Pick my Taco

If you had it all to do over again... If you could help someone buy and build their dream truck from the ground up....... If you could give a kid - virtually brand new to trucks and off-roading - some advice to avoid costly mistakes... what would you tell me?!?

Okay, Okay. So I've been lurking on the forum for nearly a year now, waiting to be sold on the perfect Tacoma for me. I was pretty sold on simply going 3rd gen because they're mean-looking trucks, but a recent video I saw turned me off - apparently, visibility over the nose is pretty low, i.e. you can't see what's in front of you on the trail for a couple dozen yards from a comfortable driving position. Also I've heard, specifically with the 3rd gen, that the TRD off-road package isn't worth the extra cost - you're better off upgrading the suspension and rear locker yourself, and buying better tires with the money you save. Anyway, I've also read things that disagree with all of this, so I figured I'd consult the experts.

Please, help me pick my Tacoma. Here are some of my needs, although it's not an exhaustive list and I will be happy to answer any questions you have.

• It will be my "daily" driver, for now... I don't drive every day, so it won't get a lot of highway miles, or even a lot of road miles, but it's not gonna be primarily off-road either, and will be used for some projects around my property
  
  
• I want complete off-road capability, almost off-road focus... I'm by no means an off-road enthusiast, but I'm a backpacker and I want to be able to get anywhere I need to go, at the least
  
  
• I'm value-conscious... I want the best bang for my $$$ and prefer to only buy things once, even if that means waiting to get them
  
  
• That all being said, I want to mod the h*** out of my truck towards offroading and eventually Overlanding, but I don't have the upfront capital to do much right away beyond the initial purchase of my Tacoma

So like I said, I'm not set on anything, but what I'm thinking so far is a 2012-2015 Crew Cab SB 4wd, and then upgrading tires, installing off-road suspension and a rear locker...

What are your suggestions? Am I on the right track? Should I go with 3rd gen instead? Will I be happier with TRD off-road as a relatively inexperienced off-road driver? Is 2nd gen gonna be a better bang for my buck? What Mods should come first? Will I save money by not buying the off-road package? Are the off-road features like crawl, etc really going to help that much, considering I'm a pretty fast learner?

Thanks in advance!

 

Welcome aboard new member

 

Welcome to TW!

 

get yourself a 1st gen and call it a day! throw all your cash and boom a war machine!!
welcome m8

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome!
I went with 3rd Gen Off-road. I wanted to get into Overlanding and high-speed mountain runs. I have rock crawled before with buddies and I did a lot of dirt bikes and UTV/ATV offroading before so wanted a change.
The reasons why I went 3rd gen Off-road:
- I like the look
- I know it's stock and all systems are in good working condition. If not the warranty will cover it.
- I was going to do a slow build (didn't happen lol)

Depending on what you plan to do, I would get skid plate right off the bat if offroading especially for someone new to it. After that, I would just upgrade whenever you feel like something is lacking. The reason, why I went with Offroad, is because of suspension, locking diff, MTS, and crawl control. I honestly never used the crawl control once.

If you don't have the upfront capital I would suggest getting a used 3rd gen that is mostly stock since it'll most likely still have a warranty. Get the Offroad since that will have a better suspension which most people can take offroad and be fine until they start adding on a lot of extra weight, needing lift, etc.
OR you can get a used 2nd gen and save some money that you would have used to get a 3rd gen in case anything pops up that you were unaware of. I personally am over getting a used car that is no longer under warranty because most of the time, people did things to it or didn't do proper maintenance on it. I have owned 8 used vehicles prior to my 3rd gen. Unless it's a project car that I don't mind sitting in the garage, I have been buying new or only a couple of years old vehicles.

Besides, 3rd gens are nice-looking (biased). Here is mine in the shop right now getting regeared (I took most of my Overlanding gears off since I won't be going on trips for a while):

 

Thanks for the detailed reply Zeke!

1. How long have you had your 3rd gen, and is there anything you REALLY don't like about it?
2. Have you ever driven a 2nd gen, and if so, can you name any glaringly apparent differences, especially as it applies to off-road?
3. You really seem to stress the importance of a warranty, despite having some previous offroading experience... Is that because of off-road or on-road damage/maintenance, and if its off-road, what does the warranty actually cover?

Appreciate the help/advice buddy, and good looking rig!

 

@boogie3478, are you also Tacomaholic on youtube? If so, just watched one or two of your videos the other day

 

Hey buddy, yep that's me. Thanks for watching!

 

Hmmmm, you've got my interest. Why, what advantages? are they really that much cheaper/easier to work on? Or is it something else?

 

Man, I LOVE your rig (or rigs? I saw an older one when it was black, did you get it repainted to that orange color?)

I haven't dived to deep in to your stuff yet, but its an honor to get to talk to you - any advice or recommendations from you to weigh in on the subject? Or do you have a video that covers it?

This Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59vJAtGMSuM) is the one where I got a lot of seemingly-honest feedback from a well-informed guy about the disadvantages of 3rd gen. Any input?

 

I just seeing it from the starting platform. $10k bone stock 1st gen or $40k bone stock 3rd gen. Both are reliable asf. First gen less tech more simple to work on. 3rd gen bunch of tech! but its nice to have.

 

Yeah my truck is black but I had it wrapped matte orange a few years back after gathering a nice collection of paint scratches from wheeling.

As far as 3rd Gens go the biggest complaint is the actively hunting transmission which is supposed to be a lot better than it was, but still bothers some people. However, if you get a manual trans you wouldn't have to worry about that.

 

I didn't realize they still sold 3rd gen with manual. So you haven't heard anyone else complain about visibility over the nose?

If you had to do it over again, would you still go with a 2nd gen and build it up, or would you start with 3rd gen, lets say money isn't a factor, or at least a very small one

 

Daily Driver: 2nd Gen will be nice to have the extra space over an earlier truck.
Off-Road: The OR package with locker is nice to not have to install an aftermarket rear locker later on. Shorter wheel base is nice but I personally can’t see having a truck with less than a 6’ bed. I find the 3rd Gen 4Runner to off road better than any of the Tacoma’s of any generation I have owned. Smaller 1st Gen Tacoma was better off road for me than my 2nd gens were.
Value-conscious: Second Gen will be the middle ground between not paying for a depreciating new vehicle or fixing everything on a breaking old vehicle. 2012-2015 will be your most value for your money as far as upgrades (09 and after actually).
Mods: pretty saturated market, plenty available. Mod what you need once you realize you need it, rather than what you want, daydream about, or think looks cool.

Get an SR5 or TRD OR used 2nd gen, seems to fit your bill best and will be plenty reliable for the foreseeable future. If price is close get the TRD OR, if there’s a big price difference, thousands of dollars, save your money on the SR5 and upgrade later.

 

I love my second gen and will never get rid of it, but I could easily see myself also grabbing a 3rd or 4th Gen and starting a new build too.

 

1. 2 years. There were a lot of things I don't like about Tacos, but I mostly corrected the issue to my liking (gearing, suspension, etc). One thing I can't correct is cabin space and comfortability, but that's what it means to jump into a mid-size truck.

2. I have driven a 1st gen and a 2nd gen. I didn't own them, but my uncle had them. As far as off-road usage, there wasn't much difference. The crawl control/MTS system in the 3rd gens are kinda a gimmick in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, if you don't know how to offroad then it does help, but if you know what you are doing, Tacos rarely need help from it to get out of things as long as they have the right gear/set up.

3. The reason why I stress the warranty is because newer model vehicles have issues with them. Plain and simple. You can get one that doesn't have issues at all, but due to electronics and such, any little thing can go wrong. Warranty will cover that (as long as you don't void it and no need for extended). To get down to it, warranty will fix what factory messed up on. On the flip side, once a vehicle is outside it's warranty, especially Tacomas, majority of the people will mess with it. Heck even while the truck is under warranty people will mess with it (like I did), but the chance of it goes down since they don't want to void it. In my opinion, if you want a nice rig, it's best to start fresh hence why I talked about warranty as those under warranty have a higher chance of not being touched except maybe for wheels/rims or decals compared to one that is outside of it. Buying used modded truck, dealing with aftermarket parts that you may or may not know, and adding what you want to it can cause issues with the other aftermarket parts are a pain in the butt. Been modding vehicles since I was in Highschool and experimenting which is why I bought new with the Tacoma because I plan to keep this vehicle. Also, those outside of warranty is normally past due their more extensive maintenance (transfer fluid, transmission, diff, etc). There actually is a lot of people who don't read the manual and don't do those services. So warranty is kinda what I use a mark of whether I want to buy it or not. Not because of the warranty itself, but the other things.
Just something that I noticed from my experience of buying used cars. I owned 9 different used cars and I am only 25 yrs old right now. It was just an expensive hobby for me and I got bored easily. Heck even now, my Tacoma isn't my only vehicle but it is my favorite.

 

Don’t want to start a 2nd vs 3rd Gen war on yet another threat and have it derail. Some people love em, some don’t, some don’t care or notice any difference. I will just say to make sure you extensively test drive the 3rd Gen before purchase. There is enough dissatisfaction with some people to at least make sure you won’t become one of them. That and buying new is a very poor financial decision that most people will hopefully grow out of haha. But for me, personally, not hating on anyone else’s decision, after extensively driving multiple third Gens, there’s no way that I could own one and enjoy driving it. That’s just me. No one freak out haha.

 

^ that's true. Buying new when the previous years pretty much are the same isn't a good decision financial wise, unless you have the money for it. If you plan to get a 3rd gen, just get a 2016-2018. In my area, there are lot's of them that gets turned in to the dealership since their lease is over. Stock and all maintenance done on them.