Base 4cylinder lift, flares, wheels?

I don't disagree as mini-trucks were hot when I was kid although I did not own one!

 

I think an affordable 5 Lug with limited capability is a perfect 1st car.
The 4 cylinder is nearly indestructible.
It will provide many years of service, at an affordable $.

Keep in mind your child is likely to have wanderlust and want to drive everywhere.
I know I did.
My brother and I both got Toyota Corollas' as our cars in college.
They were solid and never let us down.

 

For the money this was the best option we could find. Access cab for the occasional passenger, bed for the bikes, 4cyl for great mileage and long life plus airbags and ABS. Cons are not as cool as 4x4 and 4cyl auto. In an area where kids drive land rovers, Tacomas, and Raptors it will give him perspective on what is really needed and not go broke running it to the beach or mountains. Plus no 4x4 will limit how far he will push things! Well that was the thinking anyways. The 5 lug posts are helping me figure out options.

 

If you get the Tacoma, just be prepared to not get “great mileage,” lol. A 5 lug truck, because of the smaller, thus lighter tires, will do better than a Prerunner, but Tacoma’s have never been accused of getting great mileage. I’m pretty sure they’re geared a little differently, as well. The upside is that the 2.7/auto combination is just about bullet proof.

 

09 on 31’s

 

Austin that looks great! Are those 15" wheels? Americastire.com only lists 15" as an option am I stuck with that or is that only until you lift it?

 

There 16’s. I had to sand down the caliper a hair to get them to clear. Tire shop that sold them to me said they would clear. They didn’t. There ion brand

 

Few more

 

Wow that looks great. Did you lift yours? How/what kit?

 

eBay steel welded front coil spacers
Fat bobs rear add a leaf
5100 blistein rear shocks for a 4x4 Tacoma with 1” of lift

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-2005-2019-Tacoma-5-Lug-2WD-Steel-Front-3-Leveling-Suspension-Lift-Kit/142430680269?fits=Year%3A2005%7CModel%3ATacoma

Add a leaf was like 65$ I used my stock u bolts. Rear shocks were like 200$. Wheels and tires were 1100$

 

You got your son the old man model 5 lug!

 

5-lug 4-cyl base owner here. Just like the photo you shared, actually.

In my opinion, buy the base model and get your son to help with these upgrades. There are a lot of DIY opportunities which add functionality & looks to a little 5-luggy. It'll help him appreciate the truck more, too.

Just know that the 5-lug is a bit more niche: a sub-community within a sub-community. So aftermarket parts are a dash more scarce and limited. But that only really applies to the TRD wheels (excluding stock S-or-X-runners) and suspension. But the body, interior, etc, is mostly plug-and-play when compared to the other Tacoma accessories.

 

Decisions decisions... truly appreciate the engagement! Will let you know in about a week where we end up go or no go!

 

It better be go and welcome to the nightmare!

 

Personally, you should take your son with you to test drive the 5 lug along with looking at an older base model Prerunner V6 that's closer to budget before making your decision. There's too much limitations to the 5 lug in terms of lift, load/towing capacity, and power that would make me avoid them. Slapping on larger tires only makes drivability worse without regearing. The only chance you have with a young son avoiding building up a 5 lugger is to add Tacomaworld.com to his PC's banned website list.

 

I have a 2015 5 lug with SR5 package and very happy with truck. If I wanted more power etc., I would have bought a V-8 truck as very little mpg vs V6 Tacomas but much more power. I like the reliability and simplicity of the 4 cyl. and mine gets exceptional fuel mileage with adequate performance. I traded a 4 cyl. FWD Kia Sportage on this and this truck gets better mpg. It has never been back to dealer since I bought it 5 years ago - only an oil change by me every year. ( I did go to the dealer to buy 6 oil filters and when I came out of the parts dept., there was 2 salesmen looking at my truck wanting me to deal it as they said they had buyers for it so they probably do have a decent resale value as well). I did put a set of 245/60R15 BFG tires on 7" aluminum rims and it looks a lot better. That size is almost identical diameter of the original tires and with the larger heavier tire and lighter rims there is only about 1 lb. difference so mileage should not change too much. Big thing is - have it oil sprayed yearly underneath if you plan on keeping especially in salt belts and you will own it for a long time. I have a friend who was service manager at a large Toyota dealer in Canada and he said they only order them in if a customer orders one as they make very little on the sale of the low priced trucks and they get practically no lucrative repair work so the dealer principal does not stock them. I have had and used many trucks over my lifetime both 4WD and 2WD and always kept the 2WD a lot longer as they are less problems and easier to repair when older and with a good set of snow tires and a little weight in back had no problems in snow.

 

I'm 35 going on 70. I bought the 5-lug because of it's practicality:

• I do any off-roading sans a dirt or gravel road leading to a trail head to hike, so RWD (or specifically, the lack of 4WD) isn't an big issue ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• I commute 30+ miles for work, so the extra MPG is nice (which your son might dig if he buys his own gas)
• I'm not towing anything beyond a 4x8 w/ a riding mower or hauling more than some furniture or mulch
• Everyone says the Taco 4-cyl is basically eternal

It's capable of a lot, without being awesome at anything

Regarding style, and a teenager might feel differently, but I think you can build a pretty rad looking 5-lug w/o breaking the bank: tint, level the front with the back (or drop the back to level, if he likes a street truck look), and replace the wheels & tires accordingly. But if the end-goal is performance of any sort, this is not the truck for you(r son)

Speaking of performance, if you're lifting and whatnot, you shouldn't have to consider re-gearing unless you're running >=31" tires (according to a 5-lug forum post that I read; I have no first-hand experience here). But if you're going that big, in my opinion, the 6-lug suspension is a better starting point as it has more aftermarket support.