Purchase from dealer lot or order new Tacoma?

We decided to order our new TRD Pro for 2 major reasons: 1) Local dealer could not find/get a Pro in the Lunar Rock color unless it was ordered, and 2) The only option I wanted was the remote tailgate lock. Lots of Pros have MANY "options" included that you can find much cheaper online after you get the truck.

It took 8.5 weeks, but we took delivery last Saturday and we are very pleased with the truck. We ordered a Pro because I simply didn't want to wrench on a new truck for months to turn it into something like a Pro when we could just order a Pro to start with. So much better than the last Tacoma we had--a 2006.

 

Nothing wrong buying off the lot. I always did in the past on leftovers, or new. I was able to get a much better price. Dealers do not want trucks in inventory on their lots any longer then wanted. Last tundra i bought i watched it unloaded from the truck carrier at this dealership when happening to drive by at the time. I stopped in trying to get it that day, but they refused the offer i made saying they'd only make $300 on the truck. Well they called me back later in the week, asking if still interested in the truck, inquiring if i would still reconsider another offer. I did as long as they threw in a bed liner, and a trailer tow package. Ended up with splitting the difference between them, and got the truck which imo seemed a very fair price compared to similar models other dealers gave me.

 

I can imaging how big of a difference upgrading from an 06 must feel. 8.5 weeks seems like a pretty quick turn around. I’m pretty set on a OR MT right now. I feel the same way about the package that I’m looking at that you do about the Pro. I plan on using it it as my daily driver for a long time before making any modifications to it beside small mods. Overall it’s more than enough truck for what I would be doing which is daily driving and throwing gear in the back when I go camping. I won’t be doing any off-roading in the truck until a lot further down the road anyways.

Sounds like you were able to get what you wanted for a fair price. I’m not sure how much of a deal I’ll get when it comes to buying my truck. The rough part for me is that I feel forced to buy right now regardless of the prices. I’ll have a window of about 2-3 months that I’ll be in the states with a rental car but it’s not like I can keep paying for a rental car while I find my perfect truck. I’ve been out of the country for a few years now and unfortunately I watched the prices climb during Covid, which happens to be when I’m planning on purchasing. I’m hoping that some of the people on the forum are right and prices do continue to go down now that the 2021s are out.

 

Just had to give props for the avatar pic..

Definitely at least look on the lot and kick tires first is my advice. At least you'll get a sense of how the dealer in particular is to do business with.

Where are you going to be locating?

 

You will enjoy the OR MT, really solid combo.

 

I’ll be doing my shopping in the Portland Or area. I bought my previous 2014 DCLB there (can’t remember the Toyota dealership name) and they gave me a fair price. I think finding exactly what I want will be the hardest part. Ive heard that dealers can trade vehicles with other dealerships and I’m hoping inventory is not an issue.

That’s what I’ve heard and I can’t wait to drive it

 

We live in Western Colorado, with many off-road trails just minutes from the house, or we can drive to Moab, UT which is about 1.5 hours away. Our off-roading is pretty mild, given that we mostly run these trails by ourselves, and we're both in our 70s. On Toyota's web site, I priced out a OR Tacoma, but added all those options that come standard on the Pro and found out that it would cost about the same as the Pro, but without the suspension, wheels and blacked-out trim. For us, the decision to get the Pro was easy as pie. Just took a bit of time to get it.

We traded in a 2019 Tundra that we had bought new, but it was really too big for our needs, and was a technical dinosaur. It was a good highway vehicle though, but I would rate it as a poor off-roader. The '06 Tacoma was sold to my sis-in-law several years ago.