Why we decided on a 24 Taco Off-Road
- Thread starter Beninbeta
- Start date
Blue Oval 5.0
Active member
Your logic makes complete sense to me. Congrats! I like how you analyzed each truck as well as the strengths and weaknesses. Best of luck with the new rig. Looking forward to seeing it when it arrives.
Beninbeta
Well-known member
Thanks! I appreciate the view and the feedback as well. It took a while to get the time to drive what I could, but in the end it's about what is best for each person. I also think some people have a tendency to become too brand loyal and that prevents them from getting something that might be a better fit for their needs, but in the end getting what works for you and makes you happy is the best way to go.
Liked, subscribed AND left a comment!
BTW, I don't know if you caught that part of the forum rules, but it states if you buy a new truck, you MUST drive it up to me. It is in pretty small print, subsection 4, paragraph G, page 1,388.
BTW, I don't know if you caught that part of the forum rules, but it states if you buy a new truck, you MUST drive it up to me. It is in pretty small print, subsection 4, paragraph G, page 1,388.
All Terrain Nation
Member
My only concern with the new Toyota is payload and towing. The motor option Toyota have picked seems to be very under powered in the current market. Even when you factory the current line ups the small 4 cylinder is the weakest out there. I feel like the truck is the 1st miss for the Toyota brand. Good video though
Beninbeta
Well-known member
I very much appreciate it and I'd be more than happy to work something out and drive it up to you!Liked, subscribed AND left a comment!
BTW, I don't know if you caught that part of the forum rules, but it states if you buy a new truck, you MUST drive it up to me. It is in pretty small print, subsection 4, paragraph G, page 1,388.
Beninbeta
Well-known member
We still don't seem to know what the final payload numbers will be yet, but if it's 1200 or better that's enough for us and we don't really plan to tow much either. Plus from what Tim and others have said the fact that the Toyota has great low end torque, that's also more important than overall horsepower numbers. Driveability is far more important than horsepower.
Well, not really. The HP and Torque numbers are actually pretty good. The standard Ranger engine is actually less powerful. Let's be honest, if you are regularly towing more than 5000lb you should probably get a full size truck. I certainly wouldn't want to tow 7000lb that long in a little truck. The GM twins have more power, but that engine is heavily tuned and gets horrible mileage. I'm sure you could crank this one up hard if you tuned it as well. The V6 mid sizers are going away. V8s are going away as well. You can potentially get a 2.7 in the Ranger, but it's not available for order. The Raptor has a big V6, but the numbers are similar to the hybrids and again terrible mileage. I would never buy a Nissan with all of their issues. We all have our priorities, but I drove a 3rd Gen and passed because unless I floored it, I felt like it couldn't get out of it's own way. I'm fine with the turbo.
Fightnfire
Moderator
The 2.7 in the Chevy/GM has more low end torque 348 @ 1,500 RPM (391 @ 2k) for the MID output vs. 317 @ 1,700 for the Tacoma. The high output pushes those numbers further and then hitting 430 at 3k. Toyota made a huge deal of that "low end torque" during their drive and press events because they were getting in front of putting out the weakest engine in the midsize segment. They knew the concern.
In the end, grats on the truck. I think Toyota is a great product and as stated before I don't really think you can go wrong these days. I only post the number because so many journalists are pushing that torque claim by Tacoma disregarding that in comparison, it's low. I feel like they're getting a pass on it.
A few differnet sources have the full torque curve of the 2.7, this is from GM authority. https://gmauthority.com/blog/2022/1...installed-high-output-l3b-engine-calibration/
Beninbeta
Well-known member
Yeah, I totally understand and numbers are numbers you cannot dispute them. But how those numbers translate into the real world and when enough is enough is more important to me, personally. I definitely watched the infamous TFL drag race between the Colorado and the Taco and the Colorado smoked the the Toyota. Did it make me think about a ZR2? A little, but you buy a truck not an engine and I think many people get too caught up in the specs, and to each their own, and lose sight of the entire package. What's awesome is we have so much choice and can choose what's best for us. The issue, for me, is that people become super loyal to a brand and won't even look at something that might be better for them and their situation.
I have driven everything I can get my hands on, and I'm taking a chance on the Toyota, based on impressions from great people like Tim. I liked all of the vehicles I drove in one fashion or another, and the major things I didn't like about the Toyota seemed to be addressed. I hope I'm not making a mistake, but time will tell. I probably shouldn't rush so much. That's what my wife always says anyway!
Fightnfire
Moderator
I drove an 09 Tacoma for over 10 years and put 200k on it. I loved that truck but I couldn't go with the 3rd gen, just hated the drivetrain. I agree that too many people are too brand loyal. However, I will say in this case specifically, when you look at price I don't think Toyota is making the best truck. I think they're all pretty damn good trucks as I'm sure the Ranger will be when we see it. I've built and priced out so many and the Tacoma is so much more expensive with not much extra, if any, to show for it.
I'm sure they will still dominate the market but for the first time in a very long time the Toyota fans seem to be noticing. In another forum I've been a member of for a very long time (Tacomaworld.com) they're starting to ask the questions on price and taking note of the GM twins and upcoming Ranger.
I moved on to full size but if I was shiopping midsize I would be waiting for the Tacoma hybrid pricing to see just how much more an TRD OR is going to be with the hybrid. My best guess tells me a fairly well equipped OR Hybrid is going to be 7-10k more than the similar Colorado. Too much.
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Beninbeta
Well-known member
I agree with everything you said. We really wanted the hybrid, but it's out of our price range. I was so hoping the Trailhunter would be about $55-57k and then we would have went that route for sure. The major reasons we didn't go with Chevy were gas mileage 16/16 was pretty low for the ZR2 and being in the tech industry for awhile now, I thought GM was headed in the right direction with Android Automotive, but with the tech issues they have had in the past year with that system, I have concerns about how it's been implemented. Otherwise I think they are great and a ZR2 would have been a great truck too.
Fightnfire
Moderator
I didn't read through it all again but I can't remember if you have a truck on order, or just decided on what you're getting? Is your dealer doing any sort of a markup on your truck? I'm seeing posts from people irritated because they're seeing 5k-15k markups that they're being told are non-negotiable on the Tacoma.
Beninbeta
Well-known member
I have already decided, and have a deposit on a Taco that should arrive in the next 2 weeks or so. My dealer is MSRP for everything. Toyota of Colorado Springs. There are dealers charging markups for sure. However, on the Tacoma4G forums a guy there has been able to pull data from Toyota and other manufacturers into a spreadsheet so you can see the allocations for the whole country and which dealers are charing ADM, which is pretty sweet.
2024+_Tacoma_Allocation_Sheet.xlsx
Info Sponsored By: <a href="https://www.tacoma4g.com/">https://www.tacoma4g.com/</a> Trim,Last Updated,Count,Total Found:,18938 Tacoma TRD Off-Road,Thursday, February 22, 2024,3962 Tacoma SR5,Thursday, February 22, 2024,6674 Tacoma TRD Sport,Thursday, February 22, 2024,5915 Tacoma SR,Thursday, F...
Beninbeta
Well-known member
Yeah this sheet is pretty handy for a number of things. I have a final vin for my truck, but if they are presold, once they get the final VIN they drop off the dealer sites and this sheet. For example, the temp VIN is still shown on this sheet for mine, but the the new VIN is not anywhere here. However, I'm using trucks that were not presold, the are from a close ID number from the same factory to try and track progress. The dealer can see the info, but I have to guestimate. So when I see movement for the other trucks, I'll say I think it's in freight status now correct and he'll let me know what he can. Not fool proof, but it's a bit of a check. I think there were a lot more ADMs early on, and then people were not biting, plus when there is a high one, they get called out on the forums too. Not sure how much it helps, but I have watched a few lose the ADM and stupid dealer extras like paint protection.
That being said there are very precious few trucks that just have a package and not other port options, which the dealers do not control. Like the really dumb, $700, predator side steps which I luckily didn't have on my. So pretty much everything has $1-3k port options on them.
Noticed a lot of that. Looking at the Limiteds I was surprised because there really aren't any options other than the mudguards but the prices varied drastically.
It will show up eventually. My TRD OR disappeared from everything when they moved it to 'Sold'. It did show on the Sold tab of the spreadsheet, but never updated. When the truck made it to National City Rail Yard in San Diego it reappeared on the spreadsheet with my new vin under the TRD OR tab in 'Freight' status. It also came back to SmartPath listed as Sale Pending. Now it just needs to leave the rail yard and head to Ohio! It's been there almost a week.
Beninbeta
Well-known member
I'm not worried it won't show at the dealer as they have been able to track it. It's at the Denver rail yard now. Been there since the 2/22. It's literally an hour from me at the moment. I was able to get update screenshot and such from another dealer on the 4g forums today and that was nice.
Ben, have you seen this video? Figured you'd be interested as it's a departure from most Taco vids. It's long but interesting. This guy is a Toyota Master Tech. and he went over the new Taco from a mechanical point of view. Explaining all the mechanical improvements and what he sees they did well and what he thinks they didn't do so well. Answers a lot of questions about fears of the turbos and the GDI system as well as others.