Jeep Vs. Toyota

I was under the impression they were completely different engines. But I looked up the short blocks and they're the same part number. That being said the 3.8L is a good engine but I'm not sure how well it would hold up to the abuse of jeep owners. Which is a huge factor in their reliability.

 

I had a 2012 sahara unl, all the bells and whistles. Had it for over a year got it with 4 miles on it, did all req maintenance,,,I loved it, however I did not love all the leaks, excessive road noise, check engine light always on, did I say leaks??? No cargo space, engine ticking and popping, hard ride, then was told by dealer the headers and pumps and ac pump needed to be changed,,,but most of all I fucking hated every time I went to the dealer their answer for most things was oh, it's a jeep thing. I don't think a brand new jeep should have this many problems, so wtf will happen five years from now?

Since got the Tacoma I feel like I'm in a luxury car no shit. Engine nice n quiet comfortable and fun to drive. Might not have a convertible, what that l believe I have so much more. I do miss it at times, but I think I fell in love with the image of owning a jeep along with the jeep wave. Hope this helps

 

I used to have a 97 wrangler, it was lifted and ran 33's... what a piece of crap that thing was. By 100k it spent more time in the shop than on the road. And talk about under powered, by comparison my 2.7 tacoma feels like a sports car, although it's not lifted. Clunky trans, lots of play in the steering, super loud road noise (at least wit the soft top) made it feel like you were driving a farm tractor on the road, which is fun for a while but gets old if it's your only car.
Before I had it I always dreamt about crusing around with the top down and the doors off, which is awesome until it starts raining and then you realize the top takes 2 seconds to take off and a half hour and a lof of cussing to put back on. And your CD's WILL get stolen.
All that being said, I MIGHT consider a brand new one, and just keep it while it's under warranty. For as many problems as I had with mine I still think they are cool, especially if it's not a daily driver. I would NEVER replace my tacoma with one though. For me the tacoma is just the right compromise, it has decent off road ability AND a smooth ride on the road, nice radio, decent mileage, plus all the cargo room and you can sleep in the back if you have a topper. And toyota reliability.

Here's my old turd:

 

The tacoma will never compare to a jeep, they are two different vehicles. FJC vs. Wrangler makes a hell of a lot more sense.

Back in the day, Workman made the MISTAKE of buying a new 98' Wrangler with the 2.5L 4 banger. What a gutless POS that turned out to be! 120 horses and 16 MPG on average did not cut it. Hell, an 81 subaru wagon 4x4 four lowed the same if not better than that damn Jeep.

It was a great day when Workman sold that jeep and jumped into a 1979 Ford 150 with a 390, NP 205 T case and 3in suspension lift. Best truck Workman's ever owned. To bad it got less than 10 MPG and with today's gas price would bury you as a DD...

 

I work for Chrysler and we're having head gasket issues with the 3.6L. Around 40-60k you'll get a check engine light for cylinder missfire. The 2012, 2013 are suppose to have the issue fixed but I've seen a number of 2012s 3.6L with the headgasket problem. This is speaking about the engine in general. I have not seen any JKs yet.

 

IMO Jeeps are way overpriced nowadays. For the same money the Tacoma is far better all-around. Jeeps are stamped together cheap metal construction that require a lot of modding to make them worthy...Plus they dont have a bed..cant haul anything really. I like a jeep but I would bet Jeremy Clarkson would choose a Tacoma over a Jeep any day, and I wouldint trust a modern stock Jeep engine/drivetrain nearly as much as a Tacoma. I'd love to have a 1943 Jeep. That's when they were best.

 

Agreed. I was thinking about a new one when I was shopping around, until I priced them... if you want any sort of options the price jumps to almost $30k REAL quick. Hard to justify spending that on a small truck with minimal cargo room and towing capacity, and air condition is still optional. The newer ones are nicely equipped compared to the ubiquitous 90's wranglers like mine, but that's still a lot of money.
Also, I guess the 2-door wrangler doesn't have much direct competition, so they usually don't have great incentives. Even for a Jeep priced comparably to my tacoma, I would have had to put WAY more money down. I'm sure that varies by region, though.

 

I am one of those guys who spent the big buck on a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited in the Rubicon package. Not cheep but there is no other vehicle offered in the United States which can keep up with it stock rig to stock rig. It is in no way a GREAT highway rig. No Wrangler has ever been. But the suspension is far superior when on the rough stuff off-road as compared to the Taco and every other rig I have been in. But what makes it so good off-road makes it rough on-road. If you are looking to tow anything more than 3500 pounds, it is not for you. But if you want a "good" on-road rig with GREAT off-road manners...it is hard to beat without making major modifications to a Taco or most all other rigs for that matter. If you want a great little on-road truck with better than average off-road chops...that Taco is a great rig. Here is how I see it...the Wrangler Rubicon is made for 70% off-road and 30 on. Reverse that for the Taco.

And yes the cabin is not a quiet as a Taco, but then again, what convertable is?

 

If comparing Toyota VS Dodge, wouldn't is make more sense to compare the Tacoma vs a Dakota? FJ vs Wrangler? 4Runner vs Grand Cherokee?

 

Makes sense to me...

 

No more Dakotas.

I would agree with all the off road comments. I bought my truck for a daily and hauler. Nice and quiet.

I can't justify spending over 35k (Jeep Rubi) then heading out to scratch the puss out of it on a trail.

I would think at least 95% of Jeeps never leave the pavement.

 

I know that feeling, I still have my CJ5 and it turned me into a mechanic, I couldn't afford to pay someone to work on it when I was in high school so I learned all that stuff myself. Nice thing though, they are easy to work on, mine had the 4.2 258 inline six and there is all kinds of room under the hood. You must have had the 4 banger in yours? The 4.0 high output six is anything but gutless in those Jeeps, I drove a YJ with one and it had plenty of power.

 

Yeah I certainly learned a lot about engines from that thing. I did the radiator and water pump myself and it wasn't too bad, the transmission and clutch had to be done at a shop though and cost me an arm and a leg.

Yeah it was the 2.4 or 2.5L 4 cyl, whatever it was back then. It had an intake and upgraded headers too and it was still a turd. I'm sure if it ran the stock tire size it probably would have been fine, but with the 33's at 65-70 it felt like the motor was gonna blow. It got a little better when I got the wild trails or whatever they were in the picture, when I bought it it had some mickey thompson mudders on there and it really didn't like to move those things. I think all the new wranglers are V6, so it's probably not an issue anymore.

 

Depends what your doing. I all out built a Rubicon. Did all the hard trails in Moab. No way a Tacoma would do the same.

It's my first tacoma and i didn't really get it for off road.

Can't really compare jeep and taco

 

With enough money, you could make a beetle do any trail you wanted.

 

and what beetle parts would be left on it? the glove box?

 

heres my jeep at a rockcrawl comp

 

A part of me wants to buy a jeep again,! Despite the trouble, or thinking bout an fj cruiser. They really are starting to grow on me