If you weren't going to buy a Tacoma

Why? Medium duty trucks suck for doing anything but towing. That's why the F450 isn't really sold to anyone other than 55 foot fifth wheel owners.

 

The main thing keeping me from going the F150 route is the cheap interior/plastics. The one thing I've always loved about Toyota is their interior, seats, materials etc. always seem to be good quality and keep things simple and not go overboard. I look at ford and chevy's interiors and can't imagine myself having to look at those dashes every day.

 

That is what we are running into, I really like the Tacoma, but I am out growing it for hauling crap...start looking at the fullsizes with more power, better capacity...the same if not better fuel economy than a Tacoma. Then wonder why I am in a Tacoma.

Hell, you can configure a F150 with a 3000 lbs payload...not that I need that much, but damn!

http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/payload/

There is the Tundra, not crazy about it though.

 

How long have you had the F150? How many miles? Any issues?

I will have had it 2 years in May, just cracked 10,000 miles, only problem was rear defroster Ford replaced the window under warranty.

 

why not? I have heavy toys, my 2000 f350 is on it's last leg and I have room in the driveway.

 

You think the Tacoma interior is quality? Oh no.

 

Concur, my 2015 cup holders on the door had extra plastic on them from the stamping process. I will agree the 2015 f150 center cluster is a cluster f**k.

 

That's funny. I was never impressed with the Toyota plastics. Scratched to easily, the driver's door armrest is cracked (I'm too lazy to pop it off and see if I can brace it back together, I just don't use it anymore as the crinkle from the cracked pieces rubbing together is annoying as hell). All the dials are illuminated except the 4WD one? WTF is that about? Had to aftermarket that with a kit from a guy on here, meanwhile they illuminate the one in the 4Runner? I swear someone at Toyota has his head up his ass.

I'm not crazy about the Tundra either, and it's rated the worst in MPG out of all the full sized trucks.

I don't know if I'd go for the full 3,000 lb load capacity, but damn it would be nice to load a ton of pellets in the bed without messing with the trailer! Just have the forklift set it in the bed, put the tailgate back on and up, and done. My trailer ramp/gate doesn't come off so even with that it's a pain in the ass for the forklift driver.

Cool. In the past I would have put over 10,000 on in one year, but since I cut my commute in half a few years ago the miles haven't been adding up.

Yeah, my sentiments exactly.

I kinda like the F150 cluster. It's a bit busy, and will take some playing with, but all the info (and more!) that I had to buy a scangauge for is there. MPG, DTE, both related to towing in addition to normal driving, engine run time, engine idle time, drive train indicators (2WD, 4WD, locker), actual tire PSI vs the "one-of-five-is-different" flashing light, power distribution per wheel..... I mean, I don't "need" any of that stuff, but it's really cool. The tire PSI I really like. Sure I could carry a tire gauge, but when it's -8 and I'm trying to get to work on time it would nice to know the front driver tire is 5 PSI lower than the other 3 instead of checking all 4 to see why the light is on. I like that 4WD and locker are on the same button, and that the locker works in 2WD mode. I never understood why Toyota put a locker on the Prerunners, but then required 4Low to be engaged on the 4x4s.

Although, going from Toyota and Nissan to Ford means a lot of learning since the controls are in different places. That's something to get used to.

 

I've never had an issue with my 06 interior dash/plastics.



vs.



I'd gladly take the current interior over that Ford 90's space ship looking dash. Think Ford could find a place to maybe add some more buttons? Seems a little ridiculous.

 

Yeah, that Ford dash looks a little busy. My brother has a 2014 F150, and we joke that he has to preflight it before going out.

 

I was gonna say I think my moms airplane has less buttons than the new fords. I like how the new rams put most of the controls into the touch radio, but if it fails you'd be screwed. My brother has 19k on his 2014 ram 1500 with no issues and its a nice truck.

 

Mine doesn't look like the bottom one so...... Part of it is they have buttons instead of a dial for the climate controls, but I kind of like that setup actually. Instead of the predefined options Toyota gives you, the Ford lets you pick each one individually (feet, face, windshield, max heat, max AC). Would take some getting used to, but after 2 test drives and playing with them some I like that setup. Also, if you notice it has a 120v outlet in the dash too. Unlike the completely useless one in the bed of the Tacoma. There's also another one in the rear of the center console. So if you had laptops or other electronics you could actually use them in the truck without re-wiring yourself, or running an extension cord through the rear window. Granted, I think it's only 400W like the Tacoma's, but being in the cab actually makes it useful. Also, the center console is about 4 times larger than the Tacoma's, and has LED lighting already. AUX, USB, and 12v outlets under the climate controls have a slide door with LED lighting as well.

Under the 4WD selector know to the right of steering wheel is a factory brake controller. So some of the extra buttons and knobs are due to extra functions not available on the Tacoma.

LMAOI wonder if my wife would let me wear a flight suit and helmet while driving it....

And you're not far off. The 2015 I tested had on screen menu options for the trailer: naming it, if one was attached or not, sway control on/off, towing check lists per trailer type (goose neck, etc) that walk through the common steps for hooking up before towing (electrical connections, raising jack, etc I didn't really look at them). So if you were towing for the first time, you really could "preflight" it.

lol And you have a point. If the radio dies, you're SOL with that. I know the Tacoma radios have had......hiccups.... in the past. I like the idea of having buttons for things so I don't have to navigate a touch screen while driving. I've had an Android phone for years now, and I miss my old feature phone due to key shortcuts vs scrolling through menus.

 

While a medium duty truck with a flat bed with removeable sideboards, that dumps and can take a decent plow would be an awfully handy farm vehicle...

Howard

 

Shoot, here in Idaho those type of trucks dominate the landscape. It is diesel flatbed central here.

 

Neither. I'd get a Subaru WRX

 

The car I would have if I did not have a taco would be a Geo Storm or a Pontiac Aztek.


and dont ask me why I like the aztek.... I dont even know myself....


P.S I finally settled on a name for my Manuel tacoma: Manfred.

The reasoning being that Manfred is the long version of Manny, and Manny can be abbreviating the word Manuel referring to my transmission.

 

Did/do you watch breaking bad? That's Walters car in that show so maybe that's why...at least that is my reason!

 

I hate the new dashboards in the Fords etc., if you are not VERY familiar with it or drive it everyday, it takes way too much focus to figure out how to make it do what you want vs. simple knobs and dials. I would rather keep my eyes on the road and traffic than try to manipulate a stupid drop-down menu just to change the temp on the airflow. Not conducive to people who drive many different vehicles all the time. The Entune on my Tacoma is bad enough but at least all the essential controls are intuitive and don't take my eyes away.
Having to use reading glasses makes it all that much worse

 

Oh you are one sick bastid!

 

The F150's I looked at had a knob for air temp and fan speed. The zones were buttons, and none of it was done through touch screen menus.

I'm not of fan of those while driving either. The info display next to the speedometer has too many options to use while driving, but I could always set the display want before leaving the driveway, trail head, parking lot, etc.

I forgot, no buttons for max AC or max heat, just turn the temp dial all the way to either side, and it automatically maxes out fan speed and temp.

The auto transmission has a manual mode as well, with +/- buttons on the shift levers.