3rd gen taco or Subaru WRX

Got a Subaru about a year and a half ago after selling my Tacoma. Wonderful car and awesome on the highway and shooting around town, HOWEVER....I missed my truck (Dead Useful). So New TRD OFF Road last Tuesday showed up in my driveway. Subaru Forester now up for sale.

 

Depends on what you want/use it for?

If it is your only vehicle, the utility of a truck is hard to beat. I'm not having to take speed bumps sideways or worried about potholes anymore. (I traded in my 09 WRX for my 17 DC) but I will the subie rumble and it's quickness. I will not miss the insurance.

 

I just traded in my WRX for a 17 Tacoma DCOR. They are both great. I wouldn't have traded it in but I needed a work truck. The cost of running premium in the WRX and the cost of lower mpg in the Tacoma are almost a net neutral for me.

I had the WRX for 2 years. So far I like having the truck more.

 

Great point! My insurance premiums on a new WRX were quoted nearly double what they would be on a new Tacoma TRD Sport. I'm 31 with a clean driving record too. Combine that with the fact that the truck will take regular as opposed to premium, which seems to run an extra 50 cents a gallon now, and you'll find that the two actually have remarkably similar running costs. The Tacoma might actually be cheaper in some instances.

Also consider the mixed stories you hear on Subaru reliability. Some people swear by them, but they seem to produce more than their fair share of lemons too, more so than Toyota anyway.

I test drove the new WRX and a 6MT Tacoma TRD Sport and have obsessively researched both, despite how polar opposite they are from one another. I ultimately removed the WRX from my decision pool. It's a well-rounded car, and perhaps a good choice if you can only have one vehicle, and don't ever have to haul big stuff. If you're in a position where you can have more than one car, it's not that great of a choice. There are arguably better sports cars out there for the money, and there are definitely more utilitarian choices out there for the money.

And let's face it. Most of the time, you're going to be driving on city streets with some level of traffic that's going to make exploiting the true abilities of the WRX dangerous and/or illegal. The Tacoma is a far more comfortable vehicle to be making the long daily slog in. You sit up higher and can see a lot more, and it actually rides pretty smooth/quiet. Making a long commute in a small noisy car is just not that great.

 

Something something rod knock something something ringlands. Subarus are VERY tempermental to oil. I can't believe they spec 0w-20 for those cars now. I ran GC 0w-30 in mine with borderline compulsive checking / analysis on it. The post-2007 EPA tune really hurts them.

That's actually one of the reasons I sold my STi. To have any fun in it, I'd wind out 2, 3 and 4, and I'd be going entirely too fast, which was ridiculous. Granted, I had a turboback and a tune, so it had a bit more grunt than a standard WRX, but it still applies. The same thing is true for the ride. Again, I know they've come a LONG way on the interiors (a good friend just bought a 2017, and he had actually sold his 2011 because of the seats and having back issues) but I drove my car to NJ once (about a 6-7 hour trip) and I was in pain by the time I got there, and I was only 25 at the time. I did the same trek in my Tacoma and felt good. I then repeated it in a rental Nissan Juke and hated life, but that's a side issue.

From my viewpoint, the WRX is a fun toy. FWIW, in 2013 when my insurance renewed on my then 6 month old '13, it was $743 for the Tacoma and $1,250ish for the STi, with a perfect driving record.

 

Just so it's clear to others like me who are scouring for info and comparisons, not all Tacoma seats are the same. TRD off-roads have upgraded seats with lumbar support and whatnot. It's been nigh 15 years since I sat in a WRX (technically it was an STI), so I don't have anything to add for actual comparison. Just saying, when you say "Tacoma seats," gotta be more specific. I know some people don't like their non-TRD Tacoma seats.

Also, I notice a lot of people use "road noise" as a general term for all noise that isn't the stereo. That also is too imprecise. Except for the few 6cyl ones, any Subaru is going to have a noisier engine than a Taco because they whine along with those pesky CVTs. But when you're not punching the gas or climbing a hill, that noise subsides and you're left with actual road noise (and wind). The cheaper Subarus have a ton of road noise because they are light weight, including minimal insulation in door panels, trunk, etc. This, and cheaper plastic interiors, is how they keep the cars light and thus the car gets 35-38 mpg on the highway (Impreza). What's actually pretty amazing is that it's no more noisy than any other entry-level type of coupe or small sedan out there (e.g. Sentra, Corolla, Altima, Sonata, Camry, Escort, etc), but you actually get great mpg + awd with the Impreza. Forester and Legacy are a little less noisy and a little lower mpg. And then the Outback is the most quiet and definitely quieter than the Tacoma. The WRX is it's own thing because it's a sports car, unfortunately it seems to be a sports car with an Impreza interior, so you get loud car noise, loud road noise, and cheap interior vibrations.

(Tires can help or hurt road noise too, but do people who drive Tacos or WRX honestly select their tires with this in mind?)

 

Never was a fan of the WRX. If I had to choose between two cars that were not even remotely in the same category, I'd go 370Z vs. Tacoma, and I'd pick the Tacoma.

 

I’m pretty sure the OP made up his mind, 2 1/2yrs ago.

 

Resale value was a huge selling point on a Tacoma. Blown away by how the 09 prerunner was worth 10 years later.

 

I went from wrx to tacoma, fits my life style better. The wrx is a fun car but I probably wouldn't buy one again.

 

And yet here I was reading on people's experiences and opinions