Looking to buy Tacoma

[O.R.C.A.]

Ok so I curently have a 2000 Cherokee and I'm looking to sell and thinking about the Tacoma 4 door 4x4 or a land cruiser was wanting to see if I could get some feed back good as well as bad on both rigs. I'm looking to drive every day as well as use as my family's camping / expedition rig. I have a family of 5 me my wife and 3 kid 2 of them are riding in car seats. Will be planing on doing up grades a little at a time so parts and availability of aftermarket upgrades are also important. Any ideas ,suggestions or recommendations would be great

Thanks

 

[Wildcat]

3 kids in the back seat of a taco is gonna be tight.

only bad thing i ever heard of a land cruiser is the gas mileage, might not be an issue since you have an xj already.

 

[brianjwilson]

Yes it would be very tight with 3 kids in back. I bought a double cab and the rear facing seat means that the passenger seat is pushed up pretty far. Good thing my wife is VERY short, I couldn't get in the front seat with the baby seat. If you've got a forward facing seat and booster seat it might not be bad. But in a few years....

 

[DVexile]

Five would be a bit of a tight fit in a double cab as the kids get bigger. But of course, if you end up taking out the back row in a Land Cruiser for your camping gear then it will also be a tight fit. So the big question is do you plan on taking five with you on a daily basis in this vehicle or do you really only plan on having five with you on camping trips? In the former case the Land Cruiser lets you optionally remove the third row when going on a trip and then install them for more comfort in daily family driving. In the later case the family is only with you when camping and has to snuggle up in the back row when driving, but at camp you have a large and flexible bed space to work with.

LC mileage is 13/18 vs. Tacoma at 16/21 (4x4 V6 AT) as far as daily driving goes (which is about $300 per 10,000 miles assuming $3/gal gas).

After that it is down to the SUV vs Truck debate for expedition vehicle. That is probably the larger question, and there isn't a right answer. Depends on how you envision camping with your vehicle.

 

[SDDiver5]

5th T4R with a 5th row.

 

[ADVW/Liam]

I have a 4 door Tacoma, and I am pleased so far, with an exception of the gas mileage. The 16/21 listed in the sticker was achievable when I was the sole occupant, no gear of any kind in the truck, with stock suspension, tires, and a slight tail wind. Now I have an OME Suspension, ARB bumper, M8000 winch, 31inch BFG all-terrains, Bestop Supertop, and recovery gear (3 snatch blocks, 4 or 5 shackles, 2 tow straps, 1 kenetic recovery strap, and a tool kit) and got 17.8ish driving from Dallas to Houston at about 70 mph. In the city with the stop and go, I am licky to get 14.5.
I think that the biggest thing to think about is: do you want all your gear in the cab with you, or do you want it to be in the bed. If the gear gets covered in mud, or if a skunk sprays it, or a kid vomits on his sleeping bag, or who knows what else, it could stink up the inside of the vehicle making the trip home a nightmare. With a truck, that gear is in the bed, and away from momma. I would like to get an SUV, but i need a truck for hauling things in the bed that would not fit in the back of a SUV, and I dont want the inside of my vehicle to reak of fuel and oil when I take my kid's dirtbike to grandpa's house.

 

[Derek24]

Look at the 1st gen Double cab Tundras as well. A little bigger than the tacoma,but not as huge as the new tundras. Cheaper price too. With the v8 gas milage will be the same and better when loaded up than the tacoma.

 

[p nut]

My opinion--the LC is not a daily driver. I would hate to drive it everyday. On road trips and off-road excursions with kids, they are awesome. Very capable and roomy. Doesn't get better. But I will say that with kids, the cargo area gets packed pretty full, REAL quick. Even with a roof rack packed, the cargo area was very full. But we are not light packers, either.

I could (and have) DD a Tacoma. Nimble enough and MPG isn't as bad. Bit tight if you have 3 kids (I have 2), but assuming you're talking 2nd Gen, it's not bad at all. Plus gobs of room for gear in the bed.

This is a hard choice, but for me, if you had a dedicated daily driver, I would go LC. If this will be all-in-one, then go Tacoma.

 

[SIZZLE]

DC Taco is gonna be pretty tight with three kids. But aftermarket, maintenance and mpg are all way better than a LC. I have two kids and a DC Taco and tell the wife that if we have another kid, I get to build another LC. With three kids, I'd go LC or Sequoia. My $0.02

 

[O.R.C.A.]

Thanks for all the input guys.

Yea so now you can see why I'm so torn between the two. I've given it a lot of thought Right now as it stands I'm looking to liquidate some of my vehicles and buy me a newer rig first then to buy my wife a rig, so maybe having two rig both off road capable we would not have any storage issues as we as have room for every one. In a perfect world I'd like to get my wife a land cruiser and me the Tacoma. Here's how it sits right now....

ME

2000 Jeep Cherokee lifted/ modded = camping/ weekend rig
1998 Subaru forester bone stock = daily driver but now in shop needs new trans
1998 Ford F-350 4door Dulley 2wd= truck got to have a truck, trash, moving stuff ect.

Wife
2005 Nissan quest= daily driver / soccer mom wagon

All are paid for now payments, all are insured, and are used at least on a weekly basis.

Key is to sell what we can and replace with not necessarily new but newer to use paid for 4wd capable preferably everyday drivers to save on money maintaining ,insuring , ect.

 

[O.R.C.A.]

I do realize the Tacoma is a tight fit but it's got to have more room than my XJ ( Cherokee )

 

[calicamper]

I do realize the Tacoma is a tight fit but it's got to have more room than my XJ ( Cherokee )

Mini van to LC wont save money. Had a LC LOVED IT! Not a cheap machine to own and keep up. Wife hated it. Not a great kids daily hauler for a wife who has lived with a mini van. Just a warning.

My dream rig is a Tacoma but so far the space for Butts in seats has kept it out of my driveway. Daily hauler 2010 2.5cvt OB paid cash for it new. Wifes first ever car 2001 1.8t jetta the train station commuter beater. Then the family and friends hauler 07 Sequoia which replaced a cherry LC. All our toys are paid for also.

 

[toyrunner95]

Have you considered a 4runner or maybe a old sequoia? Decent aftermarket and a bit wider in the rear seat. Then get a small utility trailer for extra gear or a decent roof rack. Should work fine. Plus a 4runner is a good dd

 

[calicamper]

Have you considered a 4runner or maybe a old sequoia? Decent aftermarket and a bit wider in the rear seat. Then get a small utility trailer for extra gear or a decent roof rack. Should work fine. Plus a 4runner is a good dd

Side note the 2010 OB rear seat is huge regarding space in the right places for hauling kids etc. The front to back spacing with the Taco in the rear seat makes it tough if car seats are in play. Im 5'11". If your a big dude that spacing thing will drive you nutz.

The Sequioa is awesome wide stable safe and roomy with a great engine. We only put about 8000mi a yr on ours but we run 15mpg around town and do between 17-19mpg on rd trips pending trailer and gear on the lid.

Our camping trips on the planner for this spring and summer are all going to use the Subaru towing the Life Time tent trailer. We run 21-26mpg in that format.

 

[O.R.C.A.]

Mini van to LC wont save money. Had a LC LOVED IT! Not a cheap machine to own and keep up. Wife hated it. Not a great kids daily hauler for a wife who has lived with a mini van. Just a warning.

My dream rig is a Tacoma but so far the space for Butts in seats has kept it out of my driveway. Daily hauler 2010 2.5cvt OB paid cash for it new. Wifes first ever car 2001 1.8t jetta the train station commuter beater. Then the family and friends hauler 07 Sequoia which replaced a cherry LC. All our toys are paid for also.

Got to love vehicles that are paid for.

Nothing that says Toyota is cheap to maintain is it??

My wife likes the Lexus 450 even after I told her it's just a land cruiser with a Lexus badge

I love the Tacoma too but I'm in the same boat not sure we could make the but to seat ratio work