Should I buy a Tacoma? Coming from a sports car

[BTAO]

One slight thing to consider............might encounter some issues bringing a foreign truck onto a construction site. Look around next time you're driving past a work area. Rarely see anything but American vehicles. (Yeah, we don't need to get into the fact that 'American' vehicles have many foreign parts, may be built outside USA, or that foreign manufacturers have assembly plants inside this country.) BTW, I have a 2024 Sport, but I don't work in construction. Just pointing out things I've noticed.

I've heard people talk about this in the midwest, asking what people think about me driving a Subaru, or Toyota, like they're dirty. My old company had another site in IL that I went to often. If you're the kind of person to let stereotypes, stigma or politics make their decisions for them, then so be it. But, joke's on them, they're just insecure and fine with paying more and getting less to be one of the flock. Anywhere outside the rust belt and it's a different game. But every time I'm in IL I shake my head more and more at what I hear and see.

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[thewraith]

One slight thing to consider............might encounter some issues bringing a foreign truck onto a construction site. Look around next time you're driving past a work area. Rarely see anything but American vehicles. (Yeah, we don't need to get into the fact that 'American' vehicles have many foreign parts, may be built outside USA, or that foreign manufacturers have assembly plants inside this country.) BTW, I have a 2024 Sport, but I don't work in construction. Just pointing out things I've noticed.

I think that issue exists more in the non coastal, bumpkin, and "fly over" states. On the east coast and west coast, you see more Toyota and Nissan and they are held in much higher regard for reliability as everyday work trucks. Can't beat the "American" trucks for towing and hauling though.

 

[holden]

As someone who came from sports cars, the TRD Pro with its Fox suspension handles incredibly well. I compare this to my brothers '26 TRD OR which rides much more like a "truck" than mine. Suspension does make a difference in this case. If I'd have gotten an OR or anything without the Fox setup I might've gotten rid of it by now. I love good handling.

I also put an OTT tune on mine and pulled some more power out of it. That combined with the hybrid system makes it surprisingly quick for being a Toyota truck. I love my setup, but I still do miss my sports cars.

 

[TacoBirdinNW]

Like someone else mentioned, you can get a good deal on a "used" one too. I got a 2025 SR5 4x4 at the end of '25 that was owned for a month with 4K miles on it for $37K. Gold Certified Pre Owned Toyotas get an extra extra 100K mile powertrain warranty too. And if you do want it to perform, you can build it out how you want/need.

Day 1:

8 months later:

 

[OminousSkitter]

Like someone else mentioned, you can get a good deal on a "used" one too. I got a 2025 SR5 4x4 at the end of '25 that was owned for a month with 4K miles on it for $37K. Gold Certified Pre Owned Toyotas get an extra extra 100K mile powertrain warranty too. And if you do want it to perform, you can build it out how you want/need.

Damn. The (single) dealership (within 250 miles of me) wanted $43,500 for a base 24 TRD OR with 34K miles. Right now I can save $2300 on a 25 TRD Sport with 13,600 miles.

 

[TacoBirdinNW]

Damn. The (single) dealership (within 250 miles of me) wanted $43,500 for a base 24 TRD OR with 34K miles. Right now I can save $2300 on a 25 TRD Sport with 13,600K miles.

Dang. I took the train 6 hrs for a deal. Worth the $5K in savings v.s. the scummy dealer in my city. And that drive back home is now a core memory Worth shopping around!

 

[OminousSkitter]

Dang. I took the train 6 hrs for a deal. Worth the $5K in savings v.s. the scummy dealer in my city. And that drive back home is now a core memory Worth shopping around!

I've thought about that. The next-closest dealer is 360 miles away, but they're owned by the same company and typically mark all their trucks above SRP. The next after that is 700 miles away, but they're in Canada and I have no clue about buying a car in Canada for US registration. In order to get a little dealership competition I could fly to WA and spend 4-5 days driving it back.

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