The Toyota Tacoma build-and-price tool is finally live. So, we wanted to take a look at how the 2024 Toyota Tacoma price stacks up against some of the other new midsize trucks, namely the 2023 Chevy Colorado and the 2024 Ford Ranger.
2024 Toyota Tacoma price is middle of the road
If you look base-to-base-to-base, The Toyota midsize truck sits squarely in the middle of the pricing scale, with the Ranger costing about $2k more and the Colorado $2k less. However, we will point out that the pricing for the 2024 Colorado isn’t out yet, so we’re basing this comparo off of 2023 pricing. Expect the gap to close a bit as Chevy is likely to give a slight price increase to the 2024 model.
Base prices, including destination fees, are as follows:
- 2023 Chevy Colorado WT: $30,695
- 2024 Toyota Tacoma SR: $32,995
- 2024 Ford Ranger XL: $34,160
These base models are all equipped with the base powertrains, crew cab configurations and 2WD. The Taco has a 6-foot bed, and the others have the only bed available to them: 5-foot short box. The Taco and Colorado have 8-speed automatic transmissions and the Ranger has a 10-speed. They all roll on 17-inch wheels.
If power is your thing, Tacoma in the base SR trim is not the winner. The base tune for the 2.4-liter turbo is 228 horsepower and 243 pound-feet of torque. Those numbers increase to 278 and 317, respectively on all other models, but base-to-base-to-base, this is what you’ve got. Ranger is the top performer with 270 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, while Colorado sits in the middle with 237 horsepower and 259 pound-feet.
If you’re curious about how the trio tops out, here are the highest prices you’ll see on these trucks to date – without options or accessories. Taco, again, sits in the middle. Though we will point out the Trailhunter and TRD Pro aren’t available yet and will likely have much higher prices.
- 2023 Chevy Colorado ZR2: $46,800
- 2024 Toyota Tacoma Limited: $53,595
- 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor: $56,960
The 2024 Toyota Tacoma is just one of two trucks that still offers a manual transmission. (Photo by Jill Ciminillo)
What the Taco has that the others don’t
While the lower price of the Colorado is definitely tempting, and the Ranger Raptor might appeal to someone who wants something aggressive and unique, the 2024 Toyota Tacoma has a few things the others don’t. Namely, it has variety. You can get a 5-foot or a 6-foot bed on most configurations, and the TRD PreRunner comes only as a two-door, two-passenger option. Both Ranger and Colorado are only crew-cab and 5-foot-bed models.
Something else you can get on a Tacoma: a manual transmission. It’s one of two trucks that still offers the option, and it’s available on the TRD Sport and TRD Off Road.
Finally, the Tacoma will offer a hybrid. It won’t come until early next year, and we don’t have much info on it. But it is coming, and it will be offered on the TRD Sport, TRD Off-Road, Limited and Trailhunter. The Ranger will get a plug-in hybrid version in other parts of the world, but it’s TBD if this powertrain will make it to the U.S.
TRD Off-Road overpriced?
One of the big complaints we’ve heard since pricing went live is that the TRD Off Road is overpriced and that the Colorado TrailBoss or fully kitted Ranger XLT FX4 will be the better buy. What we want to say is: That depends. The Colorado TrailBoss and Ranger XLT FX4 can only be kitted up so much. Neither have leatherette seat or stabilizer disconnect mechanism options. They have their own versions of terrain management drive modes, but the breadth of options and configurations you have on the Tacoma just aren’t available on these trucks.
If you fully kit up the TrailBoss and XLT FX4, yep, the Tacoma TRD Off Road is crazy expensive in comparison, topping out at $54,485. But that includes the $10k TRD Off-Road Premium Package with options. So, it goes all in with mud guards and stabilizer disconnect as well as premium audio, leatherette seats, heated-and-ventilated front seats, multiple camera angles in off road modes, parking assist, rear automatic braking, wireless charging, dual automatic climate control, digital rearview mirror, the towing tech package, integrated trailer brake controller, power tailgate and a power rear window.
But if you compare apples to apples, here’s what you get:
2023 Chevy Colorado TrailBoss: $40,870. At a standard level, the TrailBoss has a 2-inch factory installed lift, 18-inch wheels, all-terrain tires, drive mode selector, 2-speed transfer case, hill descent control, automatic locking rear differential and black recovery hooks. This price includes packages that add things like a rear window defogger, rear sliding window, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, automatic reverse braking, power front seats, adaptive cruise control and an around-view camera.
2024 Ford Ranger XLT FX4: $44,885. At a standard level, the XLT includes a wireless charging pad, Co-Pilot360, 17-inch wheels and 400W in-bed power. This includes packages that add things like parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, around-view camera, power seats, heated front seats, power-sliding rear window, dual-zone automatic climate control, electronic locking rear differential, all-terrain tires, exposed steel bash plates, an off-road screen in the center stack, off-road tuned shocks, the Terrain Management system, Trail Control.
2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road: $44,980. At a standard level, this includes blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, the Multi-Terrain Select system, crawl control, descent control, 18-inch wheels, all-terrain tires, electronically controlled locking rear differential, front skid plate with underbody transfer case and fuel tank protection and 2400W power supply. The only package item added to match the Ranger packaging was front heated seats. This build, however, is missing “luxury” items like dual automatic climate control, power seats and around-view camera.
So, it’s a much tighter spread than you might originally assume.
The bottom line
If price is the end-all, be-all for you, the 2023 Colorado TrailBoss is the hands-down value winner. But if you crave options and have a little extra scratch to spend, The 2024 Toyota Tacoma is your boy.
However, what’s great about the 2024 midsize truck year is there are a lot of excellent options.
