My Comparison of ORD Off-Road Upgrade vs Premium Package

[Romer]

I have gone through and done a comparison of the Off Road Upgrade vs Premium packages based on my needs. I was looking for one with the Premium package in my color, but are very hard to find. Missed one 700 miles away by 15 minutes with a build date of late May start. I can wait until the package I am waiting for is available later in summer. Then I asked my self if I really need the Premium package and the below is my evaluation.

My open question is if the Fabric seats are pre treated in raw fabric or installed at the factory. I would treat them with Scotch guard. Does anyone know about the OEM Fabric pre treatment or stain resistance?

Obviously your review of what are must have vs nice to haves vs don't cares will be different. I thought my struggle may help someone else. Anything I am missing on the delta's?

The key thing is to make sure whatever I buy will have no regrets or feeling like I settled. I already decided I don't need the Hybrid. I have a 200 series LC for power towing and power wheeling and carrying more than 2 adults. This is more a day to day driver with occasional wheeling and maybe even some towing. Your situation will be different so will your needs. The Tacoma I test drove had plenty of power for me.

Comparison of Premium (Black Text) vs Upgrade (Red Text)

• SofTex®-trimmed * seats with heated and ventilated 8-way power-adjustable front seats, Has 8 way Power Heated Fabric seats
• leather-trimmed heated steering wheel, -Same
• 14-in. Toyota Audio Multimedia display, Has 8” display with same functionality
• Multi-Terrain Monitor (MTM), * -Doesn’t have
• Premium Audio with JBL® * FLEX portable speaker, -Same
• moonroof, -Doesn’t have
• Qi-compatible wireless charging, -Same
• * dual zone automatic climate control, -Doesn’t have
• Front and Rear Parking Assist with Automatic Braking (PA w/AB) * and Pedestrian Detection, - Assist but no Pedistrian detection
• prewired auxiliary switches, -Same
• AC power inverter, -Same
• digital rearview mirror, -Doesn’t have
• Towing Technology Package: -Doesn’t have
• including Integrated Trailer Brake Controller (ITBC), -Same
• *power open/close tailgate, -Doesn’t have
• * Digital Key * capability, -Same
• power horizontal rear window-Same

Both Vehicle Packages have key must haves for me; Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Locker, Trailer Brake Controller, Heated Powered Seats, Heated steering wheel and Android Auto. Some of those are standard options

Two things have veered me to the Premium vs Upgrade package; Softex Seats and 14” upgraded display. The seats are the real driver for me.

The Softex seats vs Fabric is the biggest delta for me. My concern is keeping them clean. Softec is their fake leather and maybe more comfortable. The dealer told me they could recover the seats for $2-$3K but that seems silly. Both are powered & heated and I don’t care about the ventilation that the premium seats come with I never use it in my 200 series Land Cruiser (Leather). I have recovered seats in two previous Land Cruisers. Pain, but doable. So I know if I hate Fabric I could redo them later. Looking at Amazon there are fake leather $295 and real leather $1200 sets (2023 Tacoma) for recovering in just a 5 min look. They just give me a material estimate.

The other item is the 14” vs the 8” screen. They both have the same functionality. It is just size of the screen. Thinking about it, the only thing the larger screen would help are maps, specifically topo maps. The 8” screen would probably be fine for this. I use to use my 8” Tablet and it worked great. Some trucks do have the larger monitor as an individual upgrade

The next two items are nice and cool, but I have been off-roading and towing without them and not drivers. They are nice to haves for me.

The Multi-Terrain Monitor AND Digital Rear View mirror are cool with cameras all around giving birds eye view and also turns the rear view mirror into a display (or mirror) using higher cameras. Provides cameras all around for off roading even showing under tires based on algorithms and past views.

The Tow Technology is also cool in using camaras and algorithms to help with backing up and enable a camera view from the back of the trailer . The big deal for me is the Tow Mode and integrated Trailer Brake controller included in both models. Am I missing something here?

Don’t care about a moonroof or dual zone climate control

Don’t care about the power tailgate.

Anything I miss or didn't consider?

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[n118nw]

I ended up going with Premium mostly for the dual zone, but my wife wanted a bit more. I thought all OR's came with MTM.

 

[Clay is the Way]

There are several Tacoma YouTube'rs who took a lesser package, I guess because of price, $3,000.00 in savings, to then splurge a couple of weeks later on new tires, rims, lift kit, rack and anything else to gild the lilly.
So I guess it's where you want to spend your money and when.
Myself, I got the premium package, everything except the SDM, as it is still not available. I will get new tires and rims when I need new tires. Right now waiting for rock Sliders to be available for the 24 taco. I checked most all manufacturers and Noone have any ready for the long bed.

 

[Planoman]

Good post! For me SofTex was the thing I wanted most as an upgrade. They are easier to maintain over the long term. They are heated and ventilated and the passenger side is powered the same as the drivers seat. Just wish there were memory buttons. I also wanted the all terrain monitor for the 360 or bird eye view of the cameras. I have had it in other cars and love it! Moonroof is also nice to have and the other items were just nice to have. I do not use the digital mirror. The auto tail gate is cool, but will likely break. I might carry a bike rack but won’t tow. The premium also has acoustic glass in front windows which helps with noise. Not sure if all trims have that.

So if you can deal with fabric seats and no 360 camera view, you can save a considerable amount provided you can get the options you want. The premium also has the hood pad, which I assume helps with engine noise because she is really quiet. I will likely keep her stock, I may change out the predator steps and add the bed mat and bumper step but that would be it.

 

[Romer]

I ended up going with Premium mostly for the dual zone, but my wife wanted a bit more. I thought all OR's came with MTM.

All off roads come with Multi Terrain Select. The MTM is the extra cameras and software

 

[Romer]

The premium also had the hood pad which I assume helps with engine noise because she is really quiet.

I didn't know about that. Thanks!

 

[Tacanta14]

I decided to go with the $4700 upgrade to the OR; everything I need and nothing I don't want, and the savings of $4100-5600 will go a long way in getting it set up for over landing!

 

[Pootklopp]

Don't forget you can add the Multimedia package to the upgrade package to get the 14" screen. The only thing I really want but didn't get is the MTM, I hope there is an after market or OEM way of installing that. But it will be very difficult I'm guessing.

 

[DavesTacomaShop]

I just want MTM without the damn moonroof. Let me do a moonroof delete, I'd pay $1k for it.

 

[Planoman]

I just want MTM without the damn moonroof. Let me do a moonroof delete, I'd pay $1k for it.

Agree on the moonroof but since I have it, I have used it a few times and like it. Not sure I would have paid for one stand alone, but glad I have it! It was alway not something I wanted but my last couple of cars except the previous Tacoma have had them and they are nice to have not need to have.

 

[DavesTacomaShop]

Agree on the moonroof but since I have it, I have used it a few times and like it. Not sure I would have paid for one stand alone, but glad I have it! It was alway not something I wanted but my last couple of cars except the previous Tacoma have had them and they are nice to have not need to have.

They suck if you’re tall and take up 1.7” of the headspace. Truly crap.

 

[Romer]

I appreciate everyone's input. It seemed that Bronze Oxide in Premium was hard to get, but there was one with the upgrade package locally. I was about to purchase that one when a dealer I had talked to got an allocation and immediately called me with a Premium. I did reserve it even though it won't be delivered until early July.

I likely would have been happy with the Upgrade package, but the seats was still my open item. I prefer leather in my vehicles and although it isn't leather it is closer. A personal preference thing

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