Toyota Tacoma or Chevy 2500 Duramax

I now own a 05 4x4 Dlcb dsm. I love my taco. It looks and rides pretty good. I also like the looks of the chevy described. I am getting ready to go to college and wanna know what would be the better truck for me. My truck has 160xxx miles and obviously if i buy a truck it will have no more than 100xxx miles on it. I will be coming home quite a bit which is about a 4 hr round trip. What do you guys think would make for. better truck. If theres any more details i need to describe please tell me. Thanks for any feedback.

 

Do you tow a heavy trailer? If not, keep the Taco.

 

Well i work on a ranch now but im not sure on what ill be doing up there yet.

 

Also could someone educated on both trucks give me the plusses and minuses of each truck.

 

www.google.com

 

If you are in college and commuting then obviously it would be recommended that you stick with the V6 taco and save on gas. Like KenLyns said, basically no one on this forum is going to recommend a duramax unless you are intending on towing?

 

Do you need a full sized truck? is anything wrong with the tacoma? What is the appeal of going diesel?

I would say drive the tacoma till you need a new truck if nothing is wrong with it.

 

I just traded my Tacoma for a gas 2500hd GMC because I needed a full size truck , gas wise its getting better mileage because I had a lift and tires on my taco. I was having a few problems with my taco too... deisel wise, unless your towing a large amount of a weight at least a few times a month, get gas. The mileage may say its good , but you have to remember your paying more for diesel. In the large run, get what you want and what will make you happy. Good luck

 

The least costly approach would be to wait and see if the tow/haul jobs will strain the Taco capabilities, then decide.

The Duramax gets worse mileage than the stock V6 Taco when unloaded.

 

I traded in an '09 Dmax on my '11 Taco. I miss the chevy like crazy!!! It was however not the least bit logical. Diesel is way more and unless you get an '07 or older you will probably never see the same kind of mileage as a taco. The taco to me is more fun to get around in just because of the size. I do miss the truck most when I hook up to any weight whatsoever. I never used the Dmax and now that I don't have it I need it at least twice a week. If it were me and I was going to college I would definately put the Dmax on the back burner. Cost, maintenance, size, and fuel costs are way more than anyone needs in this economy unless its used to its full potential...

 

One of the reasons is my taco has a lot of miles and has been used as a dd for the last 7 years and has been rode rough getting into hunting spots and fishing holes. but all the routine maintenance has been kept up.

 

If you're buying a Chevy with 100k miles, you should be prepared to pay for more than gas. Your Tacoma easily surpassed 160k but a Chevy would likely require a little extra cash in maintenance to reach that milestone.

 

I am assuming the tacoma is paid off? If so, coming from a college student, save up for when it dies. you know the truck and what feels normal etc...getting a new truck, say 80k on it, is 80k worth of potential problems.

I still say keep it till it dies.

 

Diesel gets expensive if you have to do any kind of repair work.

Id love to get my hands on a dmax, but its not logical for my commute.

Diesels take fooorever to warm up when its cold, keep that in mind also.

If you get a newer one, keep a bottle of that special additive handy also..if it gets low, you have NO power, dosent matter what your doing..its something to keep the soot low(epa garbage, google it).

 

I am in the same situation, I am going to college next year and the drive home is about 3 hours. But most colleges don't let freshmen or sophomores take their vehicles with them if they live on campus, so you might want to make sure they even let you use it if you get it.

I don't really know much about the Chevy 2500. I do know if I were to get a new truck I would make it the new Ram 1500 because it is supposed to be really reliable and well built, if you want a big truck like that.

I love my Taco too, but its going to be like $80 in gas for a round trip from college to home. Which is something to keep in mind.

 

Anything from Chrysler reliable and well built?

 

Since when is 160k a lot of miles on a Taco. 250k is a lot of miles.... 101k is a lot of miles on a chevy. Good luck finding a dmax with under 100k miles for anything cheap unless it's a pos. College will make you poor enough without buying a dmax to look cool rolling smoke around campus.

 

Haha yah, I guess only time will tell but it looks good to me. They have done a lot to the new 1500.

 

Red tacoma where you goin to school? I have never heard of any restrictions like that in ks.

 

Keep the Tacoma. I can't imagine where a college kid really needs a diesel.