Jeep vs Toyota

As the owner of 3 jeep and 2 Toyota 4X4 vehicles, I'm curious to know what influenced your buying decisions. For me, reliability and gas mileage were the biggest issues. But off-road capablilty and Chrysler's financial troubles are also a factor. What influenced your decision?

 

Toyotas will run forever. I don't trust many others to do the same. Certainly not any of the american cars these days.

 

We own a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 2009 Tacoma.

I will never own a jeep again. It is not comfortable, the seats stain too easily (just water) and we have had too many mechanical problems. It only has 25K miles on it and the damn thing has been in the shop 4 times.

Last time it went in was during a 6 hour road trip. The dash lit up like a christmas tree halfway through our ride. Turns out the battery was leaking acid onto the main wire harness and fried a bunch of crap. It was a stressful ride looking at those lights the whole time.

I hate having the key on the dash. I have shifted in the seat countless times and bumped it with my knee - turning the car off. That's fun while driving I-95 in rush hour!

And whats with a 4x4 Jeep that you cannot manually put into 4x4? It has AWD but no button or shifter to force it into 4wd. Pretty damn stupid!

So yeah, we love the Tacoma and the Jeep will be traded in for a Highlander soon enough.

 

My buddy had an 89 Toyota 4x4 SR5 and I loved how it handled in the deep snow. I had an 89 Camaro IROC-Z at the time and I couldn't get to work during some blizzards. Driving in the snow was some serious white knuckle driving for me. After 7 years I gave up and traded the Camaro for a 96 Tacoma LX Extra Cab V6 4x4. I had that truck for 12 years without any major mechanical problems. I had over 223k miles on it before Toyota bought it back from me last year for the rusty frame issue. Went and bought a new 08 TRD Sport 4x4 Access cab and I'm loving the new truck. I also love Toyota quality. Only had to change the starter, alternator belt and replace the rear leaf springs on the old truck.
The Camaro was a different story. Intake manifold cracked, radiator blew, alternator went, e-prom chip malfunctioned, replaced automatic transmission, replaced thermostat 3 times. Luckily everything happened within the 5 year/60,000 mile warranty. Other than that, it was still a great car. I had fun in it.

 

i curently own a 2003 jeep wrangler rubicon and i should say that i have had it for 2 years and i loved it at first but i hate it now. thats why i am trying to get my taco. im tired of the soft top, im tired of a 5 speed, and im just tired of the jeep period. i love my jeep, but its one of those love hate relationships when comes to a jeep.

 

I have both, however my jeep is a 73 cj5 project. Well, I'd choose my 73 cj5 over my 08 tacoma for offroading.....no need to explain really....Why wheel my DD when I have a pos old jeep thats built decently.

 

Chrysler went to total crap after cerebrus took it over. I had 2X Jeep srt8's. 1st one I lemon'd and second one i dumped after I saw similar problems with its transfer case that caused me to lemon the 1st.

 

I actually looked at a Jeep Sahara and a Rubicon both loaded. I hated the ride but loved the concept! For me the Tacoma was a far better choice with room for 5 and a bed to carry crap. I like having the extra tow capacity too. I also joined both the jeep form and the taco forum; jeep had too many complaints vs the Taco. Plus for me the interior of the jeep is just plain cheap.

After being a Dodge man for 10 years I found it hard to leave Dodge and go to Toyota; but 7 weeks later I couldn't be happier.

 

My first vehicle was a 1990 Jeep Wrangler. I loved that Jeep. I miss it everyday. My second was a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Loved that Jeep too. Gas milage sucked on both but my Tacoma only gets 16 mpg anyways. The big factor for me was that I needed a truck. I dont think I'll ever be able to not drive a truck again. Pro's and Con's to all but overall I have had three great vehicles. Loved them all.

 

yeah i agree with the cheap looking interior. the ride dont bother me that much cause if your gonna have a jeep you cant expect it to ride like a cadilac. im just tired of it in general. not enough room in it either. i was 2 years younger when i bought it and im 28 now. have two kids right now with a third on the way and just not enough room for all that.

 

It's not all about off roading for me (but its a perk!). I needed a truck. Jeep doesn't make a truck.

 

Just wondering if Jeep did make a truck would you buy one? Assuming it was comparable to a taco...

 

My 09 Taco is replacing my 96 jep grand cherokee laredo. Why?

Past 2 years-

New starter, water pump, radiator, front brakes and rotors, serp belt tires, spark plugs, distributor rotor blade, catalytic converter. All this at 140k miles. Now some of those are maintenance, the cat conv was put in via a recall. Which it sorely needed. Local dealership tried to rip me for 50$ claiming boo hoo we have to weld on the new one that's not covered. I told em to suck it and I was gone. They call back three weeks later... oh wait no we pay for that no prob bro. I take it to them and they SEND IT OUT to have it done. Takes all day. For a new catalytic converter. Which the installer fucks up and has the exhaust system banging into the undercarraige all over now.

Honestly, it is no wonder to me why american car dealers are where they are today. Oh, heres another fun one- local dealership told me that the distributor was full of oil. It had some oil seepage on it... but upon a closer inspection, I see no tool marks on the screws that hold the cap down. How odd! Lemme just open this up and see... it's bone dry.

They lied to my face to charge me for phony work. At this rate I think chrysler deserves whatever they get.

Sadly, when all those dealerships close, all those service guys are just gonna work somewhere else. Like at a successful dealership, say an import... and go back to the same old tricks. It's disheartening really.

Doing my own maintenance from now on, money saved will buy me a lift.

 

You're comparing apples to oranges. I don't see the point. Might as well compare a Miata to the Tacoma.

 

yea chrysler service sssssssssssssssssssssucks. Worst part is that right before I got rid of my jeep srt I would have to wait 1 week to even get an service appt !! When you close down half the chrysler dealers the owners have no choice but to flood to the other half. And when your jeep/dodge vehicle is constantly breaking down than you can expect to wait a looooong ass time for things to get fixed as you're standing in line

 

My had a new transmission by 50K miles in his '05 Cherokee. Yeah, that's long gone now.

 

Mainly because....

TACOMAS ARE BADASS!

 

Mrs has a 2001 Grand Cherokee. Nice interior, nicer than our Tacos. The 4.7L High Output isn't as quick as our 4.0L V6 but it's strong. The Quadra Trac II Full time 4WD is pretty good. Has the option to lock it front to back too. Works well and grabs when it's supposed too. Feels alot heavier than the Taco, but it is, and the brakes are older so I'm sure that's a contributing factor. Doesn't get as good milage (17-18mpg city).

Decent vehicle all round. Only issue, for a 2 week stint when braked at a light the oil pressure would drop and the dash would ding at you. Then when you hit the gas to go again, the pressure would rise. Hasn't done it since.


And Jeep did make a truck for a while there.

 

Hard to say. When I was buying mine I looked at Frontiers as well as Tacoma's. So depends on how the Jeep held up tbh.

 

I have both...... My Wrangler is my trail vehicle and it's been built with rockcrawling in mind.

I've always loved Toyota for their reliability. However, recent days have made me think Toyota is slipping. Knock on wood - I haven't had any problems with my 07 tacoma and I hope I don't ever have problems with it. My jeep has been totally reliable since we bought it (6 years ago). We built it and abused it for those 6 years and I haven't had any issues that weren't caused by offroad damage.

For daily drivers - I'm on my 3rd Toyota. One of them, the transmission went out at 105K miles (84 Tercel). The other two (both tacomas) were totally reliable and still kickin.

My husband had a Grand Cherokee for about 4 years (it was 3 years old when we bought it). He loved it because it drove so smoothly and had all the interior conveniences & comforts he wanted. For the most part, it never left us sit - however - the brakes suck and warp easily. The throttle position sensor went out. One of the window motors failed. The rear taillight needed replaced. And probably the worst part...the resale value sucks. My mother in law owns this vehicle now. She loves it!! Guess who still maintains & fixes it?? We do!!

So .... in a nutshell.... I'd go with a Toyota for the reliability sake. The resale value on Toyotas are by far MUCHO better than a jeep (atleast, the last time I looked). And - Jeep doesn't make a truck.