2013: Toyota Tacoma vs Nissan Frontier ?

My opinion is based on the fact that I am omniscient. My power is maximum. Jk. I didn't mean the Ranger was bad, but I was eleven trying to drive that thing... ran it into a bush/ stalled a brazillion times. I'm a guy so Ill blame the car and not myself.

 

Just sold my frontier and ordered me a new taco It was a 2010 frontier but never did any harsh offroading just super light trails to go fishing, and my fiance even noticed test driving the taco that the suspension ride everything was just nicer and better built..

 

I dont own either truck but am looking to buy either the 2013 frontier or tacoma. Researching both trucks, driving them with comparable packages, i found the frontier to be more powerful with overall with some better features, like the sliding bed extension. The Frontier was about 6k less decked out pretty good on SV V6 model crew cab with all the trim.

I love driving both of them. The new 2013 interiors are about the same in both vehicles with the touch screen console. They both have about the same amount of room, and both look pretty awesome. For those downing the Frontier on this site, it sounds like you are comparing 6 to 10 year old models with new tacoma models. I dont know what the fronteir was like then, but the new ones are slick!

I started looking into them because one of our companies dropped the Tacoma that won our bid last year over some reliability issues. Frontier won the 2013 contract and our employees love them. There was some grumbling at first, but that grumbling dissapeared. I still love the tacoma though. To those that think the Frontier is ugly, maybe you just haven't seen a model in a few years.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...YDYCA&sqi=2&ved=0CFwQ9QEwAg&dur=2177#imgdii=_

 

Not going to lie, if the new Frontier had been available in a crew cab, long bed in the Pro-4X trim I might have considered buying one. I love my new Tacoma but I do miss the extra power that my 2011 Xterra had.

 

I went through this exact debate when I bought my tacoma about 4 months ago. Just like everyone else on the forum, certain things are more important to me than others. I don't tow much, just the occasional trailer, and both trucks were an increase from my last SUV, so that was really a non issue. I spend a lot of time in my vehicle, so the quality of the interior is important, and man, the frontier just felt dated. It had lots of nice interior features, but the plastics felt cheap, there were fit and finish issues in both of the new trucks I drove, and as a whole, the interior just didn't seem like as much time was put into it as the tacoma.

The other big issue for me was the ride. I tested crew cab, pro-4X's, and the ride was awful. Borderline unbearable. I drove them on some fairly poor roads, through residential areas with speed bumps, and took one on a small access road that had some pretty good ruts and pot holes. Maybe the non-Pro-4X is different, but the ones I drove were noticeable uncomfortable after 15 minutes or so.

My wife had a pathfinder for 9 years, and we didn't have a single major issue with it. I have no doubt that the frontier is a great truck in a lot of ways, but at the end of the day, two of the major things that impact me every time I use the vehicle (ride and interior) turned me off of it. It's a shame too, because you can get them really nicely equipped on the higher end models for a pretty good price.

 

I looked at the frontiers and thought they felt cheap.hasn't improved.Everyperson at work that had a ranger ,hated it and traded them in.taco isn't perfect but it is my preference.people can buy what they want and we can pity them after the fact.

 

I drove a 2006 Frontier Nismo 4x4 until the end of 2012 when I purchased my new Tacoma 4x4. As much as I love my new taco, I must say my fronty was built better. The metal body panels were thicker, it had rear disc brakes which stopped better, the tailgate was super heavy but could take heavy loads with no warpage and I wasn't afraid to throw heavy objects in the bed without the possibility of damaging the bed. My taco has a creaking front seat and foam coming out of my AC vents. Plus my fronty had front and rear metal bumpers compared to the plastic front ones in my taco. Lastly, the exterior windshield cowling warped due to sun and was replaced under warranty where the service advisor told me that is a common problem. Never had any problems with my fronty and it was sold with 100K+ miles.
I love the looks and higher stance of my taco and plan to keep it forever as long as it holds up body wise that is.

 

I don't get the reviewers complaining about the stiff suspension on the Taco. It might be slightly stiff on the soft bumps but it's only slightly stiff on the hard ones too!

 

Ahhh, Consumer Reports. Driving truck fans crazy since day one.

They don't like how trucks ride; or rather they want all trucks to ride like a car, preferably a luxury car. It's their one huge bias with auto reviews and so long as you understand that, you won't get offended when year after year they rate the Ridgeline as the best truck out there and slap a "not recommended" on the Toyota.

The Ridgeline's being discontinued due to lack of interest next year, while the Toyota may well be the last small pickup standing if Nissan maintains their horrific sales figures for another couple of years, so what the fuck does CR know?

PS: lifelong Nissan owner, bought my Tacoma just a couple of months ago. Wanted to like the Frontier. Kept looking at the Frontier and was unable to escape the feeling that I was looking at a giant steaming turd whose purchase I would regret midway through signing the paperwork. Nissan needs to dump about 80% of their offerings and start over. I can't think of any car they make that doesn't look utterly ridiculous.

 

Just buy a Honda Ridgeline, they are the best trucks currently on the road.

 

... ^^^ ... I have had several Nissan trucks (including a Frontier) and many more Toyotas (including several Tacomas). With that said, Nissan makes a good product, but the Tacoma is a lot better truck in my book. I like the heavier tailgate on the Frontier though.

And Nissan will gave away the Frontiers lower the inventory sometimes.

Better Deals = Frontier ......... Better Truck = Tacoma .... but that is only my opinion ....
.

 

A least the frontier is boxed and real bed. Tacoma's is more like a Passenger vehicle turned into a truck.

 

Nissan makes garbage vehicles. My 2007 SE-R had two power steering units before it had 500 miles on the odometer, Nissan refuses to acknowledge problems present in all their vehicles, and their dealers are even less competent than Toyota.

 

The worst part about the Frontier, for me, was that it felt like a fullsize in terms of driving and handling. If I want to feel like I'm driving the Titanic (and have the same turning radius), I'll get a fullsize. Plus the Tacoma had more ground clearance and was a better color.

Kinda like comparing B cups to C cups: both are great, but one is clearly better than the other.

 

I like the Frontier and in all honesty I wish my Tacoma had a few of the options they had but I have always loved the Tacoma and 4runners and the go explore angle/history Toyota trucks have.

Also Nissans have the most uncomfortable backseats of all time and the front seats aren't much better.

 

I know that I am in a toyota forum, so I should expect some nissan hate. If I go to a nissan forum, i get the exact same comments about the toyota not handling as nice and blah blah blah. Honestly, some of these comments don't make sense. I have spent time in both, and they are both nice inside. The Frontier, at least the SV V6 with the value package is every bit as nice as the Tacoma inside. The seats actually are nicer.

Having put a lot of time into this research, and driving both of them, I can say, i don't notice much handling difference at all. I think they are both awesome trucks. Obviously the Tacoma sells like crazy and i see them all day long on the road and are slick looking, but I now have 5 brand new 2013 frontier models in my small neighborhood. Kind of crazy. Two of those appear to be company trucks, because they are branded with vehicle numbers on the back.

I am wondering if Frontier sales have picked up with the 2013 models, or if its just now that i notice more Frontiers since i have begun researching them. For 6k under the Tacoma, on a 30k truck that looks every bit as nice and rides the same, its hard to find too much fault with the Frontier. If they were the exact same price, I would probably go for the Tacoma, though I think thats just a Toyota bias in me, but Nissan is a good company. Our company mechanic is very happy with them. And test drivers have chosen the Frontier over the Tacoma and I can see why. Both trucks are probably about equal, and given the price tag, its pretty hard to justify the tacoma over the frontier depending on the models you want. For a crew cab that you want to do a lot of pulling with, it makes sense to get the Frontier.

 

Since this subject came up I decided to do a little research myself. A Frontier Pro 4x4 King Cab is about the same price as a Tacoma Access cab TRD Off Road 4x4. Now I went to NADA to check resale value. Tacoma has a much better resale by $2000. If I did not trade every 2 years I would consider Frontier just to have something different. If I was to keep one 4 or 5 years it would not make much difference. I just wish Toyota would have a redesign this year as I am in the mood for a change.

 

I just highlighted in bold what is more a matter of opinion. Tacoma versus Frontier seats are really a matter of do you want A.) Low profile, car-style seating, or B.) Throne style seats. Otherwise the seats are close in feel (in my OPINION)

And as far as sales go, it is more of coincidence of you noticing more Frontiers. Sometimes it depends on your area. For example if you go over to Hawaii you will see way more Tacomas driving around vs. Frontiers. Even where I am living right now I notice a lot more Tacomas driving around.

I can't attest to the validity of these numbers but if this site is correct then Toyota more than doubled Nissan sales (Taco vs. Frontier) in the 2011-2012 time frame.
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2012/12/november-2012-top-15-pickup-truck-sales.html

Nissan does still produce a nice truck and I am sure they pick the things that are more representative of a "truck" like the metal bed and such to capitalize on what the Tacoma has gotten rid of or hasn't done as "ruggedly" (aka tie downs on Frontier vs. Taco)

 

For sure that was just my opinion on the seats of course. But like i said, they are both really nice. I think I didn't make myself clear. I actually do see more Tacomas on the road overall, but I mean that I have lately seen more Frontiers than i use to with the 2013 model. I admit that i never noticed the older models as much, but the 2013 model seems to be all over the place suddenly.

I can't say for sure what research the other poster above you was looking at with price. If you build both trucks and put on similar features, the tacoma is priced well above the frontier, at least in the case of a 4x4 crew cab/double cab. I can get the frontier crew cab 4x4 with the value package for 28k (that actually includes more trucky features to like you pointed out like the bed extender and towing packages) and if I put on the towing packages and get the Tacoma with the same interior touch screen console and all that, I am looking at about 34 or 35. It's hard to nail down on the tacoma because they have less standard features but a ton of packages to choose from, and you cant build the exact same features on both trucks. However, it is readily apparent that the frontier is significantly less in price. I think most people just accept that, so the argument becomes, which truck is better, and its probably just a matter of taste, and is that Toyota taste worth the extra money? Well for a lot of people it obviously is.

 

I just sold my 05 Frontier 4x4 and bought my Tacoma. Resale was pretty good. It had 99,000 miles and I got 10K for it and it needed alot of body work and some repair on the transfer case. The Nissan seemed more soild and definitely alot heavier. The Tacoma felt like a tin can when I first bought it but I got used to it. Power in the frontier was great, alot more than the Tacoma but the Tacoma still has plenty for me. The little stuff on the Nissan had sub par quality. Little things like the fuel sender, a power lock on the back door, vacumn cyllanoid on the transfer case and engine mounts all had to be replaced way too early. I bought a Tacoma because my dad's first gen Tundra had 250k on it when he sold it in perfect running condition with no repairs other than standard maintance. If i only wanted a truck for 80K i would look at a Frontier, but other than that the Tacoma and Toyota in general just seems much more refined.