Advice Needed:: To keep the Taco or not. Terrible economy.

[McFly2003]

Well, I have hit a bit of an fork in the road. Lately, the economy that i have been achieving in my '15 TRD OR has got my gears turning on options.

I purchased my '15 new, it has 42.5K on the odo, and most importantly, it is paid off. I absolutely love my Taco and I feel it is safe to say that I am a bit of a Toyota 4x4 fan boy. I have owned 3rd, 4th, and 5th gen 4runners, and now this truck. That said, with minor mods (suspension, mild tires, topper, ARB front w/ winch, to name most), I am lucky to see 15 mpg out of it. I tend to average between 12 and 14. Historically, in this hobby and segment of vehicles, this was one of the prices of admission. However, This rig is my daily driver and I feel that there are a few current options on the market that would alleviate this issue slightly.

I did a bit of shopping in the new Toyota market, looking at the TRD OffRoad and Pro options in both Tacoma and 4runner platforms. I wish this were a more reasonable route, but the numbers that I was being presented at my local Yota stealership were just not at a point that would justify my making the switch. Sure, I could sell my truck for plenty more than the offered trade-in, but then I would have to risk what I want not being available on the lot and not having a vehicle to drive. Plus, are the current offerings even that much better than what I have?

Then, on the advice of an old friend, I did something I absolutely never though I would ever do. I paid a visit to my local Chevrolet dealership to check out the Colorado. I've driven one or two at work but they were bare-bones and left quite a bit to be desired.

After taking test drives in both Z71 and ZR2 packages in both gasser and diesel spec, I am almost ashamed to say that I am hugely impressed. Initial impression and driving experience was better than Tacoma in almost every single way. I never really felt that you could get a practical, off road worthy package and still retain such creature comfort. Factor on top of that the diesel option that is yielding some folks over 30 mpg on the highway and I am torn in a big way. The only, and I mean ONLY, two things I was not a huge fan of were some of the plastics on the dash and door panels and the fact that the bed doesn't have the rail system that the Taco does.

I had them check on allowances and rebates and give me an idea of what I would be looking at financially, and without even haggling, I could be in a ZR2 diesel for $13k. Factoring in the option to sell my truck private party and negotiate the ZR2's price, and I could be out the door well under 10.

What is holding me up:
- I love my Yota. Its character, capability, appearance, reliability, resale value, and the fact that its paid off all weigh heavy in my mind.
- Reliability and resale value on the Chevy. I have been unable to find much of anything on either of these two bits of info on the new Colorado. I understand that its a newer platform, but I would have figured that there would still be something out there.
- Lack of long term info out there on the "Baby Duramax".

I don't want to pass up a proper option because I cant get out of the "my Toyota is better" mindset, but I feel it is a justified mindset none the less.

Thoughts from my Toyota 4x4 brethren? I know I will likely receive biased responses in here, but I am also posting in the domestic/midsize subforum as well. Thank you guys!

 

[texasnielsen]

You said you're current truck is paid for. Will that be the same thing with a new one? How will the monthly payment of a new rig be offset by your gas / diesel fuel bill anticipated savings ? Put another way, I can't imagine a new Chevy's monthly pop plus fuel is going to be less than what your paying for just fuel now. All other things being equal (maintenance, insurance, etc.).

I drive a '15 RAM 2500 diesel 4x4 AND have a '14 FJC in the garage. I am wondering what was I thinking (it was lust - I admit it) to buying the RAM when although the mileage of the Toyota is less than an economy car, that's not what I bought it for. The FJ is paid for. The RAM is not. Serious coin to satisfy the lust and logic will never win that argument. Groan every time I make a payment on the RAM.

You may be better off financially (if that is what is driving this decision) finding a beater for commuting to work if the objective is to save money. Given your affinity for 'ota's. you'll going to likely miss your ride, which BTW, looks like. a beautiful truck.

IMO.

 

[bkg]

are you correcting for the larger tires? If not, that could be a good 8-10%.

What do you NEED out of mileage? 15mpg isn't horrible for a pickup... and jumping to a brand new truck with a payment that only gets marginally better mileage is likely a net loss.

 

[McFly2003]

Beautiful RAM! Monthly payment cost is something that forgot to ad to my OP. If I were to be out the door with less than $10k financed, I could and would have the truck paid for in right around a year, bringing me back to just maintenance and fuel.

As for economy requirement/expectations: I don’t really have an exact number in mind, just know it hurts my brain to see less than 275 miles on my trip odo every time I fill my tank. I currently only commute maybe 6-8 miles for work, so that’s not much of a burden. That said, I just got picked up for a new career field (in the AF), and I will be driving from central CO to TX for the first part of my Tech school, then up to Sacramento and possibly on to Grand Forks ND. Long story short, there is a TON of highway driving in my next 18 months. All the while, my family is in the east coast so there’s the potential for trips out there.

I’ve never really sat down and come up with a “reasonable” number for economy requirements, but the 25-30mpg out of the 2.8 duramax certainly had me starcrossed.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Even if the Colorado got 15 MPG better (maybe with the diesel) it would take you 50,000 miles to pay back the $10,000 hit. If it was me I would never give up a paid for car for a loan on one that is just waiting to depreciate the minute you buy it.

 

[Dopesick]

You said you're current truck is paid for. Will that be the same thing with a new one? How will the monthly payment of a new rig be offset by your gas / diesel fuel bill anticipated savings ? Put another way, I can't imagine a new Chevy's monthly pop plus fuel is going to be less than what your paying for just fuel now. All other things being equal (maintenance, insurance, etc.).

This. My 01 4Runner is also my daily. I see on average 14mpg. Do the math man. A paid off rig, vs a New rig, anything less than a 2-3 times increase in MPG, is going to leave you with a monthly LOSS. My advice, don't bother selling the truck or trading it in. Save up a bit of cash and buy a small commute vehicle.

 

[bkg]

Beautiful RAM! Monthly payment cost is something that forgot to ad to my OP. If I were to be out the door with less than $10k financed, I could and would have the truck paid for in right around a year, bringing me back to just maintenance and fuel.

As for economy requirement/expectations: I don’t really have an exact number in mind, just know it hurts my brain to see less than 275 miles on my trip odo every time I fill my tank. I currently only commute maybe 6-8 miles for work, so that’s not much of a burden. That said, I just got picked up for a new career field (in the AF), and I will be driving from central CO to TX for the first part of my Tech school, then up to Sacramento and possibly on to Grand Forks ND. Long story short, there is a TON of highway driving in my next 18 months. All the while, my family is in the east coast so there’s the potential for trips out there.

I’ve never really sat down and come up with a “reasonable” number for economy requirements, but the 25-30mpg out of the 2.8 duramax certainly had me starcrossed.

Let's say you get 25 mpg out of the chevy (i'm being very generous, to be honest)... remember that diesel is still about 20% more expensive than gas... Plus DEF. From there, your maintenance will be 4x as expensive (oil changes, fuel filters, etc).

So assuming you get 25MPG... kill 20% to manage price difference with gas. Now you're at 20mpg. Now add DEF (my f350 is about $25/5k miles)... now you're down to 19mpg equivalent. Now add increased maintenance and you're probably at 18mpg equivalent.

And that's before adjusting your current truck for larger tires... before vehicle payments... before insurance cost increases... and before you start modifying the vehicle.

(my math is obviously estimates, but I've given you very hopeful 25mpg to start with on the duramax.)

 

[bkg]

Keep the Taco, buy a $5000 Honda Civic to commute in, invest the difference and savings.

$5000 buys a lot of gas.

 

[JaredNorthway]

I'm pretty well in agreement with the other guys, financially I think keep the taco. You've already spent some money on it and a new truck is bound to depreciate. With that being said I'm going to play devils advocate...

The Colorado in the ZR2 Package with front and rear lockers and the torque from the diesel do have some advantages over the taco. If you find yourself in situations that require those things the Colorado might be worth it.

If I had the money I think I'd just invest in a diesel Landcruiser from overseas but Canadian import laws are a little more relaxed haha

 

[Kyle Kelso]

Had this debate myself recently with my older 6.0 v8 chevy. Thought about downsizing for economy or buying a beater car. The added insurance will likely cancel out any fuel savings so any money you spend on the car would just be a loss.
As for replacing the truck, you are comparing your modified mpg to factory. The same mods will also impact the other truck and new diesels are not cheap to own if you don't do your own maintenance!
I would just pay for your gas and enjoy your truck. Put it back to stock if you really need to improve mpg.


Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

 

[vintageracer]

"Forget About It"!

Replacing your Taco that is.

Buy a bike at a garage sale.

$10.00

NOW you have new daily transportation AND your new exercise program all rolled into one activity.

There's always an inexpensive solution for any situation!

 

[Adventurous]

$5000 buys a lot of gas.

It also buys a Honda Grom. And lots of gas. Like, years worth of gas.

 

[Dalko43]

Let's say you get 25 mpg out of the chevy (i'm being very generous, to be honest)... remember that diesel is still about 20% more expensive than gas... Plus DEF. From there, your maintenance will be 4x as expensive (oil changes, fuel filters, etc).

So assuming you get 25MPG... kill 20% to manage price difference with gas. Now you're at 20mpg. Now add DEF (my f350 is about $25/5k miles)... now you're down to 19mpg equivalent. Now add increased maintenance and you're probably at 18mpg equivalent.

And that's before adjusting your current truck for larger tires... before vehicle payments... before insurance cost increases... and before you start modifying the vehicle.

(my math is obviously estimates, but I've given you very hopeful 25mpg to start with on the duramax.)

I really don't agree with that math. I'm not sure how lowering the duramax's mpg by 20-25% accounts for the fuel price discrepancy between gasoline and diesel.

Go look up the prices for the consumables needed for diesel maintenance (DEF, fuel filter, oil and oil filter) and look at the OEM recommended maintenance intervals. And then remember that you still have annual maintenance for the 1gr-fe in the Tacoma (for which the oil change intervals are shorter when compared to the 2.8l duramax). The 1gr-fe also gets a bit below the EPA mpg rating in real-world driving (16 mpg seems to be my combined average).

Based on the prices I've seen for diesel consumables and accounting for the money I spend on maintenance for my 1gr-fe, you're probably looking at an extra $60-$70 in annual maintenance for the 2.8l duramax. I'm talking about routine maintenance, not worst-case repair scenarios.

The Duramax has a MSRP cost of ~$3,700 over the gasoline option. I don't know that all diesel Colorado's are actually selling for $3,700 more than their gasoline counterparts, but assuming that they are, you're probably looking at 5-7 years before the diesel option has "paid" for itself. Again, that's a hefty assumption since MSRP prices and costs are rarely the used in actual transactions.

So the diesel option will pay for itself, in the long term. But if the OP has the Tacoma, has it modified and paid off, I don't see a reason to sell it and start incurring monthly bills. If he really wants a diesel Colorado, his best bet is to wait a few years, let some depreciation kick in and pick up a moderately used one.

 

[Ryanmb21]

Put on 31-32” AT tires, take any ******** off your roof, remove the ARB and you’ll be at the same mpg as what your comparing to.

 

[Clutch]

Beautiful RAM! Monthly payment cost is something that forgot to ad to my OP. If I were to be out the door with less than $10k financed, I could and would have the truck paid for in right around a year, bringing me back to just maintenance and fuel.

As for economy requirement/expectations: I don’t really have an exact number in mind, just know it hurts my brain to see less than 275 miles on my trip odo every time I fill my tank. I currently only commute maybe 6-8 miles for work, so that’s not much of a burden. That said, I just got picked up for a new career field (in the AF), and I will be driving from central CO to TX for the first part of my Tech school, then up to Sacramento and possibly on to Grand Forks ND. Long story short, there is a TON of highway driving in my next 18 months. All the while, my family is in the east coast so there’s the potential for trips out there.

I’ve never really sat down and come up with a “reasonable” number for economy requirements, but the 25-30mpg out of the 2.8 duramax certainly had me starcrossed.

I would calculate the fuel cost for the trips.

https://www.gasbuddy.com/TripCostCalculator


Would guess it isn't going to be anywhere near the $10K you're going to spend on a truck that you haven't put any fuel into yet. Just with the 3 trips you mentioned, not including going to the East Coast you're at about $760...rough estimate. So say about $800. Guessing Colorado Springs to Austin, then up to Sac...then over to Grand Forks is the route I threw into the calculator. Say you go to the East Coast...I picked New York, New York as a guess, so another $550-600 to get there and back to CO. So looking at about $1500 or so for fuel...might do some spur trips here and there, so just round it up to $2000. So that leaves you with about $8000 to spend on gas station beef jerky and those gawd awful Monster drinks.

At least according to my fuzzy math...someone like Dave, Dalko, or Ryan who are a bit more anal retentive with numbers, probably could get it down to the 1/2 penny.

Oh, and any price difference in insurance?