Opinions? '14 Baja or '15 Pro Series?

^ This! '15 Pro!

 

Jim,

Don't let the negative nancy's persuade you one way or the other. the TRD pro and the BAJA are the same truck with only slight visual changes, functionally they will be the same, as for money - it's your money do what you want with it. Everyone on here is an arm chair CPA, oh they are also all engineers and both mechanical and electrical...

The bottom line is the existing truck is well proven and reliable, I would have NO problems buying either a 14 or a 15 - the rumours of a 16 redesign are hokey at best and while I think we can all agree the tacoma is due for one, there is no indication it's coming in the near future

Best of luck with whatever you do, I am in the same boat you are - I chose very consciously to buy a baja and have factory support - I am quite capable of installing and building whatever type of truck I want, but on this truck my time is worth more gold and it's simply not worth the pain of having to deal with aftermarket vendors. I ordered the truck EXACTLY like I wanted it, which made it CRAZY expensive (jbl+nav+baja+sc) but I love it and I'm happy with it - could I have built a bigger better rig for less, sure perhaps I could have, but then when I had a problem I couldn't have dropped it off at the Toyota dealer.

Enjoy your retirement, do what makes you happiest is what I say - it's clear if you're paying off a 40k$ truck in 2 years that you don't need the financial advice of the nut swingers here on TW...

Regards - Zach

 

Thank you Zach for your sage advice. The place I'm at now is deciding to either get the '14 Baja or simply keeping my '12 Baja. In the long run I think getting the '14 wisest move because the lower miles will buy me time on the backend. On the other hand keeping the '12 Baja is also an option because I have other vehicles to absorb some of the day to day miles. Plus it is proven.

FYI. I was able to pay off my Baja in 20 months because I planned this for a long time. In 2011 I traded in a '04 Ford diesel Super Duty on a 2011 TX Pro Tacoma. Got alot on my trade in and financed for 3 years, paid off in 1. Then in 2012 I traded the TX Pro for my Baja. Did real good on my trades both times.

Now to decide to keep or trade???????

Thanks, Jim

 

If you want the Baja, bank some cash and buy a left-over next year. With the introduction of the Pro, the Baja is dead this year, or so the dealer has told me. Hold out a while and get in on their President's Day sale in Feb. Beat them up on the price for a left-over, all the while buying yourself less miles on the new one.

 

there will be no left overs - the average age of a baja on the lot is less than 5 days nationally, you may have one at a local dealer but it won't sit there long - as for one being on a lot after a bit of time, there are no extras - toyota doesn't produce them unless a dealer orders them so it's not like there are a thousand of them sitting in san antonio that a dealer can order...

If you want a Baja, find a dealer that is willing to get you one at a reasonable price NOW not hold out and hope for one later.

Also don't forget that you can order the baja WITH or WITHOUT the graphics now...

Jim if you need help finding a dealer that will give you a good deal please let me know - I had a personal friend who is a director at a toyota dealer, he has said publically (and helped out many so far) that he will go 2% above pure invoice, and will show you that invoice to prove that he's not messing around - you could order a baja exactly like you want and pay just 2% over.

 

Mountain States Toyota in Denver has 4 black '14 Bajas and 3 white ones right now.

 

The one at my local dealer, Black on Black, has been there for months. They started out at $40k and have not dropped a lot... still collecting dust!

 

The ones I mentioned in Denver are listed between around 36 & 35,000.

 

Where are you pulling this data point from? Because when I was with Toyota, dealers generally held onto Baja's for a LOOOOONG time to use them as showroom/front pad eye candy and get people to come in.

 

If a dealer is holding onto it or selling them at MSRP that's a different story, for a while they were attempting to get markups on them too. If a dealer has a bunch of them sitting on their lot they ordered them without having orders placed for them which is certainly possible - but my point is that toyota doesn't have a run rate of them, they don't make a SINGLE baja unless it's been ordered where as the tacoma, tundra or other vehicles they make a certain amount based on forecasting... Bottom line is baja's aren't made as a run rate vehicle, they are made when ordered which is why the average lot time for bajas is low, my unit actually showed a -17 day lot time because I paid for it before it ever arrived. certainly having 7 of them on the lot is abnormal and I'd call that bad sales management frankly.

 

Well they haven't been there long; I check their inventory once a week out of curiosity since I got mine in April. They're the #5 toyota truck dealer in the nation.

 

I've decided to go with the '14 Baja. The point that I kept coming back to is wanting to have a vehicle with low miles as I near my retirement. I do not want to be faced with not being able to go fishing or running around in the woods because of having a worn out vehicle that I can not afford to replace. I've been through that early in life and don't ever want to be in that boat again. I respect the younger guys opinons about driving my '12 until the wheels fall off but in reality thats not fun guys.

After looking at the '15 Pro Series more closely I found a few things that I could not get past. I never did like the fake hood scoop but thought I could learn to live with it. But the kicker was the color matching rear bumper. Sorry guys but for me the bumper needs to be chromed not painted.

Anyway thanks for all of your input. It really came down to keeping my '12 Baja or getting the '14 Baja while my '12 was still worth alot. Having low miles on the back end won out.

Thanks, Jim

 

Ok, I'll chime in now and I hope this helps. I am retiring in 4.5 years. My 2005 with 218k. Will still fetch 12-14k. They retain value. Bottom line. Bank a payment every month now and drive your paid off truck until you retire. Rumors have a new redesign(with new problems) and a diesel(hello Dakar/off road real world). My sources say 2016 pro with a 230hp, 400ft lbs diesel. May be bs, but the point is bank the payments until you retire and retire with a paid off 0 miles new truck. My .02.

 

Since your in AZ beware of larry miller. They are less than honest with there added dealer pricing.

I bought my truck at right toyota through the internet guys. They offered a very fair price on the baja. Give chris a call.

 

Did you just call him a fool? R U Serious!
It's called living life, if has the money than he doesn't sound like a fool to me.
Just sayin

 

It's funny how that works, the exact reasons you want a Baja are the same reasons i would prefer a Pro.

 

A problem I saw with aftermarket 3" lift is all the complaints about VSC going crazy, dang near ran into opposing traffic, it's documented all over this board. That's a big deal, IMO. Toyota specifically designed the Baja suspension package to work with their 2012+ trucks so you don't have those problems.

Some people like their trucks to look cool lifted and badass with 33" tires, but if you can have 32" tires with the Baja for a whopping trail-killing (sarcasm) 1" less ground clearance that's the smart thing to do.

I can tell you from experience with the Baja suspension on my SR5 that it kicks ass offroad, especially highspeed dirt and washboards. It's a beuatifully designed suspension for the 2012+ Tacomas. It's so dang smooth and the four corners work so well together no VSC going off, it's beautifully designed.

 

37 k to 42 k per the dealer, My dealer says he has 15 allocations and 13 spots filled already. Black or White only. Allocated one Inferno= Someone got it already.

 

I just bought the 2014 baja. not much has changed for the 2015. I don't care for a color matched bumper, color match door handles or mirrors, and I like black grilles vs color match, and only thing I want is a hood scoop but I can just go buy one. Interior looks the same and the rear view mirror I saw in the videos is old school with no autodim/temp/compas/home link. Looks like this one will come with carpet and I love my all weather flooring since I don't have to worry about any stains on the carpet.

 

I'll sell you mine, only 6K miles and all the bells and whistles! Wait, no I won't - I love my rig!

On a serious note, I'd wait till the fall for the 2015...