been kinda looking around at Tacomas (in the 2010ish range, give/take a couple yrs). 4-door, 4WD.

question is.....what is the difference in a standard, stripped down 4wd, vs a 4wd with the TRD package?

I don't want/need all the fancy bells/whistles inside, and I'd prefer a manual trans. so what does the more expensive TRD versions have that a regular 4wd doesn't have?

Im not sure but, Ive always thought that the suspension was just the upgraded suspension a sticker and afew thousand dollars...

I have the regular 2006 4wd tacoma... and just recently put new shocks on it

More skid plates, locking diff., different shocks

I figured it was kinda like the Z71 package on chevy/gmc's....slightly better shocks and some "cool" stickers....

I will say, however, that finding a 4-door, 4wd, manual Non-TRD Tacoma is apparently not an easy task...

now the skid plates and locking diff might be worth the extra cost

Let me ask y'all this.....how reliable/durable are the auto's in these?

To me, a 4wd without locking differential isn't really true 4wd. Isn't that considered AWD?

You will have a hard time finding a 4dr manual. They only make them special order if I remember right.

Best on the market in gas burners, look at the tests. I know a manager at the plant where they're made in Carolina. Only auto tranny better is an Allison. They are negotiating with Dodge.

To me only true 4wd is lockers in both ends, far as I know nothing comes with lockers in both ends anymore.

I wish you could special order vehicles top-to-bottom like 30-40yrs ago...

I'd love a 4-door Tacoma, 4wd with manual trans, manual transfer case and manual hubs.........but such a creature does not exist (at least not from the factory)

I'm just going to assume this is a failed attempt at sarcasm

...in the U.S.

Pretty sure the HILUX can be purchased as described.

yes, I realize that there is a little more to it than that. I think the z71 package is shocks/skids/maybe different gearing?/along with decals....

I'd kill for a HILUX...........they're about as badass a truck as you can find.

To hell with that,I had a 96 model like that and bought a 2004 double cab in 2005,I love not shifting gears or having to lock the hubs in and out,and mine has a manual xfer case

manual transfer case would be my biggest "want", but I know it's not an option on the newer ones.

stupid electronic "shift on the fly" 4wd is what's causing me so much grief in my F150 right now...

I'd like to know who the first idiot was to sit in a board room meeting and say "Hey, let's take this feature that's sole purpose is to be used in mud/water/snow/ice, and make it all electric" and I'd like to kick that chit-for-brains right square in the nuts.

Jeep Rubicon is the only one that I know of.

locked rear diff with limited slip front is sufficient for pretty much anything the average person gets into...

unless you're doing super nasty thick mud or you're doing rock crawling, you really don't need a locked front diff.

in fact, that's a good way to tear stuff up if you're not careful

Correct. The H2s and H3s have them but arent neccesarily a "current" production vehicle.

Nissans Pro4x package has rear much like the tacoma.


Ive pretty well come to the conclusion if I cant find a nice H2 or H3alpha my next vehicle will be a yota or Nissan, Im sick and damn tire of turning wrenches. Im getting to old for it.

Im finding some really nice Nissan Frontiers with the pro4x package that would fit my needs and are within budget.


That makes me feel better what you said about the toyota auto, it was something I was unsure of 2dogs.

I was kind of in the same search path a few months ago and was dead set on a Taco. The problem I had was Tacoma's with high miles going for crazy money. I'm simply not paying $12,000 for a truck with 200k miles on it. I don't care if it is a Toyota.

I started looking at Ford Rangers. I wound up with a 2004 4x4 Ranger FX4. Upgraded suspension, skids, 4.0 motor, 8.8" 4.10 Limited Slip rearend, plenty of power, runs great, drives great, looks good, 114k miles, it's a handsome truck for $6,300.

Sure it ain't the holy grail of midsized trucks... A Tacoma... but I love it. My buddy has 250k trouble free miles on his 2002 4.0, 4x4 Ranger and if I get that many miles on mine I'll be even more happy.

that's not bad, but I don't think they offered a 4-door did they?

crew cab will be a must if/when I buy another one.

I think the "Holy grail" status has been snatched away from yota with the new canyons and colorados. They have toyota redesigning the tired old taco for 2016. The new "baby" GMs are simply amazing, if you havent watch the review videos, check them out.

But it will be a few years before I could afford one.

Well... They have the suicide doors. But yeah you are right. The actual 4 doors are nice and if I still had young kids that went anywhere with me and Mrs. Irishguy I would have had to have that too...

The only place you can get actual 4 door Ford Rangers is in other countries.

I kind of agree. there's a guy here at the office that just bought a new Canyon Z71 4x4 4 door and it is a damn nice looking truck. Time will tell if they are reliable or not though...

Have you seen the new 4 door Rangers they sell in places like Australia? Equally as good looking as the new Canyon/Colorado, plus you can get them in diesel too. I hear that Ford is not bringing them here because they think they would scavenge sales away from the highly profitable F150.

They would. Simply put they have midsize trucks overseas (AU specifically), that would do more than what 98% of Americans need. The Hilux as mentioned before is one such animal.

Irishguy, I went searching those are some nice looking trucks.


I guess I always considered the sport trak for a 4 door "ranger" if I was looking. Plus you can get them with a V8

Did't they make an SVT version too?

We are probably about the only country that has "full sized" pick-up trucks as we know them. Other countries either have "mid sized" trucks or some kind of commercial type trucks.

Yes the Adrenalin

If I'm not mistaken ford has had issues with the vacuum lines on the 4wd selector,my buddies wouldn't go into 4wd if it was below 35 degrees

They do. They also have problems with the electric motor that actually shifts the transfer case or, as is likely my problem, the transfer case shift relay thing that is in the dash behind the radio and nearly impossible to access. I'm convinced Ford did that intentionally so you would have to bring it in to fix it if/when it quit working, instead of fixing it yourself.

The vacuum lines only engage the front hubs. The transfer case is all electronic.

You do know that most transfer cases have been electric shift for many years , even those with a stick in the floor ( Chevy) . The shifter works a electric selector/solenoid. When I bought my 98 Chevy 4X4 2500, I orderd it with a stick, later found out it too was electric shift.

And most are SOF, my 99 Hoe is. You have to stop only for 4low.

yep....I miss my '88 yota. you could literally hear/feel the transfer case shifter going in/out of gear when you shifted it.

They have'nt even come close to earning their spurs, much less being the new Sheriff in town.

On the Toyota autos, my man tells me they buy other make trucks , pull the trannies out, and hook the Tundra auto to them then hook them to a power plant. The Toyota tranny will ring the guts out of any gas burner truck tranny on the market today.

When I had my Taco I was as bad about getting on the Tacoma forum everynight as I am about aldeer.According to those guys the auto tranny is actually a better beefier trans than the manual as far as the case of the Tacos.I loved mine and never had intentions of seeing her go but a drunk driver put her in the salvage yard and me in the hospital.

I drove one earlier this week and trust me its night and day. The new ones are like driving a new full size truck, a yota, still like driving a shifter cart by comparison. More power, better gas milage, bigger payload and towing and bigger??? I get that it will take time to tell dependability but they are clearly beat on every other level. Its simple math really.

I bought a 09 with 45,000 miles on it for 26K, at the time I thought it was a good deal, still do until the payment some in the mail and then I start questioning myself. I like my Taco, quiet, comfortable and gets great gas mileage, not to big of a truck for my needs.

Ford , and Chevy has never made a small truck that could hang with a Toyota, time will tell if they have now. Doesn't matter if they'll pull a train and ride like a Caddy if they're broke and in the shop, or worn slap out.

I have th 2012 tacoma. Now it has the TRD package which is different seats skid plates locking rear diff and better shocks. Now my truck minus the TRD package is the base model. And it has all the bells and whistles I want or ever would minus heated seats and NAV. But u will say this much. It is te smoothest shifting tranny I've ever felt. My boss has an 07 with 263k on the auto transmission and not a lick of problems. The trucks are NOT known for their Cadillac ride on the pavement. But they do everything good or as good as you can expect from a mid size truck. I get about 17mpg goin back and forth to work in the city an about 18 on the highway but my truck also has 3" of lift and bigger 285/75/16 tires and bumpers front and rear along with rock slide bars. I bought the truck with everything done to it already and it had 28k on it which is new to me. Bought it certified pre owned which gives you the new car finance rate. Alon with a free toyota extended warranty. They are not cheap! But I searched for about 2 months and drove to clanton to buy it. But the "unicorn" you are looking for is out there. Just be patient. Btw I paid $26k for mine. They are not cheap!

Exactly. Good post.

I had a Mazda b2300 with a ford engine. I had 340k miles when I sold it. Guy still drives it. It's had a thermostat and a clutch.

Um yes, yes it very much does matter.

You still see a lot of old Rangers on the road and they quit making them in 2011. If the Tacoma is 2x to 3x the truck that the Ford Ranger is [as the asking prices would indicate...] I would really like to see some data [Other than internet talk] to back this up. I've driven both, owned 3 Rangers, and I've seen tons of old, beat to hell Rangers with high miles and still going strong and frankly, I don't buy the hype.

Like I said earlier... I was all set to buy a Taco based on the reputation, but once I got to researching the subject I couldn't justify the price premium. It just didn't add up.

The ranger is a truck thats never appealed to me (looks wise) but there is no denying theres a pile of old ones running around. Just a quick search showed many for sale with 150-200K on em.

I have an ex b.i.l that I keep in touch with.He has a 94 ranger with well over 500,000 miles on it and nothing more than stuff like starter,water pump,alternator,battery and brakes have ever had to be worked on.truck looks like crap but gets him from cullman to bessemer and back everyday.

Funny how people are different. I've always thought the Rangers were good looking pick-ups, especially later models with the 4x4 suspension.

I like the looks of the previous generation Tacos too. Don't like the newer Tacos. All the Tacos I sat in and drove the seats were too low to the floor for a proper pick-up to have. It was like sitting in a jacked up car.

I just bought a 2004 Ext Cab PreRunner with 194000.
It has a lift kit with oversized tires. Rides a little rough over bumps but handles great on the road and shifts smooth.
I had looked for a couple of months trying to find one in decent shape for a fair price.
You don't find too many Tacomas for sell with low miles. I know, I looked.
I did look at the double cabs and even the 05 access cab, but I just like the body style of the 2000-04 much better.

I got a good deal on my 2001 pre runner SR5 i got from a family friend in August. It was well maintained but had low milage, only 110,000 when I bought it, and I paid 8,000 for it. I didn't know much about stepside beds then but I am really glad it came with a stepside bed, i have really grown to like the look. To the OP - www.tacomaworld.com is your friend. But there are differences between the TRD sport and TRD offroad packages. I think they both have skidplates and like a 3" lift, and the TRD Sport has the faux-hood scoop. I forget exactly what is different about the offroad, some do have the rear locker. But check to make sure. Mine is TRD offroad but has no rear locker.

You got a good deal for $8k

Thanks, yeah i didn't realize how lucky at the time. The guy that owned it had moved to Aspen I believe. Somewhere in CO where he needed 4 wheel drive, and it was basically sitting at his parents house who didn't want to fool with trying to sell it. I'm happy with it, i only owe about 1900 on it. once I pay it off I am going to be looking to sell/trade it towards a Generation 1 Tacoma with 4 wheel drive

I have a 4x4 trd 4door. 2005. First year of new body style. I had to have mine ordered and made at factory. At that time there had only been 4 made. Mine was the 5th.

I've never really understood the concept of a compact truck. Why do ppl want less power, less room, yet the same fuel economy and price of a half ton pick up?

OK, let me get my truck outa the shop ,and I'll show ya how to haul. Now that's funny. You cherry picked my post, make the whole sentence bold or none at all please.

Can't go wrong with a Tacoma!

Resale. there's something to that hype. I've bought several used Tacos and driven them 2-4 years and sold them for what I paid or more. Only cost during ownership was general maintenance items. You won't do that with anything else consistently, period.

I had a '87 Bronco II once, good machine, but it would get stuck before it got to a rough place.

Reliability,resale value and easier to get around in the woods for me,I don't have a boat or camper to pull so a tacoma works for me

Did it have a Ford or Mazda engine? I thought the little Fords were Mazda drive trains. Basically A Mazda with Ford badges.

reliability and resale are good reasons

Resale? If trends continue, you can buy any 4x4 truck for trade in value, run up 50k miles on it and sell it for the same ammount 3-5years later.

In 2008, I bought a '05 f-150 fx4 ext cab, with 63k miles on it for a little less than 10k. I sold it like an idiot after about 25k miles and got my money out of it. That same truck today with 100k more miles than when I bought it, would sell for 13-15k.

In 2010 I bought a '04 duramax 4x4 ext cab with 130k miles on it for 8500. It was the basic edition. I kept it about two years, put 45k ish miles on it and sold it for 10.2k. Wanna guess how much that same truck would sell for today? with 100k more on the odometer?

Hyper inflation is very real over the last 5 or so years on used truck prices. My point is, I wouldn't point to resale value as a feather in the hat during current times.

as far as reliability goes, I'm not convinced that today's toyotas are of the same quality as older models. Maybe I just had a bad experience, but buying a 1 owner '06 4-runner sr5 4x4, with a 99% carfax and religious maintenance. Then having damn near $4k worth of problems out of it, has convinced me that toyota is not all its cracked up to be.

Toyota trucks been holding value and getting top resale $ a lot longer than the last 5 years. I've been rodeoin' with Toyotas a looooooong time.

Toyota

The Toyota Tacoma is the number one resale value vehicle in the world, above any other model, period. It's almost not worth it to buy a 3 or 4 year old used one because you save very little.

I think they were passed last year for a while by........you guessed it, another Toyota, the FJ Cruiser. When Toyota announced they were ending production they took off like a rocket. Last few months buying one for sticker price was a deal. Many dealers were getting well over sticker price.

Now they've stopped making regular cab Tacos. I have a black '06 in the yard.

I didn't bold it because it's nonsensical to me. Yes you generally work more on any American vehicle but it's not "in the shop all the time". And yes my old wore out chevy is "like a caddy" compared to yota 10 years newer. Compare a yota and a GM or ford of equal years and it's laughable.

I'm not denying they are dependable. I even think they are nice looking trucks but the fact is whether you are anyone else driving them will admit it or not, you ARE uncomfortable. You ain't hitting the cruise on the interstate in a taco and kicking back, stretching out and relaxing while the miles click off. You are cramped, twisting around moving and working your azz off looking for your exit the whole time. I know I've had small trucks and even they were bigger than tacos.

It had Ford Motor Co stamped on the engine. Idk about the rest of the truck, running gear, etc.

Please stop embarrassing yourselves by comparing a damn toyota to a z71. It makes you all sound queer. A "taco" may not require much wrenching but niether have the GM trucks I've owned. But ain't NO WAY IN HELL a yota or Nissan even compares. If think so, your kidding yourself and you're a stinky face liar head!

I've got 2 dogs in this fight. Pardon the pun, but I have two trucks to mention here. I had a 2002 Ranger 2wd 4.0 liter that I bought new that was a great, and I mean great little truck. I traded it off recently for a 2008 4 door Taco. It looked a little rough, as a few of You can verify, but it was as dependable as anything on the road.

The Ranger had 209,7?? miles on it when I handed the keys to the new owner and the only issue I had during 13 years and nearly 210,000 miles was an electrical thingy that caused the dash lights and radio to go crazy every now and then. Other than that, only maintenance items. No alternators, no AC compressors, no brake boosters, no injectors, no valve cover gaskets, nothing, nothing but tires, wiper blades, batteries, etc.

The Taco has nearly 150,000 miles on it and I didn't hesitate a second to pull the trigger after an initial check over and test drive despite the miles. I have had it for less than 2 months, but so far, what's not to like. If I wanted a Caddy, I would have bought a Caddy. It is a Taco. It is what it was designed to be, and so far, it's doing a fine job of being a midsized 4wd truck that can haul people and small loads very efficiently and dependably. I don't like backing my boat with it though, as compared to the Ranger.

For what its worth, my old 1990 F-250 has over 340,000 miles on the 7.3 international motor in it. New water pump, alternator, and radiator is all ever been done to it. ALthough its got to have some glow plugs before next winter. Now this ole truck will get you 20 miles a gallon empty, 14-15 loaded pulling 20,000 lbs. Now, it aint no yota, but I like it...

But the 92 Yota, i use has been tuff. It has '84 model running gear under it..

Well, I reckon that is why I said during current times. As in this discussion is about current trucks and not your old reliable Toyotas of 20 years ago. Like I said, I never for a minute doubt that for a long time, Toyota has made the most dependable truck out there. I'm just not convinced that the newer ones are up to the same standard.

I bought a new 14 TRD Off Road 4dr auto 4x4 for $30,500 plus tax and fees. Somebody a page or so back said they paid $26k+ for an 08 with 45k miles.

That's why I ended up with a new one. 2 years old with 20-30k miles are almost as much as new and a 5-6 yr old with 50-65k miles still bring within $6k of new.

NOTHING ELSE has reale like this. WHY, you ask? I assure you, it's not mass delusion, EVERYBODY isn't drinking the Kool Aid. People pay good money for them because they are reliable mostly and economical as well.

I AVERAGE 19.4 mpg most tanks. This includes 75-80mph down the interstate and a fair amount of in town driving. It will drop to 14-15 if I pull a trailer with any kind of load.

I had an '05 Duramax 2500 that had to have wheel bearings (both sides), tailight wiring, a steering shaft replaced and several other repairs I don't remember inside of 60k miles. RI EFFING DICULOUS.

CHEVY's are generally engineered well, they just screw the pooch buying everything from the lowest bidder. GM didn't make those wheel bearing hub sets, they just bought them from the wrong supplier. A full size GM or Ford (I'd as soon have syphillis as a damn Dodge, I won't say Ram) will ride and pull better than a Toyota Tacoma but can't hang with a Tundra (except on mileage) but you are comparing apples and pineapples.

Compare a Tundra to a F150 or 1500 GM and it's VERY close in ride, pull, etc and the Tundra will last a LONG time. I heard Rebelman and Nighthunter had transmission troubles with their Soterra supplied Tundras but that's the only bad reviews on Toyota reliability I ever heard first hand.

As good as the old 2.4 (22r and re)was the current 2.7 is better, more HO, don't blow head gaskets or have timing chain issues at about 150K miles. Transmissions both manual and auto are stronger and smoother. Trust me on this, latest gen Taco has a pretty bullet proof drive train. I've owned 4X4 Toyotas from '82 to '14 models, prolly 12-15 of them.

I can assure you, they are. I worked for Toyota for 10+ years and have worked countless hours of overtime due to a minute "possibility" of a production issue. If there's is even the slightest chance of a problem, of any kind, shipping stops and nothing leaves the building until it is 100% cleared.

oh Chit.......it just got real

I own a '98 Chevy 2500HD 4X4 I bought new. I keep it around because it has it's place, pulling a goose neck,hauling a ton of fertilizer and such. I'm not arguing the point of size and what each is capable of. I love driving it, long as gas ain't $4 a gallon, if you have horses , ya gotta feed them . The old chevy has 130K miles and I'm certain I've spent more in repairs on it than any Toyota I've owned.

A couple of reasons for me...

1. Mini-Trucks basically came to the US when I was a young kid. THe little Datsuns, Ford Couriers, Toyota Hi-Lux, etc... And I just thought they were cool, especially the 4x4 mini-trucks. I had a Datsun Little Hustler pickup until my first wife wrecked it... Twice!

2. I've had several small trucks since then and I work at an office and mainly use my truck as a truck on the weekends to haul stuff around the house and tools and stuff to the cabin. I like the smaller foot print of trucks like the Ranger. It's easier to get into and out of tight places. Plus I think they re better in the woods.

3. This last time I was shopping for a truck I had a multitude of trucks on the shopping list: Full sized Chevys, Ford, Dodges, Tundras, etc... Plus Tacoma, Ranger and Nissan and even the Dakota V8. However I was shopping to a price point, about $8000. I wanted to keep it to something I could pay cash for. (I don't believe in debt, especially for something like a vehicle.) And I wanted a 4x4 because I had a 4x2 Dakota and a 4x4 Cherokee and I wanted just one vehicle. I couldn't find any of the other trucks with what I wanted in decent condition and found my 2004 Ranger FX4 with everything on my checklist and in excellent condition for way below my price point.

But yeah... You make a good point. For instance:

I got a later model Dodge full sized pick-up for a rental to drive to one of our plants on the coast one week. It was 4x2, 4 door with the 4.7 liter V8 and I drove it there and back, running around the coast, the plant , etc... and checked the mileage at every fill-up by dividing the gallons pumped into the trip odometer reading and that thing averaged 25 mpg for the entire trip. Amazing! That 4.7 had plenty of power too. If I could have got one of those for my price point, I would be driving it today.

Contrast that to my Ranger with the 4.0, 4x4, 31" tires, 4.10 rear end and I'm averaging about 18.5 mpg commuting from Trussville to Inverness, which aint too bad.

Well Gomerpyle I have your holy grail of trucks your looking for and just so happens it is fixing to go onto the market if your interested. It's a 05 double cab trd sr5 6 speed 4 wheel drive currently with 123,000 miles. I will have to say this was the first taco i've owned and i will own another one also. At first i didnt care for the loss of room but i came out of a crew cab f250 4wd so yea it was a good bit of difference. But in all honestly I would rather drive the taco due to it handles better easier to park and it's just a nice truck. But hit me up if you would be interested in it.

How much are you selling your truck for Bud out of curiousity? Not in the market right now just curious.

What year dodge did you drive that got 25 mpg? I can't find anywhere that list the 4.7 getting anywhere even close to that, regardless of year model.

It was more than likely a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab with the 4.7 liter engine. Don't know the gearing and not sure of the year. only know it was definitely a Dodge 4 door and it had the 4.7. It was a rental.

I know how to accurately calculate mileage too: Fill-up, reset trip odometer, drive, fill-up again and divide the fuel added to the tank into the mileage driven. I checked it twice during the trip, because I didn't believe it myself.

My father said he rented one of the same vintage and same engine and got similar results. He didn't believe it either at first when he got that kind of mileage.