Anyone have an A.R.E topper on their 24 Tacoma yet?

took the truck into get new tires put on it, and the guys at the desk asked me if this was a factory toyota part, or some aftermarket.
So, i guess they thought the fit and finish is pretty good.
To me, its a much better built product than the 2013 I had from leer, but that was 10 yrs old. Also, you can see in the photos... the white is not QUITE a perfect match...but thats no surprise. its REALLLY close

 

The topper companies went downhill after covid pandemic... there was a lot of issues from each company such as paint, shell leaking, etc. Not sure they have been improving since. Latest I heard that lead time has been improved but not sure how good or bad about their work on the shells.... that would depend on the workers on the site on that day, I mean they would take care of it while others do not give a crap.

About your white paint, they probably ran out of the paint of your preferred color but they probably used generic white paint.. which is close enough. If you have white paint with pearl or flakes on your truck, then they will use the same paint on the shell to match your truck so you can't tell it is match or not unless they use different colored flakes which is different story.

I got mine before covid and the lead time was great.

 

nope. mine is flat white, toyota.
Not the "pearl" or "ice cap" whatever, which would have been nice to have ,but not available on the TRD offroad premium. Its the same toyota flat white i think theyve used for decades. My 2013 LEER had a slight mismatch on the white as well. Id not blame it on "running out" so much as even the manufacturers have sometimes 2 or 3 different formulations for the same color, and variations can occur. Its only visible in super bright light, and most importantly, my wife cant tell so i cant care

As for quality. Like i said. I am happy with the quality. My 2013 was ok, a bit rough around the edges. This is slightly more refined, and the doors seal better/stronger seals, and the only complaints i have are
1. the strut switch for interior lights is deformed by pressing on the door weatherstripping, i had to manhandle hte bracket so the door would close again.
2. the front sliding window is pretty loose in the tracks, pretty poor fit and finish, but it does open , and it does close, so ...ok.

Overall, these were overpriced in 2013, and they are overrpriced now. At nearly 10% the cost of a vehicle, its kinda a joke what they charge.

Lead time was fine. I think from date of order to delivery and install was 6-7 weeks. Im ok with that. Wasnt something that was critical for me to have within a week or so, so i wasnt worried.

Regarding the topper companies ....you know, im convinced either there is only 1 topper company, or they are allllll related. I know Each top tier company (leer, ARE) has a known sister company (century, etc) but man, there are so many stupid crazy similarities between ALLL of them, if you said each of the owners was related to the others, i would NOT be surprised. If nothing else there is 100% some collusion on price FOR SURE zero doubt.

 

Yeah it is expensive these days.

After I got my topper, I went to my dad's for a visit.. I showed him my topper, he asked me how much was it. I told him $3K... he said "That's crazy, I got mine for $700." I told him, you got it used.. Mine is new.

I know what you meant, but there is a company that design SmartCap which is that they use different materials, I mean they use steel I think. My favorite is TruckHouse but it is pricey.

There are ripoffs out there...

And about similarities, same thing to everything else such as vehicles, houses, etc... I mean Ford and Mercury for example.... list goes on. Which similarities started back 1900s.

There are so many similar houses everywhere.. The laptops out there are similar as well.

Most websites have similar templates but website owners use different colors of their choice so they claim as their own.

 

"I know what you meant, but there is a company that design SmartCap which is that they use different materials, I mean they use steel I think. My favorite is TruckHouse but it is pricey."

Ya, those metal caps are for sure unique. I meant the fibreglass ones. They are all identical.
And, those vehicle examples you used, those just prove my point! Subaru BRZ vs toyota 86? THEY ARE THE SAME CAR. Honda/acura.... lexus/toyota.....
So many rebadged vehicles, same company. With cars, its ok bc you can always buy a diff car. With these caps, they are all the same , and i think they price fix bc of it. What a pain.

 

fit is way better than it was on my 3rd gen.

 

Here’s my 24 taco sport with an A.R.E. CX REVO on it.

 

This is beautiful! What did that cap run you if you don't mind me asking?

 

I own the shop that sells these caps so my cost is less but we retail the REVO for $3500

 

That looks awesome....

 

I like it - but i thinking maybe a 4 runner or 2024+ Land Cruiser instead?

 

You pull the trigger on a topper?

 

I’m planning to do a 6’ bed Smart Cap. They are too expensive now but i need one for work.

 

I ordered a Leer/Century two months ago. I hit the dealer up last week as to the delay. Monday, they called me back and said they finally got an answer as to the problem: Leer/Century doesn't have windoors yet.

I got my deposit back and ordered a Smartcap on Monday. This morning, I got this email from them:

'Your order has shipped. Please allow 1-3 business days for the order to be available at the SmartCap Authorized Dealer...'

 

Looks good. Is that "ARE" logo laser-etched on the back window? It's fricking huge.

 

That’s legit customer service.

 

Just a sticker that can be easily removed