Is the Tacoma the best midsize truck? - new member

I was diving a 2011 Tacoma work truck with manual everything (4cyl, m trans, windows, locks, you name it) with no cruise control. Two years ago I traded up to a 2017 TRD Sport in Inferno. I remember when the Toyota dealer I work for got that model in for the first time back in 2016. I fell in love with it but figured I'd never actually own one. This is my 3rd Toyota truck I've owned and I'd do it again in a minute. The truck handles great , hauls everything I need it to, and pulls my 5x8' or my 6.5x12' trailers perfectly. I would highly recommend this truck.
The best part is, thanks to Covid keeping us home more, I just paid off my 5 year loan last Friday in exactly two years. Couldn't justify paying 3.5% interest on the loan when my bank was paying about 1/10 of a percent on my money sitting there.

 

Apollo needs to be a truck dog. Look at him and his disappointment. I had a Lab for 16 years. The last three I had to put him in the truck. The last year I had to put him in our Rav4. I would have let him drive the friggin' thing if it would have kept him going.

 

I haven’t driven all of them. But I have been quite happy with my Tacoma.

 

I haven’t driven any of the mid size either. No MT option, no truck for me.
Also, I do not really trust modern domestic vehicle reliability.

I actually put a deposit on my taco without test driving, worked out great!

 

DAAAAAWWWWW... Looks at that face!

You've got a DCSB, get one of those doggie hammocks, or whatever they're called, for the back seat. That way you can dump the dog hair out. A hard topper with sliding side windows so he can at least stick his nose out into the wind would probably be okay, too.

 

I respect that. They ain't pets, they're family members.

 

Believe me, my wife's already pushing it in that direction..lol. So, soon enough he will be up in the mountains with us when we go camping.


Disregard the "Working Dog" tag, the only thing he works at is getting Husky Glitter on everything he gets within 20 feet of.

 

Bought mine used from a dealer in western Missouri over the intarwebs and had it trucked up here without having even sat in one. No regrets.

There were no AC manuals to be found around here. Figured that something was going to less than perfect and would require some tweaking, but really the tweaking was minimal.

(of course, I hung out at TW quite a bit beforehand so I had some idea what to expect)

 

I have an Aussie Shepherd/Border Collie who achieves Husky levels of shedding, and a fiance who's a dog trainer. The dog hammocks for the back seats do work well, as long as they will stay back there.

Considering my moves with my new one as well. Got a Bed Rug for the back so he has traction. Might fold a rear seat down and put a proper dog bed in there for him.

 

I have to agree you get more nicer standard things with tacoma. Ranger was the runner up for me. the things I didn't like that were all extra option packages were the radios and the safety gizmos that were not standard. you didn't get adaptive cruise, front collision avoidance or lane departure on the XLT unless you got the full tech package. the base infotainment was a tiny 3.5 inch screen with tons of ugly buttons, you had to pay up more for the touch screen sync3 that still wasn't android auto and carplay. the SR5 had a standard 8" touch screen that to me was more modern. I just liked how the dash layout was in the Tacoma better. things are more simply designed to get the job done.

with the better resale and reliability and those few things I didn't need to pay extra for are why I picked toyota

 

I wouldn't say the Ranger is better than the Tacoma, but it's the Ranger isn't a bad truck. I like the small screen, minus those buttons. Looks high tech from the 80's. What appeals to me about the Ranger. You can get a Super Cab XL STX 4WD, with out the rear seat, vinyl floor, rear locker, rear sliding window, and have the screen upgraded to the one from the XLT.

 

Maybe you know, but the 2.7 was updated with port injection in 2018. Outside of possibly the NA V6, I think the 2.7 is likely to have the most longevity of the F150 engines. It's the engine I would pick anyways.

Also water cooled turbos can last quite a long time. Especially if it's predominantly highway miles.

 

I've driven the Ranger and the Colorado (and Canyon if you want to count them as twins). They are both nice trucks. I would likely go with the Colorado (especially the diesel) over the Ranger. The Ranger had good low end torque but also had quirks of its own. And I'm with you on GM quality trust issues. I went with the Tacoma for a reason and don't regret it.

 

The Ridgeline tow rating is 5,000 pounds.

 

My beagle is 14.5 years old and sleeps 22 hours a day. I have to lift her up into my AC Sport now. I made a nice carpeted platform for the back seat area (thanks to posts I read here from other members) and just throw her travel bed pad in there for her to have something soft to lay on. I'm just happy she still travels well with me when I head up to our cabin.

 

I had a Chocolate Lab and the only time he would wine or even bark was if he heard me get in the car without him. Didn't care if I was going anywhere, but he'd run to the window or door as soon as he heard the door open or shut: instant attention and run (only -my- car: somehow he knew.) even when he was 10, after years in the woods, water and fields with me, and everything on him hurt. Wouldn't have mattered if the vehicle had sat out in the driveway for ten years after it was parted out. If he heard that door: here he comes. If I had a truck back then, I would have had to lift him into it and been glad to do it for him after all he did for me.

 

If you intend to park the truck in the garage overnight, tacoma and other midsize will fit in most any garage. Modern full size trucks won't fit (or not enough room for a passenger to get around the front of it) in many garages.

 

Yeah.

I was really excited for the ranger. I had 2007 ranger for 7 years and it was an absolute beast, great build quality.

Then I saw it in person and it was alright, the front is nice but the rest umm no. Also only one EB engine option and no MT, hard pass for me.

I didn’t even consider the twins, I think they look awful, ground clearance is not that great, and like you said GM product, no thanks. I mean the zr2 is pretty cool, but not for me.

I did consider an Pro4x frontier, awesome truck, but I always wanted a taco.

I still miss this little guy, wish I had room to keep it. Indestructible machine, haha.

 

Did not know they switched to port, thanks.

Still though, I got no faith in the EB. I keep my vehicles for a long time.

 

See, I'm the opposite. I can't stand the front end of the Ranger. The back isn't terrible but not great either. I don't think that the EB is a bad engine but I do agree that it sucks that it only has one engine option. Almost like Ford half assed bringing it back to the US being so afraid to hurt Fseries sales (nevermind they they could have brought back the F100 nameplate).

I have trust issues with GM right now but I think they have the second best looking mid-size truck in my opinion. Well, at least until the new Frontier is more available.