Anybody have a tacoma? need advice

I have been driving toyota trucks since 1989, two to be exact. One was 14 years old and running like the day I drove it off the lot when I sold it for a newer one, and I have driven it for 13 years. I am about to buy my first Tacoma! I have been drooling over these trucks since they came out, and finally started really thinking seriously when my current truck hit 15 years old.

I can't afford a brand new one, but I found two that are almost new, and both are just about flawless structurally. One is an 09 bought last year with 10k miles on it. It is a regular Tacoma, 2WD Access cab auto trans. with power everything, but it s a bit over priced at 20K, 22K out the door.

The other is an 08 bought in 08, so these trucks have roughly been on the road about the same length of time. This one is a Tacoma Prerunner 2WD Access cab, manual transmission, 6K miles on it, and it is 18k out the door, no muss no fuss. The seller of this truck was completely up front with me and has not tried to pressure me.

I test drove both today, and the 09 is a pretty truck and rides smooth, but the salesman is a pressure seller who claimed to want to work with me, but was very reluctant to give me an out the door price. Then when I insisted that I wanted to go test drive the other truck first, he tried to get me to sign a statement that I would buy that truck from him! So, very nice truck, bad salesman, and from what I am told, that truck is over priced. Is it?

The other truck is a prerunner, and OMG! If you love trucks and especially love tacomas, this truck is to die for! It sits high like a 4x4, but the gas mileage is better, and it has side steps , fog lights, bed liner, power steering and power brakes. It has a manual transmission, so it isn't quite as smooth as the automatic. Both of my trucks have been manual, so I am used to it. If the other truck was priced lower and the salesman was more trustworthy, the fact that it is automatic and so smooth would be a big selling point, but the fact that it sits low like a passenger car would not. I really don't care about all of the other power junk. I don't mind rolling my windows up and down.

So what would yall do? Is that 09 worth what they are asking? Would you try to make the pressure guy fly right and deal straight, or would you skip the hassle, and go with the cheaper truck that really looks and feels like a truck?

I can't speak to the prices; but if you decide you want the first truck, I'd bypass that jerk. Ask to speak with the sales manager & tell him about your experience with the salesperson. Do it as a serious complaint (I don't mean yelling and carrying on, but that is the type of behavior that SHOULD lose your business). Any sales manager that I have met, in that situation, would apologize profusely & want to know how they can fix it. They want your business, make them earn it. Find out in advance the actual value of the truck, and make a reasonable offer.

(Even if I decided to get the other vehicle, I'd talk to the sales manager and make sure he knew his salesperson cost them a sale)

Well, an 09 that was sold in 08 is considered to have an 08 resale value in the Kelly Blue Book, so it is comparable to the 08 in that sense. It has all of the power junk, but more miles on it and it is not a Prerunner, which is usually a more expensive model.

That is a good point about letting that manager know. The guy is costing them the sale. I just don't want to deal with his double speak, but getting to the manager might be worth a try. I am leaning more toward the prerunner because of its height and price. I don't think that dealership will come down that much on the 09. But I could give them a call.

Here is the Prerunner. They let me drive it home.

That sounds more like a dealer I would want to give my business to...the fact that you like the truck better is a bonus, lol.

Well, look at it! LOL! I know I'm a girl, but I have a serious thang fer good lookin' trucks!

Another fine point, Harald. When you give and take with their good and bad points, these trucks seem pretty equal, so rewarding the better salesman is a very good idea.

I do have one more test. That 08 truck is so truck like that I might have a hard time getting my elderly Mother with AD in it. I am going to test it tomorrow before I decide.

Okay, the big Donna toy prerunner failed the elderly-momma-with-AD-that-I-have-to-take-into-consideration test, so this morning , I woke up with a mission. I called the GM of the other dealership that had the 09, and told him that the salesman that I spoke to yesterday put me off with the pressure tactics, that I am a well educated woman who does her homework, and that I easily recognize and will not put up with BS! I told him that I want straight talk and bottom line figures, or the deal ain't flying! Then I told him the following:

1) The Truck he had is a nice truck with lots of features, but it isn't a prerunner like the other one that I was looking at, and we both know a prerunner is a more expensive model.

He said, yeah.

2). Its an 09, but it was BOUGHT in 08, and that means that it started depreciating the day it left the lot in 08! ( I learned that little fact by reading consumer reports!)
He said, yeah

3) It has 4000+ more miles on it than the 08.
He said uh huh

4) I have been preapproved for some number under 19K total, so I need an out the door figure that I can get a loan for.
He said how does $189000 sound?

So I return the Prerunner and I have to admit, I did cry a little. Then I went home and started cleaning out my 94 toyota truck to take and get a trade in appraisal, and some guy stopped me in the parking lot of my complex and asked me if I would sell it before I even had all my stuff out of it!! I swear, I have been getting notes on that truck for years with numbers and requests to let people know if I plan to sell it. But we couldn't come up with a figure as I hadn't checked into its worth, so I took it down to the dealership with me. They gave me another grand off the price of my new truck for it plus some off the taxes, so I left it. I probably could have sold it for a few hundred more, but it wasn't worth the hassle to me.

So, the 09 is sitting outside in front of my house and I have to admit, it drives and rides reeaaaalllly smooth and Momma can get in and out with very little problem. It is loaded. I think they said it has an SR5 package on it. I need to look into that. It will definitely work, I have my taco, and when my life is less complicated and more about me in a few years, then I will have either a Prerunner or a 4x4.

Aren't you going to show us your new truck??

I will go take pics now. I was beat from being a holy terror and have been vegging!

Lemme go get some pics before the sun goes down . . .

Okay, here's the new ride! That sad truck next to it belongs to my neighbor! I feel kinda bad parking my shiny new Taco next to it!




Inside. The suicide doors are so cool!


My entertainment console. It has an MP3 player, cd, and lots of buttons that I have no idea what they do! If you look closely at the steering wheel, you can see a row of little buttons along the inside left. Those control the radio so you don't have to drive one handed to mess with the radio!


Finally, I have never had one of these little cuties. lol