Went to I-75 Toyota yesterday, considering a 2023 Yoda.

The sales guy was new and had not fallen prey to the trappings of the standard sales guy. I first looked through their used inventory, considering a 2022 with 21k miles. The ask was $39k, while the truck on the showroom was $45k. I told them I would consider the new one, and the new salesman said they are having a hard time selling new, but the used ones fly off the lot. They wanted my 23 Kia Soul GT Line in trade, but I said if I bought the truck, I'd sell it and not lose the $4-7k they would "steal" from me. I drove there in my 2002 Tacoma and a couple people came out to look at it while I was inside. I made the mistake of not locking it, so when I turned around a guy was starting to get inside, so I hopped up and rushed to stop his ignorance. He said he just wanted to look, so I asked if I went to his house and went inside without his permission, then it would be OK for me to just watch TV. I did not hear from that clown again.

While the top secret negotiations were happening with the money changers, my sales guy and I went out and looked at the Tundra, not because I was in the market, but I wanted to see the i-Force MAX engine, and how drastic an improvement that power plant improved MPG over the standard gas engine. The answer is zero. The Monroney showed 18-20, but that's a massive truck meant to compete with the likes of Ford, GM's and Rams. Since the power plant is the same I now do not hold out much hope for mpg improvements in the 24 Hybrid Yoda (but I'm still interested). I asked if he (the salesman) knew when the new models would arrive and he said they were hoping for the end of Nov, but that was speculation as none are shown "on delivery." Back to the Tundra's. There were two that had the i-Force Max, one called the 1794 and the Limited, both rang the scales at *$75k (not close to my budget).

So we headed back in so the games could begin. $19k for my 7 month old $30k GT Line, $4,500 for my 2002 Tacoma (neither were offered in trade) and of course full list plus the garbage where they try to charge add-on's for stuff that is included from the factory. I looked at the paper, looked at the manager who came out with the offer, said thank you and walked out under protest. As I walk out the front door a large black gentleman stands up from behind the desk and starts calling my name. I get in my truck and he slowly walks behind it to the passenger side as I'm now backing out. Then I get the "Come on, at least give us a chance" bs. You had your chance, as I told them before they headed in to Highball/Lowball,

When I get back from AK I'll be driving up to Valdosta GA to look at their offerings, and if that's a bust, I'll drive to JAX. I've got a new car and it is flawless, I've got a Tacoma that runs equally well, so I don't need one, but I'll still look. Looking at the Valdosta site and Tacoma's available there are 20. In Lake City there are 2.

P.s. If you're not away, all of the stuff they add after the fact on paper came on the truck from the factory. When a new vehicle is unloaded off the truck, the prep team peals off the protective film, connects the battery, add's about 2 gallons of gas, checks the oil (if you're lucky), and drives it around front to be put out for flooring. When you get to finance and they try to sell you an even better clear coat (yeah right), or better fabric protection (again BS), or God forbid a warranty, they again don't touch the vehicle, but you get stuck with a higher out the door.

It's a game, you're a number, and they no more care about you than they do any of their relatives. Hopefully a few weeks in Alaska will calm my desires.

 

The mpg on the 24 should be substantially better. The new Land Cruiser is getting 27 mpg combined with the new 2.4l max so you can expect the taco to be in that range as well. It will also be an upgrade in almost every way. The 23 is proven but it’s a dinosaur and has a lot of shortcomings.

 

Please describe the short comings of the gen 3 models. I just bought a gen 3 Tacoma SR Access Cab 2.7 4x4. I am old enough to remember that the equipment in this Tacoma SR model used to be considered top of the line and you were the cats meow. I am old enough to remember when trucks and cars for that matter came with vinyl seats, an AM radio, crank roll down windows and a heater, you wanted an automatic you paid more for the three speed automatic transmission, you wanted FM radio you paid more, air conditioning yep you paid more, power windows you guessed it you paid more. Oh and get this you had no keyless entry/start and you had to use this thing called a key.

Now you have power windows, a radio that has AM/FM, Satellite, Media, Bluetooth, WiFi, and connects your phone, cloth seats, Air conditioning, heated mirrors, lane departure warning, active radar cruise control and I am sure I am missing a few other items and these vehicles are called dinosaurs, and I am talking the Tacoma SR model here. This SR would have been considered top of the line not so long ago. I do like that my Tacoma SR has a real key and is not a keyless vehicle, it does have the electric locks and remote door locks on the physical key.

 

Fuel economy, payload, ride quality, seating position (slightly better after they added automatic seats).The bed flexes itself part if you off-road. The 3.5 doesn’t make enough usable torque below 3000 rpm and the 2.7 is grossly under power for the platform. It’s dinosaur because it’s essentially a second gen, a platform that has been around since 2006. That being said I love my truck and it’s old school feeling relative to other vehicles out there. Just some food for thought when there’s a new gen coming soon with many of those shortcomings addressed.

 

More like a horseshoe crab. As old as diansoars, but new ones are still being built.

 

Older, actually. Closest critters to trilobites still around. But they are used in medicine because their optic nerve is among the largest of all animals. I have seen pictures of the shells opened and electrodes attached to their optic nerves. I am sure PETA knows about it but polar bear cubs and koalas are furry.