Since everyone is dogpiling I'll say that this thread is bad, and you should feel bad! #zoidberg
Now that said, I have a TRD Pro, and guess what remains? Rims, shift knob, badges. That's it. Do I regret the purchase? Nope. Would I have gone with something else in retrospect? Yes, likely a TEP non KDSS in Magnetic Gray, because it stays cleaner looking than black and doesn't look soccer mom like the superwhites.
I do take offense at the mouthbreathers who seem to think that "TRD pro buyers are dumb for buying a TRD Pro and upgrading it!" Okay so you've never started upgrading something despite your original intent that it'd last you forever in stock form? Cool, you must be perfect, and devoid of ever having the urge to improve or admit you learned more. Rad.
In stock form the TRDP is a great vehicle, most people buy them, wheel the shit out of them, and never mess with the configuration. This forum represents a fraction of a fraction of the owners of 4Runners out there. The vast majority are owned by people who either never wheel them, or never mess with their configuration. So we're a corner case of the market.
Most buyers saw the TRDP in the catalog and it created an emotional reaction of "man that's awesome looking and meant for offroading!" Marketing 101. Good for Toyota. I've discussed this all before, so I won't waste too much time on it.
The stupidity of the original question was to imply, "If you guys keep making your 4Rs to look like TRDPs, why didn't you just buy one and be cool like us?!" Which is dumb on so many levels it physically hurts and shames me as a fellow TRDP owner. Look, people can do with their money what they want. If they opt for an SR5, and want to improve the looks as money comes along, screw you it's their money, who are you to judge. Seriously. Does their addition of the TRDP facia parts diminish your love of your vehicle? No, it should not. The TRDP isn't some limited edition that's going to be worth more than another vehicle. I plan to use the shit out of mine and eventually sell it in 15 years, and by then I'll likely have 1-2 more cars in my garage.
I try not to critique other builds, mine is a fairly extreme end of the spectrum on upgrades, but as far as aesthetics I keep my mouth shut and don't judge. The only time I have a harder time biting my tongue is when people add shit to their vehicles and leave things like suspension stock, which I'm sure looks fine for pictures and doing donuts in the winter, but that wreaks of mallcrawler. Adding front grill bits, and badges? Game on, more power to you, let you be you!
This thread is misguided, and maybe booze fueled (nice try putting that genie back in the bottle, OP), but the point of it seems to boil down to a passive aggressive JOCK mentality of, "if you wanted to be cool why didn't you be cool and buy this?" Which as a TRDP owner makes my blood curdle and makes me want to go de-badge my goddamn vehicle as fast as goddamn possible.
hwell:
opcorn:
