Toyota's 2016 Tacoma starts lower: $27,895, including shipping, for a base V-6 model, and the pickup had an average transaction price in 2015 of $29,811 (which included both the current generation and its predecessor), according to KBB.
Ads for the Tacoma are a Red Bull- fueled shot right into the psyche of a millennial. They feature explosions, backflips on motocross bikes, snowboarders on banisters, four-wheelers, four-wheelers towing couches, four-wheelers with bikini-clad women riding in back ... you get the idea.
Toyota's long heritage in off-road vehicles has served to "create brand imagery that appeals to a young, male, adventure-seeking target," Bill Fay, general manager of Toyota Division, said at the press launch of the Tacoma in early August.
These are "guys who can picture themselves racing across the dunes in Baja, heading to the beach to surf or setting up a hunting and fishing camp in the deep woods," Fay said.
A voiceover on one Tacoma ad drives the message home: "25 years old and you're still playing in the mud."
Sheep are nowhere to be found.