Might trade 16 Tacoma for 16 Frontier

I'm debating trading my 16 Tacoma for a 16 Frontier. My reasons follow:

• I'm wishing I had gotten a pickup with a 6 foot bed. Nissan has a long bed SV package that stickers for 32k with the options I'd like. A Tacoma would cost 40k for similar options. A sunroof is a must have and that is what drives the price of a Tacoma up.
  
• I've driven a Frontier for 5000 miles and it's engine and transmission are more powerful and less finicky than the new 3.5/6 speed combo in the Tacoma. The Nissan engine is well proven and known to last. The new Tacoma engine/transmission reliability is unknown but not off to a great start with the transmission issues.
  
• Neither truck has great seats. I'd have to go full size to get really comfortable seats and don't want the mpg, price or size of a full size. I don't like how narrow the Tacoma seats are. The Nissans are slightly wider but have their own issues. But I know some things I can do the improve the Nissan seats.

The advantages my Tacoma has that I would loose are the locker, the GPS, the keyless start, the hard tonneau cover and the blind spot monitors. Those are all nice to have but not critical.

I got a good enough deal on my Tacoma that I won't loose a lot in the trade. Between what a dealer has offered me for my Tacoma and the advertised price of the Frontier I'd save about $4000.

Nissan is supposed to be coming out with a new Frontier for 2017. I may like it better than either but I'm sure its price will be more like the Tacomas and it will likely have first year issues of its own.

 

Your just asking for trouble posting that here haha

 

I drove a rental Frontier for a week while on vacation, covering about 2000 miles. Interestingly I find its seats to be a lot worse than the Taco's, with the wrong curvature and no lateral support. The gateless shifter was a pain to use. Pedal placement was uncomfortable as well (brake pedal too high).

While the 2016 Taco's transmission problems are behavioral, the Frontier's transmission has known durability problems.

Frontier has lower resale value and it's very evident in the lease residuals - monthly lease payments on a Frontier is much higher.

 

The transmission issue on the Frontier that I'm aware of is the radiator cross contamination issue that was supposedly fixed after 2010. Do you know of other issues?

 

I prefer the VQ40DE to the 2GR-FKS everyday of the week. The VQ is a no bull shit, strong, reliable engine. Nissan's bread and butter. I am perhaps a bit biased though - I've been dailying a VQ35DE for 3 years now.

 

wow yea.....not...

 

you forgot that the frontier is also one of the ugliest pickups ever made.

 

I had 4 Frontiers over the period of 12 years. It's a good truck, especially for the money. The current model is very dated, and Nissan is not noted for their fuel mileage. Additionally the trade in value will not be as good as the Toyota. If you can by a PRO-4X you will get okay seats, but the standard seats are uncomfortable after a short time. There are a LOT more accessories available for the Tacoma. That being said, I put well over 175,000 miles on these trucks without anything more than regular service. I would settle for nothing less than a PRO-4X or you will be disappointed in your decision.

 

You may not be at a loss initially, but the Frontier does not hold its value so you will realize a much bigger loss in the long run.

 

The frontier is a great truck but Nissan's parts are very generic. The lights, paint, interior, plastic will all start to diminish in 5 years. My lights started to haze pretty bad at the 5 year mark and my plastics faded even more. I'm the type of person to wax my truck after every wash and armor all the tires and plastic. That's just my opinion off of my old frontier.

 

My grandpa has a '13 Frontier.

• The seats are complete garbage. I can't stand riding in it longer than 30 minutes. My 2001 Tacoma has better seats.
• The turning radius is worse than a limo.
• He has the 4cyl so I can't comment on power of the V6 but the 4cyl paired with the auto is terrible. But I imagine every 4cyl with auto is.
• A used full size (maybe even a new one) would be cheaper have a 6ft bed and still have better gas mileage.
• I have never trusted Nissan's reliability. My mother had a brand new '14 Altima (not a frontier but still a Nissan) and it had many issues. Wheel bearings wearing out again and again on the same wheel, 2 transmissions, shakey rear view, broken touch screen with normal use, and a few more problems I can't remember. All under 30k miles. I understand it's not a frontier but its supposed to be higher quality than the frontier.

 

I'll have to agree with the questionable reliability, at least as far as altimas go. My closest friend has a 2009 altima and he's gone through 2 wheel bearings so far, less than 100k on the vehicle.

 

Wait... I thought I read here that this 3.5L V6 engine the same engine used in the Lexus SUV brand for a long time now with no issues?

 

That's the 2GR-FSE. The 2GR-FKS is indeed a derivative of that engine but they are not the same.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_GR_engine

 

My biggest problem with Nissan is not the engines, it's the Jatco CVT transmissions. Garbage. However, the Frontier uses a Jatco 5 spd auto so it's probably a lot more reliable. I've seen pictures of a new Frontier coming out and it looked pretty cool, but I don't know when it is supposed to be on the market.

 

I've seen the Mexican version of the Frontier and liked it. What isn't known is how closely the new USA Frontier will match it. Also the Mexican version doesn't come in a crew cab long bed.

 

The problem with the Pro-4x is that to get a sunroof you have to get power leather seats. I've sat in them and don't care for them. With the manual cloth seats a seat base from a Titan can be bolted to the Frontier seat frame. The Titan has great seats so that would take care of the seat bottom issue. The seat upper would still be an issue because of the side airbags but I'm thinking that a Wet Okole cover with the lumbar pillow would help.

 

Most every full size gets around town mileage in the low teens. Tundras seem to get 13-15 real world mpg. I've seriously considered a used 2014 dual cab Tundra as it would meet most of my wants. The sunroof isn't an option in the dual cab unless I go aftermarket. Not sure I want to do that.

 

I drove around my father in law's 13 Frontier and felt about the same. Turn radius on that thing felt like driving a school bus.

 

Go for it OP....get the truck that works for YOU