Tacoma, vs Frontier, "Just My Own Observation"

All 4 people I know that have owned pathfinders, have had tranny problem. All at about 100k. Just my two cents.

 

Realibility, Resale Value, Fit and Finish.

This is why Toyota sells boat loads of this truck. Last time I read it was like 5-1 ratio on the sales chart.

 

My comparison with my 1st gen Frontier to my 2nd Gen Tacoma wasn't valid, however I have owened 2 1st gen Tacomas. I think the 1st gen Taco is much better built and better truck than the 2nd gen Taco, and just more appealing than the 1st gen Frontier... but those two are close everywhere else.

I did test drive a new Frontier a few months back, it rode nice and went real good. Well built and seemed like a real truck, but still somehow not too appealing. I saw a brand new body style pathfinder today... omg did they screw that thing up

 

http://www.nissanusa.com/suvs/pathfinder/colors-photos#_exterior

 

The new Pathfinder is a station wagon? Oh how the mighty have fallen.

 

The frontiers with a decent lift and tires look pretty good, but the stock ones seem cheaper. I considered a frontier but knew I'd have to upgrade it to be happy. With the tacoma I'm happy with it stock, for now, and know there are tons of suppliers should I decide to upgrade later

 

The "family car" always evolves in that general direction. In historical order, the "family car" of choice:

- The station wagon

- The mini-van

- The SUV

- The CUV (crossover)

Each and every one gets picked up as the defining "family car", due to improvements over the previous "family car". Market forces then drive the class of car more towards what people want in a "family car".

IMO the ideal "family car" is probably something like the average of all of these, so you will see each successive type of "family car" converge towards the average of all of them.

I'm not sure what type of car will come next. It might be a new type of car, or we might come full-circle back to essentially station-wagon type cars (which is where crossovers are headed, though they typically retain pieces of their SUV heritage like ride height)

 

Really? Besides the obvious window switch, when I bought my '09 I looked at the Frontier and the biggest reason I didn't like them was because the interior looked so cheap. It was made entirely of one grain hard plastic. Ours isn't perfect but at least Toyota broke it up by using different colors and textures.

 

Hell, in a decently close race that's reason enough for me right there. That means 5 times as many spare parts, 5 times as many mechanics who are familiar with them, etc etc etc.

 

I noticed today in traffic that at least in the newest body style, you can't tell the difference between a 2wd Frontier and a 4wd Frontier. I think my old 2wd Ford Ranger had more ground clearance than a new 4wd Frontier. You'd have to lift the bejesus out of it to make it look as tall as a base Tacoma 4wd. Poo on that...

 

This was when Frontiers still looked good. The 2nd gen is an abomination, inside and out.

 

I haven't driven a newer Frontier, but I had an '02 Frontier 4X4 "Off Road". The "Off Road" package consisted of two decals. I think it had a limited-slip, but the window sticker listed that as part of another package. The interior was cheap feeling hard plastic and economy car-grade cloth. I liked the 5 speed transmission a lot, and the heavy tailgate was a bonus. Overall, I wasn't impressed with it and only kept it 2 years. I didn't even consider the new Frontier this time around. The only way I'd buy another Frontier over a Tacoma is if I really wanted a manual transmission. I've always been a fan of Nissan's manual transmissions, and I've heard mixed reviews on the Tacoma 6 speed. I think the Tacoma looks a hell of a lot better, too.

 

Wrong!

Datsun (Nissan) was founded in 1931, six years before Toyota.

Loved my '95 Nissan 4wd truck, and still miss the manual hubs and manual transfer case. But, I wouldn't consider trading anything for my '11 Tacoma.

 

I had a 2005 Froniter Nismo 4x4 KC.

I always wonder why everyone says the brakes are so much better on the Tacoma? They may have the best stopping distance in the Tacoma's class but they sure do feel like mush doing it. The Frontier always felt quick and firm in regards to braking. The discs felt and looked better (I know looks are not functional but when 1/2 of tacomaworld.com is plastic derping their emblems...)

The engine in the Frontier was a beast. The power came on fast and smooth, very sports car like. I realize that Nissan has problems with the timing chain guides wearing out too quickly, if they could fix that one thing, I think the VQ series of engines has always been technologically superior.

The OEM spray on bed liner in my Frontier faded to white. This was a problem with early models. Also, I could tap spots of the bed and it felt loose, almost like some rust had separated the liner from the bed. Other than that, it just did not scratch. I look at the Tacoma's bed the wrong way and it gets mad and scratches itself. The tie down system wins hands down. In fact, I am looking for some Nissan rails to put in my Tacoma right now. Toyota, get the hint, put some rails on the floor. I will say that I like the idea of a metal bed with a spray in bed liner better than what we have, it just needs to be done properly. GM did a composite bed in their full size pickups for awhile as an option, there are several interesting online articles about why they switched back. They also switched back from rear disc to rear drums...

I liked the Nissan's interior, even the old school LCD display that indicated 2WD or 4WD. The plastics seemed cheap but wore better than my Tacoma currently is. I can't believe that when you scratch the Tacoma's dash it is white plastic that has been painted grey. Also, count how many different patters are floating around the interior. The cloth on the door panels do not match the cloth on the seats, the plastics have different grains, it is a freaking zoo of plastic patterns in there.

 

And the Frontier had a metal lower front bumper that just shed off rocks and road debris like water off a duck's back. Not so much on my Tacoma

After reading my comments, I seem slightly biased towards the Nissan. Don't get me wrong, I like my Toyota. It's just that I see it for what it is in comparison to what else is out there.

 

a quote I read somewhere, like "Nissan has been quietly putting out great pruducts in N. America since it arrived."

true. they did have their issues this time around with trans fluid/antifreeze but they recalled as far as I know. respectable company.

when I bought my taco, there was a fronty sitting next to it. 6 speed, one year newer, same mileage as taco+off-road package, 4-door, and all for a grand less. oh plus, it was white.

my only experience with Nissan was the 03 fronty my little bro had. it was an awesome little pickup and took him all kinds of places, in fact, the first time I drove that truck off-road was the first time I realized I needed a 4x4. the distributer made some rattling noise. only issue.

with that in mind I chose the taco because I was trading in a 92 Toyota pickup that damn near went everywhere the 03 went, except for mud and sand. the 92 4x4 made me a Toyota lifer. seeing basically a newer version of my little old truck was too much to pass up. salesman suggested Nissan since im after a manual trans. told him all the electronics on the Nissan break the deal. Toyota just knows how to put a functional truck together. they may do pdl and pw's fine now but I know the manual ones on my truck will last a very long time. all about heritage

 

I was friends with some dude in HS who bragged about his (his dads) frontier when he drove it cause his chevy wasn't running. He told me that thing got the same mpg as his 72 Chevy which was 12 mpg. For such an engine .4 liters smaller than mine to have so little horsepower and such terrible mpg is a turnoff in itself. Then there is the fact that the early 2000 models are the ugliest trucks on the planet.

 

Mine was a 3.3v-6 with a 5-speed manual, it had factory 4.60 gears. It did get terrible mileage, but at 70mph it was turning like 3000+rpm. That and it having a distributer were my only issues with it.

 

I owned an 05 frontier nismo for 6 years and I chose a Tacoma when I sold it. The frontier's power-train is awesome that motor has great power and it wanted to be revved. But alot of little things broke on the frontier. After 80k miles little circuit malfunctions, automatic locks, fuel sender outages just annoyed me and help me in my decision to buy a tacoma. If i could have it all I would put the vq40 motor and frontier transmission into a tacoma.