Between buying 3rd Gen SR/SR5 and modding vs TRD Offroad and keeping stock

Hey guys, New the the forum. Been looking for a Tacoma for a while and really want to get one in the next couple of years (the sooner, the better). Had a question that I was hoping some of you guys could help with. I have my mind pretty much set on a 3rd gen V6 5-speed 4-Door Tacoma. Are the TRD Off-road or sport packages worth the added price tag? I love the TRD Offroads, but I am wondering if they are really worth the extra cost, or would I be better off saving that money and modifying the truck with aftermarket suspension and stuff like that? Wondering if anyone else has any experience one way or the other on this. Anyone buy the TRD-offroad and wish they bought the base and upgraded?

Any suggestions on this is greatly appareciated.

 

Off-road is worth it in my opinion. You get a locker and relatively nice suspension all covered under warranty vs voiding it if you were to mod. Sport in my book is absolutely not, same price and you would still have to mod it.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. You do have a point and around me, seems like the SR5 and the TRD Offroad are similarly priced. Anyone go from a 2nd gen to the 3rd gen? Do you regret it at all? Anything you liked more about the 2nd gen? Anyone who wanted the Manual get the auto and are you happy with it?

 

I think it all depends on the buyer.. are you comfortable modding the truck.? Depends on the things your going to do with the truck.. I bought the base model so I could mod it the way I wanted to.. might not save a whole lotta cash but it's the way I wanted it... so it all depends on the person buying the truck.. good luck no matter what you get you won't be disappointed... there both awesome trucks...

 

Stock offroad. You'll be happier with nice suspension, a locker, and crawl control. Plus an off-road holds it's value WAAAAAAAAAY better than an SR/SR5.

Plus, you'll end up modding anyways

 

If you can find an OR with MT, that would be my vote. Like you said the price difference isn't really that far apart. Welcome to the forum!

 

What is the LB manual transmission?

 

Long bed

 

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. Dont need the LB personally, so that is fine by me. Definitely leaning toward the TRD OR. Would LOVE the TRD Pro, but they seem over priced. Except for my first two cars in highschool and college, every vehicle i have owned has been manual. How does the auto in the Tacoma hold up to the manual?

 

Depends on how much you want to do. I've done only minor things, suspension lift, wheels/tires, sliders, ucas, etc. I don't plan on locking the front anytime soon or going long travel.

If I had a ton of stuff I wanted to do (air lockers front/rear, long travel or SAS, custom interior, etc) I would have picked up an SR5.

 

plus you get push button start, the nice touch screen with Entune premium and apps "Pandora app have no advertisements", sweet LED DRL lights, smart key system... there is a lot of cool gadgets the SR5 do not get.

 

TRD OR and mod

 

What he said.

 

Crawl Control. It's my look what I can do party trick, and I set it then take a nap in the bed and next thing you know the trail is over.

 

I'd say go with the off road, down the road when its not so new and you start getting tired of it start to modify the truck and re fall in love with her again

 

an off-road with tires and sliders is a very capable truck...with a warranty
worth it to me

 

Offroad all the way

 

I guess it depends on your budget and what you intend to do with it, I chose a SR because of my budget , it is my clean slate to make it my own. I started with the wheels and tires that I like best.

 

I felt when I bought, that it seemed a small bump in price to jump up to the TRD from the SR5 and you got a lot in return. (At the time SR5s didn’t have fender flares or alloy wheels, so once you buy those the price difference wasn’t much. I haven’t been keeping up on price though, and I know they have been raising.
Anyway moving up to TRD Off Road was a better suspension, push button start, larger nicer radio screen, and while I’ll probably never use it on this truck a rear locker. I also liked the wheels better, the interior better, and I’ve always been a fan of black fenders flares. I also ended up getting the Tech Package for more goodies.
It seemed on the Tacoma you got a lot more for that jump to TRD.
(On my 04 4Runner you didn’t, so I got the SR5 and modded it myself).

If you don’t particularly like those extras anyway, I know a lot of people swap the wheels and don’t like the black fenders, don’t care about radio screen size, or push button start, then you may be better off going SR5.

 

I went with an SR 4x4. I have been super happy with it so far. I dont do enough offloading to justify the extra 8-10k to get an OR. Yeah push button start, and all the things mentioned above would be nice to have but my truck even being a base model has all the bells and whistles I need. With the money a saved I was able to get a shell right off the bat and do a few other mods.

It is a compromise for sure but the 18 SRs have a few more added features that close the gap IMO.