Economy vrs Toyota Tacoma Question

the wifey's car is a prius,so all's well here.
Needed the taco to tow my boat,previous tow vehicle was an 03 pathfinder(tail wagging the dog!)

 

I went from an 05 Dakota V6 4x2 to this 09 Tacoma 4 cyl 4x4 as my way of cutting gas milage. Before my Dakota I drove a Ranger 4 cyl 4x2 and while I didn't notice the milage then, I certainly did when I got the Dakota.

I averaged the same distance per tank in both the Ranger and the Dakota. I don't know what the Ranger had for tank size but it cost me nearly double to fill the Dodge vs the Ford.

Since the Taco has the same tank size as the Dakota I'm getting way better mpg. Compared to the Ranger I can't really say as I never worried about milage then, but it seems similar to the Tacoma.

Luckily, I too was able to purchase the Toyota with cash so keeping it isn't an issue. I looked at the Ranger again when I decided to purchase. While I would have saved money with the Ranger I couldn't get the same options, ie: 4x4 in a 4 cyl with the Ford. As for longevity, the Ranger had over 265,000 miles when I sold it and still performed strong. As this is my first Tacoma I hope to get as long a life out of this...and from what I understand, this shouldn't be a problem!

 

Got a 2000 taco 4x4 ext cab with 153,000 miles on her. Going to upsize to a new 4 dr taco sometime soon. Only got 2 payments left. Only lease I ever bought and loved the truck so much I kept it. Don't know if I will lease one again but will definately buy another Taco, no question there.