What would you do different? I'm getting a new truck.

2021 access cab TRD Off Road long bed here and am absolutely 100% happy with my choice.

Like the OP, I am retired and have no need for a four door truck. I would much rather have the longer bed and a shorter overall vehicle length than have extra doors that I neither need nor want. I am not a taxi service and if my friends need to get somewhere, they are more than capable of getting there on their own. Also I couldn’t care less about the technology package. I more or less had to get the OR because I wanted the rear locker and crawl control.

 

Thanks - he is a good one - he's our 3rd - but my heart will always belong to our 2nd GSD...he passed 4 1/2 years ago...I've never gotten over him. This is a pic of him - about 7-8 years ago (maybe longer). I never trust anyone that my dogs do not like.

 

Beautiful pup, Boxer guy myself. Of four we've owned, the last two we had to put down, not easy. Last was 2yrs ago and we've been without since. I always figured if you were lucky enough to have one great pup in your lifetime, you were blessed. All were good, #3 was that great one in our case. Condolences.

Pic in avatar btw...
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I would've got OEM bed lights as an option. It can be helpful shuffling through things in the dark if you have a bed cover.

 

Thanks - Cool looking friend (avatar/pic)! I love Boxers too - great temperaments. We appreciate the herding instints of our GSDs, as we have a horse farm and have had cows occasionally, and they will work with them. My avatar is our current - he is great (protection work and all around dog). We have had a GSD for the past 20 plus years...can't imagine not having one. Maybe one day you will have another - NOT A REPLACEMENT - but another friend. You are spot on about the blessings.

 

Well I ordered it this evening at my dealer. It was just as I've read on other threads on this site about how to get exactly what you want even though Toyota says you cannot order from the factory. I got it exactly as I want and the dealer said it is simply a matter of it being ordered from his allocation from the factory. SR5, 4x4, Access Cab, Long bed, Barcelona Red and the basic audio/doo-dad package that comes standard on 2021 SR5s. Added in a few accessories that I wanted and - supposedly - in 6-8 weeks I'll have it. My retirement gift to me after 30 years in the United States Army. Thank You everyone who contributed your thoughts, experience and opinions - I appreciate it.
Hope to meet some of you on down the trail one of these days...

 

Thank you for your service sir. Enjoy your new tacoma. Looking forward to pics when you get it.

 

Isn't it a 13" different?

60.5" on short bed, 73.5" on long bed?

 

^^^this. It's not a massive amount more space. Still cant fit a full sheet of plywood in a 6' bed.

If you actually need bed space your gonna buy a Ram with an 8' bed, not a tacoma

 

Also personally... Brought a used 19 Off-road DCSB with all the options. Love having leather seat, butt warmers, and my wife likes the dual zone climate.

Only this I would have done differently would be taking more time deciding on mods. I rushed into things because I was excited. Now I have to sell and redo a bunch of things.

 

Depends on what you want the extra space for. If you are solo camping with a shell on the back, the short bed is just 60.5". Unless you are a youngin' that isn't much room to sleep. On the Long bed it is 73.5". I'm 5'8". 68" tall. The give me 5" of extra space to stretch out.

 

Not a thing: We love what we bought - 2020 white TRD Off Road with double cab, long bed, w/LED headlights, other factory add-on goodies, and for a good, fair price.

Perfect. Runs great, and plan on lots of driving miles, with smiles.

 

I drove a 1st gen 2001 Prerunner xtra cab for over a decade so I had a lot of time to think about the features that would best suit me, or that I wish I had. Now I have the 2018 TRD Sport 4x4. I went with the Double Cab which was a must now that I had a child, and the Long Bed since I am a carpenter and I carry a lot of tools. I liked the sport package for the comfort and features and I love having a push button ignition. I never had a 4x4 so that was a must as well. No worries anymore of being stuck on jobsites, and can do some mild offroading with the TRD Sport 4x4. I don't use the NAV cause I like google maps so I could have saved money there.

 

Beauty


Seems like DCLB 4x4 owners never have regrets

 

From the factory, the only thing I would do different would be to get one with the factory LEDs headlights. There were no ORs with them when I was purchasing back in May. I ended up with the tech and premium packages to make up for it! OR w/LED was all I wanted. I did add Hikari's and some DD pro fogs so it ended up being quite alright.

 

I would have spent the extra money on heated seats and LED headlights. Maybe I would have bought MGM over silver. No real regrets, though. Truck has been a solid performer so far.

 

I love the simplicity of my SR AC 2.7 4x4 utility. Finally a vehicle where I don’t have to worry about things breaking. Only thing I wish I got on the Tacoma was a V6, SR5 pack, and heated seats if it could be optioned. Too damn cold to be holding a vinyl steering wheel and sitting on cold cloth seats when it’s 15 degrees out.

A TRD Sport would be nice to look at in my driveway. Frankly if I were to do it again I probably would have gotten a Ford Ranger. Look Toyotas don’t normally break but when they do it’s expensive. T-case actuator on my cousins 14 Tundra just went. $1300 part that can be had on Domestics for less than $100.

I have the factory aluminum running boards and it is a royal pain to get in and out of my taco. Using the boards you’d have to duck down to get in. Without using your pant leg picks up all of the grime and conveniently spreads it all over the front of the seat. The Ford Ranger doesn’t do that, plus has more power. Can’t speak reliability wise but I’m willing to risk paying a little more in upkeep then about snap my bad knee trying to get in without getting dirty.

Only reason the steps are still on is because it’s useful to get onto the bed with.

 

Simple answer - NOTHING.
Ordered and got exactly what I wanted (all that's needed are some simple mods I can't get thru Toyota).

 

I wouldn't have done anything differently to be honest, as I ordered mine (TRD OR, no sunroof, with tech package - primarily for the color coded rear bumpers, but the tech features are nice) but I will say get the double cab. I always tell people I have the first two rows of an SUV but with the utility of a bed and thus the best of both worlds. I like that my truck is scalable for those instances where I need to carry more than one person and when I'm driving around with my lab - she's got that whole backseat to her 72 lb self.

And no, the 3.5 is NOT peppy. Not only does it surge around 3.5k rpm but it needs the piss revved out of it to get any type of speed - the opposite of what a truck engine should be. Its a major downgrade from the prior 4.0 in my opinion. To boot the auto trans is garbage, so that's ALSO a downgrade from the tried and true 5 speed auto from the prior gen. I love my 3rd gen, but the driveline of the 2nd gen was/is GREAT.

 

Seems like everyone is trying to talk you into the 4 door double cab. In 2016 I ordered the non-tech, barest bones Trd off road 4x4access cab available.

My wife and I don’t have kids. I’ve never thought that I wished I purchased the double cab instead of the access cab. When I go on MTB trips with more than one buddy, someone else drives and I get to ride. I have 3 medium sized dogs and removed the back seats and made a platform and a custom cushion for them to comfortably ride. My pups have logged many long distance rides back there including two cross country trips. I use the 6’ bed daily. I don’t off road like some of the folks on here but I own a sizable amount of forested land that I use my truck to get around and I have had to use the rear locker on many occasions. So if I can offer any advice I would consider the convenience of the off road package with 4x4. It’s really been an amazing and practical little truck to get around. Good luck with your search!