Any sport owners regret not getting an offroad?

Good Day All,

Joined the forum and didn't mean to be so quiet with such a great group but sadly my less than 1 month old taco gained her wings. Just thinking of it pisses me off but long story short, got hit head on by a kid in daddys' charger in an apparent street race. I'm on my way home from work and saw the headlights coming in the distance but last minute, they veered into my lane before I could react and next thing I know, I'm crawling out of my truck. The look on the faces of the people around me said it all and when I saw the truck, let's just say I know it was nothing but the grace of God not to just be able to walk away, but to still be here period.

With that being said, I've got some much needed rest and am now back in the market for another Tacoma. First, I don't want to this to necessarily be a thread of sport vs offroad (trust me, I've read every single one of those), but I want to hear first hand from sport owners and if they have any regrets on not getting an offroad model?

The reason I'm asking is because I did some heavy research beforehand and ended up purchasing the offroad due to the additional offroad goodies as well as the rugged look vs the more refined look of the sport. I'm still a diehard offroad fan but my local dealer has a voodoo blue sport that I fell in love with. I ended up taking it for a test drive and loved everything about it. Like alot of others with the offroad, one thing I regretted was not getting a hood scoop and being real with myself, I'm not sure if I'll ever really use the locker, control control, etc.

From what I've read, a 4x4 sport is more than capable for what I'll be using it for but it's just that justification that they run pretty much the same price as an offroad. Another thing that swayed my decision was my salesman who was great at what he did but made it seem like the sport was nothing more than an appearance package vs the offroad and if I wanted, it wouldn't be hard to mimic the look of a sport on an offroad by getting a new hood. I do much prefer the black fender flares and wheels of the offroad but those both are things that would be easy to swap onto a sport.

Ride wise, I notice some comment on differences but it wasn't a night and day difference by any means.

Any guys or gals here regret your decision? At the end of the day, I feel like both are very solid trucks and I know it's my decision but I just want to hear from others. Again, please no bashing, just looking for honest opinions. Thinking of trying a sport this go round but just don't want to have buyers remorse every time I see an offroad (though honestly, I seem to see many more sports on the road.)

 

I have had both sport and off road. The hood scoop to me is just a bug catcher! I dont do much off road but I feel you get more fore your money with the off road model.

 

Man, glad you’re okay.

I had a similar dilemma a couple years back, and I wound up in a Sport. Enough locking rear differential talk will make anyone second guess their decision, but the Sport is more than capable of handling anything that I’m willing to put my daily driver through. And I actually preferred the tighter suspension of the Sport over the OffRoad when I test drove both. Being honest, that “appearance package” with the hood scoop and color matched flares was a selling point for me, too. Only thing I don’t love about the Sport is the wheels, but that’s kind of a low point on both models IMHO. And I’m finally working on taking care of that now.

Funny, but feel like I see a lot more OffRoads than Sports in my area...at least 3rd Gens.

Don’t think you can really go wrong with either truck.

 

This is something new .

 

Honestly, if you love the truck, go for it, the shocks ride slightly rougher, but it actually makes a difference cornering, my offroad rolled a lot more than a coworkers sport and I always was envious of that until I was on a trail 1% of the time.

 

Be prepared, these threads inevitably devolve into into a Sport vs Off Road debate. Hopefully that won’t be the case here but, brace yourself, just in case lol.

To answer your question, I have no regrets getting my Sport. I had a 2017 Off Road for 2 years and never needed crawl control or the rear locker. I just need 4wd occasionally. I spend most of my time on pavement and I much prefer the on road manners of the Sport. I also like the looks and the skewp. I think my 2020 Sport might be my favorite out of the 4 Tacoma’s I’ve had.

Also, glad you made it out of that wreck okay. Sounded rough.

 

You could always just buy a TRD Pro, has the same nonfunctional scoop and the other goodies from the Off Road. Best of both worlds.

 

Yes, they always regret it. Don't believe their lies.

 

i think about it every once in a while, but my tacoma lives on pavement. i rarely even use the 4wd, so no regrets.

 

I only regret not getting the OR when I head to the mall and don’t get the same street cred the OR guys do when hopping the curbs.

 

No regrets at all. Sometimes I wish I had a 4door.

Really though my question: Did the kid in the Charger live?

 

I purchased a Sport. After about a year of ownership, it just got to me too much and I had to trade it in for an Off-Road. Don't buy the sport if you're even a little bit on the fence. You will regret it as I did.

 

Man that is absolutely horrible that you had to deal with that crash but glad you were able to walk away from it!!

I got a Sport but the only reason why I did was the fact that it was the only way to get manual transmission with the access cab. If the US was like Canada and able to get the Offroad access cab with manual I would have gone that route.

Eitherway, I love my taco. The sport is mostly cosmetics but has a stiffer suspension and seems to handle heavier loads in the bed better. I have thrown some good amount of weight in the bed and it handle beautifully. Like some have said, both are very capable offroading but obviously the Offroad has a little more features to help with that.

 

Sorry to hear about the crash OP and glad to hear you made it out alive.

No regrets. For me, the locker is the only selling point for the OR. My criteria when looking for a Tacoma:

- 99% of driving on paved roads.
- 4wd for the other 1% which may be snow packed or dirt roads. No overlanding, crawling or mudding intended.
- Longbed for occasional hauling junk and moving large items.
- Manual transmission. Personal preference.

I don't like the black wheel flares on the OR or Pros. I wish they were body colored. I could live with it though. I didn't need the hood scoop, but it came in handy as I have already purchased a small light bar to mount inside of the scoop.

At this point, it came down to shopping for the best deals, and I ended up with one heck of a deal ($4k off MSRP) on a fully loaded Sport that met my criteria. If the same criteria and deal was met for a manual Access Cab OR, I would have bought it all the same. I had been searching for over two years (although it was a rather lazy search as I was in no rush to buy).

Soon will be adding TRD PRO Fox suspension (Just received the kit) plus wheels & tires (still choosing).

 

The combo you wanted pretty much made the choice for you as the only way to get an Access Cab MT is in a Sport.

 

No regrets here, but I don't go offroad, only dirt roads when I go camping. Shoot, I used to drive the same dirt roads in a Crown Victoria.

I like the looks, I prefer the Sport suspension for the driving I do.

Only you can decide, though.

 

Indeed bought for the MT. The rest I am making better than an OR. Not a cheap road but a nice one. I just need to decide on suspension. Sport Hitachi shocks suck on whoopdidos.

 

I guess that would be the reason why I never came across an OR version during the 2 year search

 

No regrets on my Sport. Never go off road (needed 4x4 a few times to get me through snow). Had a 30 mile round trip (pre Covid) commute to work (all freeway) so I love the cornering. In my younger days, I had a 77 Trans Am with a non-functional shaker hood scoop, so non-functional does not bother me.
On a piece of paper, draw columns labeled SR, SR5, Sport, OR, Limited, Pro. Write in each column what you like and don't like. The column with the biggest positive number is what you should get.

 

You used to be able to get that configuration on 1st and 2nd Gen Tacoma's but for some reason on the 3rd only Canada gets it.