For better or worse, this is why I don't like buying domestic

I love seeing people compare prices of Tacos to other trucks. They always talk about how many cool things the other truck has...diesel engine, 8-speed transmission, power seats, etc. The they quote the price for a top end 4x4 TRD OR DC Taco (around $38k), then compare it to the pricing for a base model of the truck they are talking about that doesn't have any of the optional equipment they are claiming makes it better than the Taco. By the time you add it all up, it is a $42k truck that they then negotiate a huge $3k discount on. smh...

 

They'll get the memo when all the major players are back in the game. Back when the midsize market was full, the trucks were all performing roughly the same but Toyota was flying high on the 1st Gen reliability so it was a no brainer.

Now what they are going to see is that Ford will bring back the Ranger with the ecoboost and that is going to give much higher numbers for hp/torque/mpg, chevy/gmc are going to make improvements to their numbers gradually through the years and we'll see if nissan ever redesigns the frontier.

So toyota will have to once again rely solely on reliability (which isn't really proving to be much better than any of the other manufacturers so far for the 3rd gen) because they wont be selling models based on performance or creature comforts.

It should be an interesting next few years.

 

Yet thousands of "Truck people" will continue to line up for 10-speed F-150's come this fall.

 

thousands would line up to buy a f-150 if it had a 4 speed in it.

 

You are missing a major point in all of this. CAFE standards. If Toyota only had to satisfy what buyers wanted out of an engine, they could offer two models...one with a dog of an engine that got great mpg, and the other with loads of low end torque that got barely acceptable mpg. The problem is that they have to maintain a fleetwide standard mpg and can't afford to have a bunch of people pick the low mpg model. They have to hit a target with each vehicle model in order to reach their fleet goals, and as those goals are raised by the government, manufacturers are going to have to make compromises. These new transmissions and high rpm powerbands are what everybody is going to have to do to reach those higher CAFE stds. It is the new reality, and the sooner people accept it as such, the better. Toyota and all other manufacturers are caught between the rock of the customers and the hard place of government standards for mpg.

 

There could be many reasons for that, maybe they had a large supply of engines or a contract to fill, and they had the old pushrod 5.0 in 1994 and 1995 before going modular 4.6 in 1996.

 

This is true. For whatever reason. Ford people are as loyalist as it gets. Not afraid to say it either.

 

An ecoboost paired with the new Ford/GM 10 speed auto will have zero problems combining higher performance with acceptable mpg's.

Toyota's solution was an Atkinson style engine with lower performance numbers and a 6 speed auto. They chose to stay with what they know. Other manufactures will choose to push the limits and get as much as they can out of their allowed design envelope.

Don't get me wrong, I would much prefer the simple, reliable Toyota that will last me 20 years with zero issues over pushing the envelope for a performance boost. But unfortunately Toyota isn't doing a great job right now at proving the rock solid reliabilty still exists, so they are going to need to do something or else they will just be average across the board.

 

I personally have only owned Fords myself, but whenever my Taco gets here I'm switching. I've had a couple of Rangers and while I am interested in seeing what it is like when (if) it comes back, I'm afraid that Ford has done away with the things I care about in a vehicle (I'm a MT guy). They were great trucks for reliability which is why I was a fan, and loyal. But they have done away with the things I want (small/midsize truck, manual transmission in truck) so they have lost a customer.

 

I am hoping the new Ranger has a Manual Trans Option.

 

Me too, and if it does I will take a look at them when they come out. But after talking to the dealership near me, I'm not going to hold my breath. They couldn't believe I wanted a manual... and more than half their staff can't drive my current vehicle because it is a manual (and a Ford even). At least when I went to the Toyota dealership next door, while they didn't have a manual, everyone I talked to could drive one and they said it wouldn't be a problem to get one if I really wanted that.

 

A ranger with the eco boost and mt would be hard not to at least give a serious look.

 

Toyota has chosen in the past to value simplicity and durability over the more complex but less reliable systems the domestic makers choose to use. All the hand-wringing on TW notwithstanding, we will have to wait and see what the reliability and durability of the new 3.5 are and how reliable the Ford boost engines are beyond the 3-5 year timeframe. My last Tacoma lasted 17 years without major repairs to the engine...we will have to wait to see whether the 3.5 or the Boost will be more likely to have that kind of future. My money is on the simpler engine with fewer moving parts...but YMMV.

 

2nd Gens were hardly "flawless"
http://www.tacomahq.com/tacoma-recalls-and-tsbs/

 

Read where I said MINE has been flawless

 

Its right in the post I quoted.

"I know my 1st and 2nd gen tacos have both been flawless."

 

ETA: I misread that.

But plenty of people have been very happy had flawless 3rd gens as well.

 

like myself. One of the first 3rd gens. The first TRD access cab built. Been offroad countless times. Never been in the shop

 

I see many comments in the 3rd gen Tacoma forum- "not a good idea to buy the first year of a new design, wait until the bugs are worked out", so when the 2018 Ranger comes out, what are the chances that this complete new model will be flawless? Nissan Frontier will be immune? I purchased the Tacoma with the intention of keeping it for at least 25 years, and I have been driving it very conservatively since February. It is by far the nicest vehicle I have owned- no problems and I like the way it drives. I read that many believe Toyota quality is not what it used to be, and that may be true, but isn't it a little too early in 3rd gen lifespan to know for sure? I have come to realize that the first 10 years of the life of a truck are the easy years- what happens after that is what separates the good from the not so good.

 

25 years? I'd start saving for the flux capacitor add-on due out in 2035.