Want a Taco Do I want Crawl Control vs. Manual

I am looking for a Tacoma TRD Off Road with Crawl Control; first it is hard to find for a reasonable price. Unless I want to spend 45K for a brand-new one. I have been looking around in the 30K to 36K range. But any Crawl Control vehicles are 90K plus miles. Is this worth the price? Or do I settle for a TRD without a crawl? I have seen a few nice-looking Manuals. Is the manual better than the Crawl?

I would greatly appreciate any opinions and advice you can give me.

 

Just my opinion.

Crawl Control isn’t super useful Off-Road. It’s more of a party trick for getting unstuck from sand, etc. I’ve used it a couple times but it is SLOW and I could have accomplished the same thing myself. If you have ANY Off-Road experience, you’re probably fine without it.

That said, a manual is kinda fun and you don’t get the gear hunting. It can be good or bad Off-Road depending on your terrain.

I went automatic with CC, since I drive it daily in stop and go traffic.

Either way it’s a great truck.

 

Why do you think you need it?

 

Pretty sure all third gen automatic offroads have crawl control so that should be an easy truck to find.

 

My experience with the bronco and all the goat modes... I never use it.... Get a manual and enjoy rowing gears!

 

I guess i figure so i never ever am truly stuck... maybe I just want it just in case. Sounds like I dont really NEED it... but when I NEED it and I dont have it will i regret it?

 

Not really. If you’re actually STUCK crawl control isn’t going to fix your problem.

 

so then the next question is what's a lot of miles. 2017 TRD with crawl 95K miles is 28 thousand?

 

That’s really up to you. I try to stick to 10-15k miles per Year on a used truck.

 

So it seems you a TRD Off Road with Crawl is as good as a TRD without Crawl

 

Pretty much, just get some practice Off-Road with good experienced people and you’ll be fine. I don’t go alone, unless I’m doing simple trails.

 

Yes, crawl control is really a marketing gimmick that isn't that useful in the real world. A manual transmission 3rd gen is a lot better driving experience compared to the auto.

 

I have it on mine. I used it once just to see what it was all about. The noises it makes are a bit alarming. Won't ever use it again, it's so slow! It doesn't do anything you can't do. Nothing but a gimmick along with the "modes".
Gas, brake, 4H, 4L- that's all you need.

 

Manual driver here.

Automatics are always in the gear that the Vehicle thinks it should be in.
My vehicles are in the gear that I put it in.
Which one do you want?

driver assist electronics...
These can do things that a human can not do.
In many ways, these electronics are superior to the average human driver.
a human , with the sets of controls in the taco, can not do what the CRAWL can do, can not do what ABS module can do and can not do what traction control, cruise control, etc..

all of this being said, I avoid unnecessary electronics in my vehicles. I do not have a need or a use for most of this new stuff.

I would encourage you to go for the Manual, if you plan on keeping the truck for a long time, the simpler the better. less wiring and less sensors and other parts to go wrong.

go look at 10+ year old vehicles, even Toyotas.
If the owner changed the fluids and the vehicle is drivable, you will notice a trend, that the wiring and electronic gadgets fail first. and many times, its is just degraded connections that take many hours to discover. or it is some electronic part that you will have trouble finding to purchase.

 

The problem with crawl control is it’s designed to work with the stock tires made for that truck. Guys start stuffing bigger tires and it won’t work. In my early days of using it, I got stuck in deep mud and it failed.

 

now I am debating on whether you made my decision easier or harder... lol I have one on the shelf at $28K for 2017 with crawl 95k miles but i also have one thats $35k 2017 manual with 45K miles.

 

A 17 is roughly 7 years old (depending on in service date) so somewhere around 70k would be reasonable, 55k very nice, 84k topside for me. Caveat. If *I* personally new the owner and there were a lot of highway miles (which are easy miles) AND there were a full set of service records.

As you see, prices are nuts. Used will continue to be high because new are so high.

But *I* could not see myself paying $28 large for a 7yo 95k vehicle. Too many other choices out there.

 

Please just forget crawl control exists. You're caught up in the marketing/buzzwords, and probably not making an accurate comparison between trucks. You should decide if you want auto trans or manual, and go from there. The only valuable difference (offroad performance wise) between the trims is an "off-road" has a rear locker. "TRD" also likely doesn't mean what you think it means. I'd say a little more homework could help narrow down which models/trims you're actually interested in.

FWIW, crawl control owner here - never used it, and I've been in plenty situations I could have. Don't really find any value in it. I bought an "off road" for the rear locker.

 

Okay well that helps, theres alot of I have crawl control but I never use it... Like alot... so kinda seems mute at this point

 

Low range first gear is my crawl device.