4Runner/Tacoma alternatives?

[Supermoon]

Local Toyota dealership has a $15k markup on the new hybrid Tundras and people are paying it. Every one they get is pre sold.

[hafjell]

Local Toyota dealership has a $15k markup on the new hybrid Tundras and people are paying it. Every one they get is pre sold.

I'm hearing that might be the case in OR. Also hearing from some dealers in states respecting MSRP that they are not selling to out-of-state buyers for fear of resale and desire to serve in-state buyers first. The game has changed.

[Ted Striker]

Last I checked, the local Toyota dealer was msrp, but pretty much all of the car brands' dealers in the next county south were added market adjustments. And the problem with those types of shenanigans is that they'll get bigger allotments because they're moving more vehicles.

[hafjell]

Last I checked, the local Toyota dealer was msrp, but pretty much all of the car brands' dealers in the next county south were added market adjustments. And the problem with those types of shenanigans is that they'll get bigger allotments because they're moving more vehicles.

Right. Small sample size, but the dealers I talked to were intent on replacing sold inventory. 10th and 25th of the month they see new cars arrive. Nervy times. They have completely reconfigured the lots to make it look like there are no "empty seats." Parallel parking along the street where they used to be nose in.

[Ted Striker]

Rereading what I said above, I meant smaller allotments/fewer vehicles (started phrasing it a different way, and did a bad edit)

And yeah, the local dealer here has a vehicle donut on the lot too. Completely hollow inside.

[El Chupacabra]

Bump. Looking at the Tacoma as a second car. SR or SR5 with Double Cab and 6' bed. Wasn't considering manual, but test drove one and it was surprisingly smooth. We own a 7 seater / mid-size SUV so long trips with gear are sorted.
Never buy new cars but lately I can't find any used inventory. Some dealers listing 3 year old cars with 60,000 miles for more than new. Yes, the used cars are more tricked out than the SR5, but I don't care about the bells and whistles. Want heated seats which I can get (I think) after market and need decent awd. Want the bed for skis and bikes.
Family of four. Tall. 6 and 8 year olds are growing. 6 year old will be a 3 in the NBA. I get that the backseat will be really tight really soon. I looked at the other small trucks and you can find a bit more room, but not enough to make it comfortable. We are aware of the Tundra. This thread claims the price is close. In my research it is not.
1. Is this too much to ask of the truck given our family size? It will be frequently driven with only one kid, so the empty front passenger seat could move all the way forward. Plenty of legroom.
2. I looked at Honda, Chevy, Ford. Eh. Am I missing something obvious?
3. Should I just buy a station wagon and bike rack?
We wouldn't mind the pickup for dump runs, house projects etc, but admit it is a bit of a vanity purchase. We do a lot of camping, and, by this thread's FS road standards, "off-roading" but I'm not planning on overlanding with this. Need it to handle rough, washed out roads and snow. Not much more. See this as a good purchase to hold some value. Wrong?

Tall people and Tacomas are not a comfortable mix IMHO. I'd be looking at a half ton crew cab for a light duty truck in that situation.

I'm sure someone here will claim they're 6'8" and fit great in a Tacoma... YMMV obviously. I'm 6'0" and think the seating position and space is terrible in them.

[Name Redacted]

Bump. Looking at the Tacoma as a second car. SR or SR5 with Double Cab and 6' bed. Wasn't considering manual, but test drove one and it was surprisingly smooth. We own a 7 seater / mid-size SUV so long trips with gear are sorted.
Never buy new cars but lately I can't find any used inventory. Some dealers listing 3 year old cars with 60,000 miles for more than new. Yes, the used cars are more tricked out than the SR5, but I don't care about the bells and whistles. Want heated seats which I can get (I think) after market and need decent awd. Want the bed for skis and bikes.
Family of four. Tall. 6 and 8 year olds are growing. 6 year old will be a 3 in the NBA. I get that the backseat will be really tight really soon. I looked at the other small trucks and you can find a bit more room, but not enough to make it comfortable. We are aware of the Tundra. This thread claims the price is close. In my research it is not.
1. Is this too much to ask of the truck given our family size? It will be frequently driven with only one kid, so the empty front passenger seat could move all the way forward. Plenty of legroom.
2. I looked at Honda, Chevy, Ford. Eh. Am I missing something obvious?
3. Should I just buy a station wagon and bike rack?
We wouldn't mind the pickup for dump runs, house projects etc, but admit it is a bit of a vanity purchase. We do a lot of camping, and, by this thread's FS road standards, "off-roading" but I'm not planning on overlanding with this. Need it to handle rough, washed out roads and snow. Not much more. See this as a good purchase to hold some value. Wrong?

I've been thinking of selling my 2020 Tacoma TRD OR Crew Cab Short Bed in Manual w/ tech package (heated seats). 33k miles, magnetic grey. It has a ARE topper with Windoors, roof rails, inner window pop out, etc (but I could sell that separately). Newish Nokian Nordman 7 snow tires, nice Italian leather Clazzio seat covers. It is in CO (80435). PM if you want Info. Probably looking at something in the high $30k range. Title in hand.

And I'm 6'2" and have no issues. Rarely have anyone sitting behind me though. Main complaint is that beer cans don't fit under the seats. Selling it because I just don't really need it. I have a few work vehicles to drive and all I do is work anymore so WTF do I need a nice truck for anymore?

[easyrdr]

@halfjell,
I'm 5'10, I drive a tacoma crew cab as my second car. My primary family ride is a full size Chevy. Any taller than me and I wouldn't touch it. My seat is far enough back that my 7 year old can not sit behind me. I treat mine as a toy truck, doesn't really do truck stuff as much as I use it for getting to trailheads with the dogs/mountain bike. If I had to use it as my daily driver with the family I would have sold it long ago. I agree with ElChup, half ton is the way to go, fits the family comfortably and can do all the stuff a truck is supposed to do.

[Ted Striker]

Main complaint is that beer cans don't fit under the seats.

Ha! That was one of my gripes too. And since the 'take out only' during the pandemic brought growlers back, the fact that they didn't fit in the back doors.

As for height, I'm a little over 6 ft and I didn't mind it but my head did brush the roof a little - especially when wearing a hat. And sometimes the low windshield made it hard to see the light if you were first at smaller intersections.

Also agree that if you want to do real truck stuff you probably want a real truck. A Tacoma is definitely a toy.

[hafjell]

Thanks, dudes, for the common sense. I'm 6'4" and when I drive, the rear seat behind me isn't really usable for anything but boxes. Just can't get my head around a half ton for the price. We will be able to make a sizeable downpayment so it's conceivable. It's just a lot of money tied up in vehicles. My headstone in the cemetery will read, "Ten grand short," as I am always about that much from being able to make the right call. $10K short this summer, so I painted the house, etc.
@Redacted, let me think about. Seems like a fair deal.

[BCMtnHound]

Add another vote for a half ton crewcab for taller family if a pickup is a must. 6’2”, and both my ‘85 and my ‘03 had/have sunroofs to make them bearable. The 2015 tacos (sans sunroofs) we recently gave up for colorados in the work fleet were tight in the headspace if the road was rough or my back needed the seat to be more upright.

[hafjell]

Add another vote for a half ton crewcab for taller family if a pickup is a must. 6’2”, and both my ‘85 and my ‘03 had/have sunroofs to make them bearable. The 2015 tacos (sans sunroofs) we recently gave up for colorados in the work fleet were tight in the headspace if the road was rough or my back needed the seat to be more upright.

I thought the sunroof lowered the headroom to accommodate the glass sliding into the roof? Iow, thicker roof.
Pricing the 2023 Tundra SR 4x4 5.5' bed now. Seems I could sneak into the most basic version for $43,810 delivered, +6% state tax and $399 doc fees. So, ~$46,838. There's a chance I have $30K to $35K as down payment so monthly carry is doable. Just seems like a lot of f-ing car. Smarter play would be...? Give up the dream of the vanity truck? Probably wisest. Still need something with 4x4, which would be? Way more expensive Volvo? Subaru wagon? They rotted through the wheel wells at 95,000 miles when we were swapping used wagons every few years. Have they gotten sturdier since 2014? Used cars within 500 miles are showing up at same cost as new.

[carlh]

I’m 6’3” with a tall 6yo and recently bought a new vehicle. I shopped trucks but damn the are expensive to buy and drive for no real advantage for me. My total cost of ownership spread sheet said a used f150 was going to be an extra $2k per year over most other options. I ended up with a Honda Pilot and our other car is a Nissan leaf cause they are basically free to drive in town.
If this is a second car for playing around why go fancy and new, cars last a long ass time these days. Awd plus space for 2 kids buy a 5yo mid sized crossover for $25k and a utility trailer for $300 for house shit and use the extra cash on shit that matters.

[hafjell]

If this is a second car for playing around why go fancy and new, cars last a long ass time these days. Awd plus space for 2 kids buy a 5yo mid sized crossover for $25k and a utility trailer for $300 for house shit and use the extra cash on shit that matters.

Hard to argue with this.

[bagtagley]

Hard to argue with this.

Minivan owners disagree.

[timackie]

I can’t say enough great things about my 2004 double cab tundra. It fits 4 men greater than 6’ comfortably with a weeks worth of gear for an 8 hour drive. My family of 4 continues to spill food and drinks in it and i don’t care because it is worth $10k with 190k miles, which is what I bought it for in 2008 with 100k miles. With a tall topper, 4 bikes fit in the bed and the 6 1/2 foot bed allows comfy sleep on occasion. The bad is it can be hard to park in the city and 15mpg is as good as it gets. It is not a daily driver.
$20k gets you one in good condition with 100k miles from a dealer in Denver.

[Ted Striker]

This is free advice on the internet, so it's worth just that, but I think the used car market will soften considerably over the next year or two, and the dealers will be forced to follow suit on new vehicles. Although the chip shortage is still slowing production on some lines, the overall numbers seem to be ticking upward.

Something like 80+% of new cars, and a little more than half of the used cars on the market are financed. And the fed is doing their damnedest to reduce demand. I've been in a few car dealers over the last month or so, and have been casually quoted "excellent credit" rates on new cars start around 5%. Research tells me used car loans can be north of 8% and climbing. Guessing a good chunk of it is subprime too.

The Manheim wholesale used vehicle index is around 200 (steady drop every month from an all-time high of 236 in January). So if Bobby Stainless were in the midrange truck business, he could buy them at auction for less. Whether or not he's passing the savings along to you is, of course, another story.

Unless the manufacturers intentionally limit production (car forum conspiracy theorists say they already are), everything else is downward pressure on prices.

[Ted Striker]

I can’t say enough great things about my 2004 double cab tundra.

1st gen Tundras are great. Still a huge Toyota Tax on them here in the pnw.

[XXX-er]

Ha! That was one of my gripes too. And since the 'take out only' during the pandemic brought growlers back, the fact that they didn't fit in the back doors.

As for height, I'm a little over 6 ft and I didn't mind it but my head did brush the roof a little - especially when wearing a hat. And sometimes the low windshield made it hard to see the light if you were first at smaller intersections.

Also agree that if you want to do real truck stuff you probably want a real truck. A Tacoma is definitely a toy.

If i go to the safeway/ liqor store p-lot sure there are some real trucks but a whole lota people don't carry much of anything so the short box PU's with a Tonneau cover which my neighbor tells me up narth is pronounced tunnel cover is very popular

I think it might be smart to let things shake out for a couple years then look at a tundra or f-150 just cuz

Its hard to argue with the sales figures for the tacoma or the tundra

I don't carry much in the Tacoma at 5'8" it fits me fine and besides

tall people got no reason to live

[Ted Striker]

If i go to the safeway/ liqor store p-lot sure there are some real trucks but a whole lota people don't carry much of anything so the short box PU's with a Tonneau cover which my neighbor tells me up narth is pronounced tunnel cover

But where does the narth fall on the great "cap/topper/camper shell" debate?

[XXX-er]

well if you think about it a 4dr crew cab with a tunnel cover is functionally not much different than a 4 door family sedan so they buy a truck and never do any truck things

if I count the number of truck light vs real trucks there are probably more truck light in that lot at any given time in a town where we got farming/ ranching/ forestry

I think all these shortbed PU's just get driven to the safeway the liquor store or maybe venture out all the way canadian tire

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I saw a crew cab Hilux diesel in the Walmart parking lot this week. It had Mexican plates from Colima. I thought it was a Canyon at first glance. Nice rig.


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[bennymac]

well if you think about it a 4dr crew cab with a tunnel cover is functionally not much different that a 4 door family sedan

I think all these shortbed PU's just get driven to the safeway the liquor store or maybe venture out all the way canadian tire

well at least on the way out to Canadian Tire you could gaze at the sidewalk to nowhere

[The Tortoise]

Have you considered the Ridgeline? I think that will get you the truck duties you're after along with a lot more comfort.

[XXX-er]

I havent seen the sign lately but in any case it is or was a rule so the town had to do that ^^ even tho it made no sense and what would make more sense was to put that $$$$$$ into a fund

the thing to do is not make any improvements > 100,000 $ which does not trigger the sidewalk tax

or stradle 2 years so 100000 this year and 100000 the next january