Other Vehicles Considered?

Colorado; felt like a cheap leather interior. Drove nice, though. Price was higher for comparable options. Didn't try to play ball on price when I told them I was cross shopping.

Ranger; test drove it but already ruled it out mostly. Exterior not my favorite. Hard to find spec I wanted. Price was nice, being able to add FX4 package on any trim level is nice.

Frontier; couldn't find any spec's that I wanted local. Sat in one and hated the interior. Could definitely see myself in one after a redesign, though.

Tacoma; favorite exterior of the bunch. Probably my favorite interior, too. Reminded me of my dad's Jeep in a way. Utilitarian with some modern tech. Engine/trans were fine for me. Price was right, seemed like Tacoma wasn't even more expensive (maybe by $1k or so) than similarly equipped trucks. Sales guy at Toyota was great, low pressure, first new vehicle purchase.

 

I have a gen 1. Found a Mt 6 gen 3. Done

 

I'm always fascinated by the cross-shopping between vehicle classes, because I dont think like that. I always start with the vehicle class that best suits my needs, then look at the offerings within that class. It makes me wonder about the reasons why others buy trucks. I have a truck because I use the bed. If I didnt have a bunch of dirty shit to haul all the time, i would have stayed in a canvas topped car. Actually, I really want a ragtop Defender but I a)cant afford it, and b)would especially not be able to afford it after getting fired because Defenders are not the best choice for daily commutes to work.

So that leaves pickup trucks. In 2008 I moved up from my Frontier to my Ram 1500 6MT, and immediately regretted it. The Ram was a fantastic truck to take on the beach, but it was a colossal pain navigating downtown. And it was a rare day that I actually needed such a large cargo bay. Midsize truck is really the best choice for me, and Toyota makes a solid midsize. When I shopped I didnt even get as far as a test drive in the Colorado, I sat in it and immediately hated the interior layout. Personal aesthetics. The Frontier really didnt look any different than my 2000 Frontier. It was like a time capsule sitting on the lot. So it was Toyota that got my handshake.

 

Wanted a tacoma for about 10 years, couldnt afford one.

Finally, got one last july and could not be happier. I did consider ford fx4 with 5.0 tho but no MT option.

Didnt even look at GMs, or ridgeline.

 

Audi Q3 & A5 (they wouldn’t deal)
Hyundai various (best deals but meh)
Ford F150 (Too big and expensive)

 

Nope ever since my 2012 I has the feva.

 

tundra, new ram, tacoma, 4runner, landcruiser

tundra pros - quality reliability roomy interior
cons - size, antiquated interior

new ram - pros beautiful truck lots of goodies
cons - chrysler

tacoma - pros - reliability maneuverability off road capability resale value
cons - size, seat position, tranny engine combo kinda funky for some

4runner - pros - large covered cargo area, good head / leg room, reliable engine
cons - mpg, no pick up bed, antiquated interior

landcruiser - pros reliable, roomy, off road capability, tow capacity, goodies, tech
cons - price$$$$

 

The Tacoma was top of my list because i grew up around Toyota trucks. Considered the Ridgeline only because my wife's Honda Pilot was so reliable. Told this to the wife and she said "if you're going to get a truck get a real TRUCK not a Ridgeline. Lol true story. Not trying to flame the Ridgeline as I'm sure it's a good truck but so far no ragrets.

edit- Also considered the Tundra but no need for a full size truck. Plus i'd have to park it on the street or sideways in my drive way. Definitely wouldn't fit in my garage.

 

my wife also really likes the looks of the toyota vehicles

 

4Runner - thats it, had one in the 90's loved it, traded it for a Tacoma in 2010 for the manual transmission, and recently traded again for a 2018 Tacoma. I'm set for about 8-10 years again.

 

I test drove a Ranger Lariat FX4 but it didn't convince me. I knew I wanted a Tacoma, but why not browse?

 

Tundra

 

I currently own a 08 voodoo FJ since new. It’s old and has 246k miles so I thought a 4Runner was the logical DD replacement even though I planned on keeping the fj. I went to buy a specific trdor 4Runner, test drove it and was...meh. Felt way slower than my fj and still had the stupid white headliner like my fj which I hate. Well they also had a voodoo trdor Tacoma on the lot and it happened to be a manual with every option I wanted. Took it for a test drive and fell in love with it. Now I have two voodoo Toyota’s in the driveway.

 

pic!

 

I wanted a truck, and I wanted a MT.

That being said, I test drove every truck (mid and full size), and MT (car or truck) that I could find. The combination that felt the best to me and offered me the most of what I needed in a vehicle was the Tacoma so that is what I got. This is my first Toyota / I have no brand loyalty. When it comes time to replace this, I will decide on a few things that I really want and repeat the process.

 

Ridgeline.

Same in that I looked only at trucks because I need a bed to haul bikes and gravel and kayaks and stuff. I liked the Ridgeline but found it pricey for what it was. The Colorado wasn’t on my radar, the Frontier wasn’t fuel efficient, and the ‘new’ Ranger wasn’t out yet.

 

Test drove a Ranger. Snappy acceleration and nice-looking truck but the Tacoma felt more solid and refined. Easy decision.
When my lease is up I may switch to a Tundra if does in fact go hybrid and get 30 MPG. Tundra is going to eat into Tacoma sales pretty significantly, I think.

 

2 serious vehicles I debated on were the 19' silverado 4x4 w/ z71 package and 19' colorado zr2.

- 19' silverado : Really nice interior and lots of room, but the reliability and size just didn't do it for me.

- 19' Colorado zr2 : I hated the interior and the asking price was out the roof. This one was an easy no after test driving it.

Finally decided to test the tacoma for a 2nd time and this time drove one without a sunroof. I'm 6' tall and my head would touch the headliner on the models equipped with sunroof. I fell in love with it and knew this was the perfect truck for me. I have had 3 1st gen tacomas in the past, and this one has been my favorite so far.

 

Last May when I was moving from Indiana to Arizona I went back and forth on this forum between a Tacoma and a 4Runner. I was also bring two dogs with me on this move. Since there was a 4-6 week lead time to get a hard shell for the Tacoma, I went with the 4Runner for other reasons, but that was a small factor. The 4Runner was great, but once I got out here and did some off-roading the 4Runner was just too nice of a vehicle. It felt more like a "family suv" than the "truck" I wanted. In the meantime I picked my all time favorite vehicle .. an FJ. Still I needed a truck and can always use a truck. One morning in October over morning coffee I check my local small town Toyota dealership and there is a 2017 Taco TRD Pro .... The truck was home within 2 hours after I saw it. The hounds and I have traveled 22 miles of gravel/rock/dirt/mud road over Montezuma Pass to Parker Canyon Lake ... the bloodhound has plenty of room in the folded back seat while the basset hound rides shotgun. I found out that it would not have been a problem helping the 90# bloodhound into the back seat of a double cab like I thought it would be. If I had known what I know now back in May I would have went with the 2019 Tacoma but believe me ... I'm not complaining about my 2017 Taco Pro that has low miles and was never off of pavement before I got it.