Driving Impressions
I drove a Mag Grey 2014 SR5 yesterday. I'm coming from a 2010 SR5, and these are my impressions.
Styling - looks good in person. The old design looks dated in comparison. Headlights and taillights are an improvement with the smoked finish, and are generally smaller than the 2010. The rear LED's look nice, better IMO than the Tacoma lights. Wheels look great - improvement again over the 2010. This one had running boards, and the style is greatly improved over the previous boards - they actually look cohesive with the overall design.
Interior - door panels with Softex have white stitching, which contrasts nicely with the black. The cloth seats seem to be the same material as the 2010, although the inner part of the seats is now grey with a black contrast. The 2010-13 black cloth had some type of orange-hued contrast tied in with the grey. Again, an improvement.
The gauges are much better, and easier to read. The eco driving indicator is a bit gimmicky - it moves in real time similar to what BMW used to do. The stereo has a nice touch screen, and an easy to use interface. The shift knob is smaller and more manageable.
Rear seats get cigarette-lighter style outlets. Rear cargo has an actual three prong plug.
Driving - the first thing I noticed was the brake feel. The pedal is much firmer, owing to revised brake lines. Definite improvement. The vehicle seemed quieter on the interstate, with less wind noise, and more refinement in general, although this may just be because it was new. Other than that, quite similar to the 2010, which is not a bad thing.
Sticker on this truck was around $36,200. I would expect a price of a couple hundred under invoice, based on what the dealers are offering me in this area. Quite a lot of truck for the money.
The only negative is the inability to have a sunroof with the cloth seats. This means that buyers will have to pony up for the SR5 premium if they want a sunroof. Taller buyers may wish to skip this option though, since you give up around 3/4'' in headroom with a sunroof.
I have a deposit on a Trail premium with KDSS coming to my region. These are scarce as unicorns in the Mid-Atlantic, but I happened to find a dealer with one in its allocation. I'll post my impressions (and photos if I buy it) once I've had a chance to drive it.
