New Truck, Which One?

[Shadowrider]

I haven't owned one but I have driven a friend of mine's Nissan Frontier a lot. Great truck from a dependability standpoint. Had good low end torque but was completely gutless on the highway. It had the V-6 not the 4 banger, I can only imagine how bad the 4cyl would be. I drove it back and forth from Komiefornia to here and quite a bit while out there in the land of fruits and nuts. And the mileage was not much better than a 350 Vortech Silverado.

Ditto for his 4WD Pathfinder. Very dependable and well built but no power or mileage. FWIW this was about 5 years ago so they may be better now.

 

[ArGyLe64]

Tacoma FTW

 

[Antichrome]

Tacoma.
Mine is pushing 250,000 trouble free miles.

 

[HiImSeth]

Whichever one you go with, get the 4x4. Who knows what you will be driving through to get to your hunting areas on down the road, mang!

 

[truckmann]

I say Chevy Colorado with the 5.3L V8, but I've never been a fan of V6's. It is rated to get 21 mpg highway and I see no reason in won't average 18 mpg. 300 hp in a small truck would be fun too.

 

[kerryt1]

I second the Colorado w/ 5.3L. I'm also interested to see the H3T, since it's the same chassis.

 

[cheech_029]

I had an 08 Taco on order for two months. It was exactly how I wanted it: double cab, sport series, 20" TSS wheels, everything you could imagine except leather.

Then I got tired of waiting for gulf states to make the combo that I wanted (due to JBL with sunroof or some BS like that) and made the mistake of driving a loaded tundra crewmax.

Needless to say I now have the baddest truck I have ever owned and it is a guaranteed panty remover.

Moral of the story: If you don't want a larger truck don't ever drive the tundra!!

TACO btw.

 

[MaddSkillz]

Of course you guys have to complicate things... LOL

 

[brennan]

4 door Jeep Wrangler

 

[LOKNLOD]

They're both very nice trucks these days. I've got an '08 Tacoma double cab 4x4 TRD off-road w/ tow package. I love it. The Frontiers are nice too, though, and I've got a buddy with one that he loves (V6 manual 4-door long bed 2wd). I spent over 3 years trying to decide which one I wanted (Okay, and trying to figure out how to afford it) so here are some thoughts.

Styling - interior or exterior - is a wash, and subject to personal preference.

Frontiers are a little cheaper to get into, but don't hold their value quite as well. The plainest, cheapest Fronty will be a little "nicer" than the plainest, cheapest Taco. I didn't like Nissan's system of lumping packages together -- to get everything I wanted, I had to get stuff I didn't want. With the Tacoma, I was able to get it with exactly the options I wanted.

The Tacos generally seem to get a little better gas mileage, when comparing equivalent configurations.

Maintenance is easier on most (if not all) items on the Tacoma. Much nicer enginer compartment layout.

In crew cab models, the Fronty's rear seats fold up, the Taco's flip down. The Taco has some extra storage compartments which are nice for organizing tools and stuff, but if muddy or bulky items might be carried in place of people, I think the Fronty has a better setup. However, the rear seats in the Tacoma are more comfortable to ride in, with more angle to the seatbacks and padding for your butt. I'd rather ride in the Taco's back seat on a long trip.

The Taco's composite bed is nice and tougher you'd expect. However, if being using for a lot of heavy hauling, I do think the Fronty's traditional all-metal bed is a little better. It would be easier to modify, mount tool boxes, racks, etc. That said, I don't think any remotely reasonable usage would hurt the Tacoma's bed.

The Fronty's bed rail "cargo management" system is also a little more robust and versatile (it includes rails on the floor that the Taco lacks). If you like those bed extenders, the Nissan implementation is much more user-friendly than Toyota's. Of course, the Toyota does have the available 120v outlet in the bed (TRD models) that might be more useful to some.

The extra power of the Frontier's V6 is offset by the extra weight. Performance is pretty well even between the two. The Frontier's 4.0 is very refined and smooth, quick revving. The Tacoma's 4.0 feels a little more "trucky", if that makes any sense.

If you prefer a manual transmission, they both offer 6-speed manuals. The Nissan 6-speed is smoother than the Toyota 6-speed, based on my limited experience and what I've read/heard/seen. YMMV on this one.