Sales are Down

Hi all Newbie here. Interesting thread and comments. After my '00 Exploder, unexpectedly, gave up the ghost two weeks ago ... I started looking for a vehicle. That vehicle had to have the following requirements:
1) four wheel drive
2) fairly rugged and be at home on the two tracks and mild off road
3) short wheel base for maneuverability in the forests
4) I hunt, fish and trap ... so a bed would be nice (the wife got pissy when I bring home a skunk in the Explorer, LMAO).
5) comfortable to drive
6) room inside for our two springer spaniels (heck they are spoiled)
7) I don't need all the bells and whistles & birth control in the vehicle (heck, I wish I could still get vinyl flooring)
8) And it still has to be my daily driver

Now go and look around and see what your options are.
1) Explorers ... they are pretty near the same price as the Tacoma. But they have certainly become less utilitarian and have more foo-foo crap than my old one.
2) Mid sized trucks ... heck there really is only one worth looking at. I could have waited another month or two for the new Chevy (whatever its called) ... but from what I have seen, it is geared towards yuppie type commuters that will probably actually never use the 4wd. Price, I did not ever see that ... but with comparable options, I think the price will be right in there with the Explorer and the Tacoma.
3) Full size truck ... why?? I don't need it and don't want a V8 (and IMHO, a V6 has no place in a full size truck). Maybe a base model full size would be comparable $$ wise to the Tacoma with TRD Off Road ... but a full size with the same package certainly would not.

Resale price really impressed me on the used Tacomas. I started looking used and then realized new were not that much more $$.

As far as sales being down ... you don't see it here in Michigan. I was at three dealers and between all three I bet I only saw 10 Tacomas, total. Only one DC with the TRD Off Road, and it was sold. There were a couple TRD Sport double cabs. And various other configurations.

I was insistent on a double cab with the off road pkg and it had to be spruce. The dealer found one and had to go 360 miles to pick it up (trailered). Now maybe they quit painting in spruce a little early (last year for it) and that is why they are hard to find ... but I tell you what ... the blue was not that much easier to find (that was option #2).

So I have had my new truck for a week and love it. Do I think I made the perfect choice for what I need? Yep. Was it big $$ ... he!! yes .. but not really that much more than a comparable, with similar options. Does my butt tighten when I think of the payment ... yep ... but that's cause I'd been driving the Exploder with no payment for over 10yrs.

Sorry for the long first post, but I thought it might be interesting to hear from a newcomer to the Tacoma.

 

I bought a brand new base model, 5 lug, standard cab, 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual transmission 1996 Toyota Tacoma for $10,000 cash out the door.

Drove it for 17 years...

...and sold it for $4,000 cash.

Then I bought brand new base model, 5 lug, standard cab, 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual transmission Toyota Tacoma for $19,000 cash out the door. Applying the money from the 1996 to the 2012, it only cost me $15,000. And I'll drive this one for another 17 years.

I know how to get my money's worth.


Greg

 

Toyota probably makes more money on Tacoma's, than any other vehicle they sell. Seeing that the tooling hasn't changed in over a decade. I think there are only two vehicles that have made their manufacture more money, are the Ford Ranger & Crown Vic.

I mean seriously it's business 101, why re-tool, and spend unnecessary funds to redesign a product, if it sells just fine as is? If I owned Toyota, I run the 2nd gen as long as I could, until their was at least a 20-30% decline.

Most of the Jeep community, would be happy if the Wrangler never changed. Porsche enthusiast's wished they never stopped building the 993 Aircooled cars, even though the current is better in almost every way.

To be honest, I would be thrilled to buy a modern interpretation of an '81 Hilux, straight axles and all, manual, long box, single cab. 2.7 motor with direct injection, all of the modern extras like e-lockers, traction control. roll and stability programming, blue tooth, entune, cruise, etc... keep it at or under $20K and sell it as a mini-truck, and upsell the Tacoma as a mid-sized, Tundra Full sized etc..

 

Finally got my 14 TRD Sport A/C 4X last Friday. Serious shipping delays to Maui.
Sold same model 07 in 2013 for a Titan. 16 months/16k miles, had enough of the Nissan.
Suffered 4 weeks of a rental Sentra, because of shipping delays.
Very little inventory in the islands, had to bring this one in from Oahu.
Even searched west coast. They were trying to sell vehicles that were in transit, not on the lot yet.
Very stoked to be back in a taco.

 

I would rather suck a 4 dicked dog than drive that!

 

The 2.7 Liter Engine is far from gutless.

159 hp (119 kW) at 5,200 rpm, and 180 lbf·ft (244 N·m) of torque at 3,800 rpm

This is plenty of guts for a midsized truck.

 

Buddy at work just bought a new Frontier DC.

I will have a chat with him 100k miles from now.

 

he won't have it 100k miles from now.................

 

I think that in the long run, experience and history will be the best indicators of Tacoma's worthiness. I seldom ever read anything about service issues and with all of the available information you can pour over, it's a no-brainer. Sure, there are numerous other trucks on the market and some of them are very good vehicles but, you have to decide why you need or want a truck and consider all of the other decision points when purchasing. My Tacoma, 2013 dcsb I4, is used for commuting to work, about 15 mile a day total, and it is all I need.

 

They paid it all back + interest. Time to take your hat off and join reality...

It was a sound investment for America and Americans...unless you hate our country and it's workers?

or just like to support countries like Japan who have an emperor? If so please feel free to move there.

 

My old co-worker still drives his '02 Frontier DCLB. He bought it new and now is over 300,000 miles. All he's had to do to it is replace some rusted exhaust. I know everyone's results very. IMO the Frontier is the 2nd best mid sized truck out there.

 

&

So, with that logic, would you favor a bailout for, say, Coca Cola, J@J, 3-M or any other large, private, investor owned corporation simply because they mismanage their operation? I mean, it's only your tax dollars that are being spent with no guarantee you will ever get it back plus, who are all of the beneficiaries of those bailouts? Can you name them?

 

LMFAO as I clean up my key board of coffee.....

 

That's a bold move!!!

 

STFU GTFO

 

If we don't bail them out they move to chine, or move Mexico here. That being said I'm sure it's a corrupt system

 

No, if we don't bail them out, they can either sell their company, down size or close. Competition will pick up the pieces.

 

The sky is falling

 

FIFY

 

I agree with your first point, but your second point is very ignorant. The tacoma is built in Texas and Toyota's profits are publicly shared by Americans on the NYSE. Also, Japan's political structure is far more favorable than most of the countries we choose to import a large proportion of our products from.