Honest discussion of common issues of both Tacoma & Frontier

I don't think that you're going to get very much information(good info at least) to when it comes to the Frontier. Since that this is a Tacoma board, you might want to look into a Frontier forum from people who own them now and former owners. It's going to be hard not to get biased opinions since this is the a Tacoma board and not a Frontier board.

 

I was gonna say that. at least if its the 2nd gen hes comparing it too. the 1st gen is smaller. That was a big selling point for me. i had a 1st gen taco and didnt like the rear(crew cab), now my 2nd gen is so much more comfortable and the the fronty's do not compare to the 2nd gen.

 

No here is the trick:
1. Go to both forums
2. Gather "pros" of forum's vehicle model (AKA the forum BIAS)
3. Gather cons of competition's vehicle (AKA other forum's trash talk)
4. Go to opposite forum and repeat
5. Now you have pros/cons to each
6. Sort out the bullshit by further research on each forum

 

TW has 50k plus members, with nearly 10k online at any givin point in time. Frontier forums don't come close to even a small fraction of that. That to me says the world. The support and combined knowledge of this truck by forum members is pretty awesome, and I think worthy of consideration when deciding between the 2 vehicles. TWFTMFW!

 

very true. it was another factor that made my decision easy. you cant google anything "Tacoma" without tacomaworld coming up. awesome wealth of knowledge about this truck.

I had yotatech for the old pickup, and it was invaluable to keeping that truck in tip-top running condition. tacomaworld does the same for my taco, plus I get to learn over and over about tire sizes, a-trac, lift opinions, and whether or not 4wd is ok to use on the street

 

Here, Tacoma's are EVERYWHERE, I wasn't even sure Nissan still built a midsize truck anymore, haha. When I started looking into them, I was shocked to find the Frontier's were about the same price as the Tacoma. I had looked into both used and the Frontier's were substantially cheaper than the Tacoma's, so simply from a buy and sell standpoint, the Tacoma was a clear winner. IF the local Nissan dealer advertised a low "no nonsense" price like the Toyota dealer did, I might have looked into them a little more.

 

Already doing that and have gotten a lot of info from both. At this point I am just comparing what both sides said to make up my mind on it eventually.

I sat in both trucks and drove them yesterday. I gotta say I personally liked the feel, seating position, and handling of the Frontier better than the Tacoma. That was my personal experience. That alone does not sell a truck however, I still need to research other things like warranties, service, malfunction history, out the door price for both, etc.

There's a lot more to buying a truck than just how it feels when you drive it. With that said, I have to admit the Frontier in terms of pure feeling has an edge with me right now.

 

I think the only edge the Tacoma has over the Frontier is resale value. I have owned both and both are good trucks.

 

Yeah that is an important advantage but only for those people who plan to sell their truck at some point. I'm of the mind that I keep my vehicles for at least 6-8 years and put about 100,000 miles in them before I sell them. I doubt that I will make much money back (more than the difference I am going to pay up front) by the time either truck makes it to the 6-8 year old mark with 80-100k miles on it.

If I were to pay $30,000 out the door for a Tacoma with what I want on it versus $25,000 out the door for a Frontier with a very similar configuration, the question then becomes will I make back $5000 on the resale after 6-8 years of using the truck? If I do then I really should consider the resale value as a major point of contention.

 

common issue with my taco is that every time she sees a fronty (doesnt sound as cool as taco) the throttle seems to jam wide open. its weird maybe i should take it to the dealership and see if theres a recall for that or something

 

If you buy a Frontier with the similar options as a Tacoma at $5000 less then I don't think resale value would make much difference, long term or short term. I have noticed that the Frontier has more options at a lower price than you can get on a Tacoma. The Tacoma is more popular and you see a lot of them around but that don't mean they are better.
Drive them both and take a good look at the differences and get whick feels right. you won't go wrong with either.

 

Yeah, I don't disagree with that. I bought the Tacoma because that is what "I" wanted. To be honest the Nissan never even crossed my mind but I "personally" don't like how they look quite as much as the Tacoma. I just knew that in the mid size truck market that the Toyota was the one for me because of all the items listed in this thread.

I don't think you will go wrong with either one. I've owned a couple of Nissan vehicles and never had any issue with them.

 

Yeah, this is true. The Frontier also has a LOT more negotiation room than the Tacoma. As you all have said before, Toyota dealers know they can sell the Tacoma for $30,000. They know they have over 70% of the small truck market in the US and have no incentives to negotiate a lower price with a customer knowing that their trucks will sell for a higher price. Nissan on the other hand is more than willing to negotiate. They are willing to provide extended warranties free of charge and drop the price of a $28,000 MSRP 4X4 king cab Frontier with Fog lights, and a ton of other extras down to $25,000 out the door just to make a sale. At least that was the impression / case that I got last night when I paid a visit to my local dealerships. Maybe this is not the case everywhere though.

 

lol, that's my kinda defect




Just to add some information; I paid $24,3xx out the door for my 2010 PRO-4X Crew Cab V6 Auto with 37 miles on it (2wd mind you), with the heated power leather package and rockford fosgate with XM/iPod integration package. Not too bad for Hawaii.

I was set for $28k ($36k sticker) for a PRO-4X 4wd V6 Auto with the same pacakges, but in silver. Decided to walk on that truck because the dealer kept jerking me around for over an hour. I also walked on a blue TRD Double Cab 4x4 V6 With a stick for $37k before I tried to deal on the PRO-4X. I was basically told by that dealer (and a few others) that demand was high and if I didn't want to pay the sticker, they would be happy to give me a ride to the Nissan dealer. I said no thanks and just walked my cheap ass over there

Went to Nissan on my lunch break to see the sales person I had done a few test drives with, told her which truck I wanted, how much I was going to pay, and asked if I could pick it up that night. She talked to her manager for a minute and said okay. I walked in after work, paid in full and was home admiring my new toy an hour later. I almost felt bad telling her how much I wanted to pay since she had been so nice for the few months I had been test driving everything under the sun (including the Taco), and the truck was stickered for $32k.

Funny that I don't really have anything to do with a dealer after I buy a vehicle, but the dealers attitude is everything to me. That was a big part of why I bought my Frontier. But I still love both trucks.

I think the #1 thing Toyota does over Nissan is that they stock V6's with manual transmissions on the lot, where Nissan will only do special orders. If a Nissan dealer has a Frontier with a 6-speed on the lot, that means somebody placed an order for one and then split.

 

Yes, I have decided to go with the Frontier. After test driving both a second time, spending over 1 hour behind the wheel with both trucks, discussing possible prices, warranties, packages, etc. I came to find out 3 things

#1 I can get what I want with the Frontier for $3500 cheaper than Toyota is willing to go.

#2 I like the drive feel of the Frontier, and I can get it in stick shift just how I want it.

#3 My local Toyota dealership was as described above... very high and mighty "We don't have to compromise or sell the truck to you... you should beg us for our truck" attitude. Yeah, fuck that.


Thanks for everything guys!

 

Sorry to hear, you will regret it, Nissan is cheaper for a reason

 

I think either would have been a good choice. But its sad that both of us couldn't find a decent Toyota dealership

 

Thank-you OP for this thread. I'm in the exact same boat as you.
I've been following the same thread you posted in the Frontier Forum.

I'm looking to upgrade my 2002 Chevy S10 CC with 140K on it.
I've recently test driven both. And, crap, I like both.
Here's some comparisons I have so far. (Note these are Canadian builds and some option packages might be slightly different North of the border)

Frontier options that don't exist on the Tacoma:
Power seats, locking tailgate, heated side mirrors, backup sensor.
Tacoma options that don't exist on the Frontier:
Telescopic steering wheel, Sport Seats

The test drives were comparable but the Frontier drove more sporty like a car, and the Tacoma felt more like a truck.
Both exhaust notes were great. Strangely though, I kinda preferred the Tacoma's drive even though it was slightly more sloppy. The sport seats were very nice.

The major cons for me on the Frontier was the interior. Its not a bad interior, I just preferred the Tacoma's more.
But the major con for me on the Tacoma was that I couldn't get the JBL upgraded stereo unless I upgraded to the limited package,
which, I don't like since they slap waaaay to much chrome on for my liking.
Yes, there are upgrade options, and mods, but just reviewing each from a factory build perspective.

I also noticed the Tacoma has the oil filter exactly where it should be. Right in the front easy to get your hands on.

In the end, I'm still on the fence. If I had to pick today, the Tacoma would get it only because of past history of reliability, and availability of parts etc. etc.

I might need to go test drive them both again.

 

Where did this come from? Mine's never had that issue, first I'm hearing about it?

 

Did your S10 have all those options? Are they really things you'll miss? I replaced my old S10 with my Tacoma, it was a very basic reg cab (roll up windows, bench seat, etc,etc) after driving it for 60K miles I realized I don't need all those options and got the most basic 4X4 offered between Nissan and Toyota.