Convince me that a midsize is worth it...

Mid sized trucks are better than Full sized for use as a Daily Driver/weekend warrior use, better Economy, easier to park, more nimble,fun to drive, and with the v6 engine has adequate towing power. Having a mid size opposed to a full size makes much more sense for everyday DD use. Combine those with the best resale value,dependability you cannot beat the Tacoma.

 

Test drive! Test drive! Test drive! In the end, it will be YOUR truck

 

I'm going through this right now. Been driving my 07 DCSB 4x4 for nearly 10 years and now looking to replace. I've looked at and test drove Tacomas, Colorados(diesel), and f150s and keep coming back to the Tacoma. Still hesitant to pull the trigger on one due to lack of space, power and mpgs.

Things i've noticed
1. 2017 Tacoma is a HUGE improvement from my 07 in every way. Including power but space is the same
2. Colorado has a noticeable amount of more interior space and power compared to the Tacoma
3. F150 has loads more power(2.7) and more space. Too much space in my case
4. The prices are nearly the same for all 3

 

If you compare apples to apples based on MSRP, domestic wins every time but why would you, MSRP is BS anyway, makes more sense to compare OTD to OTD.

 

Just FYI, the current Tacoma is a little bigger than the original Tundra.

 

"More capable" is rather broad and not particularly true. A Tacoma will do leaps and bounds better on a trail with any sort of technicality than a full size.

 

Ya I agree, capability is measured in so many different ways. I can attest from last weekend the limits of a fullsize as they were unable to go down the same trail as I, which was awesome because we camped alone, no one for miles.

 

When I bought my 2012, they were pushing pretty heavy incentives on Tundras. I could have had a Tundra for an extra grand, with pretty much equal equipment/trim. Can't say I wasn't tempted - the seating position was so much better for my particular proportions, and hey, who doesn't like extra space and capability. But in the end, the thing is a foot wider, and sucks even more gas. After over 5 years and almost 70k miles, I sometimes revisit that decision - and usually come away feeling pretty good about it. Last year I was driving a rental Silverado for a week (body shop time after a fender bender), and even though that was a brand new and very smooth truck, I was glad to get mine back after a week; just too wide and unwieldy.

 

I you don t care about ease of parking in parking lots. A F150 gets better mpegs on the highway. My buddy has a F150 with the 5.0 L and on the highway gets about 18.5 with 4 people in his truck

 

Yes. I know the reliability of a FCA product is questionable at best and the long term resale value is going to be different.
RAM 1500 non Diesel engine pickup trucks value plummets when the trucks hit a 100k miles while the Tacoma make sure we'll be worth more than 50-60% of what I paid for it once it's 6-7 years old with a 100k miles on it.
Like I said I knew I made the right choice buying a Tacoma and my truck has given me zero issues and expect the next several years to be trouble free.

 

For me it came down to location. I live and work in an urban area. A full size truck would be just impractical in the city. In a midsize truck, I can park in public garages and on the street without any issues.

If I lived in a rural area or in the suburbs, I probably would have a full size truck. However, based on my current location, a midsize was the only choice for this city dweller.

 

I decided on a midsized because it fit my lifestyle (literally, I live in an apartment and have a small parking spot) and had the offroad capability I was looking for.

 

I wanted to be conservative with my $65K. The truck I indeed want is about $70K, but I'm probably a bit over the top considering I bought a fully loaded TRDOR.

As to the engineering decisions I always think about my girlfriend's old Accord that put the oil filter perpendicular to the ground. When you unscrew the filter, you have no choice but to run oil all the way down the side of everything they strangely put below the filter. For the most part you're right though, those Chevys I spent so many weekends of my youth working on were put together by chimpanzees.

 

That's not better than a third gen...

 

In 2007 I traded a 2002 F-150 Supercrew for the 2007 DC Tacoma in my avatar. In 2007 it was the right thing for me to do. My youngest had just graduated HS and moved out. I no longer needed the room. My Ford was a good enough truck, but I spent more for repairs on it in 5 years than I've spent on the Tacoma in 10 years.

The Ford averaged about 14 mpg overall for me, about 17.5 hwy. The Tacoma averages about 17 overall and 20 hwy. In the 181,000 miles I've driven the Tacoma that is a savings of almost 2300 gallons of gas. And gas was $2.50/gal during most of those years.

The Ford was rated to tow 6800 lbs, the Tacoma 6500 lbs.

I gave up 10 hp with the Ford, but the Tacoma is 1500 lbs lighter. The Tacoma pulls the same loads just as well or better and is a lot more powerful feeling. Of course properly equipped the full size can widen the gap, but most 1/2 ton trucks are not really that heavy duty. And the ones that are use more fuel.

The Tacoma is a lot easier to park and maneuver.

BUT.... If you have a growing family the Tacoma isn't big enough. When my kids were at home I'd have never bought one no matter how good they are. In fact I now have 3 grand kids and again find that I often need more room. About 16 months ago I bought another 2014 F-150 Supercrew. We kept the old Tacoma as a 3rd vehicle, it was worth more to me to keep than they were going to allow in trade. This F-150 has a more powerful engine, will tow a lot more, and the fuel mileage is closer. About 16 mpg normal driving and 19 hwy. Full size trucks have gotten better and narrowed the gap. But my money is still on Tacoma for costing less for repairs over a lifetime.

No one has to spend $50K on a new truck unless they just want to. You can buy a nicely equipped F-150 Supercrew XLT,with 4X4 for well under $40K. If all the fancy bells and whistles are important to you the price can go up considerably.

 

It's the best when people mention how "you could have got a full size"

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything more fucking retarded to say to me. So, my experience is- I didn't get a full size because I didn't want a full size. If I did, I would have gotten one. Price isn't a factor (in this case), and if someone had offered to trade an f 150 for my truck, I would decline. If the f 150 was 10k cheaper, I still would have bought what I bought. I like to get out, find new trails, romp through old ones where I know the lines, get myself to places no one else would ever think to camp... and I like to do it surgical instead of lumbering through like a clumsy fuck. When I look at MY truck, it's inspiring. It's squat and LOOKS damn near untippable. It's a blast to drive. I don't tow a mobile home to camp. I don't own a bunch of horses I need to tow around. I don't have a plumbing business. And I despise the look of this-

Looks like a giant wall of bland with tiny wheels as an afterthought. The wheel to body ratio... everything about it, to me, is uninspiring. Look at that thing. It's mundane dog shit.

 

Resale value & more importantly, reliability alone are 2 great reasons.

More space yes, more capability? Explain.....

 

I just don't like driving a full sized truck and I can do everything I want to with my Tacoma. I believe in the long run it will be more reliable than the competition.

 

That's a rather ridiculous statement. If you go into a lecture hall and you ask your professor a question, what you're really saying is "convince me that [insert point here]." If the instructor responds "how about I don't convince you, convince yourself" then I'm surely not going to learn. You convince yourself by getting the opinions of others and doing research. I'm surprised you don't understand that.

 

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