If you weren't going to buy a Tacoma

Here's pictures of the Mazda in question. It looks rough, but man that thing was tough! We jumped it, got it stuck god knows how many times, bashed it into shit, and my buddy even accidentally drove it off a cliff messing around on slick roads. Luckily a tree saved him from plummeting 300ft down.

Here's some pictures of when we got it stuck in some spring snow up in the mountains. He got too close to the shoulder and got sucked into the soft stuff.





The last picture was from a different time when we went muddin'.

It really was a sweet old truck, and it's too bad we abused it so much. We were just dumb high school kids at the time. When he bought the truck, it was in near mint condition and didn't have a single rattle or sound anywhere like most these old trucks are. The clutch was tight, the engine didn't use or leak any oil, the 5 speed shifted like butter and the tires were new. He got the truck for $900 in that condition. When he was finally done trashing it, he sold it to a Mexican guy for $300 I think.

 

Trd supercharger adds 70 hp. Not that it takes away from the cost.

And I mean it more in general, not targeting any one person. Shit happens we can't always make big jumps like that. Family of 7! My income is stressed enough with family of 4!

I don't see any full size truck with a gasser actually getting any better real world MPG than a Tundra. But there are some that are less ugly!

 

The S/C adds about 70 HP. That's 30% more power than stock. It is VERY noticeable, even more so with a few hundred dollars more of upgrades.

Check out what I wrote about the F150. I help out with my works fleet management from time to time and we've had great success with the truck. We beat the piss out of them and they hold up well beyond anything from Chev or Dodge. We are an Agricultural retailer with a full agronomy department so gravel roads and goat trails are common for our trucks, as well as large loads of boxed heavy product. Our company dumped the Tundra since the "new" 2014's were getting around 12 mpg IRL for us and that was not acceptable given there 20% higher purchasing cost.

I'm not exactly sure what that poster is talking about when he says plastic skid plate? On our trucks there's a plastic deflector right under the bumper but that's for aerodynamics. Just under it extending all the way to the back of the engine is a metal skid plate. Most of our trucks are missing the plastic piece and it doesn't make one bit of difference in my experience when I had an 09 F150. I did bend the bejebbers out of the skid plate on a rock when soil sampling but it DEFINITELY saved me from a ton of worse damage and was a few hundred bucks to fix.

I also have nothing to gain by saying any of this since they are "free" trucks, but I do care that my location makes money so my next truck will be a Ford after I'm done with my current Dodge 3/4 ton POS.

 

I will admit, it sounds like the F150 has lost some flab. It used to be a total pig. I mean it still is, just not as much as it used to be.

 

Thanks. I didn't think it added that much. Last time I looked it just didn't seem worth it.

I had kicked around the idea of adding one to mine for a little extra power when towing, but it needs around $3,000 in repairs per the dealer, plus a new tailgate and the cats if I can't keep the codes at bay. Just not worth putting $6,000 or more into a 9 yr old truck with 132k IMO. Especially when I don't know what's going to rust through or break next.

Yeah, I've been reading what you've said. I'm not interested in Dodge. It's mainly the F150 or Titan XD with Cummins if it's in my price range. Unfortunately I don't know if i can wait for it to be released or how much they're going to ask for it. Then there's the whole 1st year of an all-new vehicle thing that makes me wonder.

The aluminum shaved around 700 lbs off supposedly, depending on trim line. I don't really want anything crazy so I think it would only be a few hundred lbs more.

Maybe I'm just in sticker shock because I see a bigger, more power truck getting better MPG than I do and it makes want it. Also makes me wonder WTF Toyota is doing if they can't squeeze out better MPGs with the same or better HP.

 

I'd be very wary of the new Titan given there track record. That truck has had some of the lowest quality and reliability ratings since it was released and I doubt the redesign will change that. Don't get me wrong, I've owned a Nissan and I thought it was a good vehicle. The Titan has just not been up to snuff.

Watch that MPG via fuelly IRL. I doubt the 2.7 L Ecoboost will hit the numbers Ford is talking about but I see 20-23 mpg being a reasonable guess at how it'll do on mileage. Toyota is experimenting with fuel efficient small Turbo's right now in the Lexus line, despite what was said at the Detroit auto show, so we will probably see one in the Tacoma in 10 years.

BTW wasn't the Tundra going to have a diesel option soon as well or was that just smoke and mirrors? I know Toyota had a few test vehicles with the Cummins in them. That would make the Tundra actually make sense. I still can't figure out why Toyota didn't decide to make some tweaks to their high output V8 or even just redesign the thing from scratch. Right now with the 5.7 L and that 4.10 rear end you get 12 mpg and don't even have best in class towing .

 

Its too bad the newer nissans aren't what they use to be. A lot of their older trucks and cars were just as good as hondas and toyotas.

 

Tundra or f150 for me

 

Except the transmissions, Nissan has a horrible reputation for really bad manual transmissions in their old trucks. They would just randomly grenade gears out of the blue I guess. One of my Dad's friends had an old 2wd Nissan pickup from the 80s I think and it lost 2nd and 4th gear, but 1st and 3rd were still fine.

 

Well, if if gets 20-23, that's still better than anything I've ever seen with the Tacoma! You did give me the idea to hit up fuely and see if other people are posting number for them yet. That would be a good idea of how far off the EPA is.

And yeah, I actually really like the XD's looks and the idea of the Cummins growl and power. However, like you said, I have concerns. I read that they sold 12,750 pickups last year while Ford sold that many F150 in the first 5 days of sale!! And it makes me ask why? Are Ford fans diehards that will keep buying shit trucks to replace shit trucks, or are they really better than most? Is Nissan really that bad that no one wants them, or do they just have nothing to sway Chevy/Ford/Dodge owners to switch sides? I tried lurking on a Titan forum to see what common issues were. So far axles seals and 1 or 2 other warranty parts seemed to be the only common issues. Not that means much for a complete redesign and new engine. That's the other thing. From what I've read this seems to be a brand new engine from Cummins too. I have no idea what their track record is, but I would assume they need some time to work out kinks that come up after production.

I think there was a diesel Tundra at Sema one year, but I've heard nothing more about it. This was a few years ago too.

 

depends upon what you mean by older... their quality hasn't been toyota or honda quality in quite some time. once you hit around 100K miles... look out.

 

90's. Those older maximas were pretty good quality. Their pickups weren't bad either.

 

Tundra or F150. I decided to go with the Tundra…..

 

2015 f150 I saw one on the interstate today and it looked really good.

 

Just FYI the Titan had massive transmission issues right out of the gate and it still blows out rear differentials when used hard at an astounding rate. Several farms around here have tried them, and without exception that rear end came apart on them.

The F150 sells so many trucks because once they gained that position years ago they've continued to release a truck that makes you want to buy another one overall. There's always a few fanboys out there but most guys are like me. We buy what will work hard and stay together. I try a new truck from time to time personally, like my current Ram 2500 wrok truck, which has just blown a seal on the transmission and will be in the shop for the week while they drop the transmission to replace the seal. That Dodge will have spend 3 weeks in the shop over the period of 1 year. That's unacceptable to me, my Tacoma has had to cover it's ass far to often. After this I'll go back to Ford, and probably a F250 this time because I did blow a few shocks in the rear but I also was pushing the F150's payload over shitty terrain. Sure there's some bad experiences out there and they aren't miracle trucks, but like I said they've proven themselves in our fleet and many others year over year over year.

 

The newest 4Runner Trail and a trailer.

 

I came from a 1998 Ford Explorer. Before that was a 2005 Dodge Dakota 4Door 4x4.
I probably wouldn't go back to a 2005+ Dakota though because of the suspension being incredibly hard to upgrade, it rode great, but I couldn't lift it without custom fabrication.
I've only had my Tacoma for a few weeks but I'm in love with it, but if I had to go to something different in a mid sized truck, it'd probably be an older model Tundra (2000+), or a Chevy Colorado. I'm not a chevy fan by any means otherwise it'd be the Dakota, but I've already been let down by it's performance and upgrade issues. Ford Ranger doesn't offer a 4 Door so that's out of the question for me.
Full Sized would be an F-150 or 250 without a doubt.

 

Truck: ford f150. Saw a new one with the sport package (black grill etc) and thought it looked fantastic.

Car: I've previously owned sti's and thought I'd be back one day, but killing off the hatch and an antiquated power train make me think otherwise. Super intrigued by the focus rs announcement.

 

A truck I would look for a used Ranger. For a car, a 8th gen Civic Sedan.