Numbers Crunching for TRD Pro vs built SR-5?

I looked all over the threads and couldn't find what I'm looking for....... I've decided to put in an order for a '15 and in another thread RearViewMirror mentioned it'd be cheaper to build up an SR-5 than to buy the TRD Pro. Has anyone really sat down and crunched the numbers to see which would actually be 'better'? I was leaning towards the plain TRD, then decided towards the Pro, and am now questioning that decision vs a pseudo-TRD-from-SR5 creation.......

 

I just got a 2014 DC sr5. it was a lot cheaper for me to not get TRD. For example I just got brand new alloy sport rims and tires for 400 bucks. Sold my stock steel rims and tires for 375 on craigslist. 25 bucks to upgrade to sport alloy rims and tires.

all the desirable/important things like the better suspension etc that the TRDs have you can do yourself for cheaper and better quality i.e bilstein 5100s vs stock suspension. The only thing that is a pain/expensive to add-on is the TRD seats but they weren't that much better to me. Cost me 100 bucks to color match the front grill surround. I don't have an outlet in my bed but I don't need it and if I did, I'd get a real inverter anyway lol at 400 watts can't even run a decent blender. It requires some patience waiting for deals but not that long especially with the amount of stuff for sale on this board.

 

That all depends on the parts you decide to go with. You have the Bilstein shocks that come with the pro, or you can get kings or icons setup. Then you have to see if you can order the Bilstein from Bilstein or does it only come from toyota.

 

Thanks- I guess it might be one of those, "if you have to ask, you may already know the answer" type questions.......packrobottom confirmed a little of what I was thinking, and 357sig brought up the point of "is it only available via OEM?". So I guess I probably am not going to die if I don't get the Bilsteins, special seat cover or decals. (And I too would get a real inverter)

 

What are the prices of the pro and sr5 you are looking at? I would be really interested to see what kind of shopping list one could put together based on that difference.

 

It depends what you want to do imo. If you want to do a balls to the walls build for hardcore wheeling then it would be cheaper to start with an SR5. It depends if you want a warranty or not as well.

 

SR5
build it up

coming from an offroad owner

 

The other question you need to ask yourself is do you have the money laying around to buy all the upgrades out of pocket. Total cost to build out a rig will be cheaper if you do it individually but you won't be able to finance it with an auto loan like you would a TRD Pro.

 

SR5 4x4 = no atrac, dac, (which by natures means you get the better electric brake boosted master cylinder)

atrac is pretty impressive, that and stock locker (though an arb can be had)

 

One thing to consider is what the price of a TRD Pro is going to be. I haven't seen any "official" pricing on it (someone with more info on here might know) but I'm willing to bet it is going to be a premium. So that said, If you are truly wanting to make a off road beast I think you would come out ahead by building your truck to "your" specs.

There certainly isn't anything wrong with the TRD Pro and I like the looks. I think it's going to be a nice truck and for someone that doesn't want to go through the hassle of building a truck it will be a nice alternative. But... if you have specific needs / wants for a truck you get a clean slate to start from.

 

There's no way to answer this. There's no pricing for the 15 models yet and a bunch of speculation about a redesign. Building up an sr5 would be if you want to go the cheaper side and know you're gonna replace the OEM parts anyways.
I can't speak for you but if I were you I'd wait until the second year of said redesign so some of the "new" kinks are out.

 

I did this argument with myself for a 14 vs a TX pro - I chose the pro because i wanted a warrantied rig and wasn't looking at building a LT baja runner or hardcore wheeling rig...

For me the warranty and toyota support outweighed any money saved (which for me wasn't much)

 

My Baja cost me $3000 more than a TRD would have. I ran some numbers and it was about the same with similar parts. If I had done the work myself then it would have been cheaper to buy a base TRD. A plain SR5 was not a consideration. I do not have time to do the suspension work myself nor deal with taking it to a shop. Like others have mentioned @ 1.29% interest rate the decision to spend the extra on the Baja was pretty easy versus. Taking money away from investments earning more.

 

Nor will you be paying interest on "upgrades".