About to become a Tacoma owner

Well, I just sold my little Honda Insight hybrid today, and now I'm seriously shopping for a Tacoma. (In May I'm moving out of the city to more rugged terrain where an Insight just won't cut it. I'll need a reliable 4WD truck, and it seems like the Tacoma is far and away the best choice.)

I'm hoping to find a used low-mileage 4WD Access Cab manual-transmission TRD for somewhere around 20 grand, although I may bite the bullet and go for a new truck. I actually learned to drive in my dad's SR5 pickup twenty years ago, so I think I'll be right at home in a Tacoma.

Anyway, thought I'd pop in even before I'm actually a member of the Tacoma-owners club, just in case anyone has any advice for me as I pore through Auto Trader, Cars.com, Craig's List and the local dealerships looking for the perfect truck.

 

Don't rule out the 2001-20004's! I always tout their greatness 'cause they ARE great. The ONLY reason I still own my '01 is because it is such a capable great-looking bulletproof competitive truck that would be foolish to buy new just to have new. You can get one of these and then proceed to bank all that extra cash you will save not only on the purchase, but also as this truck pays off in low repair averages! Just food 4 thought

 

Thanks, Ridgerunner. I'll keep that in mind. It does seem that these trucks have an amazing reliability record. Even the high-mileage Tacomas have a surprisingly high market value (and the owners seem to know it, darn it).

Today I realized that I may be able to get a lot more truck for the money by choosing a regular cab instead of an access cab. The access cab seems to add more than $3000 to the price of a new Tacoma, and a proportional amount to a used one. I don't actually need an access cab, as I won't have more than one or two passengers very often, and I'm definitely adding a camper shell anyway, so I'll have a secure cargo area. (About to do some research here about camper shells right now.) I'm a musician, and I kind of liked the idea of transporting my guitar in that access cab area, as it seems custom made for it, but that convenience hardly seems worth ~$3000. Now that I'm getting serious about buying, I'm starting to get a bit more rational about the details.

And unless I'm missing something, it seems that the shorter wheelbase should give a regular cab improved off-road performance in many situations. As I'm about to move to a residence where my "driveway" is a one-mile long uphill dirt road, 4x4 performance actually falls into the "reliability" category for me.

Are there any disadvantages to the regular cab that perhaps I'm not seeing? They do seem rather unpopular -- they represent a small minority of the current market, and the few ads there are have an air of desperation about them. (No offense intended to regular-cab owners, of course, as I'm seriously considering becoming one of them.)

I'm also trying to determine how high I should value the TRD option. Obviously, it improves performance, but I'm wondering how much of the package I can add myself with the savings if I buy a non-TRD truck.

 

Welcome to TW! Good luck with Taco shopping.

 

Hey Mark-I don't know of any disadvantage to a reg cab other than the obvious-more room for people/stuff. I'm guessing that the ads you see have that tone of desperation because those owners found themselves short on interior room more often than they projected. Maybe you should reconsider the larger truck..especially if it will be your only vehicle.

 

Well, I just realized another disadvantage -- it's harder to find shells for the regular cab.

 

I just wrote this for somebody else and thought it might be useful for you too. Even though what I bought is probably more than what you're looking to spend, you may find a great deal on something 'new' with less features in your price range.

I have a good friend who works for a dealership. he says that the economy is hitting them pretty hard. his dealership is pretty rigid with negotiations but some are really willing to deal.

The sticker on my new 2008 Tacoma sport 4x4 double cab was $30,380. i worked them really hard but negotiated them down to $26,142 then decided to kick back the $1000 Toyota rebate opting for the 3 year 0% financing. So my price was $27,142 plus taxes and registration etc. (just to give you a rough idea of what you might expect to pay).

Remember that after they agree on the price - they'll send you in to close the deal with the smokin hot finance girl. She's there as a last ditch effort to finagle you out of more money. She will try to sucker you in with alarms, protective sealants, warranty extensions etc... The products aren't all bad - I bought the warranty extension. Just realize that you can still negotiate this stuff, too.

She showed me 4 'options' with a hierarchy of features that get better if you're willing to pay more (of course). I dismantled her packages and picked what I wanted out of them. Haggle her as much as you can since the only reason she is the one offering this stuff is because they know you are psychologically thinking that you just 'finished' the negotiating process. You really haven't. You just finished the hard part. Realize that she is trying to un-do the deal you just made by getting you to buy overpriced fluff-features at the last second. If you want one (or more) of them - work her for them! You have to know they're marked up too (right?)

I'd recommend you start by researching dealerships. Reputations for negotiating, maintenance department etc... (It is common for Dealership Maintenance Departments to treat customers who buy cars from them better - my last truck I had serviced at a different dealership and was made to feel like a red-headed step child).

One last thing - Use Costco or USAA if you have them and are a member. They can help get the price down a lot, too.

Good Luck

 

Taco Bell gets a bump for a clever and informative post