2013: Toyota Tacoma vs Nissan Frontier ?

Yes, but you likely will get a big discount off MSRP for the Frontier- not so for the Tacoma so the Nissan STARTS at 700 less than the Toyota before discounts.

 

You can't assume that you're going to get a discount. Some people have gotten several thousand off a new Tacoma too. Only fair way to compare is by msrp.

 

I personally never thought the Frontiers were even remotely good looking vehicles, and if i were in the market for a small pickup i wouldn't even glance at one. Rarely ever see them on the road anyways but when i do i probably look like i just smelled a fart.

But just my $.02

 

They are pretty flat, but with 7.5" of lift, 33's, and no sway bar, I'm not taking the furs all that quick

The seats have never really bothered me. Although I did like the ones in our 01 highlander better. But I'm a little claustrophobic so I get kinda twitchy when a seat holds me in too tight..

The front diff is pretty bad, but it will be fine with a little driver skill. Shouldn't really be that way, but it is.

The radiator was a horrible thing and I don't think Nissan did enough about it, but I just bypassed mine to be safe. They extended the warranty to 8 years or 80k miles. I think they should have just agreed to replace it if it happens reguardless of time and mileage. But for clarification they did actually fix it for 13' or 14'. Someone took apart the new and old radiators to show the difference. The old had a plastic tube going through the plastic radiator where the new one has an aluminum pipe inside. The leak was caused by the sonic welds on the two plastic peices breaking, so no more welds to break

And yeah, the VQ isn't all that refined. Not a bad engine at all. But it feels like it has more to give. Basically the same block in the Frontier as in the 370Z/G37 with different heads. Also pretty much the same as the Titan V8 with 2 cylinders chopped off. Can't speak to the V8, but the 3.7L VQs feel years ahead of the 4.0 in terms of refinement.

One thing on the Tacoma some of you guys might could help me with is the engine mounts. One of my friends had them crack on an 05'. I never understood if Toyota recalled for that or not? That particular truck was out of warranty too.

I'm not going to diss either truck, but I'm good with making sure any faults are out and in the open

 

The engine mounts I believe were only a problem for 05, maybe 06 also. I believe Toyota had a recall for engine mounts but not sure, I know some people on here had them fixed by Toyota.

Your truck is pretty sweet xmods, btw.

 

Thanks

I remember reading about a bunch of guys with broken mounts a long time ago after I noticed my friends. I never did get to the bottom of the recall issue.

 

That made for a good laugh, thanks =D

 

I'm here all week

 

You may not, but I will assume it since the Tacoma sells so much better than the Frontier. I don't think MSRP is a "fair" comparison at all if you can buy the Frontier for much less...

As an example- the Frontier isn't offered in a regular cab(access cab is standard). If I price equivalent base model Frontier S (4 X 2 with 5-sp manual) and add what it needs to have same equipment as a Tacoma Access Cab has as standard - the "S preferred package" The suggested buy price for both trucks in my area(www.carsdirect.com)$18,353 for the Frontier and $21,024 for the Tacoma. A whopping $2,700 difference.

 

I thought of another thing to be aware of; timing chain tensioners going bad. They had problems with them wearing down to nothing and making an awful racket on the earlier years (I wanna say 05-07 or 08). I BFGs heard of some making noise as soon as 45k-50k miles. But most were more like 80k-100k+. They have supposedly fixed it in the newer years, but I think I have heard of a few as new as 10' or 11' that may have had some noise that sounded like tensioners. But I never followed up to see if that was the problem or not. I believe Nissan recalled for that. But it has been a well documented problem with VQ's going back as far as the mid 90's Maxima's. Not all variations of the VQ have had that problem, but the 4.0 in the Frontier/Xterra/Pathfinder deffinetly did.

I'm at 31k miles and no problems here. I don't expect to have any problems, but if it happened after 120k-140k I would think it falls under normal high mileage maintance than a recall issue.

 

I would need a $30K discount to buy a Frontier over a Tacoma. Even then it wouldn't be a cut and dried decision. I'd have to think hard about it.

 

Alright, I do think that there will be a price difference, and probably more discounts on the Frontier. But the poster I was originally quoting said the Frontier was about $5k cheaper which is mostly what I was arguing. Based on the models I looked at, they were very similarly priced.

 

I agree with you that $5K is not a realistic figure. Probably about half that.

 

Damn, I wish they offered those kind of discounts! My truck would have been $2k OTD!

 

Notice on all there features they have to compare to tacomas on there website pathetic http://www.nissanusa.com/trucks/frontier/compare.mobile?next=mobile_model.competitive_advantage.link

 

I traded my 2010 Frontier last year for a 2013 Tacoma. The Frontier felt like it had quit a bit more power, stiffer ride, but poor turning radius and cheap feeling interior. Nice, simple truck and the price was cheaper. Seemed to guzzle gas.

 

FWIW, I'm seeing about a 5k difference between Frontiers and Tacomas, even with the huge Nissan V6 as of July 4, 2014.

 

My 2 cents.
As of a week ago I am a DCSB 2013 Tacoma owner. V6 4 x 2.
My prior vehicle was a DCSB 2008 Nissan SE V6 4 x 2.
I found the Nissan boring in looks and function but with a reliable and strong engine and cold a/c. Put 150k on it since I bought it new. In the end though it was banged up and suffered from various electrical issues.
I prefer the comfort and looks of the Tacoma. But think the disc brakes and bed and tie-down system on the Frontier were great. For serious load hauling the Taco bed is clearly inferior in comparison - but for my hauling the Nissan was more than I needed and the Taco is adequate.
Several posters say the Nissan gets worse mpg? I never had a problem with it's mpg - if the Taco proves to be better that is great to hear.

 

Sir your 2 cents is about 3 years behind lol

 

Zombie thread I see - sorry!