Tacoma Confessions

[MDH33]

Was not planning on buying today specifically but was surfing the internet and hit the Edmunds site. After a few clicks I had some very interesting offers.

Mountain states offered 3000.00 below MSRP for a new DBSB TRD Off Road, Magnetic grey.

Came with Premium tech and JBL, Tonaeu cover.. I added all weather mats and clear bra..

I have been watching Tacoma World's MSRP/invoice site and deals vary but this was one of the better I have seen.

I decided to lease vs buy. Pretty happy with the lease payment. I think I may have gave back about 500.00 in the end, not on purpose but still low lease, low 300s per month payment.

Really odd thing happened though.. I called ahead, they had the vehicle lined up for me, we start looking at it and another guy starts hovering with another sales rep.. We were about to take another taco for a test drive because the one I wanted was not prepped yet and the sales guy walks up to the one I was just looking at and starts pulling the vin sticker off the windshield..

My sales guy says hey this customer is making a deposit right now..

So we skipped the test drive, I had already test drove a few months back.
We go in to the sales floor, I try to give a deposit, they don't take it, we start working on the pricing deal, etc,.. Here comes the other sales guy doing the same thing on the same vehicle..

I had to kind of rush my decision on the lease, or I would have lost the vehicle. Thanks to another lease offer from another dealership, I was able to say no to their first offer and negotiate the lease down significantly to wear I wanted but still was a bit nervous to nail it all down, that quickly. My sales guy was literally running to the sales desk. Beat the other guy buy a few minutes.. The customer then comes over and shakes my hand and says you beat me out of that car, nice job and leaves the dealership..I did kind of feel bad but I had called in the morning for that specific vehicle, they had my offer all written up in advance and waiting for me. I noticed a few weeks back there were a bunch of these in this color set up but over the last few days, looking seemed like most were gone.

The lot had at least 30 Tacos but only one like the one I was after and I guess that guy also..Never had that happen before.

No pics yet, I should have but could not take home, the prep team had left for the day, so can't pick up until Monday Morning.

Really excited, glad I did not wait, I doubt I would have got the same deal on a 2017.

Can't wait to add some mods soon!

Cool Chris! What happens if you drown a lease vehicle?

We had a similar scenario when we bought Kim's Tundra at Stevinson. I was pretty sure it was a sales tactic though. While we were sitting and haggling with sales guy, another sales guy walks up with a "customer" asking for the keys to take it for a test drive. At that point we had pretty much decided, so we said it's sold. Even had the exact same response from the other "customer" shook my hand and said "you beat me to it, was exactly the truck I was looking for". Slimy car salesmen!

 

[DaveInDenver]

The dealer did that with us on our Tacoma. We walked away and he called us back a couple of days later saying the "other buyer" decided to pass. As a reward for his attempt we'd lined up a loan from the credit union in the mean time and so they missed that opportunity, just getting a take-it-or-leave-it check offered instead.

Think about it, 2017s are starting to show up and they have several 2016s. You were just shopping but he got you to buy one, very little negotiating. You even say you were rushed into a decision. Plus you called ahead, so they literally saw you coming. In the end as long as you're happy that's all that matters.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Cool Chris! What happens if you drown a lease vehicle?

We had a similar scenario when we bought Kim's Tundra at Stevinson. I was pretty sure it was a sales tactic though. While we were sitting and haggling with sales guy, another sales guy walks up with a "customer" asking for the keys to take it for a test drive. At that point we had pretty much decided, so we said it's sold. Even had the exact same response from the other "customer" shook my hand and said "you beat me to it, was exactly the truck I was looking for". Slimy car salesmen!

No swimming for me...

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

The dealer did that with us on our Tacoma. We walked away and he called us back a couple of days later saying the "other buyer" decided to pass. As a reward for his attempt we'd lined up a loan from the credit union in the mean time and so they missed that opportunity, just getting a take-it-or-leave-it check offered instead.

Think about it, 2017s are starting to show up and they have several 2016s. You were just shopping but he got you to buy one, very little negotiating. You even say you were rushed into a decision. Plus you called ahead, so they literally saw you coming. In the end as long as you're happy that's all that matters.

Yes but I have been looking for a while at the prices for 2016s which seemed to be holding at 38-39k for what I wanted, I anticipated 2016s dropping as 2017s were released, I think Mtn states wants to sell volume, 36,500 was well below anything I have seen nationally for that build. I am good with it. Purchase and payment fit my budget well.

I think the situation was genuine, my sales guy was kinda pissed at the other sales guy, but I knew and he knew it was good for him that this happened.

It is sorta like gambling, the house always wins but did you have a good time and enjoy yourself. New car purchases rarely benefit the buyer especially with a hot model. I will say the Internet side of the business, true car-edmunds-forums are great for the buyer, I was pretty informed walking in, the sales guy saw the quote and was shocked at the price quoted.

 

[Romer]

Congrats Chris.

 

[CBone]

Congrats Chris!

Can't wait to see what you do with it...including camper options

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Here it is at the Summit last week!

So fun to wheel this around those trails!!!!

Also, every major vendor at the Summit had a new Taco and had it all decked out...

Mods list for now:
Lift- OME BP-51s
UCAs - SPC
Leafs - Dakar
swapping tires from LC for now - Toyo 295/75/16 33.5s x 11.7
Skids- RCI Aluminum
Sliders - Slee.....Christo???

Mods down the road
Rear Bumper - Expedition one
Front Bumper- Insane
Rack - Baja makes a nice set up, also gotta see What Tim has up his sleeve

 

[DaveInDenver]

Nice truck Chris.

FWIW, to run 295/75R16 on a Tacoma with ~3" lift you usually need wheel spacers (or some combination of less backspace, lower profile UCAs) and maybe do a body mount chop. The fender flares may also self clearance. Your 3rd gen doesn't have mud flaps so that's not a problem, but they have to come off from 2nd gens.

 

[Jacket]

Cool truck. I like Tacomas. Mount some sliders and skip all the other mods....

 

[sleeoffroad]

Here it is at the Summit last week!

Nice truck, don't take it for a swim.

Lift- OME BP-51s
UCAs - SPC
Leafs - Dakar

In Stock

Sliders - Slee.....Christo???

In development.

Rear Bumper

In development.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Nice truck, don't take it for a swim.



In Stock


In development.


In development.

Cool, I will call ya. Figured I would be headed your way. Diff drop part of the kit?

 

[DaveInDenver]

Cool, I will call ya. Figured I would be headed your way. Diff drop part of the kit?

You do not want a diff drop on your Tacoma.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/remove-the-differential-drop-on-your-05-tacoma.118545/

A diff drop also means you need a custom front and mid skid plate.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

You do not want a diff drop on your Tacoma.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/remove-the-differential-drop-on-your-05-tacoma.118545/

A diff drop also means you need a custom front and mid skid plate.

hmm that was an interesting read. That guys set up was bound to get buggered up with those blocks sticking down..

I did not diff drop my FJCruiser or my 4Runner.. But I did with my 100 series. Skids on the 100 are smooth.

I assumed I probably should have with my FJ and 4runner.

RCI's aluminum skids are smooth and their '16 truck had the diff drop also.

So not sure what they did differently.

I would be curious to get Christo's spin on this. I know some guys did the diff drop on their Fjs.

 

[rover67]

why on earth did he think that WASN'T going to happen? I mean the little rock catchers he made are ridiculous....

Almost makes me chuckle.

Anyways, nice rig Chris, should be fun! let me know when you're ready to pass on the 100.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

why on earth did he think that WASN'T going to happen? I mean the little rock catchers he made are ridiculous....

Almost makes me chuckle.

Anyways, nice rig Chris, should be fun! let me know when you're ready to pass on the 100.

Your first in line, Mel is driving it right now... I am not sure how long that will last..

 

[AxleIke]

LOL, that was a funny read. While is point was good that he would not have had to do any mods if he hadn't dropped the diff, the actual reason for all the damage, as Marco says, was poor skid design.

Ah well. Live and learn. Though I doubt that most people who do diff drops are racing like that guy, but given the difference in those new diffs vs the old ones, I also agree it looks like it does almost nothing.

 

[DaveInDenver]

The CV joints can take the angles.

On the 2nd gen if you have vibration issues after lifting the solution is to solve the wobbly needle bearings in the diff housing. Toyota actually has a TSB for this where they will replace them if you get excessive vibration, which can happen even at stock ride height. So the diff drop only masks the underlying problem and lifting the truck is forcing an issue you already had to get worse.

New needle bearings is one solution or East Coast Gear Supply makes a needle bearing elimination bushing that removes any wobble in the shaft.

Since Toyota didn't make any serious changes to the chassis and drivetrain other than the new V6 I would expect that this solution will apply to 3rd gens, too.

http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-8536125-toyota-8-clamshell-bushing-eliminates-needle-bearing.html

 

[DaveInDenver]

I'd also add that I wish Toyota would just offer the option of hub locks again, dang it. This is not a new thing but if you had vibration it was tolerable because 97.9% of the time you had the hubs unlocked on dry pavement at high speeds anyway. On dirt at low speeds and on snow packed roads you didn't really care.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Here's the CV angles with shocks set to at least 2.5", maybe close to 3", of lift.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Here's the CV angles with shocks set to at least 2.5", maybe close to 3", of lift.

What type of vehicle is this? The CV's don't look so angled, maybe it has a diff drop?

I am probably going to diff drop the Taco, My FJ and 4runner CVs were pretty angled with 285s. And I am looking for longevity for this rig.

I plan to put 295's on my Taco, which are 33.5s vs 32.7.