The looks of the Pro immediately made me want it, but the test ride said otherwise. Purely my opinion, but wifey and I enjoyed the onroad manners of the Trail better. Pro is noticeably stiffer and tire noise is apparent, not bad at all, but it's there. Either one is a fine machine but here's the kicker for me. The Pro had dealer add ons and sticker was about $44,500 and absolutely no wiggle room from this particular dealer due to the only 3500 being built. The Trail I can get for a little over invoice and that puts a Trail Premium around 8g's less than this pro... The Trail we drove had cloth interior and I prefer the softer leather look of the Pro and Premium. My current plan is to have them find or order a White Trail Premium and then I add the Black TRD wheels... And even wifey agreed to swap out the grill. The Pro is just awesome looking. Wish I did, but here in Iowa, I don't need the Pro Suspension... Leveling kit will do me fine for mall crawling. I dream of going to the mountain states to run trails, but we just don't have that here and even the KDSS is hard to justify for my use. I've had trucks for 17 yrs straight, most currently a full size GMC Crewcab.. Big step giving up the truck, but this feels right and it's still truck-like. Thanks for all the info on this forum. Congrats to all of you that went for the pro, but I can't seem to want one enough for the price difference...plus it's excluded from the 30th anniversary discount and low financing rates right now.
Test Drove a TRD Pro and a Trail
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TravelWest01
New member
Sounds like a solid rationale. The Pro has a lot of buzz going, but the Trail Premium is highly capable and much less expensive. If in the future you want to do more terrain you have lots of choices for lifts.....
RESQLAB
New member
"over invoice" ??? ...
if you are a member of Costco, you should be able to get a trail for $450 under invoice (at least thats the Costco deal here in Southern California)... it also pairs you with the dealerships internet department and thus makes things easier by dealing with a person who's on a salary than commission based. Very simple and I was outta there in 90 minutes, on a Saturday too!
I was able to get $500 under in early December on a 2015 model.. thats the best deal I could find in San Diego.
if you are a member of Costco, you should be able to get a trail for $450 under invoice (at least thats the Costco deal here in Southern California)... it also pairs you with the dealerships internet department and thus makes things easier by dealing with a person who's on a salary than commission based. Very simple and I was outta there in 90 minutes, on a Saturday too!
I was able to get $500 under in early December on a 2015 model.. thats the best deal I could find in San Diego.
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toyohtadude
New member
A lot of what you've said is exactly why I got the trail vs the pro. Now if the pro I had access to was black, I may have made a more costly choice but it was white. The trail does ride much better for us who are occasional off-roaders but the serious off-roading crowd will love the pro. Besides, $8k will go a LONG way toward our own "Pro" version. Congrats!!!
Wis4
Banned
Congrats. What does the Trail have that the SR5 couldn't give you since you don't off road as much? I paid $34,300 for mine which was a steal. Msrp was $39k.
If the dealer is willing to sell you a Trail Premium for 8K less than a PRO. I'd go for the TEP.
I bought a PRO, but the difference between the PRO and the Trail Premium offered by my dealership was closer to 2K -- not 8K. If I was offered the deal you speak of when I was looking, I'd would have gone for the Premium also.
I bought a PRO, but the difference between the PRO and the Trail Premium offered by my dealership was closer to 2K -- not 8K. If I was offered the deal you speak of when I was looking, I'd would have gone for the Premium also.
The price difference was between the Trail and the Pro, not the Trail Premium and the Pro.
IMO, it does make way more sense to get the trail over the Pro for that difference in price. 8k is a lot for mostly just some cosmetic updates.
Then I must have read this wrong from the original post: "The Trail I can get for a little over invoice and that puts a Trail Premium around 8g's less than this pro..."
But I agree, 8K is a huge savings.
I read the part about the cloth seats so I figured between the cloth seats and the 8k price difference, he was referring to a non premium and it was a typo. I'm sure the OP will fill us in with the details.
Congrats, that is a great deal. We test drove a Trail with KDSS and it gave a very nice secure car-like ride compared to our Pro (which is a softer ride with more roll and dive). My wife took an unfamiliar sweeping corner during the test drive at a pretty high rate of speed and the KDSS compensated very impressively with 3 adults and two kids in the 4R.
The price difference between a '15 Trail Premium and Pro was very close in our area as well. We wanted the features of the Premium (auto headlights, SofTex, premium audio, etc) so we went with the Pro given the small price difference and it having those features. The Pro doesn't have a sunroof but we had bad experiences with our last two sunroofs after a while, so we didn't mind the Pro not coming with one. Our dealer didn't want to budge off MSRP either on the Pro since only 1,500 were being sent to the United States, the Inventory Manager stated that if we hadn't put a deposit down he was going to mark it up $3K as soon as it hit the lot.
The price difference between a '15 Trail Premium and Pro was very close in our area as well. We wanted the features of the Premium (auto headlights, SofTex, premium audio, etc) so we went with the Pro given the small price difference and it having those features. The Pro doesn't have a sunroof but we had bad experiences with our last two sunroofs after a while, so we didn't mind the Pro not coming with one. Our dealer didn't want to budge off MSRP either on the Pro since only 1,500 were being sent to the United States, the Inventory Manager stated that if we hadn't put a deposit down he was going to mark it up $3K as soon as it hit the lot.
toyohtadude
New member
Here's the window sticker info from my Trail. I ended up getting it for $33,100 OTD and they gave me $16,800 for the 2007 Tacoma TRD DC Off-Road.... just a bit more than half the price of this new one. The reason the Tacoma was that high is because it had 49,400 miles on it. I spend more time on the bike than in the cage. 
I find it quite stupid regarding some of the pointed-out features they still list on the window sticker.... When's the last time you saw a vehicle with only ONE sun visor? Who drives away in a new vehicle with an EMPTY fuel tank? And who doesn't get some sort of floor mat set thrown in if it isn't listed? Hahaha!
Anyway, this is what a regular Trail Edition comes with in New England. If someone with a Pro could post the same info, we can create the actual list of differences.
I find it quite stupid regarding some of the pointed-out features they still list on the window sticker.... When's the last time you saw a vehicle with only ONE sun visor? Who drives away in a new vehicle with an EMPTY fuel tank? And who doesn't get some sort of floor mat set thrown in if it isn't listed? Hahaha!
Anyway, this is what a regular Trail Edition comes with in New England. If someone with a Pro could post the same info, we can create the actual list of differences.
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So my TE is my family hauler, and will remain a mild offroader for the next few years. I have an '83 FJ60 for real wheeling, so the only thing I really, really, REALLY wanted from the Pro was the throwback TOYOTA front grille. Love that thing. Otherwise, I'd rather modify the platform myself to make sure I get exactly what I want instead of a lot of electronics that cost me an arm and a leg post-warranty to repair... just my two cents! 
txbonds
Senior Member
No offense but I would disagree that the serious offroad crowd would choose the TRd Pro because they would wind up swapping out 90% of the items they paid for. I see the more serious folks looking at the other cheaper models and installing their own lift, tires, skids, etc.
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Sorry guys, to clarify... I drove a Trail with cloth., then the Pro .. I really like the softex in the Pro so my goal is to have them find or order me a Trail Premium. Yes, the $8 grand difference is on the Trail Premium vs the Pro at my dealer. The reg Trail would be near 10 grand difference. That is because they had added over $2000 in accessories on the Pro and would not come off MSRP + add ons. That put it around $44,500. They are willing to deal on the SR5s and Trails. So the Trail Premium invoice price plus a few hundred is like $8 grand less than the Pro with Accesories. If you compared MSRP to MSRP with no add ins, the Pro is only around $2500 more I believe. I would definitely rather do my own lift of choice than pay for the TRD suspension. The front and rear bumper covers which are purely cosmetic look like they could be easily removed and painted flat black and the TRD Pro grill can be had online for $699 I believe. Lots of coin for that grill, but it definitely looks awesome and pays homage to the old school Toyotas. Had the Toyota letters across the grill on my old 91 pickup with the 22RE (should have kept that one!!)
Good point, but it's personal preference. I simply don't like the light colored interior and silver dash accents in the SR5. The black with red stitching and black dash accents are more to my liking. Even though I am not hard core off-roader, I prefer the 4x4 shift lever over the electric switch. I actually use 4x4 quite a bit... Just like the lever better. The front and rear bumper covers also give me the option to paint and clone a pro... All of that puts the Trail Preimum in the lead.
I'm still deciding though!
txbonds
Senior Member
For that $8k difference you could get the trail model, install a radflo/icon/fox lift, shrockworks/rci/budbuilt skids, one of 10 favors of sliders, a baja/gobi/drabbits roof rack, goodyear/bf Goodrich/Cooper tires in all terrain or mud tread and a set of leather katzkin seat covers. Buy yourself a can of black plasti dip and take care of the front bumper and this truck should eat a TRd for lunch.
Just my 2 cents
Just my 2 cents
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txbonds
Senior Member
Bought mine here for about $800, black with red stitching. ShopSAR.com | Auto Accessories, Katzkin Leather Seats, B&I Wood Dash Kits, Lloyd Floor Mats, Wheelskins Steering Wheel Covers, CoverKing Seat Covers
Paid another $450 for install.
Get tires for about $800 to $1200
Skids for $1000
Drabbits roof rack for about $850
Sliders for $600 or less
Lift for $2000 or less
Front UCAs for $600
So for less than $8k you could have a killer trail model with better gear than the trd pro.
