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<blockquote data-quote="Joeh" data-source="post: 2015075" data-attributes="member: 18680">I&#039;m actually going to sign on my second Tacoma tomorrow.&nbsp; It&#039;s a 2012 Access Cab.FWIW, I had an 08&#039; double cab, and a member of my immediate family has been in just about every facet of toyota sales (at a lexus dealership) for almost 20 years.&nbsp;&nbsp; First, I&#039;d recommend going over here to <a href="http://www.tacomaworld.com" target="_blank">Tacoma World</a>.&nbsp; If you have a question, they&#039;ll answer it.&nbsp; There&#039;s also TONS of information on modifications and lots of stories that tell tales of adequacy both on the street and offroad.&nbsp; Second, if you&#039;re going to look at new Tacoma&#039;s, or Yota&#039; in general, shop out of state.&nbsp; Particularly, shop in Kansas/Missouri/Colorado as the closest states.&nbsp; Toyota in the South has a deal with a third party company called Gulf States Auto.&nbsp; They buy direct from Toyota, throw on things like window tint, steps, pin stripes, wheels, and then sell them off to the dealers at marked up prices.&nbsp; If you think you&#039;re having a hard time negotiating those things off, or can&#039;t find a truck without those markups, it&#039;s because it&#039;s VERY hard to do in the south.&nbsp; Kansas is exempt from this, making it easier to get a better price as long as you don&#039;t mind driving a few miles to get it.&nbsp; As far as Tacomas go, I can&#039;t complain.&nbsp; As stated, the rear leaf springs suck, but Yota will replace them under TSB (service bulletin) if you complain about them.&nbsp; Other than that the 1GR-FE is a very capable engine.&nbsp; Towing power is adequate, passing power is good, comfort is good.&nbsp; The auto transmission is fair, but the lack of stick 4wd select makes some hardcore offroad people upset.&nbsp; The paint can be a little thin, so take note if you buy a dark color and care about stuff like that.&nbsp; The stock tires, the rugged terrain, are HORRIBLE.&nbsp; If they don&#039;t bother you on the test drive, great, but know that once you replace them you&#039;re opinion of the ride/sound will skyrocket.&nbsp; They did an interior refresh at the 2011 date, so if you like the updated dash you might keep that in mind. They also redid the front bumper in 2012.The TRD packages are up for debate.&nbsp; The sport package is basically strictly cosmetic.&nbsp; You get color matched grill/fenders/mirrors/rear bumper, upgraded bucket seats, and a power inverter in the bed.&nbsp; That&#039;s pretty much it.&nbsp; The OR package is similar, but you get a rear E-Locker.&nbsp;&nbsp; The MSRP on these packages is outrageous and the functions (locker specifically) can be added aftermarket, function better, and do it for cheaper.&nbsp;&nbsp; Mainly, you&#039;re deciding if you want the better seats or not.&nbsp; There&#039;s also an update to the shocks with the TRD packages, but if you&#039;re dying over that you can usually pick up a set of 4 from the classifieds on tacomaworld for &lt;$75.&nbsp; If you plan on lifting it, don&#039;t go cheap because they are known for bad vibes and axle wrap if you do it with blocks or spacers.&nbsp; Stock skid plate is also basically useless other than cosmetics.&nbsp; That being said, I drove the hell out of my 08&#039;.&nbsp; It was a great truck, and it&#039;s been one of the only cars I&#039;ve owned that I&#039;ve wanted another of.&nbsp; I have absolutely NO problem paying what I&#039;m going to on a brand new 2012 leftover from Kansas on wednesday.&nbsp; If you have any questions or would like to know anything else shoot me a PM!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Joeh, post: 2015075, member: 18680"] I'm actually going to sign on my second Tacoma tomorrow. It's a 2012 Access Cab. FWIW, I had an 08' double cab, and a member of my immediate family has been in just about every facet of toyota sales (at a lexus dealership) for almost 20 years. First, I'd recommend going over here to [URL="http://www.tacomaworld.com"]Tacoma World[/URL]. If you have a question, they'll answer it. There's also TONS of information on modifications and lots of stories that tell tales of adequacy both on the street and offroad. Second, if you're going to look at new Tacoma's, or Yota' in general, shop out of state. Particularly, shop in Kansas/Missouri/Colorado as the closest states. Toyota in the South has a deal with a third party company called Gulf States Auto. They buy direct from Toyota, throw on things like window tint, steps, pin stripes, wheels, and then sell them off to the dealers at marked up prices. If you think you're having a hard time negotiating those things off, or can't find a truck without those markups, it's because it's VERY hard to do in the south. Kansas is exempt from this, making it easier to get a better price as long as you don't mind driving a few miles to get it. As far as Tacomas go, I can't complain. As stated, the rear leaf springs suck, but Yota will replace them under TSB (service bulletin) if you complain about them. Other than that the 1GR-FE is a very capable engine. Towing power is adequate, passing power is good, comfort is good. The auto transmission is fair, but the lack of stick 4wd select makes some hardcore offroad people upset. The paint can be a little thin, so take note if you buy a dark color and care about stuff like that. The stock tires, the rugged terrain, are HORRIBLE. If they don't bother you on the test drive, great, but know that once you replace them you're opinion of the ride/sound will skyrocket. They did an interior refresh at the 2011 date, so if you like the updated dash you might keep that in mind. They also redid the front bumper in 2012. The TRD packages are up for debate. The sport package is basically strictly cosmetic. You get color matched grill/fenders/mirrors/rear bumper, upgraded bucket seats, and a power inverter in the bed. That's pretty much it. The OR package is similar, but you get a rear E-Locker. The MSRP on these packages is outrageous and the functions (locker specifically) can be added aftermarket, function better, and do it for cheaper. Mainly, you're deciding if you want the better seats or not. There's also an update to the shocks with the TRD packages, but if you're dying over that you can usually pick up a set of 4 from the classifieds on tacomaworld for <$75. If you plan on lifting it, don't go cheap because they are known for bad vibes and axle wrap if you do it with blocks or spacers. Stock skid plate is also basically useless other than cosmetics. That being said, I drove the hell out of my 08'. It was a great truck, and it's been one of the only cars I've owned that I've wanted another of. I have absolutely NO problem paying what I'm going to on a brand new 2012 leftover from Kansas on wednesday. If you have any questions or would like to know anything else shoot me a PM! [/QUOTE]

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