and a Toyota SR5 longbed pickup for 13 years before that.

 

2 year old used Tacoma TRD Pro Manual Transmission. They wanted $43K for it and wouldn't budge so I walked. They said they couldn't negotiate the price because the manual is rare and in high demand. I flew one-way from Dallas to Amarillo and bought a new TRD Offroad Manual for $36K. The used dealership called me a week later begging me to buy the Pro. No looking back and no regrets, but I do wonder what I could have gotten the Pro for.

 

If you go for the Rav4 make sure you try out the hybrid first. Pretty much every review has said it's the one to get. Quieter, more powerful, faster, more efficient, minimal price increase and probably equivalently higher resale value as well.

 

Tacoma. Drop the mic

 

Rav 4 over the Subaru any day of the week. Subaru AWD is obviously the best AWD on the market, but that doesn’t make up for their horrible reliability

 

Why? Because you know Jeep is a rip off before you even go look ? Hehehehe

 

Test drove
-F150
-Silverado
-Tundra
-4Runner
-STI
-focus RS

Didn’t drive but looked at
-Jeep
-ZR2
-Frontier
-Titan
-FJ cruiser
-Mustang GT

 

Was test driving an 06 4runner sport for the last 12 years. Only had 115k when I started getting the dreaded waterfall behind the dash sound indicating a head gasket leak. I went to look at a DCOR 6spd, didn’t like the short bed. Saw my truck but they said there is no way they could get to my offer so I left. Sales manager called me back a few days later and I got him down another 700 below my initial offer on the new Taco, and an increase of 1500 on my trade in. I told him to give me an OTD and prep it. Didn’t test drive anything. Went and picked it up. They actually beat my credit union financing of 2.75% so I ended up letting them make a couple bucks there while saving me a few hundred more. Had to listen to the warranty speech but I just kept saying I’d get back to them if I decided I wanted all that stuff....was a pretty easy transaction and love the truck so far.

 

In 2016 test drove
- Tacoma
- Colorado & Canyon
- Frontier

Purchased the Frontier.

 

None, wouldn't consider any truck other than a Tacoma.

 

Test drove a 2019 base model Ford Raptor Supercab and loved it. The best price I could negotiate was $500 off the $56k MSRP. They said take or leave it. I left.

Test drove a 2019 Tacoma Pro model and loved it. I negotiated a $5k discount from the MSRP and had them throw in a Toyota OEM bed mat if they wanted it sold today. They did, I signed paperwork and purchased my Pro on the last day of the month.

My 4th Toyota truck. It feels good to be back in the saddle again. Let’s go places!

 

Don’t laugh test drove a 19 Camry xse. But ended up in my 3rd Taco and actually my first new car/truck ever.

 

I test drove a 2012 FJ, Before I bought my 2012 Tacoma. The blind spots in the FJ were to much for the traffic I was driving in at the time. I still wish I had bought it sometimes.

 

They really were. I loved the inline 6, loved the body on frame. I sold mine to a friend that had a transmission cooler line rust in the upstate NY salty winter. At 200k+, it wasn't worth it for a new transmission. I put a water pump on proactively when I replaced the serpentine belt around 125k. That's it. I ended up finding my appreciation for Toyotas when I was looking for a new body on frame truck and ended up with the FJ.

I'll even admit I contemplated going from GM to Ford before the Tacoma. I really liked the F150, but at an inch or two taller than previous generations, it was just shy of being able to fit in my parking garage at work. I came close, though.

 

I drove a 19 Ranger. When that didn't do it for me I drove the F150. Taco was at the top when I started lookin' and needless to say the ultimate purchase.

 

You probably could have found a 4L60E just laying in a ditch somewhere and swap it in. Those transmissions are everywhere.

I forgot about a couple repairs I had to do. Thermostat failed and was in a weird spot. Also the AC compressor clutch only worked when cold. As soon as the clutch got hot, it wouldn't engage. They buried that compressor too. But did it all myself and the AC still worked when I traded it in. That inline 6 lasted for forever though.

My family has been in to Toyotas for years so I finally joined the crowd, even though I'm really familiar with GM trucks. Immediate family has 4 third gens in it right now.

 

I bought mine without test driving it...then bought another without test driving it haha