Brand new here! looking to buy a Tacoma and need your help!!

hey all, i'm Steve. 38 years old, southern NJ. i've been wanting a tacoma for some time but need your help... a little history.

i'm a technician for a petroleum pipeline. my first car was a '66 Charger that my dad and i had built.. then a '68 charger. (which i still have!) at some point, i got into off-roading. i was driving a 2002 dodge dakota with a 5 speed and manual crank windows.. loved it. from there, i went to a 2004 Land Rover Discovery. and i LOVED it. my favorite truck. cracked cylinder sleeve and i moved on to a 2011 rubicon. i owned a farm at the time and had to buy a pickup also. i thought it was silly to own both, so i sold the rubicon and a '95 ford 150 and bought a 2010 F150 4X4.

this brings me to... i think i'm ready for a Tacoma. i don't live in the most outrageous wilderness but my girlfriend are i are.. bikers, surfers, climbers, campers. i'm new to the whole tacoma thing but it seems like what i want for our camping/watery adventures.

sorry it's so long winded... i'm looking for a manual transmission that's as off-road capable that exists. it's a daunting world. i'm not looking to put a lot of money into aftermarket off-roading. i'd LOVE front and back lockers and a manual. looking for used.

please someone point me in the right direction. we have two dogs, so i'd like a quad cab also. longest bed possible is also OK. i don't mind doing the homework, point me in the right direction.

thoughts??

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Thats a good question and welcome!

The only problem with your specific standards is that toyota does not make a 4 door long bed tacoma with a manual transmission.
There are some other options that may help you though

Here is some configurations I would recommend

2016+ TRD Off-Road 4x4 Double Cab Short Bed w/ Automatic transmission

• comes with rear lockers
• crawl control + multi terrain select
• ~$30k-40k used / $40k new

2016+ TRD Off-Road 4x4 Access Cab Long Bed w/ Automatic or Manual transmission

• comes with rear lockers
• comes with A-Trac (Active Traction Control) and no crawl control + multi terrain select
• ~$30k-40k used / $40k new

2016+ TRD Off-Road 4x4 Double Cab Long Bed w/ Automatic Transmission

• Comes with rear lockers
• comes with A-Trac (Active Traction Control)
• ~$30k-40k used / $40k new

2017+ TRD Pro Double Cab Short Bed w/ Automatic Transmission

• comes with rear lockers
• crawl control + multi terrain select
• ~$40k-50k used / $50k-60k new

2017+ TRD Pro Double Cab Short Bed w/ Manual Transmission

• comes with rear lockers
• crawl control + multi terrain select
• ~$40k-50k used / $50k-60k new

might be a random coincidence but if you're looking into buying a 3rd gen, here is a google sheets link with every 3rd gen configuration ever made

 

Here are 25 trucks with:

• manual transmission
• long bed
• within 100 miles of Toms River
• used

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...teBanner=false&sortBy=relevance&numRecords=25

 

Welcome to TW!

 

awesome guys, thanks! got a lot of reading to do and thanks for the warm welcome. what are peoples' thoughts on New VS Used when it comes to Tacomas? the rubicon was the only vehicle i've ever bought new but i'm leaning towards new, still... for some reason. obviously, if the configuration i really want is no longer produced, i'm going used. most advice i've gotten so far is USED.

thanks again for the feedback and the welcome!

 

that spreadsheet is super helpful.

what are the differences between the TRD pro, TRD sport, and TRD off-road?

it definitely appears like it's going to to be a double cab, short bed, manual.

 

Look for a clean, low mileage 2015 with the A750 and 4.0 engine over the 2016 or 2017. If you want to off road, the auto is a better choice. If you do a lot of city driving, same thing. Mileage isn't going to be better with the stick. If you get the 3.5 and the earlier years auto, you'll probably like the stick better then the shifty shift all the time of those autos.

The last couple years of the 4.0 Taco's really hold their value well, especially with low miles.