Purchase 4wd TRD Off Road vs SR5 with Fox/King Off Road Upgrades

New member, apologies if this has been discussed already. I'm selling my Ford Raptor and want to get a 16/17 Tacoma. My biggest question is regarding the pricing/upgrades on a TRD Offroad w/Tech versus buying a 4wd SR5 with Nav/Technology etc and then upgrading to 2.5 or 3.0 fox/king shocks and even aftermarket UCA, ball joints etc. Obviously the SR5 truck is less money, but am I hurting myself down the road with resale and/or wasting money on the TRD package? I always scratched my head at Raptor owners that would strip the stock fox shocks and upper/lower arms and spindles and then drop $5000 or more on new stuff just to drive the street. However, Raptors only came one way with respect to suspension and the stock Raptor takeoff stuff had good resale value for F150 owners. So, my biggest question is, should I buy an SR5 and upgrade, or TRD Off Road, if my plan is to change out the shocks and possibly UCA's or more, essentially making a TRD Pro. Will for sure change wheels/tires as well. All opinions/advice appreciated.

 

You might as well just buy a pro if your going to make one anyways. It will be cheaper in the long run. I wanted QS so a pro wasn't an option for me. Also buy the standard transmission and start rowing to freedom!

 

The Toyota website does a really good job at comparing the two models.

Don't get a pro!

 

I see you have Icon stage 1 shocks, did you feel it was a waste of money paying for the Off Road Model then putting Icon on?

 

This is really quite simple.

Download the Tacoma e-brochure PDF. Read up on the exact differences between the TRD Offroad and the SR5 models in what's standard and what's optional. Figure out which of those differences matters to you and which do not. Factor in the mods you intend to make and the truck you want to end up with in the end.

The answer of whether you should start with the SR5 or OR should be pretty clear at that point.

Me? I like gadgets. SR5 vs OR was a no brainer.

 

Seems like the biggest thing would be the factory E-locker in the OR right? Whats a full ARB set up cost to retrofit a SR5? $1500 with install?

 

I would recommend going TRD OR. You will get the Locking Diff with the Multi-terrain select features as well as a much nicer infotainment system with navigation etc.. I was between an SR5 and TRDOR as well and I am really happy I went TRDOR.

Also, I prefer the black plastic fenders that come on the TRD OR

 

I've had my SR5 for about 8 months now and have almost 10k on it and love it, although it is a little bumpier on the road than the Off Road version from what I hear.

 

Get the sr5, do you really need to pay that much extra so your truck can show you things on a display you already know? Lol more gadgets=more problems... the OR comes with shit painted alloys, shit tires and shit overpriced suspension lol but you will get a rear diff lock though. People go for the OR because of the resale value... oh and your smart phone can tell you if it's sunny lol

 

I went with the SR5 V6 access cab. For now, it is a commuter vehicle that will get 30K mikes a year. When I hit 200K on the SR5, I will get a new vehicle and most likely build the SR5 as an off-road beast. It came down to the SR5 with no locker functions perfect for me. I do not need a locker for a commuter truck. I do wish that I bought the manual transmission. Just my personal opinion.

 

Go here and compare the two models, see what you get standard with each:

http://www.toyota.com/tacoma/features/exterior/7540/7544

To me it was a no brainer to get the Off Road package. When you compare the price difference between a standard SR5 4x4 V6 auto DBLC short bed with tow package and a standard TRD OR DBlC short 4x4 v6 auto with tow... There is actually a lot of value in the Off road package. I just did a build for each with no options except tow package and the SR5 was 34,575 and the off road was 36,515 (no tech pack granted).

With the Off road you get better fogs, color keyed mirrors/doors and black overfenders, Bed outlet, Alloy wheels, Power sliding rear window, roll/pitch displays/ qi wireless charging/ entune premium audio, push button start, multi terrain and crawl control, locking diff, Bilstein shocks and better goodyear tires.

Maybe in the real world you can get a better deal on an SR5 but I got a pretty good deal on my OR.

So basically... buy the off road, sell the Bilstein stuff to someone for a few hundred bucks and put that towards the kings.

 

I was not so impressed with all the extra gadgets in the off-road over the SR5, but the black Fender flares, the black headliner, and the seats were a factor for me.

 

I say do SR5 Auto, buy ARB Compressor and Locker.

Go with BP51's.

Rims and tires, ETC

Who knows before you get up to price difference of an OR you may can get some skids and sliders.

Keep the stock components.

When you get ready to sale go back stock.
Resale won't suffer if you keep stock parts.
If you keep upgraded parts on the truck when selling it then yes, you're hurting yourself.

Though if you look at the quality of ride and having a truck you set up I guess you wouldn't mind a bit more depreciation.

Edit: another thing I didn't consider is some dealers think the Off Roads are holy grails like a pro, you can probably negotiate a hell of a lot more on an SR5

 

Just looked up the price differential between SR5 and OR. ~$2000. It will cost $1500 for an ARB locker installed at least it seems. To me, if you want a locker, its a no brainier. Get the OR with a factory warranty on the locker and get the rest of the gadgets that come with it. If you don't want a locker, maybe the SR5 could make sense.

 

Nope. I paid for the off road model since I wanted crawl control, JBL, sunroof, dual AC, 4WD. I bought the icons before I ought the truck.

Ask every user on here if they think that putting aftermarket suspension on their truck is a waste of money.

 

Putting quality suspension components can make a world of difference and Ride handling a performance. Just like you I'm getting a truck that has the features that I want and going with TR D off-road or sport gives the most bang for the buck

 

Appreciate everyone's response and opinions. I am stepping down from the Raptor world, which IMO is over the top, and for the record, I bought mine used in early 2012 before they went super crazy cool expensive. From what I've read, its not overkill or waste per se to get a TRD Off Road and even if I upgrade the shocks or other BS down the road, I'm still getting 1) better resale because of the package and 2) spending the same or more by upgrading an SR5 which down the road might hurt resale value. Based on the feedback regarding the upgrades and also on what dealers are moving the most , Im probably best sticking with the TRD Off Road and then adding whatever BS i want down the road.

 

Welcome.

 

Sounds well thought out and a great choice. I wanna ask though, auto or standard transmission?